Adding days on to old Park Hoppers

[wdwvacationeer]

I have park hoppers - no expiration dates- with unused days left on them. When I called Disney I was told that I could take them to guest services at any park and have days added to them. I am planning to use them this August and would like to know if anyone has had any experience doing this. Can I add days on to them at my resort or only at the parks? The person that I talked with on the phone told me they were worth over $100 each so if I can use them it will save me a few hundred dollars on our tickets.
Thanks.

[Jen C.]

I would use your old tickets, and purchase the additional MYW ticket for however many days you need. I would'nt add to that particular park hopper pass, because what you will add will either have to also be no expiration (very expensive), or will have to be used within 14 days of additional ticket purchase, therefore negating the former no expiration days. I'm sorry if this sounds confusing! I hope this helps.

[CleveRocks]

I have park hoppers - no expiration dates- with unused days left on them. When I called Disney I was told that I could take them to guest services at any park and have days added to them. I am planning to use them this August and would like to know if anyone has had any experience doing this. Can I add days on to them at my resort or only at the parks? The person that I talked with on the phone told me they were worth over $100 each so if I can use them it will save me a few hundred dollars on our tickets.
Thanks.

I know you're going to believe a Disney CM over a guy from New Jersey you've never met before ... but you got wrong information from Disney!!!

Tickets cannot be added to or upgraded after 14 days from the ticket's first use. This applies even though you bought the No Expiration feature.

Seriously, I'm 100% certain I'm correct about this. The entitlements on the ticket never expire, but you only have 14 days from first use to make any additions or upgrades.

Sorry!

Unfortunately, you fell into Disney's trap with No Expiration tickets. Unless the ticket will TOTALLY cover your park ticket needs for 2 or more trips, then it is a money-waster and not a money saver.

For example, let's say you will use 7 park days one year and 5 park days another year. Sure, it seems like a no-brainer to buy the 10-day No Expiration pass for the first trip, because you'll have 3 days left-over, and then you'd only need to buy a 2-day ticket for the second trip. SOunds good, right? WRONG.

A 10-day NE park hopper ticket costs $479. An additional 2-day park hopper (without no expiration) costs $196. So those 12 park days cost $675.

Now let's say that you buy 2 separate tickets, one for each trip, a 7-day park hopper for one trip and a 5-day park hopper for the second trip. The 7-day park hopper costs $281, and the 5-day park hopper costs $239. So WITHOUT the no expiration feature, these 12 park days cost $520.

WOW! In this example, buying the No Expiration feature costs $155 MORE than buying separate expiring tickets.

[Ladyvader]

Ok, I am a cast member and to answer your question is you can add onto any ticket that you have purchased. I do not have the pricing down. I agree and disagree with the previous post.
Sometimes it can be cheaper to just buy new tickets. The no expiration date is a wonderful thing to add on if you are buying a huge multi day ticket and are planning on using if for another vacation further down the road.
There are some tickets that have a 14 day window for being able to be upgraded, but a parkhopper no expiration does not, and you just wanting to add days to it is very easiliy done at the Guest Relations location. I did it many times so I know.
The most important thing to do when buying tickets is buy what you need!! If you are not into park hopping then don't buy it. If you know that you are coming to the park for only a few days then buy only what you need. You have 14 days to use your tickets with a ticket that does have an expiration.
Know your prices! You may be in a jam as far as the only thing you can upgrade to is park hopper no expiration. But if memory serves me right you may be able to upgrade the additional days to just parkhopper regular tickets that do expire.
To make a short story long you do have options. Its up to you to make sure to do some research on what is the better value for you.

[CleveRocks]

I'm waiting to hear back from my "inside" contact, a current CM who currently works at a WDW ticket booth and thus who is intimately familiar with the ATS system.

Ladyvader, if I may very respectfully ask , in what general capacity do you work? Are you directly involved with ATS??? My contact has been spot-on with all ticket info over the past couple years, so I know to trust his ticket info as WDW fact.

