Ticket Bridging for Disney World Annual Passes
The best way to save money on a Walt Disney World Annual Pass is a method called price or “ticket bridging” from regular admission. This guide explains how the technique works, official policy, problems you might encounter, and the discount you’ll receive from upgrading to an AP. (Updated May 10, 2025.)
In order to price or ticket bridge, you’ll want to start by purchasing the Walt Disney World park ticket with the deepest discount from an authorized third party reseller. What this means is that you can purchase discounted tickets via our friends at Get Away Today, and then convert those standard discounted tickets to an AP.
We keep our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post updated with what’s currently the best deal at the top of the post. Saving money in this first step is important because you receive the face value of this ticket, not what you paid for it, when upgrading.
In the process of ticket bridging, you’re credited for the full gate price value of the regular Walt Disney World park ticket. This “bridges” the gap (hence the name) between what you paid and the ticket’s current value. You then pay out of pocket for the difference between your ticket’s current value and the cost of a Walt Disney World Annual Pass.
The next step is going to a Guest Services window with your unused or partially used (despite what you might read, it makes no difference) ticket, and requesting to upgrade it to an Annual Pass, with the value applied towards your Annual Pass. The reason we recommend Guest Services is that this is a fairly uncommon request, and Guest Services is where you’re most likely to find a Cast Member with experience in price bridging.
If, for some reason, the Cast Member at Guest Services is unable to price bridge at the current (full) gate price of your Walt Disney World ticket, ask if a supervisor can assist. Don’t get confrontational or say, “but the internet told me this works!” Neither will get you anywhere. For many Cast Members, the internet is a verboten place of tomfoolery and lies about 5th gates and monorail expansion. Failing that, try again at a different window.
You can also ticket bridge by calling (407) 939-7277 and going through the exact same process. And unsurprisingly, you might have exactly the same results. Sometimes it’ll work, sometimes it won’t. Other options are using the Annual Passholder Help Form to email Walt Disney World’s dedicated Help Team or contacting DVC Member Services if you’re a Disney Vacation Club Member.
Failing all else, the best in-person location for any of this stuff is Guest Services at Disney Springs. We’ve found that whenever we have a complex question or problem, just cutting to the chase and going to Disney Springs is the best option. In our experience, the Cast Members there are often the most seasoned and knowledgeable, and they usually have more time to figure out issues–and greater willingness to take your question ‘up the food chain’ if they don’t know the answer. At the parks, there seems to be more of a desire to keep things moving, which might mean more of a rushed resolution. Your mileage may vary.
May 10, 2025 Update:Â This guide was originally written several years ago, and to the best of my knowledge, has remained 100% accurate for all of these years and thus hasn’t really been in need of an update. However, I’ve recently received a few questions about ticket bridging and had to do a deeper dive into the topic for Magic Keys at Disneyland, which led me to do some investigating at Walt Disney World.
The internet has been sending a lot of mixed messaging about whether ticket bridging still works at Walt Disney World. To settle things once and for all (or at least until the next policy change), I dug into the fine print of the official Walt Disney World Annual Pass terms & conditions. The following two paragraphs contain Walt Disney World’s official rules for upgrading from single and multi-day tickets to Annual Passes:
UPGRADES: Upgrades may be available from time to time or at no time, as determined in Disney’s discretion. A guest wishing to upgrade to a Pass from another form of eligible Walt Disney World® Resort theme park admission media must upgrade on the same day in which the original form of theme park admission media is valid, and must choose a Pass of equal or greater value than the retail price of the original theme park admission media when it was purchased. The difference in prices must be paid in full at the time of the upgrade.
If an upgrade to a Pass is made from a multi-day ticket, the Pass will be backdated to begin on the first day that such ticket was used. If an upgrade to a Pass is made from a lower level Pass, the new Pass will have the same expiration date as the original Pass. Each guest wishing to upgrade their theme park admission media to a Pass must be present at the time of the upgrade transaction. Fully used ticket media, partially used and expired ticket media, complimentary ticket media, special event ticket media, water park ticket media and ticket media stating its ineligibility for an upgrade may not be upgraded to a Pass. Upgrades are subject to Pass availability as determined by Disney, and additional restrictions and rules. Downgrades are not allowed.
Do you want to know the mildly amusing or frustrating thing, depending upon your perspective? The policies for Walt Disney World and Disneyland are almost identical, save for a couple of verbiage changes, capitalization differences, and one added sentence. The sentence in question? The very first one: “Upgrades may be available from time to time or at no time, as determined in Disney’s discretion.”
Whereas upgrades are so standardized at Disneyland that the whole process is streamlined via a button in the app, the same is only sometimes true with Walt Disney World tickets. (At least, that’s what this official page claims. The title of the page is “Upgrade your Florida Resident Ticket to an Annual Pass,” so it would stand to reason that it’s unique to that ticket type, but the actual text suggests it’s more expansive.)
