I was writing a longer response that I’ll get back to in a minute so it’s out here, but a short version of my thought: I don’t think we have enough info from people using “older” tickets to make a call on how CMs bridge.
They could make you pay the difference between old and new gate price, or they could just bridge as is.
The first scenario might be more likely, but we have a small number of people reporting on it in chat, so I don’t think either is the definitive method.
But, in any case: it has been my understanding that even if a CM makes you pay the differential between the previous gate and current gate when upgrading with tix purchased before an increase, you’d still be saving the original reseller discount, no?
Yes, my spreadsheet does bridge to the current gate price - when this same issue came up last year, the reports in chat etc were mixed as to what was happening in this scenario.
When you say “everyone else says different” - do you mean from reports in chat too?
I’ve tried to note when people discussed this scenario there so I could make sure I was calculating things correctly.
When it came to tickets purchased before last year’s increase, some people reported CMs were bridging to current gate without issue, then a few started saying they were required to pay the difference in the increase price from the previous gate to the current gate.
But, I never felt like there were enough reports of either scenario employed by CMs to call one the definitive or expected method with older tickets.
I suppose I could add a selection box where someone could tell the sheet whether they bought before or after the upgrade, and then have it calculate all the estimates based on that. But, that wouldn’t help if the CM ended up just bridging to current gate without asking you to pay in to catch up from last year’s prices.
So, I think my answer is: without more reports on how it is working, I’ve just left the sheet as is.
As I am typing this something occurred to me: out of curiosity today I already put together a spreadsheet that calculates the difference between previous and current gate. Maybe I could use that info to include in the cheat sheet page - perhaps another line below the line with all the math that takes into account the increase in price, so you could be prepared for both potential calculations at GS.
(Thinking out loud here - will have to think about this for a bit for how to do this in my sheet without confusing the heck out of people.)
Correct. If it plays out as I have suggested, I would still get the benefit of the original discount. And that is good enough. Although, I certainly won’t complain if I get a “bonus bridge”.
Sorry, I should not have said “everyone”. But I did read some threads in disboards, mouseowners and wdwmagic and I think some other sources that came to the conclusion that you’d only be bridged to ticket prices before an increase, but sounds like there is still some CM discretion and a chance they will bridge to post increase prices, Thank you or your reply.
Unfortunately, even without the price increase issue CMs seem to have all sorts of ways to perform this transaction differently, which is very annoying IMHO.
That’s why I ended up making the cheat sheet table in my spreadsheet in case it helped people to have a reference in hand.
I think everyone has success, but plenty of reports that if CM suggests numbers they don’t expect they’d say “no thanks” and try another GS location.
Sometimes it takes a manager CM to help if one helping you is unfamiliar. Some people have said the GS at IG at EPCOT and one in DS have been good locations, but I think it just depends on your luck with getting the right CM.
I guess CM training on process is inconsistent, which seems odd to me. Definitely important to know your numbers before attempt.
We have 5 day tickets that we purchased actually before the 2016 price increase (no expiration). We would like to just add an extra day after we get there. At the time we purchased the tickets, the info I could gather basically said we would just pay the difference in a 5 day and 6 day ticket. But rules apparently have changed. If I have to pay the difference in a 5-day 2015 price and 6-day 2018 price, I am not sure we will add a day or not. Is it basically luck of the draw on the CM? Just hope for a little Disney Magic?
I’m only going to chime in real quick to say that yes, CMs have some leverage in what they end up doing.
My case was that we had 9 day hoppers and decided to add the 10th day when our flight got cancelled 3 years ago. The first CM said she’d have to first charge the difference between my discounted, 3rd party ticket and then add the 10th day. She was great and said, “don’t do this. Try at the park”. She was at the Boardwalk concierge desk.
I actually got the 10th day for $10 each (instead of about $40 each) when I asked the CM at AoA front desk.
I just updated reseller ticket prices in my Maximum Savings spreadsheet. Some of the ones that held prices after the 2018 Disney price increase have jumped a bit now. (Another one dropped a tiny bit on some tix too!)
I also noticed TP calculator using a new reseller called Tickets2You. Looking at prices I see they don’t add tax (listed as “Tax & Fees”) until it is in your shopping cart. I ran a quick check on some Base ticket amounts to see if any fees were really there in addition to tax - I doesn’t break the amount down into taxes and fees, just shows a bulk charge.
Whether there are fees included or it it is just taxes, I’m not sure. But they seem to charge more percentage in this fee/tax on a 3 day tickets than other day tickets. Scratching my head on that one.
Since there’s that disparity, every time I wanted to update prices I’d have to add every ticket type to the cart individually and check them 1 by 1 to get the actual tax-included prices each time.
So, I’m not adding them to my sheet yet. Ain’t nobody got time for that.
Just a data point follow up to upgrading pre 2017 increase tickets.
I purchased pre 2017 increase tickets and used them in Dec 2017. I went to upgrade to a platinum pass at Magic Kingdom guest services. They wanted to charge the difference from old ticket price to new, then to AP. I said no thanks and walked away. Our next day was in Disney Springs and I went to GS there. They bridged from current gate price to AP no problem.
Totally subjective, but based on some facial expressions, it seemed she either saw I was trying to upgrade an older priced ticket, or saw that I had already been CM shopping.
Either way, it took 2 tries to get the price I expected.
Thanks! Good to know it is still possible to avoid paying the price increase gap with some work.
It might just be my selective memory from prior reports on chat etc, but it feels like the DS GS seems more amenable and able to bridge to the benefit of the ticket holder.
I have a question; and to be honest, I got halfway through the thread and didn’t read the rest of the posts. So this may have been addressed. But has anyone bridged successfully to an AP after purchasing a multi-day convention ticket? It seems as thought convention tickets are some of the cheapest out there for a multi day park hopper. Has anyone tried it at all. I don’t think that option is included in the spreadsheet to know what the total savings would be.
You have to pay the full difference between what you paid and the AP. It is the reason why MVT agents have posted that if you think you will upgrade you should not buy their tickets. You should use the touring plans ticket calculator and purchase discounted tickets and then upgrade.
