Discovered a new issue with the new ticket system today. Make sure you're reading and doing the math!!! We originally purchased tickets to
MVMCP and one 1-day, 1-park tickets, intending to upgrade to more if we decided/depending what ADRs we could get. The day for the regular ticket was a Tuesday. We're doing MVMCP on Thursday - we need a day in between parks to allow everyone, especially 80+ grandma, to recover. We decided to add Saturday after getting an ADR that we were unsuccessful on in the past. I went to upgrade the tickets to add a day online, but neither the app nor the website was working (seems to be a common theme) so I called. I spoke with a cast member, told her we wanted to add a day so we could go on Saturday, she told me what the extra charge would be and said the day was added. About an hour later, when the website decided it was working again, I logged in to get fast passes. It told me the now two-day ticket wasn't valid for Saturday. Confused, I called back.
This time, the ticketing CM said that they did add the second day, but, because the ticket started on a Tuesday, it was only good through Friday. I asked why and said I thought all tickets were valid from 14 days of the first use. She said that was the old rule and, under the new system, tickets may be good for less time depending on start date and what the days around it cost. She said the ticket would only be good for the days that cost the same, consecutively, (wed/thurs/fri) and then expire before the price increased (saturday's slightly higher). I said that isn't what the website said and she said, because I only bought a one-day ticket online, I wouldn't have seen the warning about expiration dates. I asked why the CM on the phone didn't tell me and that none of this made sense because I can't be the only person that wants to go on a weekday and a Saturday but skip some days in between. They explained again it was a new system. They put me on hold forever. When they came back, they said the only way they could make the tickets work for Saturday was for me to upgrade to make them "flex" tickets and then they would be good for 14 days from first use, regardless of the price on other days. I asked if that would cost more. They put me on hold again.
While on hold, I tried the website again, which was working finally, and ran the cost of upgrading a two-day ticket to "flex" or buying separate sets of 1-day, 1-park tickets for Tuesday and Saturday. The flex was actually more expensive (about $10). When they came back on, I explained this. They were surprised. They agreed I shouldn't be effectively penalized for the way this happened, but said they couldn't do anything with their computer systems. They transferred me to guest services.
Enter guest services. They said they couldn't do anything but allow me to pay for the flex upgrade. I offered three potential solutions - 1. upgrade to flex but only equal to the cost of what it would be to purchase the tickets separately; 2. cancel the current two-day tickets and I would just proceed with buying separate 1-day tickets; 3. i would pay flex, but they could issue me a giftcard for the amount it was over the cost of buying the tickets separately. They put me on hold. When they came back, they said there was nothing they could do and I could try e-mailing guest services "with all the math written out" but it wasn't clear I'd even get a response prior to leaving for my trip (about a week away) or that they'd be able to help. They said I could visit guest services when I arrive, but that means 1. taking vacation time to try to fix this and 2. no ability to make fastpass reservations before I get to FL. Very, very frustrating. I've sent the e-mail, but I don't see this resolving itself before I get there.
Just posting this as a warning to everyone about the difficulties of the new system (even when you think you're doing everything right, you're wrong) and the importance of math! The cost difference seemed to surprise even the CMs. Also, for those of you trying to upgrade older tickets, beware the expiration time frames may be shorter than 14 days!!!! Not even being able to have a 2-day ticket good for 2 days in less than a 7 day period just seems a bit absurd. This was the thing that was the biggest surprise to me and I don't think was clearly explained as part of the changes. And clearly the CM I first spoke to didn't know either, as she didn't warn me or indicate that the tickets wouldn't be valid for Saturday.
Maybe some of this will work itself out in time but, beware the pitfalls. And definitely, definitely, check price of the flex upgrade vs. just buying the additional day(s) as a separate ticket. I think in most cases it would work out to be cheaper, but not all.