Expiration Date on old non-expiration tickets???

[J-Dog]

I apologize because this may have been discussed before, but my search abilities are apparently poor...

I just wanted to get some thoughts on this.

We bought WDW tickets in 2016, before they started selling tickets with expiration dates. And we still haven't used them - they still have the full complement of days on each of them.

Now when I bought them, I had assumed that, if they didn't have an expiration date, that they will be honored basically forever.

However, I recently submitted a ticket verification request to Disney's Ticket.Usage email, and finally got this reply:

"Ticket number xxx xxx xxx is a 3-Day Magic Your Way Base Ticket, which has three Theme Park days remaining. This ticket expires on December 31, 2030 or 14 days after first use."

So, my question(s): are all older, non-expiration tickets now given an arbitrary expiration date of the end of 2030?

Or has it always been that "non-expiration" tickets always had an actual expiration date of 15 years (or so) after purchase, and I just failed to read the fine print when I bought them?

Or is this something that I need to question Disney about?

Realistically, we will almost certainly use the tickets within a couple of years, it's just the point of the thing - we bought tickets that weren't supposed to expire, and now we're told "Psyche! They actually do expire! Too bad!"

Thanks for any opinions/advice/insults in advance.

 

[hiroMYhero]

I apologize because this may have been discussed before, but my search abilities are apparently poor...

I just wanted to get some thoughts on this.

We bought WDW tickets in 2016, before they started selling tickets with expiration dates. And we still haven't used them - they still have the full complement of days on each of them.

Now when I bought them, I had assumed that, if they didn't have an expiration date, that they will be honored basically forever.

However, I recently submitted a ticket verification request to Disney's Ticket.Usage email, and finally got this reply:

"Ticket number xxx xxx xxx is a 3-Day Magic Your Way Base Ticket, which has three Theme Park days remaining. This ticket expires on December 31, 2030 or 14 days after first use."

So, my question(s): are all older, non-expiration tickets now given an arbitrary expiration date of the end of 2030?

Or has it always been that "non-expiration" tickets always had an actual expiration date of 15 years (or so) after purchase, and I just failed to read the fine print when I bought them?

Or is this something that I need to question Disney about?

Realistically, we will almost certainly use the tickets within a couple of years, it's just the point of the thing - we bought tickets that weren't supposed to expire, and now we're told "Psyche! They actually do expire! Too bad!"

Thanks for any opinions/advice/insults in advance.

Disney stopped selling the “no-expire” tickets in 2013.

Your 2016 tickets not only have an expiration date, after you enter your 1st park your ticket is then only valid for 14 days - you’ll need to use the two remaining park entitlements during that 14-day period.

 

[J-Dog]

Disney stopped selling the “no-expire” tickets in 2013.

Your 2016 tickets not only have an expiration date, after you enter your 1st park your ticket is then only valid for 14 days - you’ll need to use the two remaining park entitlements during that 14-day period:

Thanks for the reply.

I will admit that I probably didn't read the fine print well enough, but I was told that tickets without a printed expiration date on the back didn't expire (I was told this by a rep from Undercover Tourist). Apparently that information was wrong?

So, what did they call the tickets that they sold from 2013-2017 that don't have an expiration date printed on them? "Expire Far In The Future" tickets?

 

[hiroMYhero]

So, what did they call the tickets that they sold from 2013-2017 that don't have an expiration date printed on them? "Expire Far In The Future" tickets?

MYW Base tickets and any other Disney park tickets always retain their value beyond the expiration date. Perhaps the UT ticket person was referring to that.

 

[J-Dog]

MYW Base tickets and any other Disney park tickets always retain their value beyond the expiration date. Perhaps the UT ticket person was referring to that.

Again, I appreciate the info. And I'm sure that you are right.

I just find it odd that tickets bought before 2013 never expired, and now tickets bought today expire in a year, but tickets bought from 2013-2017 expire 14(?) years later. What was the point of that kind of expiration date?

 

[InWonderlandMom]

What was the point of that kind of expiration date?

I'd guess the answer is money. Last year believe it or not, we used 3 tickets with 2 days left on them that my in-laws purchased in the late 1980s. The cost of 4 day park hoppers when they originally bought them would not get you into a park for a single day now. If cheaper tickets are sold with long expiration periods, I'd bet the rate of return may not be in favor of Disney. Also, at some point, you expect the other party to perform on the contract and actually used the bargained for ticket.

 

[hiroMYhero]

What was the point of that kind of expiration date?

Disney realized a person holding an expired ticket would need to pay the price differential for a current-priced ticket.

Same with AP vouchers; those also have 2030 expiration dates. Most people won’t wait that long to activate unless they’ve hoarded a number of them.

 

[jjjones325]

I think the point of the change in 2013 was that you had to use the full allotment of the ticket 14 days after first use. Prior to that you could buy a 10 day ticket and use it for two separate 5 day trips. Limiting the life of the ticket to 14 days forced you to buy two sets of tickets. I think the idea of them expiring in 2030 was just a throwaway notion that they never expected to have to worry about.

With current date based tickets, the expiration date seems even less likely to matter, except for the Flex Tickets.

 

[seashoreCM]

"Standard" (not promotional, not Youth Education Series, not some other obscure tickets not sold at the gates) sold before about 2005 do not expire.

Standard tickets sold between ca 2005 and ca 2013 do not expire unused. Once used most had a 14 day usage lifetime and were then dead, kaput, fuibar. (Some, higher priced, did not expire. This is the kind that allowed, say, one 10 day ticket to be used for two 5 day vacations.)

Standard tickets sold ca. 2014 and ca 2017 "expire" several months later usually December 31 whether or not used but if unused they can be traded in towards new tickets. When used they have a 14 day usage life.

