Guide to Discount Disney World Tickets (2024)
Our guide to discount Disney World tickets offers money-saving info, pros & cons of Park Hoppers, tips for the best deals on tickets for now through October 2025 at Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios & Animal Kingdom. Plus, price increase predictions, which is likely to happen this fall or holiday season. (Updated March 20, 2024.)
If you’re wondering the best place to safely buy the discounted Walt Disney World multi-day tickets from an authorized reseller, we recommend Get Away Today, which offers an exclusive discount to readers of this site–enter promo code DTB23 at checkout for an extra $8 to $30 off per ticket! They have excellent deals on Central Florida theme parks, including Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, and SeaWorld Orlando in addition to Disney’s theme and water parks.
This is one authorized sellers we recommend (see info about the other below), with the highlighted one changing based upon which currently has the best pricing. All three offer exceptional customer service and added flexibility, even superior to what Disney offers directly (call centers are currently short-staffed, making speaking with a person at Disney “challenging” to say the least). These low prices coupled with Get Away Today’s “Best Price Guarantee” makes them our recommended ticket seller.
Before we get going, let’s start with the latest Walt Disney World ticket news–there are several ticket deals currently available. First up, there’s the Discounted Florida Resident Discover Disney Ticket. This offers Floridians the opportunity to buy a 4-day ticket for just $59 per day. These tickets are valid for use from April 2 to September 28, 2024, with an advance park reservation.
Much more significant is the 4-Park, 4-Day Walt Disney World Magic Ticket. This is available to the general public and offers admission starting at $99 per day admission without requiring reservations from April 2 to September 22, 2024. The big limitation here is that there’s no Park Hopping and you can only visit each park once, which is Walt Disney World’s way of redistributing attendance away from Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios (the two busiest parks) and to EPCOT and Animal Kingdom (the least busy parks).
If you can get past those two limitations (our post above explains how to work around them–especially during Party Season), the 4-Park Magic Ticket offers tremendous savings. The exact amount of the discount varies due to date-based pricing, but we’ve found that it averages around $100 per person. You can buy this ticket directly from Walt Disney World, or available for an even deeper discount via Get Away Today!
Rounding out the deals, there’s a new offer for Universal Orlando that’s very similar to Walt Disney World’s 4-Park Magic Ticket. Enjoy four days of thrills at Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure when you purchase Universal Orlando’s 2-Park Play 4 Days Promo Base Ticket, starting at $74 per day. With this, you can visit one park per day, upgrade to Park-to-Park tickets to visit multiple parks in the same day, or even upgrade to a 3-Park ticket to visit Volcano Bay.
You should also be aware that free FastPass+ has been replaced by paid line-skipping at Walt Disney World. We cover everything you need to know in our Guide to Genie+ at Walt Disney World & Lightning Lane FAQ. This system is totally different from its predecessor and can be overwhelming. Once you get past that rather steep and sometimes counterintuitive learning curve, it can be leveraged to your advantage.
You can only purchase Genie+ on a day-by-day basis during your Walt Disney World vacation. The latest wrinkle is that Genie+ now has per-park pricing, which is more expensive at Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Not-so-coincidentally, we only recommend buying Genie+ for Magic Kingdom (almost always), Disney’s Hollywood Studios (usually), and EPCOT (sometimes). We seldom recommend purchasing Genie+ at Animal Kingdom–there’s a reason why it’s cheapest there; it’s usually unnecessary.
With so many different park ticket options, this might already seem overwhelming. In this WDW park ticket guide, we present the pros and cons of different tickets so you can make an informed decision about which options are best for your family. We’ll break down everything you need to know about the complexities of Walt Disney World tickets.
We sort through the different options and give you recommendations on what types of tickets are best for you, plus where you can save money on Walt Disney World tickets. (If you’ve come looking for info on discount Disneyland tickets, you’ve come to the wrong place–but we do have an article with Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets, too.) By the end of this post, you’ll know way more than you ever thought there was to know about park tickets!
