Walt Disney World Date Based Ticket System FAQ • Read First Page

[QueenElinor]

Yes through MDE but no, no changes to the ticket

Thanks! What changes did you make? Can you clarify a little what you did?

(I know someone around here altered an old ticket but now I can't find the post. The one I'm thinking of, the person added a day or so to an old ticket and they did it today).

 

[AngiTN]

My comment primarily referred to @AngiTN 's post regarding having actually made changes to an old ticket today, and they went through just fine without increasing the price of the old ticket. So perhaps @tinka-belle got the wrong info. At any rate, there appears to be a conflict here.

Whatever the CM told me is largely irrelevant at this point, except to highlight the fact that I'm interested in the answer to this question.

You misunderstand my point of my post. I confirmed info from the TA podcast
Specifically the blow bolded part applied to my case
Package booked prior to 10/16, added ground trans
I confirmed that Ticket pricing was not changed
So no conflict

For those with packages already under deposit before 10/16/18:

Ticket pricing WILL change if:
changing from rack rate to a promo rate or from one promo to another
changing a room only reservation to a package will get the current ticket pricing, not the pricing at the time the room was reserved
re-instating a package that has cancelled will have current ticket pricing
changing ticket length or ticket type wull have the current ticket pricing

Ticket pricing will NOT change if:
changing a resort or room type
changing travel dates or # in your party though your resort price might change
adding or deleting or changing a dining plan
adding Memory Maker, ground transportation, trip insurance, or any other package add ons

Of course this assumes that the CM is fully versed in the new system, I can see most of these being referred to the Guest Services desk.

 

[AngiTN]

Thanks! What changes did you make? Can you clarify a little what you did?

(I know someone around here altered an old ticket but now I can't find the post. The one I'm thinking of, the person added a day or so to an old ticket and they did it today).

Added ground trans and a day to the resort stay

 

[mshanson3121]

I bought my parents 4-day non-hopper tickets at the beginning of the year (before the Feb price change) for $713.90 (from UT).
Buying those tickets for the same time range (Nov. 11 - 16) of our trip (just in a month) would be: $847.58.

That is a significant increase in less than a year. $133 more -- 18% increase.

When we went in 2015 (bought our tickets in Dec '14), we paid $1200 US for 5 day tickets for 2 adults, 2 children for a June trip. Today that would cost us $1766. That's a 47% increase in 4 years.

 

[QueenElinor]

Added ground trans and a day to the resort stay

Thanks! That was my problem. I have more days than I need booked at the resort because I'm not sure when my son will be out of school. I was hoping to be able to change the number of days for the room reservation without getting hit with higher ticket prices since the package is already reserved. I was also thinking about adding days on the ticket but don't really need to if I can change the room without penalty.

 

[AngiTN]

Thanks! That was my problem. I have more days than I need booked at the resort because I'm not sure when my son will be out of school. I was hoping to be able to change the number of days for the room reservation without getting hit with higher ticket prices since the package is already reserved. I was also thinking about adding days on the ticket but don't really need to if I can change the room without penalty.

The same limitation as always will apply, a couple years ago they made a change to the way you alter reservations
There has to be an entirely new reservation available for your dates. It's not as simple as dropping/adding a day(s)
So, for example
You have a 5 day stay right now.
You want a 4 day stay.
Internally, Disney has to have a 4 day stay already available in order for you to change, even though you have the 4 days needed booked, and your reservation # is unchanged. It's convoluted. It's possible to call and get GS involved when you just need to drop days from a reservation.

Works similar to add days. If you have a 4 day reservation and want to add 1 day to make it 5. You'd think they'd just need to have a single day available to add the 5th day but no Disney has to have a 2nd 4 day reservation available, plus room to add the 5th day.

Makes it much harder to alter reservations. The only easy part is, because you are changing an existing reservation, it won't change your tickets just to add/take away days at the resort.

 

[QueenElinor]

The same limitation as always will apply, a couple years ago they made a change to the way you alter reservations
There has to be an entirely new reservation available for your dates. It's not as simple as dropping/adding a day(s)
So, for example
You have a 5 day stay right now.
You want a 4 day stay.
Internally, Disney has to have a 4 day stay already available in order for you to change, even though you have the 4 days needed booked, and your reservation # is unchanged. It's convoluted. It's possible to call and get GS involved when you just need to drop days from a reservation.

