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

[ML_LovesDisney]

Just be sure to keep a record of the ticket numbers or confirmation number from when you bought them and/or the receipt. Apparently when the November dates pass without your using them, they'll disappear from your MDE. The MDE CMs are supposed to be able to see them, but it's helpful if you can give them some kind of number for them to look it up.

Thank you both!

 

[kniquy]

We have tickets for 2 people in our party who are not able to travel with us this April trip. The tickets were originally bought to be used July 2020 and were given an extended expiration of Sept 2021. I don't believe the 2 people will be able to use the tickets before then and we don't have plans on returning until 2022 or possibly 2023.

What are my options for those tickets?


I'm guessing the value will still be there, but would i be able to use that value to purchase new tickets (via calling) ahead of our trip in? (these were purchased from UT) or would i have to wait until I am onsite to use the value of those tickets.

With the need to pre-plan park days with park reservations waiting until we are onsite might not be in our best interest.

 

[lanejudy]

I'm guessing the value will still be there, but would i be able to use that value to purchase new tickets (via calling) ahead of our trip in? (these were purchased from UT) or would i have to wait until I am onsite to use the value of those tickets.

Yes, you would have the value to apply towards new tickets, and yes you should be able to do that by phone when ready to plan your next visit so you can make park reservations in advance.

 

[spiderann]

I haven’t been in a couple years so I just want to make sure i fully understand the newer multi-day ticket pricing and usage deadlines. Let’s say I was going to WDW parks on a saturday-Monday. I would select Saturday to be my first day of usage for my three day ticket and have until Wednesday to use it. However based on the pricing, it would be cheaper (somewhat nominally) to select say Thursday as my first start day and I would have until that Monday to use the ticket. Is this a minor money saving “hack” that is acceptable and will not cause issues for me while at WDW? (I’ve tried googling and searching this message boards but can’t seem to find a clear answer.) It seems to me it would be fine.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I would recommend reading the posts on page 1 of this thread as it has a lot of great information. I believe your scenario is covered in posts 2 and 3.

From what I read I believe your scenario to purchase starting on Thursday is correct.

 

[spiderann]

I would recommend reading the posts on page 1 of this thread as it has a lot of great information. I believe your scenario is covered in posts 2 and 3.

From what I read I believe your scenario to purchase starting on Thursday is correct.

Thanks. I feel pretty stupid. I think when I was reading the first page I scrolled right by what I was looking for!

 

[scrappinginontario]

Thanks. I feel pretty stupid. I think when I was reading the first page I scrolled right by what I was looking for!

Not a problem! We've all done that. Just wanted to be sure you saw it and could decide for yourself to ensure you didn't run into trouble should your plans change and you want to go to the parks after your 5 day window.

 

[JohnneeO]

These prices are set in advance and will not fluctuate like airline prices. Basically, certain days are more or less expensive based on the perceived demand.

I am looking at tickets for a trip that covers late August/early September (first WDW trip since 2017). A couple of weeks ago I checked ticket prices for specific dates, and made some notes. At the time, I determined that buying directly from WDW using discounted GC's from Target was slightly cheaper than buying from UCT. I also verified this again about a week ago.

Then today I looked again at the prices for our dates, and the I swear that the WDW direct price has increased slightly. This is annoying b/c now I am not sure if I am fully understanding these tickets or not. The dollar amounts are small when considered in terms of what we are spending on this trip (about a $36 swing total), but of course I don't want to overpay unnecessarily.

I could have even made a mistake earlier in the process. who knows?

My main concern is determining if, despite assurances to the contrary, WDW is actually tweaking ticket prices or not.

 

[Mrs~Incredible]

I am looking at tickets for a trip that covers late August/early September (first WDW trip since 2017). A couple of weeks ago I checked ticket prices for specific dates, and made some notes. At the time, I determined that buying directly from WDW using discounted GC's from Target was slightly cheaper than buying from UCT. I also verified this again about a week ago.

Then today I looked again at the prices for our dates, and the I swear that the WDW direct price has increased slightly. This is annoying b/c now I am not sure if I am fully understanding these tickets or not. The dollar amounts are small when considered in terms of what we are spending on this trip (about a $36 swing total), but of course I don't want to overpay unnecessarily.