[wdwvacationeer]

This is why I am glad I asked Intercot before I got to WDW. To me, it is a little confusing. The tickets are from 1999- before magic your way. When I bought the tickets at our local disney store, I was told that the days never expire. I thought I would just save the days and use them up one day. However, the way the CM made it sound on the phone was that because I had already purchased the days and the hopping feature- that does not expire, I could actually add more days on when I arrived at the parks and then continue to use it as a park hopper. Was she right? For instance, one ticket has one day left on the park hopper- she said it was worth the one day plus the $45 ( I think) for the park hopper, so if I add more days to this ticket it sounded to me like it would be much cheaper than using up one day and then buying a seven day ticket. Is this right? Sooo confusing.

[WTDing]

CleveRocks is correct.

From a very reputable person on another DISney message board:

MYW Tickets:
"Any MYW ticket can be upgraded within 14 days of first use. There are no exceptions. This applies even if the ticket has the No Expire Option."

Pre-MYW tickets:
"Almost all tickets issued prior to 2005 (other than Length of Stay, Bounce Back, or Annual Passes) had no expiration. If you have unused pre-MYW tickets you can use the original Disney selling price of one ticket as a credit to the purchase price of any current ticket with a selling price equal to or higher than the value of the old ticket. However, it probably will make more economic sense to use the ticket for entries. This will depend a lot on what the determined dollar value is.
If you have a partially used pre-MYW ticket it cannot be upgraded, but the remaining entitlements can be used."

[CleveRocks]

Ok, I am a cast member and to answer your question is you can add onto any ticket that you have purchased. I do not have the pricing down.

There are some tickets that have a 14 day window for being able to be upgraded, but a parkhopper no expiration does not, and you just wanting to add days to it is very easiliy done at the Guest Relations location. I did it many times so I know.


But if memory serves me right you may be able to upgrade the additional days to just parkhopper regular tickets that do expire.

Ladyvader,

I am not trying to make this into an "I'm right and you're wrong" situation ... I'm just trying to supply the OP with accurate information.

If you are a CM, then you have access to The Hub. Here are 2 links that were supplied to me by my CM source for ticket info. I can't get into The Hub myself, as I'm not a CM, but he told me he again reviewed the information before sending me the links.

When you link to the proper pages of The Hub, you will read in black and white from your own employer that tickets can't be upgraded or added to beyond 14 days from first use.

I just want the OP to get current correct information, and right now she's getting conflicting information from the two of us. I'm 100% certain that "old" tickets can't be added to or upgraded.

[Ladyvader]

Ok to straighten all this out I did do my research. And yes I am well aquainted with the ATS system. Serving my time in plaid.
First I do have to apologize there is indeed a 14 day window that you have to upgrade the tickets. And I was very wrong with the information that I gave you. Sorry long hours at the parks and not dealing with ATS for several months has fried my brain.

Magic Your Way Tickets
Guests are invited to upgrade or modify their existing Magic Your Way Tickets at anytime in person within 14 days from the date of first use, regardless of whether the No Expiration Option is purchased. After 14 days from the date of first use, no ticket modifications or upgrades may take place.


I don't want to get into too much information but will put this as basically as I can to help our friend with her ticket issues.

What you have are unused passes that do have value towards the purchase of a new ticket. Guest Relations will scan your ticket and see what you have left, you will tell them how many more days you want on your pass and they will tell you the cost which will have deducted the value of those left over days. That in a nutshell is the simplist way of telling you what you have to work with.

The 14 day rule applies to those guests that have just purchased their tickets for example they bought 5 1Park/1 Day tickets and realize Holy Smokes I want to park hop. Or Little bobby is sick and we can't use all our tickets I wish they would never expire. Then you have 14 days from the day you first purchased those tickets to fiddle with the kind of tickets you want.


Thank you for pointing out my mistake, I have no problems with it at all. And hopefully this will help others in the same boat.

