Flex Pass Superthread: Disneyland Resort Introduces New Annual Passport that Combines Value and Flexibility

[Aurora0427]

Our district’s elementary schools have a minimum day that Friday, but the older kids will be in school all day. I’m guessing the following Friday will be more crazy as we’ll have no school due to parent teacher conferences, and the holiday season officially starts at DLR!

We may go! I mean, it can’t be as bad as Columbus Day. Ha. And yes, next Friday may be crazy!

 

[GlowTheWeird]

I live by touring plans Disneyland crowd calendar. With how much we love Disney, I pay the 12 or 15 dollars a year to avoid going on a high level crowd. November 3rd doesn’t look so bad. 4/10 level crowds for that day.

 

[gillep]

I'm happy to pick the pass up another time, if I won't have trouble upgrading in the app. Has anyone done it that way?

My husband upgraded his 5 day hopper in the app and my friend upgraded her 3 day hopper with MP in the app and we had no issues upgrading. It took my husband about 4 minutes at the booth because they had to change his expiration date and my friend less than a minute because she did not have to change hers.

 

[twodogs]

We just upgraded today. We had 4 day PHs with MP purchased from UCT. No issues at all using the UCT tickets. We went to the Halloween party last night, so wanted to wait until that was over before upgrading, and I thought based on some reports here that later at night, the tickets windows would be slow. Last night we went out after 10pm, and there were long lines at the ticket windows. The app said “upgrade your ticket” but when I clicked it, it would not apply my current ticket. When I clicked my ticket, it said it might be eligible for upgrade but I had to visit the window to do it (I know in June when we went, I bough PHs with MP directly from Disney, and I was able to upgrade in the app and it did apply my ticket costs, but we decided not to upgrade at that time...). So I went back to the booths at 7am this morning. No lines. Still took about 40 minutes, and we were not doing a payment plan. They would not give me my DHs or DDs without them being physically present at the window, so I had to wake my child up after the party night to do this. Not what I was hoping for, but we had a flight to catch today to go home, so it had to be done. Could not do it earlier in the trip because the days were reservation only and were booked up for at least one park (we did Friday-Monday, and only Monday was good to go).

There was a lot of writing, getting a supervisor, printer malfunctioning, printing on wrong side of plastic pass, etc. And this lady said she had worked there for decades and is a trainer for GS. She did change our expiration date from one year from today to one year from day of first use of the tickets we were upgrading, which I expected. We did get gate value for our UCT tickets, so that saved about $90 between the 3 of us. Definitely took a very long time.

 

[twodogs]

So the bottom line is you won’t be able to tell if you can upgrade in the app until you actually get there and use the ticket, and even then, you will eventually have to pick up the plastic passes at GS, and this may take longer than you expect. YMMV and I hope it is faster than mine!!

 

[Jaina]

So the bottom line is you won’t be able to tell if you can upgrade in the app until you actually get there and use the ticket, and even then, you will eventually have to pick up the plastic passes at GS, and this may take longer than you expect. YMMV and I hope it is faster than mine!!

Thanks for that report! The only thing I'm worried about is going out and upgrading but not being able to get back in to rejoin my party... I'm wondering if I should call Disney and see if I can upgrade my unused ticket now, and pick the 16th for a reservation. Is that a thing? But what if randomly between the upgrade and when I went in to make a reservation that day, it became unavailable??

 

[EmJ]

Thanks for that report! The only thing I'm worried about is going out and upgrading but not being able to get back in to rejoin my party... I'm wondering if I should call Disney and see if I can upgrade my unused ticket now, and pick the 16th for a reservation. Is that a thing? But what if randomly between the upgrade and when I went in to make a reservation that day, it became unavailable??

Personally, I’d wait to upgrade until the end of your trip, or at least until the end of all the reservation days of your trip. 10% isn’t that impressive of a discount. The $20 I would save per day on food and merchandise isn’t worth the stress of wondering if I’ll be able to go in at all (or have to buy another one day ticket).

 

[Jaina]

Thanks for that report! The only thing I'm worried about is going out and upgrading but not being able to get back in to rejoin my party... I'm wondering if I should call Disney and see if I can upgrade my unused ticket now, and pick the 16th for a reservation. Is that a thing? But what if randomly between the upgrade and when I went in to make a reservation that day, it became unavailable??

