birder

My husband and I are going to Epcot's food & wine festival next week. We were only going to buy a 1-day pass (we are Florida residents). But then we were thinking, a 3-day pass is only $119, compared to $54 for a 1-day pass.

Here's my question: can we buy the 1-day pass and if we like it, then convert it to a 3-day pass? (By "convert" I mean will they let us apply the $54 we spent on the 1-day pass to the $119 for the 3-day pass?)

Thanks for any advice you can provide.

birder

I just called Disney and they could not answer my question for sure. They advised that I ask at the Epcot Guest Relations desk before I purchase any tickets. Not very helpful!

Geckolips

IF you like it? You will love it! You won't get through all of it in one day anyway, so go back in December when it becomes a winter/Christmas wonderland and catch some of the areas you missed the first time. Also, with the 3 day pass you can go to Magic Kingdom or Animal Kingdom if you don't want to hit Epcot the third time. It is worth it. And don't forget to take the monorail around and stop inside the Grand Floridian if you go in December. The decorations are gorgeous.

GoTravel

I don't think so but I could be wrong.

If the three day is a park hopper, than go for it. You can visit as many parks as you want as many days as you want.

I've never been to Disney and not wished I had more time in the parks.

So, my opinion is yes, get the three day pass. Totally worth the price.

wallacefl

Disney changed the rules on their multi-day tickets last year. Multi-day tickets now expire 14-days after the first day of use. Previously, there was no expiration on the unused days. You may want to take this into consideration where making your decision. I would ask about "converting" when you get there. Disney use to allow that, but not sure with their recent ticket restructuring.

lucienne78

wallacefl is right but I think there is a certain charge for you to get tickets that do not expire.

Geckolips

As a Florida resident we got the 3 day pass and it is a 6 month from first use, not 14 day. Check each ticket package carefully and go to their website for more information. Also, a wonderful website I use all the time is Deb's Unofficial Disney site: www.wdwig.com. You can spend hours on it!

birder

Thanks, everyone, I guess I still don't know the answer. I will let you know when I find out.

The 3-day pass for Florida residents is good for 6 months automatically. I am still not sure if we want it - we are not theme park people, really. We DESPISED Universal Studios - it was absolutely boring and tedious. Our idea of a great vacation is the Everglades.

I've been to both Epcot and Disney World when I was younger, and I think my husband will enjoy Epcot. But I don't know if we need 3 days of the Disney parks. We'll see.

birder

I forgot to say, the allure of Disney decked out for Christmas is one of the reasons we are considering the 3-day pass. I think it would be a lot of fun to go in early December (no crowds) and get into the holiday spirit.

However, the problem is, the $119 3-day pass is not a park hopper. It's $154 for a 3-day park hopper for FL residents. A Fl residents 1-day pass (non-park hopper) is $53, and a 1-day park hopper pass is only $59. So we will probably get the 1-day park hopper pass, and if we really like it, we can come back for another day in December and buy another 1-day park hopper, for a total of $118 per person. I don't know if we'd go a third time, so this may be the best bet, if they don't let us upgrade.

LLindaC

birder- did you chack and see whether there were any theme dinner tickets available? I know that there is one more Party for the Senses (absolutely worth doing) and probably a few others. You may want to do two days at Epcot- one day doing samplings of food/wine and vising rides, seeing movies, etc and the second doing wine seminars and seeing things you didn't get done the previous day. We spent two full days at EPCOT just doing that; our friends stayed a couple extra days and went back to EPCOT twice!

travelinwifey

I don't think the tickets can be converted, Disney has really tightened up restrictions these past few years, but that's just a guess. Also, if you choose to call Disney again make sure to get advice from a few reps... I have been trying to plan my inlaws 50th anniversary and multiple reps give me multiple different anwers, thus spending hours on the phone

Personally I'd go for the 3 day pass deal if the above is correct, sounds like a good deal

bennnie

Here is the info from allearsnet.com Look at the last paragrapa as it applies to Florida residents

UPGRADING WDW TICKETS

One of the most frequently asked questions I hear about Walt Disney World tickets is "I think I may be coming back to Disney World in a few months. Can I upgrade my ___ (fill in the blank with a ticket name) ticket to a longer ticket or an Annual Pass?" Yes you can. Let me try to explain the procedures involved in doing that.

The one place that can handle any kind of ticket upgrades is at a Guest Relations location. These can be found at any WDW major theme park and the two locations at DTD. You cannot do it at a Disney Store or at the airport. The one exception to this is at the International Gateway entrance to Epcot. That ticket booth is staffed and operated by Guest Relations and is in fact a Guest Relations location.

Disney resorts can now do many of the upgrades on the MYW tickets. They can add any options you want (park hopping, plus options and no expiration) as well as add more days onto your MYW ticket. Resorts cannot do any upgrades that involve Annual, Premium Annual or Seasonal Passes.

Now let's get the ticketing terminology down as it makes a big difference. You'll find that the King's English and Disneyspeak aren't always the same thing. Disney allows UPGRADING only within the first 7 days of using the ticket for PH/PHP tickets, or the first 14 days for MYW tickets. After the seventh/fourteenth day, they will not upgrade it but they will apply the DOLLAR CREDIT of any unused major park admissions towards the purchase price of the new ticket.