Works similar to add days. If you have a 4 day reservation and want to add 1 day to make it 5. You'd think they'd just need to have a single day available to add the 5th day but no Disney has to have a 2nd 4 day reservation available, plus room to add the 5th day.

Makes it much harder to alter reservations. The only easy part is, because you are changing an existing reservation, it won't change your tickets just to add/take away days at the resort.

Thanks- that's very helpful information. I wish I could get it ironed out in advance, but the start date could be off by several days, so I can't just guess, and I won't know until a couple of months ahead of time. Maybe I should just hold a second reservation that is a little shorter than the first.

 

[AngiTN]

Thanks- that's very helpful information. I wish I could get it ironed out in advance, but the start date could be off by several days, so I can't just guess, and I won't know until a couple of months ahead of time. Maybe I should just make a second reservation.

When I'm at a loss on exactly what we'll want (usually because of unknown flights) I do just that. As long as I'm not tying up too much money to do it

 

[nicsmom101]

I got the confirmation email from them right after I purchased. It still says my order is "processing" when I log into my UCT account. The credit card charge did go through as well as a $2.93 authorization charge. I found online where it says it could take 24 hours, but looks like I'll be calling tomorrow morning

When I purchased from UT last week there was an extra security step. I had to look at my charge card account, note the amount of that authorization charge and provide that amount back to them (UT) before they released my tickets (and that charge is dropped/not put thru for payment). Then, I got the # to enter into MDE to add/link my tickets.

It sounds like maybe you are stuck at this verification step?

 

[cruiser21]

Right now, 7-day park hoppers for our dates in June are $3,297 on WDW.com, $2,819 on UT.com. $478 is nothing to sneeze at, for me at least.

Tickets have always been cheaper on UT that is nothing new.

 

[bryanb]

Is this price difference really going to affect crowds? The biggest benefit from going in non peak times is lower resort prices. This just seams like a waste of time.

Of course not. It’s about squeezing a few extra dollars out of everyone who travels in peak time.

I have a slightly different interpretation. Some of us have flexible vacation schedules and no kids to pull out of school. I can go to WDW almost anytime my boss approves, so when the ticket is $112 per day, that signals to me it's less crowded than a period when the average is $124. I will avoid the $124 day ticket, because aside from the extra cost, that's a signal to me that it's much more crowded. So then Disney will have successfully moved someone off the more expensive date to the cheaper date. Of course, if enough people are flexible like me, it will backfire. I'll be more miserable on a cheap day with all my fellow cheap guests, and the $124-paying guest will benefit from others leaving that date.

Yeah interestingly enough they got rid of the MK only tickets and now all parks are the same.

About time. With Galaxy's Edge opening and Toy Story at DHS, plus Pandora at AK, MK is no longer the only park with high demand. Woo hoo.

 

[bryanb]

I have a question. You don't actually have to use the ticket on the first day that you picked right? We will fly into Orlando 4/12 to 4/15, and we want 4 park hopper days. I have two choices:

1. I choose 4/12 as my first day. The price calendar says the price is $127 days x 4 days = $505.08 per ticket. My tickets are valid from any four days from 4/12 to 4/18.

2. OR I choose 4/9 as my first day instead. The price calendar says the price is $121 x 4 days = $483.48 per ticket. My tickets are valid from any four days from 4/9 to 4/15.

Either of these options will give admission 4/12-4/15, right? There's really no advantage to pay more for option 1 unless I need greater flexibility... so I should pick the cheapest ticket that includes the dates I need.

Is there anything wrong with my logic or that violates the legal print?

 

[hiroMYhero]

Is there anything wrong with my logic or that violates the legal print?

Perfectly fine. Disney doesn’t dictate the day you can actually enter a park within your “range” of validity.

Choosing the least expensive range was the initial strategy presented in the other ticket thread.

 

[cfw213]

I didn't see this in the FAQ but didn't read the rest of the thread, my apologies if this has already been asked.

Do we know anything about upgrading an old ticket to an AP? I have a 4 day ticket that's 5+ years old - can't remember if it's a hopper or not. I want to upgrade it to a gold AP - we are DVC. Should I have any issues doing that?

Also, do we know anything about price bridging from UT? Or should I just skip the hassle and buy my daughter's AP right from Disney?

 

[Robo]

I didn't see this in the FAQ but didn't read the rest of the thread, my apologies if this has already been asked.