To the best of my recollection, I’ve never seen this button in the My Disney Experience app, but then again, I don’t often have regular Walt Disney World tickets loaded in there.
Anyway, the bottom line is that Walt Disney World’s official policy on bridging regular tickets to Annual Passes is “if we feel like it.”
This pretty much tracks with online reports and, frankly, explains a lot! From my experience with this process over the last decade-plus is that it more comes down to getting an experienced Cast Member who knows how to bridge, because it doesn’t seem to be a straightforward process, and who is willing to do it.
That basically means it’s the luck of the draw with a dash of whether the Cast Member likes the “cut of your jib” thrown in for good measure. Speaking from firsthand experience, we’ve always found that Sarah has a higher success rate at stuff like this than me, unless the Cast Member is an older woman, in which case, I outperform. So, uh, good luck!
Another weird quirk in this whole system is that the Cast Member doing the ticket bridging is seemingly doing the math on the upgrade when you’re upgrading from a third party ticket. Meaning that you really, really should double-check their numbers before you proceed with the transaction. None of this is automated, for whatever reason.
It only works this way with third party tickets, not those purchased directly from Walt Disney World. While all tickets are capable of being upgraded if you pay the difference, those tickets purchased directly from Disney receive credit for the gate price of the ticket at the time the ticket was purchased.
By contrast, third party tickets are credited the current gate price of the ticket at the time of the upgrade. This is a known loophole in Disney’s system and I’m not sure why. Perhaps there’s some sort of breakdown in the feedback loop with the third party sale or some other, unknown reason why full, current price is credited. Whatever the case, it’s a “known issue” that benefits the consumer.
Variations of price bridging have been around for at least 15 years, and this loophole has yet to be closed. (Let’s call it a “Disney Hack” since loophole has a negative connotation…) I doubt this blog post will change that as this info has been widely available via forums and other sites for a while.
I remember using the technique–albeit not in the exact manner–in the early days of Free Dining to upgrade tickets (back in 2008 or 2009), and the same principles are being applied here. Theoretically, you could “invest” in park tickets now that you’ll use to upgrade to Annual Passes years down the road and watch the value of your tickets climb.
It would basically be like investing in GOOGL at its IPO and cashing out today. Well, maybe not that good of an investment, but ticket price increases have way outpaced inflation. However, we don’t recommend this as a long-term plan because there’s no telling when Disney revise this policy.
A few final notes:
- You will receive a credit for the current gate price after-tax when upgrading. Make sure to confirm this amount before completing the upgrade transaction.
- You can use price bridging on Annual Pass renewals.
- You can use price bridging on Disney Vacation Club-discounted Annual Passes.
- You can use price bridging on other, more expensive tickets that aren’t Annual Passes.
That should about cover it in terms of pricing bridging your discounted Walt Disney World tickets to…discounted Annual Passes! It’s a nice way to save a bit more money that you can then put towards Vinylmation or novelty hats–you know, the necessities.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
Your Thoughts
Do you have any questions about price or ticket bridging? Have you tried it before? Any problems price bridging? Successes? Wish this technique were called “WDW Ticket Trojan Horsing” instead? Agree or disagree with our advice about ticket bridging? Share any questions, tips, or additional thoughts you have in the comments!
You mention that I can use a “partially unused” ticket. So if I purchasr a 7 day, and use 6 days, I can use this ticket to upgrade? If I’m right, that means (I’m almost too freaked out to write this) that the annual pass will cost me $173?! ($117 to upgrade to Annual Pass, plus $56 for the 7th unused date on the 7 Day Pass).
I feel like I’m missing something.
Well, you’ll have paid for the 7-day ticket (which you otherwise would not have needed if you had just bought an Annual Pass in the first place).
where are you getting 584.69 for a Platinum Pass?
When I look at the site all I see is
$797 for the Platinum Pass and $882 for the Platinum Pass Plus.
If you’re not from FL, those are the prices. The 584 is most likely the Florida Resident Platinum
Another question: Would you still be able to make FP+ reservations for your entire trip if you are staying for say 10 days but only have the 7 day tickets linked to your account? You cannot make FP+ reservations without tickets linked, correct?
Oh wow, definitely never heard of this….and it works on renewals??? I would have saved almost $400 on our recent AP renewals. Oh well, live and learn!
So when I went to Park Savers, it wants me to input a “redemption date” but we aren’t going until Jan 2017 and it only allows you to select a date through Dec 31, ’16 – is this important/relevant or not? You mentioned investing in tickets now and theoretically getting savings years later so I assume a “redemption date” is arbitrary, but just wanted to check. Also, can you clarify what to say to the Cast Member at Guest Services? I re-read it several times and I get what NOT to say, but I’m still unclear on what I should be saying to get what I want… “I want to upgrade our tickets to annual passes”? And then just make sure the numbers match up? If the numbers do not match up, what do I say?
