One of the best ways to save cash on a Walt Disney World Annual Go is a technique known as worth or “ticket bridging” from common admission. This information explains how the method works, official coverage, issues you would possibly encounter, and the low cost you’ll obtain from upgrading to an AP. (Up to date Might 10, 2025.)
With the intention to worth or ticket bridge, you’ll need to begin by buying the Walt Disney World park ticket with the deepest low cost from a licensed third get together reseller. What this implies is you can buy discounted tickets by way of our associates at Get Away As we speak, after which convert these normal discounted tickets to an AP.
We preserve our Suggestions for Saving Cash on Walt Disney World Tickets submit up to date with what’s presently the perfect deal on the high of the submit. Saving cash on this first step is essential since you obtain the face worth of this ticket, not what you paid for it, when upgrading.
Within the strategy of ticket bridging, you’re credited for the total gate worth worth of the common Walt Disney World park ticket. This “bridges” the hole (therefore the title) between what you paid and the ticket’s present worth. You then pay out of pocket for the distinction between your ticket’s present worth and the price of a Walt Disney World Annual Go.
The following step goes to a Visitor Companies window together with your unused or partially used (regardless of what you would possibly learn, it makes no distinction) ticket, and requesting to improve it to an Annual Go, with the worth utilized in direction of your Annual Go. The explanation we advocate Visitor Companies is that this can be a pretty unusual request, and Visitor Companies is the place you’re almost definitely to discover a Solid Member with expertise in worth bridging.
If, for some motive, the Solid Member at Visitor Companies is unable to cost bridge on the present (full) gate worth of your Walt Disney World ticket, ask if a supervisor can help. Don’t get confrontational or say, “however the web advised me this works!” Neither will get you wherever. For a lot of Solid Members, the web is a verboten place of tomfoolery and lies about fifth gates and monorail growth. Failing that, attempt once more at a distinct window.
You can too ticket bridge by calling (407) 939-7277 and going by means of the very same course of. And unsurprisingly, you might need precisely the identical outcomes. Typically it’ll work, typically it gained’t. Different choices are utilizing the Annual Passholder Assist Type to electronic mail Walt Disney World’s devoted Assist Crew or contacting DVC Member Companies if you happen to’re a Disney Trip Membership Member.
Failing all else, the finest in-person location for any of these things is Visitor Companies at Disney Springs. We’ve discovered that each time now we have a posh query or drawback, simply reducing to the chase and going to Disney Springs is the best choice. In our expertise, the Solid Members there are sometimes essentially the most seasoned and educated, they usually normally have extra time to determine points–and larger willingness to take your query ‘up the meals chain’ in the event that they don’t know the reply. On the parks, there appears to be extra of a need to maintain issues transferring, which could imply extra of a rushed decision. Your mileage might range.
Might 10, 2025 Replace: This information was initially written a number of years in the past, and to the perfect of my information, has remained 100% correct for all of those years and thus hasn’t actually been in want of an replace. Nevertheless, I’ve lately acquired a number of questions on ticket bridging and needed to do a deeper dive into the subject for Magic Keys at Disneyland, which led me to do some investigating at Walt Disney World.
The web has been sending plenty of blended messaging about whether or not ticket bridging nonetheless works at Walt Disney World. To settle issues as soon as and for all (or a minimum of till the subsequent coverage change), I dug into the high-quality print of the official Walt Disney World Annual Go phrases & circumstances. The next two paragraphs comprise Walt Disney World’s official guidelines for upgrading from single and multi-day tickets to Annual Passes:
UPGRADES: Upgrades could also be obtainable once in a while or at no time, as decided in Disney’s discretion. A visitor wishing to improve to a Go from one other type of eligible Walt Disney World® Resort theme park admission media should improve on the identical day through which the unique type of theme park admission media is legitimate, and should select a Go of equal or larger worth than the retail worth of the unique theme park admission media when it was bought. The distinction in costs have to be paid in full on the time of the improve.
If an improve to a Go is produced from a multi-day ticket, the Go will likely be backdated to start on the primary day that such ticket was used. If an improve to a Go is produced from a decrease stage Go, the brand new Go can have the identical expiration date as the unique Go. Every visitor wishing to improve their theme park admission media to a Go have to be current on the time of the improve transaction. Totally used ticket media, partially used and expired ticket media, complimentary ticket media, particular occasion ticket media, water park ticket media and ticket media stating its ineligibility for an improve is probably not upgraded to a Go. Upgrades are topic to Go availability as decided by Disney, and extra restrictions and guidelines. Downgrades will not be allowed.
