What To Do If Your Florida Resident Discover Disney Ticket is Expiring

Holders of the Florida Resident Discover Disney Ticket only have a few days left to decide what to do with the remaining days on their ticket media.

Let’s backpedal first, shall we?

The Discover Disney ticket was available for Florida residents to purchase back in January 2020, giving Florida residents the ability to visit the parks for three or four days for under $200 through June 30, 2020. Then in the spring COVID-19 hit, the parks closed, and everyone’s tickets were frozen. Most Disney passes were extended to December but since the Discover Disney tickets were only going to be valid until June 30, their expiration was only extended to September 30 and this restriction remains in place. Thus, if you have one of these tickets laying around, you only have a few days left to decide what to do with it.

Originally, in our springtime naivety, Disney offered a special deal for folks who had vacations planned for the closure period. This deal included free dining and guests with Discover Disney tickets were given the option to transfer their ticket money to a Disney gift card for use in purchasing this package deal (since the package would require the purchase of theme park tickets to go along with it). This option became invalid once Disney did away with the Dining Plan for the time being, leaving guests with these options.

Option 1: Use It

This is definitely the easiest . . . assuming you can find yourself a park reservation.

Option 2: Apply It Towards Another Ticket Purchase

If you would like to upgrade your ticket to something else, you can apply the money you paid for your Discover Disney ticket to another ticket purchase.

Option 3: Apply It to a Disney Gift Card

While the special free dining package is no longer an option, Disney would be thrilled to have you keep your money in house and convert their ticket purchase into a Disney gift card for use on a future vacation. I suppose this makes sense if you’ve already spent your vacation savings and want to make sure you keep using it for a vacation instead of, say, accidentally using it to buy a pet tiger or pay your electric bill. From a financial perspective, however, it probably makes more sense to . . .

Option 4: Get a Refund

Yes, Disney does recognize the unusual circumstances people were placed in here and will simply refund your money . . .which, all things considered, is probably the most prudent thing to do. Then you can choose to spend your money wherever and however you see fit, be it at Walt Disney World or not.

But What If You Already Used Some of the Ticket?

So what if your ticket is partially used? Do you need to use it up or lose it? No, you do not. While most Disney tickets start down to the road to expiration after your first use, this particular ticket can be partially refunded. Once again, in light of the exigent circumstances. It will simply be prorated based on how many days were used.

What if it’s after September 30, 2020?

Let’s ignore the fact that you’re showing up late to the party and embrace the fact that you showed up at all. Don’t worry. Your money is not forever gone into Mickey’s pockets. Disney will leave the remaining value of the ticket in your account indefinitely and it can be used towards a future ticket or vacation purchase. Disney will not, however, guarantee that the money can be refunded to you beyond the end of 2020, meaning you may be locked into using it with Disney.

So how do I do it?

If you are using the ticket or decide to just leave it in your account, you don’t need to do anything. If you decide to get a refund, gift card, or apply the value towards another purchase, just give Disney’s reservations center a call at 1-407-W-DISNEY (1-407-934-7639). Be prepared for longer-than-usual waits. My hold time was estimated at twenty minutes (with no FastPass available!). Fun fact: Disney’s pre-recorded spiel also proudly proclaims that it’s “easier than ever to celebrate life’s special moments in 2020” which is a bold-faced lie. Nevertheless, there is still a lot of fun to be had to Walt Disney World, in spite of pandemic restrictions, so get out there and use that ticket if you can. But if that’s not a comfortable option to you right now, at least Disney has your back.

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