So I have a vacation package beginning Wednesday. I'm getting there Tuesday and have a room only for one night.

I think I remember hearing that I can pick up my tickets early, but where can I do that?
 
So I have a vacation package beginning Wednesday. I'm getting there Tuesday and have a room only for one night.

I think I remember hearing that I can pick up my tickets early, but where can I do that?
Yup.
Take your photo ID to any Guest Relations.
Outside any park gate or at the Disney Springs Welcome Center.
 
I just wanted to pop in and share an experience we had with bridging UT tickets to DVC AP renewals today, at DHS Guest Relations.

These tickets were seven day hoppers purchased pre-February price increase. I was quoted a value of $411 for each to be put towards the renewal, which I knew from this awesome thread was quite wrong (and, in fact, a few dollars less than we had paid to UT for them). When I questioned this, the CM offered to have his supervisor come out and explain it to me, as she had actually been the one to do the whole transaction (he hadn’t been sure and had gone to the back for help with the process). She told me that their system recognized that we bought discounted tickets and that the system would simply not allow them to assign a higher value. She said that when they used the Quick Upgrade function, it assigned an even lower value, so she had manually forced the system to assign the highest possible value for this type of ticket (group rate, discounted).

My question, then, is this- are these tickets really coded differently in the system and some CMs know how to override that assignation, or more specifically, where did my upgrade transaction go wrong? We’ve used bridging every year to accomplish renewals, so I was very surprised at the outcome this time.
 


My question, then, is this- are these tickets really coded differently in the system and some CMs know how to override that assignation, or more specifically, where did my upgrade transaction go wrong? We’ve used bridging every year to accomplish renewals, so I was very surprised at the outcome this time.

Tickets are always "coded" when they are created and sold by Disney to the resellers.
Nothing unique about that.
Why the CMs you happened upon could not (or would not) do the correct bridging procedure,
we have no way of knowing.

If you went ahead and accepted the bad price, you should be able to get it corrected by going to another
Guest Relations and asking for a refund on the over-charge. (Your transaction will be a part of your file.)

If you did not accept the bad price, you should be able to get the correct price by going to another
Guest Relations and asking for an upgrade there.

Please post back with your results.
 
I had a bit of an odd experience upgrading a 5 Day Park Hopper bought discounted via Orbitz before the last price increase to the current DVC Platinum Plus AP at AK last week.

I was traveling with my parents and we all planned to upgrade. I was not sure how long it would take so on our arrival day I sent them on their way and stopped in by myself to the ticket upgrade booth located at the corner of Hollywood and Sunset Blvds to upgrade just my ticket. The CM working there first quoted me a price that was about $125 more than I expected to pay and then she turned her screen and showed what I originally paid for the ticket on the screen and said she was quoting me the difference between that and the price of the DVC AP. I said "Oh, I thought the ticket price was supposed to be bridged?" She immediately apologized, said I was correct and that she was tired at the end of a long day. She recalculated everything and quoted me a price that was actually about $50 LESS than I was expecting. She kept apologizing for not bridging right away and I told her I completely understood and thanked her for making the correction.

This booth was closed by the time I was able to stop by later with my parents so we stopped into Guest Relations at Animal Kingdom the next day to take care of their upgrades (and also take care of the fact that my dad had mistakenly taken my mom's second Magic Band that morning and somehow managed to get into the park using it despite the fact that she was also entering the park at the same time - the CM said he had never seen that happen before - 2 days had been deducted from her ticket!). Anyway, the AK CM quoted us the same price the CM at DHS had quoted me originally, about $125 more than expected. I again asked about bridging and he said that no, they do not bridge to the current gate price of your ticket when you are upgrading to something that doesn't have a gate price that is different from the price you would pay for it in advance. He said APs have just one price, not a gate price and and advance price so they are only supposed to apply the actual value of what you already paid for the ticket you are using to upgrade towards the cost of the new ticket. I explained that the CM the night before at DHS had bridged my ticket and I had my receipt. He hesitated for half a second and said that the other CM had made a mistake but he would extend the same offer to my parents since I had already been given that price. He was very nice about it and I didn't have to fight him at all but I suspect that he would not have bridged their tickets had I not already had mine bridged by another CM the night before.

At the end of the day we all got our DVC Platinum Plus APs at an incredible price because we had received a really great deal on the tickets we bought via Orbitz so I was thrilled but I was a little thrown off by the CM at Animal Kingdom.
 
I had a bit of an odd experience upgrading a 5 Day Park Hopper bought discounted via Orbitz before the last price increase to the current DVC Platinum Plus AP at AK last week...
Thanks for posting your experiences in detail.
These kind of convoluted upgrade situations can happen far too often.