Do you need to know the mildly amusing or irritating factor, relying upon your perspective? The insurance policies for Walt Disney World and Disneyland are nearly similar, save for a few verbiage modifications, capitalization variations, and one added sentence. The sentence in query? The very first one: “Upgrades could also be obtainable once in a while or at no time, as decided in Disney’s discretion.”
Whereas upgrades are so standardized at Disneyland that the entire course of is streamlined by way of a button within the app, the identical is barely typically true with Walt Disney World tickets. (At the least, that’s what this official web page claims. The title of the web page is “Improve your Florida Resident Ticket to an Annual Go,” so it will stand to motive that it’s distinctive to that ticket kind, however the precise textual content suggests it’s extra expansive.)
To the perfect of my recollection, I’ve by no means seen this button within the My Disney Expertise app, however then once more, I don’t usually have common Walt Disney World tickets loaded in there.
Anyway, the underside line is that Walt Disney World’s official coverage on bridging common tickets to Annual Passes is “if we really feel prefer it.”
This gorgeous a lot tracks with on-line experiences and, frankly, explains lots! From my expertise with this course of over the past decade-plus is that it extra comes all the way down to getting an skilled Solid Member who is aware of bridge, as a result of it doesn’t appear to be a simple course of, and who’s keen to do it.
That mainly means it’s the luck of the draw with a splash of whether or not the Solid Member likes the “lower of your jib” thrown in for good measure. Talking from firsthand expertise, we’ve all the time discovered that Sarah has a better success charge at stuff like this than me, until the Solid Member is an older lady, through which case, I outperform. So, uh, good luck!
One other bizarre quirk on this complete system is that the Solid Member doing the ticket bridging is seemingly doing the maths on the improve if you’re upgrading from a 3rd get together ticket. That means that you simply actually, actually ought to double-check their numbers earlier than you proceed with the transaction. None of that is automated, for no matter motive.
It solely works this manner with third get together tickets, not these bought instantly from Walt Disney World. Whereas all tickets are able to being upgraded if you happen to pay the distinction, these tickets bought instantly from Disney obtain credit score for the gate worth of the ticket on the time the ticket was bought.
In contrast, third get together tickets are credited the present gate worth of the ticket on the time of the improve. It is a recognized loophole in Disney’s system and I’m undecided why. Maybe there’s some kind of breakdown within the suggestions loop with the third get together sale or another, unknown motive why full, present worth is credited. Regardless of the case, it’s a “recognized problem” that advantages the patron.
Variations of worth bridging have been round for a minimum of 15 years, and this loophole has but to be closed. (Let’s name it a “Disney Hack” since loophole has a unfavourable connotation…) I doubt this weblog submit will change that as this information has been extensively obtainable by way of boards and different websites for some time.
I bear in mind utilizing the method–albeit not within the actual method–within the early days of Free Eating to improve tickets (again in 2008 or 2009), and the identical ideas are being utilized right here. Theoretically, you may “make investments” in park tickets now that you simply’ll use to improve to Annual Passes years down the street and watch the worth of your tickets climb.
It might mainly be like investing in GOOGL at its IPO and cashing out in the present day. Nicely, possibly not that good of an funding, however ticket worth will increase have approach outpaced inflation. Nevertheless, we don’t advocate this as a long-term plan as a result of there’s no telling when Disney revise this coverage.
A couple of last notes:
- You’ll obtain a credit score for the present gate worth after-tax when upgrading. Be sure to verify this quantity earlier than finishing the improve transaction.
- You should utilize worth bridging on Annual Go renewals.
- You should utilize worth bridging on Disney Trip Membership-discounted Annual Passes.
- You should utilize worth bridging on different, costlier tickets that aren’t Annual Passes.
That ought to about cowl it when it comes to pricing bridging your discounted Walt Disney World tickets to…discounted Annual Passes! It’s a pleasant method to save a bit more cash you can then put in direction of Vinylmation or novelty hats–you realize, the requirements.
Planning a Walt Disney World journey? Study inns on our Walt Disney World Lodges Evaluations web page. For the place to eat, learn our Walt Disney World Restaurant Evaluations. To economize on tickets or decide which kind to purchase, learn our Suggestions for Saving Cash on Walt Disney World Tickets submit. Our What to Pack for Disney Journeys submit takes a singular take a look at intelligent objects to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Journey Guides will assist. For complete recommendation, the perfect place to start out is our Walt Disney World Journey Planning Information for every little thing it’s good to know!
Your Ideas
Do you may have any questions on worth or ticket bridging? Have you ever tried it earlier than? Any issues worth bridging? Successes? Want this method have been known as “WDW Ticket Trojan Horsing” as a substitute? Agree or disagree with our recommendation about ticket bridging? Share any questions, ideas, or further ideas you may have within the feedback!
