Upgrading a Discounted Ticket?

WDW262

New Member
Hi,

I apologize if this is a dumb question or one that's been answered before.

But if I buy a discounted NON-Park Hopper but then decide to upgrade it to a Park Hopper at my resort once I am there, do I lose my savings? Do I then just pay the going rate for a Park Hopper? Or is there a standard increase to my ticket regardless of what I originally paid for it? Does this question make sense?

Thanks.
 

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
Depends on where you bought it from and how it was purchased. As a general rule, Disney doesn't know what you paid for the ticket, they only know what they got for the ticket. The obvious exception being if you bought the ticket directly from WDW. Not as part of a package, but a ticket only sale. And as such, I believe current policy is that a ticket bought direct from WDW will get you exactly what you paid for it towards the upgrade. However, a ticket bought from a 3rd party reseller, or even as part of a Disney vacation package you should get at least the advance purchase price for the ticket if it was properly bridged, and possibly even the current gate price (if not the same). Know what your ticket is worth, and what the upgrade should cost in either scenario. If the CM doing the bridging tells you a different price, please ask them to double check, or ask to speak with a supervisor.
 
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WDW262

New Member
Original Poster
Thanks, this is great info. Can I ask one follow up? You say "Know what your ticket is worth" - how exactly does one determine this? I just bought non-park hoppers today through Visit Orlando with a Black Friday discount. So I know what I paid for them - but not sure how to determine what the ticket is "worth". Thanks again.
 
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dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
Worth should be gate price for the ticket, so what it would cost if you bought it from WDW today instead of the reseller. Usually a reseller will say "Gate Price $X You Pay $Y A Savings of $Z" right on the page where you selected your ticket. But if you are looking to add just hopping to a base ticket, I think in most cases (4 or more days) it's $75. You may run into a debate as to if you would get credited the $20 for the advance purchase or not. So anything more than $95 (if you are just adding hopping) is definitely wrong (Excluding tax), and you may have a case to have them bring it down to $75 if they quote you the $95. Seems like it depends on the CM.
 
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DisneyJoe

Well-Known Member
FYI, according to many articles I have read, if upgrading a discounted ticket, you must have used it at least once and have at least one day remaining on it before doing the upgrade.
 
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Weather_Lady

Well-Known Member
FYI, according to many articles I have read, if upgrading a discounted ticket, you must have used it at least once and have at least one day remaining on it before doing the upgrade.

Just to pile on - this is correct. I recently called both Disney and Undercover Tourist to inquire about the same issue, and it was confirmed that: (1) the only way to upgrade 3d-party-purchased tickets is in person at a Disney Guest Services window; and (2) if we upgrade before using the tickets, we pay the difference between the discounted price we paid for the tickets and the current gate price of the upgraded tickets, but if we upgrade after using the tickets for entry to at least one park, but while they still have at least one day's entitlements remaining (in other words, before we use them for park entry on our last day), then we only pay the difference between the current gate price of the original tickets and current gate price of the upgraded tickets, thus preserving the discount.

*NOTE: For what it's worth, Undercover Tourist DID tell me that if I'd bought the tickets but hadn't linked them to MDE yet, I would have been able to return them to UT and buy upgraded tickets from UT directly. However, by the time our plans changed, a day got added to the front of our vacation, and we decided we wanted to visit a waterpark, I'd already linked the tickets to MDE.

Disney's policy on this makes little sense to me and seems penny-wise and pound-foolish (why not allow people to upgrade any valid ticket, online on the Disney website, for the difference between gate prices -- then you get their money, rather than have them change their mind or balk at losing their discount or having to wait a long time at a Guest Services window, such that they decide not to upgrade at all), but it is what it is.

Unfortunately for me, our desire was to upgrade our 6-day MYW tickets before they'd been used (adding parkhopper plus on day 1 of a 7-day trip, going only to a waterpark on day 1, and then to the parks on days 2-7). But if we did, we'd lose our discount, (which was about $110) and would end up paying $490 to upgrade (compared with the $260 cost of just buying 1-day tickets to a waterpark, or the $380 cost if we'd been able to upgrade without losing the discount). Although it would be nice to have parkhopper plus and maybe throw in a round of mini-golf and an evening park-hop or two, the loss of a $110 discount in doing so (roughly the cost of a TS meal) is a deal-breaker for me.
 
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WDW262

New Member
Original Poster
<< if we upgrade before using the tickets, we pay the difference between the discounted price we paid for the tickets and the current gate price of the upgraded tickets, but if we upgrade after using the tickets for entry to at least one park, but while they still have at least one day's entitlements remaining (in other words, before we use them for park entry on our last day), then we only pay the difference between the current gate price of the original tickets and current gate price of the upgraded tickets, thus preserving the discount. >>

This is such great information and really well articulated. Thank you very much. I am going to test this out by getting a price to upgrade as soon as I arrive at my resort (before going to a park) and then again once inside the gates at my first park.