Most standard tickets sold ca 2018 to date have a specific calendar period usage lifetime whether or not used. Their usage lifetime varies depending on how many "days were on" the ticket. If they expire unused they can be traded in towards new tickets. The "flex" version is like the 2014-2017 style ticket.

S

 

[Christinecinti]

We often paid the SIGNIFICANT mark up and bought never expiring tickets, but was worth it cause we would get 3 trips out of it since when DD was little we travelled differently & often times only went to the parks 3 days taking days off in between if we were there for 6 days or so. Those tickets (some I still have) are indeed never expiring BUT when one of them was linked to MDE (which I regret & dont recommend) they say 2030 on there. So I reached out and was assured they indeed never expire and if for some reason not used by 2030 they will extend the date.... not sure if the tickets you bought were never expiring, but wanted to share the info in case anyone else has never expiring tickets that show up as 2030. Should ask Disney if you have any doubts.

Ps- Side note --> the reason I regret linking a non expiring to MDE is because I now have to make sure to prioritize tix every single trip before entering the park because Disney automatically pulls the oldest ticket first if you don't do that. Found out the hard way when my non-expiring ticket was pulled instead of the ticket that came with a vacation package 1 year. Disney was wonderful about tracing it back through since they can see which days you came and fixing everything but talk about stress!!

 

[disneygirlsng]

Many, many people on here have called and been told that the 2030 is just an arbitrary number that has to be entered. That the tickets don't really ever expire.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

I'd guess the answer is money. Last year believe it or not, we used 3 tickets with 2 days left on them that my in-laws purchased in the late 1980s. The cost of 4 day park hoppers when they originally bought them would not get you into a park for a single day now. If cheaper tickets are sold with long expiration periods, I'd bet the rate of return may not be in favor of Disney. Also, at some point, you expect the other party to perform on the contract and actually used the bargained for ticket.

Disney realized a person holding an expired ticket would need to pay the price differential for a current-priced ticket.

Same with AP vouchers; those also have 2030 expiration dates. Most people won’t wait that long to activate unless they’ve hoarded a number of them.

It's more then just that. Unused tickets are a company liability. The problem is that Disney has no good way to track it. This makes accountants very unhappy. There could (for example) be a huge windfall of unused 1980's tickets which everyone suddenly decides they are going to use. This could cut the park profits significantly and Disney has no way to know or predict how much liability they have since they have no way of tracking all those tickets.They also have no way to determine how many of them are breakage (the customer will never use them). They can't judge carryover. It's just a big unknowable "glob".

By adding an expiration date, Disney effectively has a date that they can write those off in the books. I.E. the liability itself can now be reported on and reduced (written off). If Disney decides to honor them after that date, it's not required, but optional and becomes merely a guest compensation action in the books - very different.

Unused gift cards, tickets, air miles, and similar compensation liabilities that have no expiration date have brought companies down (it was one of the factors that contributed to Toys R Us downfall). So it's become a big no-no now.

 

[J-Dog]

We often paid the SIGNIFICANT mark up and bought never expiring tickets, but was worth it cause we would get 3 trips out of it since when DD was little we travelled differently & often times only went to the parks 3 days taking days off in between if we were there for 6 days or so. Those tickets (some I still have) are indeed never expiring BUT when one of them was linked to MDE (which I regret & dont recommend) they say 2030 on there. So I reached out and was assured they indeed never expire and if for some reason not used by 2030 they will extend the date.... not sure if the tickets you bought were never expiring, but wanted to share the info in case anyone else has never expiring tickets that show up as 2030. Should ask Disney if you have any doubts.

Ps- Side note --> the reason I regret linking a non expiring to MDE is because I now have to make sure to prioritize tix every single trip before entering the park because Disney automatically pulls the oldest ticket first if you don't do that. Found out the hard way when my non-expiring ticket was pulled instead of the ticket that came with a vacation package 1 year. Disney was wonderful about tracing it back through since they can see which days you came and fixing everything but talk about stress!!

Many, many people on here have called and been told that the 2030 is just an arbitrary number that has to be entered. That the tickets don't really ever expire.

Thanks for the info! This makes more sense to me, because an expiration date of December 31, 2030 seems like such an arbitrary number that there's no reason for that expiration date. And I was originally told that the tickets didn't expire.

I will try to call Disney and ask someone specifically and see if they say the same thing.

 

[Robo]

Unused gift cards, tickets, air miles, and similar compensation liabilities that have no expiration date have brought companies down (it was one of the factors that contributed to Toys R Us downfall). So it's become a big no-no now.

The percentage difference of "new" income vs "old" gift cards between a vital, growing company like Disney and a last-breath dinosaur of retail like Toy-R-Us is huge.

Also, the differences between a business largely based on selling "retail goods" (which require massive new inventory every 3-12 months (and "old" inventory becoming nearly unsellable) with thousands of simultaneously operating locations...
and a theme park/entertainment business with just 4 venues that will already be open and operating every day anyway, whether there are a certain number of "old ticket" users in the mix,
render most comparisons moot.

 

[georgina]

Ps- Side note --> the reason I regret linking a non expiring to MDE is because I now have to make sure to prioritize tix every single trip before entering the park because Disney automatically pulls the oldest ticket first if you don't do that. Found out the hard way when my non-expiring ticket was pulled instead of the ticket that came with a vacation package 1 year. Disney was wonderful about tracing it back through since they can see which days you came and fixing everything but talk about stress!!

If it has not been used, you can reassign it to a dummy profile until you are ready to use it. I have some partially used 10 day NE and have sometimes used other tickets, which always warrants a visit to guest services or ticket booth prior to park entry!