The redemption date is just to satisfy an Expedia requirement. You can put anything in there, it’s nothing more than a suggested date.
So if I buy a 3rd party ticket, then upgrade my first day, will my annual pass expire the day I ask for the upgrade?
You say above that this will work for Anuual Pass renewals. If I renew my current AP directly through Disney, we would save around $50/ticket. How would you apply price bridging in this scenario?
” I want to purchase the Disney Platinum Pass, which is $584.69.”
Where is this available for this price? I am trying hard to find it, but on WDW sites, it’s $750 + tax.
Thanks!
SORRY for the double post!! I refreshed the page and my first post had disappeared. but as soon as I reposted, it showed up again.
Internet fail, . Sigh.
That is the renewal price for FL residents/DVC members, so you have to qualify for one of those to get that price.
Thanks, Stacey H. That makes more sense now. Wish the article had made that more clear. I felt like I was getting ripped off, or there was some deal I wasn’t aware of.
In what world is the Platinum AP $584.69?? It shows as $749 on the WDW website. Where can I find one for your price?
I would also like to know about the annual pass renewal. I’m assuming you need to be at WDW before your renewal date to take advantage of the bridging, right?
So, if I buy a 7 day ticket, use 5 days, then use it to price bridge, do Disney allow the whole ticket price, or just the remaining 2 days? Will the annual pass run for 365 days, or will they reduce it by the number of used days in the original ticket being upgraded? I’m wondering if, as well as the price benefit, I could also gain an extra few days?
Your annual pass would be valid from the first day of use on your original ticket. So, you will not gain any days with this strategy. They will credit you the cost of the ticket (so, if you bought a 7 day ticket, and used 5, you would be credited the cost of the 7 day ticket). Hope that helps!
One other question: is the AP’s PhotoPass benefit the same thing as if you buy the Memory Maker before hand, or with part of a package? They call it different things, but I’m assuming it works the same and that you can link it between everyone in your party on MDE?
To my knowledge, it’s exactly the same. When we had PhotoPass on our Annual Passes, I did not notice any difference, but it’s been a while since we actually purchased the plan.
Thanks, TB!
It definitely works and in theory, any ticket window should be able to do it. I used to be a Vacation Planner at Magic Kingdom/TTC (vacation planner is Disney’s speak for ticket seller) and I did them all the time. Like Tom says though… it’s possible you’ll encounter a ticket window CM who is unfamiliar with the process. It happens. It wasn’t something we saw every day, but every guest relations and regular ticket window gets trained on how to do it and it should be something you can get done without much hassle. If the cast member isn’t understanding or is unsure, just ask to speak to a supervisor.
Just wanted to add a note: Definitely know ahead of time a pretty close estimate of how much the upgrade will be, because being on the other side of the window, I can tell you that the computer sometimes gets confused and needs to do something with the ticket to make it correctly priced and it can be hard to catch as a CM. 😉
I upgraded my 3rd party tickets at Disneyland last year for an annual pass. We had 5 day hoppers and were credited for such towards our annual passes. I had no problems and it took only a few mins. It was a fantastic value for us as we ended up using 22 days in the park last year.
The question I have is whether you were credited the gate price or what you paid (if you bought from a third party)? Disneyland will apply tickets to APs, but it’s very rare for them to price bridge the current full gate value of the ticket purchased at a discount–instead, you’re credited the amount you paid.
This was a few years ago, but we used AirMiles points to “purchase” our 5 day park hoppers for Disneyland, and were credited full gate price when we did our upgrade. I didn’t pay a dime for the 5 day tickets, and I presume that AirMiles bought the tickets in bulk at a discounted price, though I can’t say that for sure. Just this past April we upgraded WDW 7 day base tickets that we got with our AirMiles points & they also gave us full gate credit when we upgraded to 10 day park hoppers with waterpark fun & more option. The ticket agent (window at World Showcase entrance at Epcot) specifically said that the tickets had been purchased (by the points folks) at a substantial discount from the current gate price, and I assume that had also been the case at Disneyland (though they may have been purchased directly from the parks at the bulk discount?).
Is it as difficult to upgrade a regular park ticket to an AP as it is a third-party ticket? I’m going in Nov and have a WDW package, but have pretty much convinced myself to upgrade to an AP when I get there. I’m depending on the Park Hopper and Memory Maker/Photo Pass, so I need it to be an easy transaction!
From the words up there: “What’s interesting about this technique is that it only works this way with third party tickets, not those purchased directly from Walt Disney World. “
But I gather from the word sup there also, that you can still upgrade, but you won’t get credit for the full face value of the ticket, just what you actually paid for it. Hope that helps!