And I would appreciate you taking out the links to restricted Disney Sites, I am well aware of the tools that I can use in Guest assistance. I am sure your friend was helping you out, but would probably appreciate you not throwing them under the bus by posting that you have had access to priviliged material. It was fine enough for you to send me a PM but posting this in the open site was over the top considering that you did not want to get into a "I know more than you match with me".

[CleveRocks]

And I would appreciate you taking out the links to restricted Disney Sites, I am well aware of the tools that I can use in Guest assistance. I am sure your friend was helping you out, but would probably appreciate you not throwing them under the bus by posting that you have had access to priviliged material. It was fine enough for you to send me a PM but posting this in the open site was over the top considering that you did not want to get into a "I know more than you match with me".

Thanks for setting the record straight for the OP.

Per your suggestion, I removed the links from my earlier post. There was no risk of providing unauthorized access to proprietary information, since the site required password access. As I said in my earlier post, I myself couldn't use the links, so I figured no one here except you could use them to access proprietary material, either.

My contact didn't provide me direct access to the information, just the links to give to you so you wouldn't have to waste time rooting around.

I didn't mean to do anything improper. Just trying to help.

[Ladyvader]

Thank you very much for removing the links. And I think it is wonderful that you were so helpful in setting the record straight. There is no one person that knows everything about all things, but as a community such as Intercot we can all be helpful to each other.

[wdwvacationeer]

"What you have are unused passes that do have value towards the purchase of a new ticket. Guest Relations will scan your ticket and see what you have left, you will tell them how many more days you want on your pass and they will tell you the cost which will have deducted the value of those left over days. That in a nutshell is the simplist way of telling you what you have to work with."

Thank you for the information- so, what the CM told me on the phone is basically correct and it is not a big deal to have days added to my unused park hoppers.

[CleveRocks]

Thank you for the information- so, what the CM told me on the phone is basically correct and it is not a big deal to have days added to my unused park hoppers.

The key word in the quote from ladyvader is VALUE. Your unused park days have a cash value. You won't have days added to the old passes, as old passes can't be added to or upgraded. You will trade-in the old tickets for a certain cash value. You will buy completely new tickets. The price of the new tickets will be reduced by the trade-in value of the old tickets.

[Jen C.]

i love disney

[CleveRocks]

Thank you for the information- so, what the CM told me on the phone is basically correct and it is not a big deal to have days added to my unused park hoppers.

Now that I have more time than I did last night, let me give a more complete answer ...

You have one day remaining on a park hopper ticket. You will receive a cash trade-in value for that ticket. It will be the purchase price equivalent for that ticket, not what it would cost now but rather what it actually cost you back in 1999.

You want to end up with 8 days of park tickets with the park hopping option. Disney will sell you a brand new 8-day park hopper for about $283, but then they will deduct from that the credit from your 1999 ticket trade-in. I have no idea what the value of a 1999 1-day park hopper is, so I can't advise you on how much to expect.

Believe me, this actually works out better than an upgrade for you. Let's pretend they allowed you to pay for an upgrade on your existing ticket. To add 7 days of park hopping would cost you about $281, only TWO DOLLARS LESS than the brand new 8-day hopper. In effect, this would mean your old ticket would have an effective cash value to you of only $2. Again, I don't know the exact value of your old ticket, but both of us are very sure that you paid more than $2 for it in 1999.

I know all this ticket stuff can be quite confusing, but I just wanted you to have all the info you can, so you can do whatever is to your best advantage.

[brownie]

I don't really see any point to adding more days to your old parkhopper. Get Magic Your Way tickets for the remaining days on your trip and use your old parkhoppers on the first day. You can put them away after you've used them up. My wife and I have 1 day left on parkhoppers, and we're just going to make up the difference for our next trip with Magic Your Way tickets.

[Scar]

CleveRocks or Ladyvader (or anyone else who may know,)


How do they determine trade in value? Is it a straight prorate?

I have 2 days left on a pre-MYW 4 day hopper that I believe I paid $210 for.

Does this mean the trade in value would be $105 - ½ the original price?