I wish the procedures for upgrading were more simple and "automatic" so that CM training
and skill were not so important to getting the correct result.

Best part in your case was that the second CM gave your parents the same "deal" as the
first CM offered you (after you jogged that first CM into the "bridge" procedure.)
 


Tickets are always "coded" when they are created and sold by Disney to the resellers.
Nothing unique about that.
Why the CMs you happened upon could not (or would not) do the correct bridging procedure,
we have no way of knowing.

If you went ahead and accepted the bad price, you should be able to get it corrected by going to another
Guest Relations and asking for a refund on the over-charge. (Your transaction will be a part of your file.)

If you did not accept the bad price, you should be able to get the correct price by going to another
Guest Relations and asking for an upgrade there.

Please post back with your results.
This is super helpful, thank you! I wasn’t sure if it was an anomaly or something that I had done incorrectly, or just CM error.

May I ask- do you have a recommended way that I should request the refund (I did accept it as by the time we got it sorted, we were already late for an ADR)? Is there correct verbiage I should be using in order to have a better chance of getting the refund?
 
This is super helpful, thank you! I wasn’t sure if it was an anomaly or something that I had done incorrectly, or just CM error.

May I ask- do you have a recommended way that I should request the refund (I did accept it as by the time we got it sorted, we were already late for an ADR)? Is there correct verbiage I should be using in order to have a better chance of getting the refund?

Just tell the next Guest Relations CM that you believe you were overcharged for your upgrade.
Very briefly (and very politely, of course) explain your situation and ask that the CM take a look to see if the first CM
made a mistake on the upgrade.
In many situations, that will be enough to get the proper procedure examined and you should get a refund.
Sometimes that refund can come as a Disney gift certificate (which would be good enough for me.)
 
Hi Robo!!

I have a trip coming up in Jan using the tail end of my AP. The problem is that I misremembered the final date that our AP is valid by one day, so we will have a day at the end of our trip with no Theme park access. Is it possible to add one day to and AP? We don't renew, but get a new AP a year later for the next two years. Every second year we only do the winter (Jan) trips, if that makes sense.

So, I could just buy a one day MK pass, but that is such an inefficient/expensive way to visit the park. OR we could just spend our last day relaxing at the GF before heading home. I looked at the tours, but they generally all require park admission. I know that a few don't and I have one booked at the moment, but it just isn't how I want to spend our last day.

What would you recommend?

Thank you!!!!
 
Hi Robo!!

I have a trip coming up in Jan using the tail end of my AP. The problem is that I misremembered the final date that our AP is valid by one day, so we will have a day at the end of our trip with no Theme park access.
1. Is it possible to add one day to and AP?
2. I could just buy a one day MK pass, but that is such an inefficient/expensive way to visit the park.
3. OR we could just spend our last day relaxing at the GF before heading home.

1. Sorry, but no.
2. Yup. VERY expensive.
3. That would save you a lot of money, and could be very relaxing.
(We love to sit and listen to the pianist and orchestra playing every afternoon/evening at GF.)
You could visit other resorts and/or shop and/or dine at Disney Springs and/or Boardwalk.
I do recommend visiting Animal Kingdom Lodge, if you've not done that.
 
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1. Sorry, but no.
2. Yup. VERY expensive.
3. That would save you a lot of money, and could be very relaxing.
(We love to sit and listen to the pianist and orchestra playing every afternoon/evening at GF.)
You could visit other resorts and/or shop and/or dine at Disney Springs and/or Boardwalk.
I do recommend visiting Animal Kingdom Lodge, if you've not done that.

Thank you - it is as I suspected, then. Oh well, we can do the tour or just relax at the GF. *decisions* Also, we haven't been to DS for a while now so I might just use this as an excuse to do a little shopping.

Thank you for the confirmation. It is good to be able to get reliable information!!! You are very helpful!
 
Just tell the next Guest Relations CM that you believe you were overcharged for your upgrade.
Very briefly (and very politely, of course) explain your situation and ask that the CM take a look to see if the first CM
made a mistake on the upgrade.
In many situations, that will be enough to get the proper procedure examined and you should get a refund.
Sometimes that refund can come as a Disney gift certificate (which would be good enough for me.)
Update:

Just left GR at Epcot. They refused to change anything, saying that the first CM had done it correctly. He said it looked like the first CM hadn’t brought it to gate price and asked another CM how to do that. She said they no longer bring the ticket value to gate pricing for annual pass renewals and that this is a new policy since February. Is this correct? Per my understanding through this thread, no, but is there any point in pursuing this further? It’s a fair amount of money ($150+) that I wasn’t expecting to pay, but this is the second time I’ve been blocked and find it odd.
 
