Quick Accom. & Tick. ?

[jonahbear2006]

Got a big question for anyone who knows. IF we plan on arriving at Disney World on Sept 3st and camp till the 7th, yet we dont check into Contemporary till the 7th and we buy 10 day tickets to the park on the dining plan pin code (reason why we wouldnt buy them on the campground reservation).....can we use our park tickets from the day we check into the campground? Or do we have to wait until we check into the contemporary to use our tickets?

[Beast_fanatic]

You won't be able to use them until you check into the Contemporary as they are tied to that reservation, and you won't receive them until you check in there.

[jonahbear2006]

well, see that confuses me. because when we went last feb. we weren't able to check into the campground so we asked for our tickets and they gave them to us and told us to check in later. i can understand it though...however, still confusing.

[TinkerbellT421]

I was under the impression that you can in fact get your tickets early. I would call Disney and find out first.

[BMan62]

well, see that confuses me. because when we went last feb. we weren't able to check into the campground so we asked for our tickets and they gave them to us and told us to check in later. i can understand it though...however, still confusing.

Your signature shows that your previous trips were not split stays, so in those cases, it was just a matter where your accommodations were not ready. In the case that you state in your original post, you have two separate reservations - one for FWC and one for CR. You cannot get the tickets tied to the CR reservation while on your FWC reservation. Once you check in to CR, you can get the tickets for that portion of your trip.

The reasoning behind this is that your CR stay is a package deal (4 + 3 deal) and the tickets are part of the package and cannot be split off. Maybe you should get a one day ticket for your 4 + 3 package and spring for an AP for the rest of the combined trip, as this would possibly be a less expensive option.

[jonahbear2006]

this is for the fall for the free dining plan. the problem is we want to stay at CR but really wanted to stay 10 days and we cant afford 10 days at the CR. I guess we could tag the camping on at the end but that will be hard to do considering we would be bringing food with us. I dont want to have to buy tickets twice. As it is, our tickets are $1600. So this stinks that we wont be able to have our tickets if I buy 10 day tickets. With the economy the way it is, if we want to stay 10 days then, we may have to choke it up to staying at POR or Pop then.

[BMan62]

this is for the fall for the free dining plan. the problem is we want to stay at CR but really wanted to stay 10 days and we cant afford 10 days at the CR. I guess we could tag the camping on at the end but that will be hard to do considering we would be bringing food with us. I dont want to have to buy tickets twice. As it is, our tickets are $1600. So this stinks that we wont be able to have our tickets if I buy 10 day tickets. With the economy the way it is, if we want to stay 10 days then, we may have to choke it up to staying at POR or Pop then.

I'm not sure I understand -- you can still buy your 10 day tickets, but you must buy at least a one day ticket for the "Free DDP" offer. If you buy straight 10 day tickets, then you can get them at any time, once you arrive on property, but you still will need to have a ticket tied to the CR/Free DDP reservation. If you are buying the ticket as part of your CR/Free DDP offer, you cannot get the ticket until you check into the CR.

So, if you want to do the camping first, buy the straight 10-day ticket and book your CR stay with one day base tickets for each member of your party. The one day tickets can then be saved for a different trip - you do not have to use them during your 10 day stay. MYW tickets are good for 14 days from first use - even without the non-expiration option.

[TammiMcMan]

Unfortunately, that's the way the antiquated Disney reservation system is setup. They treat both of them completely separate and they have no way of tying them together. FW is considered 1 reservation and your free dining package is tied to the CR, which is your 2nd reservation. You can't get any of your package items until you check in to the CR.

Based on your signature though, you seem to average 2 trips every year. Have you considered annual passes instead? I don't know what kind of discount you are getting for the park tickets with your pin, but I would price out every option you are considering before making a final decision. BMan gave a good option for the park tickets, although I don't think whatever discount you're talking about will work for the days you'd need to buy for the FW portion of your stay.

[jonahbear2006]

I am most definitely considering annual passes. It is about a $700 difference right now so it would save us $800 in feb. from not having to buy tickets again. How does that work with dining plan. Can you buy annual tickets in your package? I really want the free dining that is so great to us, but i dont want to buy an extra rack rate ticket for 3 adults, 3 kids. no thank you.

[Sammyjo]

Last Sept. we stayed 7 nights at OKW, and used 9 day tickets to visit the parks. After the OKW stay we moved to the Poly for 3 nights, and to qualify for free dining we had to each buy a one day base ticket. We continued using our 9 day tickets to visit the parks, while at the Poly, saving the one day base ticket for our next trip.

I don't know how the annual pass and free dining works, but that's how we worked our split stay and the park tickets.

[jonahbear2006]

We just decided to go with POR riverside 10day tickets. we will no expiration the ones we dont use; if there are any left. :-X quite possible we will use them all.

[princessesmom]

The no expiration option is very expensive, I believe $180 for a 10 day ticket. So that might not be price effective. Might be better to get fewer days and add on up to 10 days later so you get exactly what you need. Or if you're going again within a year the annual pass might be the best choice.

[jonahbear2006]

from the way we were explained by the castmember was that you can add it at the end of your trip and if you have 2-3 days left it sounded very effective. it isn't something you want to add on to all 10 days. that would be silly considering you are obviously going to use most of those.

[eeyoremom]

If you bought a 10 day ticket, and want to add no expiration-you will pay for no expiration on a 10 days, no matter how many days are left to use. It makes no difference if you have used most of the days. It still costs the 10 day price.

[TammiMcMan]

If I'm understanding it correctly, you may want to take any unused days and upgrade to an annual pass. You can do this when you return to Disney in February, so you won't have to put the extra money out on this trip. You'd get full credit for the 10 day pass that you bought and that would go towards the price of the annual pass. The official start date of your annual pass will be the first day you used your 10 day tickets though. Not sure if that would save you money in the long run.

[jonahbear2006]

that sounds like a good deal...and that works? you can do that?

[TammiMcMan]

that sounds like a good deal...and that works? you can do that?Hopefully someone will come along that can confirm what I've written, but I am pretty certain that you can do this. The other option (if you have the cash up front) would be to add only a 1 day ticket to your free dining package and upgrade that for your annual passes. Financially, I think it all comes out to be the same cost, it's just a matter of how you want to handle it.

[jonahbear2006]

we will see what we have money for when the time comes. If we do end up with a tax stimulus, maybe we will just use that for annual pass upgrade and do it at check in.

[princessesmom]

Regular tickets will expire 14 days from the first date of use. So if you have days left on a 10 day ticket (and you don't have the no expiration option) they will expire on the 14'th day. They will have no value the following February. If you're definitely going back in February the most cost effective method is probably an annual pass.