So I talked to CS on the app chat, and basically my only option (if I want to be sure to go that day, and without physically going to the property) is to upgrade towards the end of that day, either by the app, or if it doesn't work, go out to the ticket booth. Either way, as soon as I upgrade, my ticket/pass won't work anymore for maxpass or for re-entry. It seems like there should be an override for this. I contacted CS through e-mail about it, but I don't expect a good solution by my trip. Maybe they can make it easier for people in the future though.

 

[MonocularVision]

It’s a bummer since this wasn’t (isn’t?) a problem with other AP types. They have always allowed you back in on a blockout day for the AP when you upgraded.

 

[Jaina]

It’s a bummer since this wasn’t (isn’t?) a problem with other AP types. They have always allowed you back in on a blockout day for the AP when you upgraded.

Right? If I wasn't a member of these boards, I would have had no idea, and would have been a sad puppy. My plan would have been to go out mid day and upgrade while someone sat and waited in our spot for the parade or something. :-( I'm hoping to get some good news from the contact e-mail, but not actually expecting anything different.

 

[twodogs]

Right? If I wasn't a member of these boards, I would have had no idea, and would have been a sad puppy. My plan would have been to go out mid day and upgrade while someone sat and waited in our spot for the parade or something. :-( I'm hoping to get some good news from the contact e-mail, but not actually expecting anything different.

When we did the upgrade yesterday, they literally took our paper tickets that we were upgrading and wrote all over them with a sharpie (the dates we used the tickets, the price we "paid" (actually the full gate price with MP, not the UCT price with MP that I really paid), the price it was for the FlexPass we were buying with MP, our date of birth and VOID. Then she kept the physical tickets. Since it was a good to go day for both parks yesterday, we did not discuss our options for a one day ticket for free if we could not get a reservation that day. That is exactly why we waited until the last day of our trip, which was a good to go, to upgrade. I would not count on them giving you a one day ticket to use if you upgrade during that day. And even if they do, I don't know if they would add MP. Others have reported that you WILL have to try to book an immediate reservation for that day if you want to re-enter the parks after the upgrade. And one person said the app was glitching, and there were reservations available for that day, but it would not let her book one, so she could not enter the parks again. UGH why is this so hard???

I would plan to upgrade at the end of the night, when you are all done in the parks. Then be prepared to wait, since there are apparently only a very few booths open late at night, and there may be long lines. And even a short line becomes a long one if each person's visit to the window takes 40 minutes like mine did. I felt horrible for all the people in the lines behind me which grew very quickly after about 7:15am. And remember you must upgrade before the end of the day of the ticket you want to use for the upgrade, so you can't wait until the next day. So frustrating and I hope it all works out for you and you aren't up until all hours that night!!

 

[TraceyDisney2008]

Is there a guest service desk somewhere inside disneyland or California Adventure that you can upgrade your ticket?

 

[kristensideaoffun]

So I talked to CS on the app chat, and basically my only option (if I want to be sure to go that day, and without physically going to the property) is to upgrade towards the end of that day, either by the app, or if it doesn't work, go out to the ticket booth. Either way, as soon as I upgrade, my ticket/pass won't work anymore for maxpass or for re-entry. It seems like there should be an override for this. I contacted CS through e-mail about it, but I don't expect a good solution by my trip. Maybe they can make it easier for people in the future though.

There is a possibility you might get a different answer if you email. It’s not uncommon for people to receive different answers to the same questions from different CMs. Did you purchase your ticket directly from Disney? If so, you shouldn’t have any issues upgrading in the app.The majority of people that have had issues upgrading in the app purchased through a 3rd party. Are you planning on getting Maxpass on your AP? If so, your Maxpass will remain valid. I upgraded from a 1-day park hopper with MP to a Flex Pass with MP, and my Maxpass remained valid... Even when I was stuck outside the parks without a reservation for a bit. All of my MPs were still there when I did finally get back in.

Don’t stress out it too much. You’re going to have a great day in the parks and come home with an AP. The process by which you received it won’t matter as much once you have it.

 

[socaldisneylover]

Is there a guest service desk somewhere inside disneyland or California Adventure that you can upgrade your ticket?

Once upon a time. But not for the past few years.