Do we know anything about upgrading an old ticket to an AP? I have a 4 day ticket that's 5+ years old - can't remember if it's a hopper or not. I want to upgrade it to a gold AP - we are DVC. Should I have any issues doing that?

Also, do we know anything about price bridging from UT? Or should I just skip the hassle and buy my daughter's AP right from Disney?

I can tell you that I have gotten no info that anything was CHANGED in upgrade procedure.

So...

Go to the Cost to UPGRADE Tickets instructions HERE.

Find YOUR kind of ticket and its issue date, and look up its value.

Subtract that value from the value of the current AP you want.

That would be the upgrade cost.

 

[mousestruck]

I didn't see this in the FAQ but didn't read the rest of the thread, my apologies if this has already been asked.

Do we know anything about upgrading an old ticket to an AP? I have a 4 day ticket that's 5+ years old - can't remember if it's a hopper or not. I want to upgrade it to a gold AP - we are DVC. Should I have any issues doing that?

Also, do we know anything about price bridging from UT? Or should I just skip the hassle and buy my daughter's AP right from Disney?

This is on my mind as well and has kept me from pulling the trigger on UT tickets, since there is a good chance I’d want to upgrade them to an AP next year. Disney sometimes changes policies without warning and I’d hate to be stuck with a ticket I can’t upgrade.

 

[ArwenMarie]

The Flex "option" is variable-priced, but the Flex "ticket" is not variably priced. If you look closely, the Flex option fee just changes by whatever dates you chose, to bring the final total up to the same amount. These constant prices are also typical integer amounts (for instance, 4 Day Base Flex ticket lands at $445.00 before tax, regardless of what dates you initially choose on the calendar).

Essentially, a Flex ticket is a direct replacement for the current MYW ticket, but it doesn't come across that way because the Flex is added in on the back-end of the process. In a lot of ways, I think it would have been infinitely easier to show the Flex ticket up front as first option. For some people, this would also give them the "illusion" that they are saving money by then opting to chooe specific dates instead. For others (including yours truly), it would have the negative effect of showing much more clearly how much the prices really went up today for "yesterdays" product.

It’s very interesting how they chose to set it up, I agree.

I priced a 6 day non-hopper. It was $405 before, now the same ticket is $475, which is a 17% jump in price. Not insignificant!

So I agree that by setting it up the way they did they’ve changed the narrative in a sense. Gotta hand it to them

 

[Cinderumbrella]

I have a slightly different interpretation. Some of us have flexible vacation schedules and no kids to pull out of school. I can go to WDW almost anytime my boss approves, so when the ticket is $112 per day, that signals to me it's less crowded than a period when the average is $124. I will avoid the $124 day ticket, because aside from the extra cost, that's a signal to me that it's much more crowded. So then Disney will have successfully moved someone off the more expensive date to the cheaper date. Of course, if enough people are flexible like me, it will backfire. I'll be more miserable on a cheap day with all my fellow cheap guests, and the $124-paying guest will benefit from others leaving that date.

They already do this with their hotel rooms. The more expensive the room, the more crowded it’s going to be.

While some people will research enough to notice that an August trip is cheaper than mid June, for example, the vast majority won’t. Just because it’s “normal” to research the best possible deal on the DIS doesn’t mean that everyone in the park with you on any given day did the same. Some people just pick their vacation dates and pay whatever they are told without researching anything further.

 

[scrappinginontario]

But it should be. It should be nothing more than a cut and paste of the text from to the other, so they are consistent no matter what system you use. Instead, more than likely, one person wrote the site for Firefox and someone else wrote it for Safari. I'm sure overall it's a mess of a job but text used on the website should be the easiest part of all

Trust me, every developer wishes it were only that easy!!! IT is an extremely complex and difficult world that even though I've worked in it fulltime for more than 20 years, still baffles me on a daily basis!! Each browser has it's own set of intricacies in it then add to that the sheer numbers of versions and upgrades that are made, it's mind boggling!!! I do not envy Disney IT with a change this large and complex!

 

[cfw213]

I can tell you that I have gotten no info that anything was CHANGED in upgrade procedure.

So...

Go to the Cost to UPGRADE Tickets instructions HERE.

Find YOUR kind of ticket and its issue date, and look up its value.

Subtract that value from the value of the current AP you want.

That would be the upgrade cost.

Thank you!