UPGRADING is the act of applying the entire original purchase price towards the new MYW ticket or AP/PAP. DOLLAR CREDIT is the act of applying the current dollar value (not the entire purchase price) of the unused major park admissions on the ticket towards the new one. Unused plus options carry no dollar value.

The reason why I point this difference out is that many people have asked a Guest Relations CM to upgrade their park ticket to another ticket after that 7 or 14 day window has gone and have been told that they can't (which is correct in Disneyspeak). What they aren't always told unless they know enough to ask is that they can apply the dollar credit of the remaining unused major park days towards a new ticket/AP/PAP at any time. So the bottom line is that you can always trade that old ticket in at any time.

UPGRADES

Disney allows you to UPGRADE most park tickets to a longer Magic Your Way ticket, an Annual Pass (AP) or a Premium Annual Pass (PAP) within 7 days of the first use of the ticket for old PH & PHPs, or the first 14 days for MYW tickets. They will take the entire price of the ticket you started using (assuming you purchased that ticket from Disney) and deduct it from the cost of the new ticket. The starting date of an AP/PAP will be back dated to the date you first used any admission off the old ticket. Disney will not allow you to upgrade certain promotional tickets not available to the general public.

One thing to be careful of is that once the old ticket has been used up and the last day's admission has gone by, the ticket is not upgradeable even if the end of the 7 or 14 day window has not yet been reached (as in you had a 4 day PH and used it all and try to do the upgrade on the 7th day). There is one exception to this. Disney's 3 Days Play pass for Florida residents. Disney will allow that pass to be upgraded to a Seasonal or Annual Pass any time during the six month use window. But Disney will back date the Seasonal or Annual Pass to the date you first used the 3 Days Play ticket which may have been several months ago.

birder

Thanks, everyone, I had seen the info at allears.net, but as you can see, it doesn't answer my question. In fact, when I called Disney, they read me the same info and they said, "This doesn't answer your question."

It does say you can upgrade most Magic Your Way tickets, which is what my 1-day ticket will be. So I am hopeful. We'll see!

birder

Hi, everyone, the answer is ... yes, you can upgrade a 1-day Florida resident pass to a 3-day Florida resident pass (which is good for 6 months). You just visit any ticket counter within 14 days of buying the 1-day pass.

We didn't do it, though, because we did NOT enjoy EPCOT. I would not go back unless friends asked me and paid for me. Ugh. I will post a review later, so get your blowtorches ready (I know I will be flamed for beating up on Disney but I have to tell the truth!).

Patrick

Why should you be flamed? We don't all have the same interests. It was clear from your earlier posts that you would hate it and your mind was made up. Some people aren't theme park people, like you said, and there was no way you would enjoy it. I know people who hate Broadway shows, others despise going on cruises, and I'd rather put my eyes out with needles than sit through a world series baseball game -- so there.

birder

Patrick, you're dead wrong - I had not made up my mind that I would hate Epcot. I had been to Epcot as an teenager and I loved it. I fulled expected to like Epcot and thought my husband would to. Why else would we be spending a full day plus $200+ there? We are not masochists.

What I did question was whether we wanted to spend 3 days in Disney parks. Actually, I thought we probably would want to go back during early December for the Christmas displays. When my husband and I asked at the ticket counter about whether we could upgrade, and found out we could, we looked at each other and said, "That's probably what we'll be doing."

Will post a review later.

MechTeach

Birder - Please post your review soon! I have a conference at the Dolphin next week, and I've been trying to decide whether to go to Epcot one afternoon for the F&W festival. Like you, I loved it as a teen, but I'm not sure how I'll feel about it now....any additional POVs would be very helpful. Cheers!

birder

MechTeach, if you like wine & food, I'd recommend going. The seminars were great - the ones listed in the book are free and include several free samples. For example, we went to one held by a small French winery that was organic before organic was popular. The owner told us where the names of the wines came from (one is named after her grandmother), and lots of other intimate details that you would never get otherwise. So check the schedule and see what demonstrations will be on when you are in the park. Line up about 20 minutes before they start (if you are going on a weekday, that should be enough time).

Then, of course, between seminars, you can check out the tasty niblets over in World Showcase from the different countries. They cost, but it's reasonable enough.

My favorite part was going into the different countries and seeing what hidden wine flights they had. Spain & Australia were set up outside with wine flights, and we assumed those were the only wine flights they had. But not so, when you go into the countries' wine shops, they will often list wine flights as well. In France, it was 3 wines for $7, and absolutely worth it. However, the French "help" were rude and didn't want to tell us anything about the wines. But in Germany, it was 4 wines for $7 - and the German guy behind the counter knew quite a bit about the wines, so that was a lovely experience.

So I should caveat my previous post - I do think the food & wine festival is worth visiting. Without it, though, I personally would not want to go back. I'll post a review later today, have to go run now!

MechTeach

Thank you so much, birder! That was just the type of reply I was hoping for. I have a chance to get an after-2 pm ticket through the conference organizers, and I think that I will do that now. Thanks again!