I wouldn’t say any of these techniques are difficult, just that some (maybe 10%?) of Guest Services Cast Members don’t know how to price bridge with third party tickets.
With upgrading tickets purchased directly from Disney, you should have absolutely 0 problems. It’s a much more common transaction. You’ll just miss out on the ~$75 savings.
Makes sense! I had my vacation package before I ever considered an AP upgrade, but could totally see myself going this route another year – great tip!
I have purchased my 7 day tickets from park savers and have them linked to my Disney experience. I can price bridge these to an annual pass in December, correct? Is it ok if they have already been linked????
Can you provide the actual numbers for the annual pass versus the discounted ticket?
Well there’s several AP options, and several 3rd party ticket vendors, who offer a variety of passes based on days-of-stay. Then times of the year, child vs adult, etc and that’s a whole lotta numbers good Mr.Bricker has to calculate. It’ll take 5 minutes to check the ticket prices for your personal vacation.
I would like an example or examples or links to them. Since the 7 day hopper above is 394.46 from Disney park savers and the annual pass that I would want for none-Florida residents is $749.something. What does Disney value the 7 day hopper to price bridge.
I consider to know many things Disney and I never knew this.
I also assume that if I bought a 7 day and wanted 10 days, I can upgrade a 3rd party pass also at the window for more days.
Good question, and what I was about to ask, too! I’m just about to buy tix, so very timely post.
I’m *assuming* that if we buy the ticket Tom is pimping for $394, that when we go to Guest Services, we will get a credit for $498 (WDW’s gate price).
So essentially, the normal platinum annual pass is down from $798 to $694, essentially. I think. 🙂
I’ve updated the post with an example that illustrates pricing. Obviously, it’s just an example, so if you purchase different tickets or another AP tier, the numbers change.
We used price bridging the first time we bought our Annual Passes in 2014 and saved close to $200 for our whole party. It was a completely seamless transaction at Guest Services at Downtown Disney (now Disney Springs). I recommend making a quick calculation to know how much you should be paying beforehand. When the cast member quoted the price, it matched exactly to my calculation. If it doesn’t match up to what you calculated, take Tom’s advice and try again at another location or at a different time!
On another note, I didn’t realize price bridging could be used with AP renewals. I’m having a hard time thinking out of the box…how would you go about doing this? 🙂
Stephanie, can you explain prices and how that was done?
The Disney system can see what you originally paid for the ticket even if it was sold by a 3rd party. I have no idea why the loophole still exists only for 3rd party tickets (if you get the right CM who can/will do it for you). Since they do know the original price I don’t think that is the explanation.
My mother had an undercover tourist ticket from 2013 that was upgraded in 2015. The CM at Epcot guest services plus the supervisor both said they would/could only give credit for what was paid in 2013 (the amount was correctly quoted so they could clearly see this in their database). Unfortunately the upgrade had to be done because of an upcoming ADR at Epcot (she’d been to a different park that am so needed the hopper to get in). So she did not have the option to wait and try again elsewhere.
I’ve heard from others online that not all CMs know how to do price bridging (fewer training hrs?) and it’s kind of luck of the draw if you happen upon a CM who doesn’t know how to do it. But as Tom has said it can be done if you get the right CM. I guess my point is don’t be like us and wait until the last minute to do the upgrade. That way if you get a CM who can’t bridge you can try again later.
That’s interesting about the original price, I wasn’t aware of that. Is it possible they are seeing the price the discount reseller paid, or the actual price YOU paid? If the latter, there’s really no reason this loophole still exists.
In which case, I’m sure the folks on various forums are going to love that I wrote a blog post about this. 😉
Disney can only see the price that the discount reseller paid. As I noted in a comment above, we used a points program to “buy” our tickets, and Disney could only see how much AirMiles paid for the ticket. They had no idea how “much” (how many points or whatever) I had paid AirMiles for the ticket. I actually had that discussion with the ticket agent. Great post Tom! Cheers.
Disney sees the cost the seller paid. When I was a vacation planner, we were trained not to quote numbers or draw attention to price bridging, as not all resellers pass that saving to the guest, so a statement like, “I have one extra step because your ticket was discounted” could lead to an angry guest. As such, don’t necessarily expect the CM to be able to tell you the amount of the bridge.
I don’t know if we were credited what undercover tourist paid Disney for the ticket or what I paid in 2013 to undercover tourist. It was a ticket that I purchased,didn’t use, and passed on to my mom and I didn’t keep track of exactly what I had paid but had a rough idea. I really hope it wasn’t what UC paid, then we would have lost even more money on the transaction. I just know it was about $70 more than what I calculated it should have been had they price bridged and given us current gate value of the ticket.
Would this work for Florida Resident passes as well?
Yes–any Walt Disney World Annual Pass.