I could have even made a mistake earlier in the process. who knows?

My main concern is determining if, despite assurances to the contrary, WDW is actually tweaking ticket prices or not.

It’s possible…. but do you know if you calculated tax before? That can be a big difference maker.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I am looking at tickets for a trip that covers late August/early September (first WDW trip since 2017). A couple of weeks ago I checked ticket prices for specific dates, and made some notes. At the time, I determined that buying directly from WDW using discounted GC's from Target was slightly cheaper than buying from UCT. I also verified this again about a week ago.

Then today I looked again at the prices for our dates, and the I swear that the WDW direct price has increased slightly. This is annoying b/c now I am not sure if I am fully understanding these tickets or not. The dollar amounts are small when considered in terms of what we are spending on this trip (about a $36 swing total), but of course I don't want to overpay unnecessarily.

I could have even made a mistake earlier in the process. who knows?

My main concern is determining if, despite assurances to the contrary, WDW is actually tweaking ticket prices or not.

It's February and historically Disney does a ticket price increase sometime in mid-February. It's quite possible that happened. Have all days increased or only some?

 

[CarolynFH]

I am looking at tickets for a trip that covers late August/early September (first WDW trip since 2017). A couple of weeks ago I checked ticket prices for specific dates, and made some notes. At the time, I determined that buying directly from WDW using discounted GC's from Target was slightly cheaper than buying from UCT. I also verified this again about a week ago.

Then today I looked again at the prices for our dates, and the I swear that the WDW direct price has increased slightly. This is annoying b/c now I am not sure if I am fully understanding these tickets or not. The dollar amounts are small when considered in terms of what we are spending on this trip (about a $36 swing total), but of course I don't want to overpay unnecessarily.

I could have even made a mistake earlier in the process. who knows?

My main concern is determining if, despite assurances to the contrary, WDW is actually tweaking ticket prices or not.

Before the advent of date-based tickets, Disney would announce general ticket price increases, and recently there have been posts wondering whether an increase was imminent. I have long contended that Disney could increase ticket prices little by little, on some dates here, other dates there, without announcing an overall increase. If the increase you're reporting is not due to including or not including sales tax (it's easy to miss it, the way Disney shows prices), it's entirely possible that you've confirmed my contention.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I just priced out the Aug 2022 trip I booked on Feb 5th and the price is 100% the same as it was then.

What I believe the original post was indicating when it said, 'These prices are set in advance and will not fluctuate like airline prices.' is that they won't go up one day and down the next. Ticket prices will change as Disney changes them but as far as I know they will only increase, never decrease. The day you're ready to book is the least you will ever find them.

 

[JohnneeO]

Thanks for all the replies.

So the banner on UCT now shows, "lock in old ticker prices before they're gone", and with at least one on of my Disney FB groups reporting significant ticket price increases, I checked on the WDW site for updated ticket prices, expecting to see substantially higher ticket prices for our dates. But they are the same as when I posted two days ago.

So I think that I saw the actual price increase, but the difference was just so marginal for our dates/length of ticket, that it seemed like a rounding error; $38 on over $2K worth of tickets. In any case, by pivoting back to UCT and finally getting the Mouse Savers link to work, I am paying only $16 more than what I would have paid if I had just bought the tickets when I first priced them out.

 

[RyMickey]

I looked on the first page, but admittedly did not read through this whole thread so I’m sure this has been answered before, but what happens if you purchase tickets for a specific series of dates and then need to cancel your trip?

Can you utilize those tickets for another set of dates (obviously paying the increase in cost if it’s more money)?

Can you do this change over the phone so you can book park reservations before you arrive at the parks?

 

[lanejudy]

what happens if you purchase tickets for a specific series of dates and then need to cancel your trip?

Yes, you can change the tickets to new dates. If prior to the original expiration date, you should be able to make the change yourself in MDE. Once the original expiration date passes, you’ll need to call to make that change. Keep a note of the original value and ticket numbers if you won’t be rescheduling until later because the tickets will disappear from your view, but WDW can see them for the credit. If your new dates cost more, and/or there has been a ticket increase in the meantime, you will need to pay extra. I don’t believe there is a refund if the new dates cost less.

 

[RyMickey]

Thanks for the info LaneJudy!