 

[Jaina]

There is a possibility you might get a different answer if you email. It’s not uncommon for people to receive different answers to the same questions from different CMs. Did you purchase your ticket directly from Disney? If so, you shouldn’t have any issues upgrading in the app.The majority of people that have had issues upgrading in the app purchased through a 3rd party. Are you planning on getting Maxpass on your AP? If so, your Maxpass will remain valid. I upgraded from a 1-day park hopper with MP to a Flex Pass with MP, and my Maxpass remained valid... Even when I was stuck outside the parks without a reservation for a bit. All of my MPs were still there when I did finally get back in.

Don’t stress out it too much. You’re going to have a great day in the parks and come home with an AP. The process by which you received it won’t matter as much once you have it.

Aw, thanks for this! I think I'm going to get Maxpass on my Flex Pass too. And knowing that I -should- be able to upgrade in the app is helpful (yes, I bought them through Disney and can already see my ticket in my app) as long as I know I need to leave time to visit the ticket booth if needed. :-/ I guess there's always the possibility that there are still reservations available first thing that morning when we scan in due to last minute cancellations, but I'm not betting on that either! They e-mailed me back and basically said I'd have to talk to a cast member on the phone. So if I can get a peaceful moment (not easy with 5 young kids and guiding a school class most mornings), I guess I'll do that.

 

[pharmama]

Aw, thanks for this! I think I'm going to get Maxpass on my Flex Pass too. And knowing that I -should- be able to upgrade in the app is helpful (yes, I bought them through Disney and can already see my ticket in my app) as long as I know I need to leave time to visit the ticket booth if needed. :-/ I guess there's always the possibility that there are still reservations available first thing that morning when we scan in due to last minute cancellations, but I'm not betting on that either! They e-mailed me back and basically said I'd have to talk to a cast member on the phone. So if I can get a peaceful moment (not easy with 5 young kids and guiding a school class most mornings), I guess I'll do that.

Honestly I wouldn't bother calling. Whatever answer you get is by no means a guarantee and as mentioned above answers often seem to vary from CM to CM (annoyingly). Really the only answer that "matters" is the one you get in the moment at the ticket booth if you go there. Sorry!

 

[MinnieMama09]

Just got back from a great trip this past weekend, first time using our Flex pass! Thank you so much for all the advice...went to the ticket booth Friday night after 9pm and there was no line to get our actual plastic passes so we could use them first thing Saturday morning. Ended up getting MaxPass both Saturday and Sunday...best decision ever...it’s going to be tempting to add that on for the rest of the year!

We also decided we want to come back for Christmas season Dec.13-15...I know it’s hard to predict but how hard do you think it’ll be to get reservations 30 days out for both parks? Fingers crossed!!

 

[pharmama]

We also decided we want to come back for Christmas season Dec.13-15...I know it’s hard to predict but how hard do you think it’ll be to get reservations 30 days out for both parks? Fingers crossed!!

I'm looking at that weekend too since it includes my birthday. I don't think we know yet but that is the last weekend before the full Christmas blockout hits so I'm guessing its going to be pretty high demand. Hope I can get DD a reservation! Veterans Day weekend is still showing no reservations available for Fri/Sat/Sun for both parks so it does look like Flex bookings are picking up in general, especially for the holiday seasons (as we saw some October weekends fill up too, though this weekend was unavailable and is now available again). We'll have to see how the rest of the holiday season goes.

 

[Self-Rescuing Princess]

CA is unblocked right now for Veteran's day. Disneyland says it's open Friday. It changes dailyy it seems.

 

[kristensideaoffun]

I'm looking at that weekend too since it includes my birthday. I don't think we know yet but that is the last weekend before the full Christmas blockout hits so I'm guessing its going to be pretty high demand. Hope I can get DD a reservation! Veterans Day weekend is still showing no reservations available for Fri/Sat/Sun for both parks so it does look like Flex bookings are picking up in general, especially for the holiday seasons (as we saw some October weekends fill up too, though this weekend was unavailable and is now available again). We'll have to see how the rest of the holiday season goes.

For Fri of Veteran’s Day weekend, Friday has reservations for DL available and DCA is a “good-to-go” day. All you need to do is reserve DL for Fri to get into both parks. And DCA is still open that weekend for reservations. I was able to get a reservation for Saturday a few days after the reservation window opened. I think we will see Veteran’s Day weekend open and close for reservations as it gets closer, and the same will go for the holiday weekends in December.