I was also wondering if I upgrade after entering the first park on the first day (thus preserving the discount) will the upgrade to park hopper take place that same first day or if it would take place starting with the next day? I'm guessing it wouldn't take place until the next day but that seems unfair - to pay the full park hopper upgrade price but not to get to use it every day.

Thanks again.
 
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dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
I was also wondering if I upgrade after entering the first park on the first day (thus preserving the discount) will the upgrade to park hopper take place that same first day or if it would take place starting with the next day? I'm guessing it wouldn't take place until the next day but that seems unfair - to pay the full park hopper upgrade price but not to get to use it every day.

Thanks again.

It should go into affect immediately. When I've upgraded to an AP, it was good as soon as I walked away from the window.

RE using the ticket once to enter the park before upgrading, that definitely used to be the case, but I had seen reports it was no longer necessary. I would suggest still doing so just to make certain. And I wouldn't bother asking at your hotel about the upgrade, I don't believe they would do it enough to understand the process, if they even could do it. Just enter the park, and then upgrade afterwards.
 
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Rob562

Well-Known Member
It should go into affect immediately. When I've upgraded to an AP, it was good as soon as I walked away from the window.

RE using the ticket once to enter the park before upgrading, that definitely used to be the case, but I had seen reports it was no longer necessary. I would suggest still doing so just to make certain. And I wouldn't bother asking at your hotel about the upgrade, I don't believe they would do it enough to understand the process, if they even could do it. Just enter the park, and then upgrade afterwards.

From what I've read from a former CM, upgrading before vs after park entry boils down to this:

When presented with an unused park ticket, the CM at Guest Relations has two different ways to process the upgrade. One way gives you current gate-price of the ticket, the other only credits you with what Disney was paid for the ticket.

When they're given a ticket that has already been used for entry, the procedure forces them to use the first way that credits for current gate price.

So whether or not you get gate price when upgrading an unused ticket can often be a coin-toss on which function the CM uses (which may also come down to how they were trained).

-Rob
 
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MickeyMomV

Well-Known Member
Depends on where you bought it from and how it was purchased. As a general rule, Disney doesn't know what you paid for the ticket, they only know what they got for the ticket. The obvious exception being if you bought the ticket directly from WDW. Not as part of a package, but a ticket only sale. And as such, I believe current policy is that a ticket bought direct from WDW will get you exactly what you paid for it towards the upgrade. However, a ticket bought from a 3rd party reseller, or even as part of a Disney vacation package you should get at least the advance purchase price for the ticket if it was properly bridged, and possibly even the current gate price (if not the same). Know what your ticket is worth, and what the upgrade should cost in either scenario. If the CM doing the bridging tells you a different price, please ask them to double check, or ask to speak with a supervisor.
Just to tack onto this. We just got back on Wednesday from our trip. We had booked a 7 night package with 8 day park hopper tickets through Disney. On the first day, while at MK, we upgraded our tickets to annual passes. I was expecting to get the gate price of $495/ticket but they actually credited us the "package" price of about $400/ticket. It was still beneficial for us to upgrade because by the end of the stay we figure we saved over $300 in dining and merch discounts and we saved an additional $210 on our March trip. But it was a little bit of a sticker shock when your total is $95 more per ticket to upgrade than what you were budgeting.
 
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Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
Just to tack onto this. We just got back on Wednesday from our trip. We had booked a 7 night package with 8 day park hopper tickets through Disney. On the first day, while at MK, we upgraded our tickets to annual passes. I was expecting to get the gate price of $495/ticket but they actually credited us the "package" price of about $400/ticket. It was still beneficial for us to upgrade because by the end of the stay we figure we saved over $300 in dining and merch discounts and we saved an additional $210 on our March trip. But it was a little bit of a sticker shock when your total is $95 more per ticket to upgrade than what you were budgeting.
Unless you purchased discounted tickets through an agency, the package price and the gate price should be the same unless there was a ticket price hike between your purchase and your first use.
 
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MickeyMomV

Well-Known Member
Unless you purchased discounted tickets through an agency, the package price and the gate price should be the same unless there was a ticket price hike between your purchase and your first use.
Don't know what to tell ya. The last price change was on 02/12/2017. We made our original reservation on 03/11/2017 for room and tickets. We then upgraded to a room/ticket package on 06/29/2017. So the original reservation and package addition was after the last price increase.

It cost $428.98 per ticket to upgrade from a 8 day ticket with park hopper (gate price of $495 + 6.5% tax = $527.18) to a Platinum Pass ($779 + 6.5% tax = $829.64). So if a Platinum Pass is $829.64 with tax and we paid an extra $428.98 then we received $400.66 ($376.21 + 6.5% tax) credit for each 8 day park hopper ticket. Trust me I really wish we would have received gate price because that would have actually saved us $126.52/ticket, not the $95 I had estimated.
 
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Dory71

Well-Known Member
Does anyone know how this works now with different pricing for different days? For example if I have a discounted ticket I want to upgrade to an AP will the gate price be the amount of the ticket as of the day I upgrade or some random average ticket price? Should I upgrade on more expensive day?
 
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