Update:

Just left GR at Epcot. They refused to change anything, saying that the first CM had done it correctly. He said it looked like the first CM hadn’t brought it to gate price and asked another CM how to do that. She said they no longer bring the ticket value to gate pricing for annual pass renewals and that this is a new policy since February. Is this correct? Per my understanding through this thread, no, but is there any point in pursuing this further? It’s a fair amount of money ($150+) that I wasn’t expecting to pay, but this is the second time I’ve been blocked and find it odd.
Yes, you should go elsewhere to get it corrected.
Sorry that you are being treated so poorly (and have been unlucky finding knowledgeable CMs!)
Many positive reports of upgrades “since February.”
Are you going to Disney Springs some time this trip?
I think the Welcome Center (guest relations) might be a good choice.
 
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Yes, you should go elsewhere to get it corrected.
Sorry that you are being treated so poorly (and have been unlucky finding knowledgeable CMs!)
Many positive reports of upgrades “since February.”
Are you going to Disney Springs some time this trip?
I think the Welcome Center (guest relations) might be a good choice.
Thanks for the encouragement and ongoing advice and help :)! We will indeed be at DS and I’ll try there. Would I have any luck at MK or AK? Also, I’m worried my file will have repeated notes indicating I asked and was denied and that I’ll be denied based on that- am I worried about nothing?
 
Thanks for the encouragement and ongoing advice and help :)! We will indeed be at DS and I’ll try there. Would I have any luck at MK or AK? Also, I’m worried my file will have repeated notes indicating I asked and was denied and that I’ll be denied based on that- am I worried about nothing?
One step at a time.
Try DS Welcome Center next.
Or MK or wherever you happen to be near,
There is no “best” or “worst” place, as each place can change... even at different times of day.
 
I'm sure this question has been asked in here but there's a lot of pages to look through.

We are going to the world October of 2018, going to spend 8 days with 6 day park hoppers and MM.

If I were to decide to upgrade to annual passes during our trip, what is the best way to go about it?

1) Do I upgrade at the start of the trip or the last day we are in a park?
2) Does the entire ticket cost (including the park hopper and memory maker upgrade) to towards the cost of the annual passes?
3) Do AP holders get a discount on the campsites or is it just on the resort hotels?
 
I'm sure this question has been asked in here but there's a lot of pages to look through.

We are going to the world October of 2018, going to spend 8 days with 6 day park hoppers and MM.

If I were to decide to upgrade to annual passes during our trip, what is the best way to go about it?

1) Do I upgrade at the start of the trip or the last day we are in a park?
2) Does the entire ticket cost (including the park hopper and memory maker upgrade) to towards the cost of the annual passes?
3) Do AP holders get a discount on the campsites or is it just on the resort hotels?

You don't need to read the whole thread - posts 3 and 5 should tell you what you need to know about APs and upgrading.
 
I'm sure this question has been asked in here but there's a lot of pages to look through.

We are going to the world October of 2018, going to spend 8 days with 6 day park hoppers and MM.

If I were to decide to upgrade to annual passes during our trip, what is the best way to go about it?

1) Do I upgrade at the start of the trip or the last day we are in a park?
2) Does the entire ticket cost (including the park hopper and memory maker upgrade) to towards the cost of the annual passes?
3) Do AP holders get a discount on the campsites or is it just on the resort hotels?

While our situations aren't exactly the same, I am also thinking about upgrading to APs during our trip in January. From what I have learned both from the all-powerful Robo and other phone calls to various Disney CMs, the anniversary date of your AP will not change regardless of whether you upgrade on your first day or the last day in the park, the anniversary date would be the first day you used your park hopper ticket. I know the cost of the park hopper would be used towards the AP cost, but I am hearing conflicting reports on the MM refund. Apparently Disney policy is to NOT refund MM with AP upgrades, unless you do it before you set foot in the park on day 1 (so therefore the MM would be considered as "unused"). But there are plenty of reports of people upgrading to AP after the fact and they did have MM refunded. The CM I had talked with said the surefire way would be to NOT buy memory maker before you visit, and then to upgrade to AP on day 1 before you enter the park - that way you would automatically get Photopass and wouldn't have to worry about getting MM refunded. Of course, if you are on the fence about upgrading to APs, that method wouldn't necessarily be beneficial since you wouldn't be able to take advantage of the $30 discount if you buy MM in advance.

I'm unsure as to the AP discount on campsites.
 

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