With that out of the way, let’s start with the latest ticket news & rumors…
2024 Ticket Price Increases
Typically, Walt Disney World raises ticket prices in February or October–sometimes both. Thus far in 2024, ticket prices have not increased, nor did they go up last October for regular tickets. Instead, the company raised rates on just about everything else, and also introduced per-park and date-based pricing for Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes, which effectively amounted to an indirect increase to the normal price of admission.
The good news is that prices for current tickets haven’t increased since December 2022, which is the first time in the 15 years we’ve been tracking prices when there was not an annual increase. The bad news is that Walt Disney World has already increased ticket prices for 2025. But the good-within-bad news is that, unlike normal, this did not apply to tickets for 2024. It was a really weird move, as ticket price increases normally take effect immediately.
There’s a chance that Walt Disney World raises prices in October 2024, but we’re skeptical. Annual Pass prices will probably increase then, but not regular admission. It would defy logic to increase prices for 2025 in Winter 2024…and then wait until only 3 months are left in the year to increase prices on the remainder of 2024 dates. Not only that, but the big ‘price increase day’ always results in a wave of negative headlines, and Disney usually does everything at once to avoid dragging out the bad press.
What’s more likely is that prices go up again in early 2025. Walt Disney World is once again tweaking things with Lightning Lane pre-booking, and our guess is that will require changes to admission options. With that, price increases seem likely, which might be why Walt Disney World has not been nearly as aggressive in increasing prices.
If the last three years have taught us anything, it’s to expect the unexpected. Subscribe to our free email newsletter for all of the latest updates as we hear more rumors or official announcements about ticket prices.
Regardless, if you have a Walt Disney World trip planned for now through October 2025, we recommend buying tickets sooner rather than later to lock-in current prices (beyond the scope of this post, but we’d advise doing the same with your hotel room). There will likely be one price increase between now and the end of 2025, with 2 price increases in that timeframe being a possibility.
With that said, this is not as imperative as it used to be. A couple of years ago, Walt Disney World was raising price twice annually, meaning that you could ‘beat’ as many as 3 price increases by buying tickets early. That amounted to locking-in huge savings, but Disney has since (thankfully) slowed down on its price increases. There’s still zero downside to purchasing tickets in advance–but there’s also not as much upside.
Where to Buy the Cheapest Disney Tickets
As we mentioned at the beginning, to save money on multi-day Walt Disney World tickets, we recommend buying from Get Away Today, which is an authorized discount Disney ticket broker that typically has the lowest prices on legitimate park tickets. You can order tickets for use now through October 2025.
Another excellent ticket seller we recommend is Undercover Tourist. These two typically compete with each other on prices, and are usually within a few dollars of one another. Which is better often depends upon the ticket type and when you’re searching. (Like airfare, ticket prices fluctuate, especially as the various reputable sellers try to beat one another on pricing.)
After purchasing, you’ll receive confirmation codes for My Disney Experience via email, which enables you to easily link the tickets to your My Disney Experience account. This also means that the tickets are compatible with MagicBands, which you’ll receive with your Walt Disney World hotel reservation; you can also purchase special edition MagicBands in the parks.
There aren’t many Disney ticket sellers that are actually legitimate, so be careful if you find a deal elsewhere. The sellers we mention in this article are the ones that have the best reputations and offer the biggest discounts. If you find a better deal somewhere else, well…you know what they say about when something sounds too good to be true!
Authorized discount Disney ticket brokers are great ways to save money on park tickets over gate prices, but not every third party ticket broker is reliable and trust-worthy. Most places selling discount Disney tickets are scams. Buying tickets on eBay or Craigslist is about as good of an idea as buying Louis Vuitton purses on a street corner.
Disney tickets are non-transferrable–they are tied to your fingerprint once partially used. If you get burned by these sellers with a partially-used or counterfeit ticket, Disney won’t have sympathy. You’ll have to pay full price for tickets at the park gates. Not exactly the best way to start the day on a Disney vacation!
The good news is that there are several legitimate, authorized Walt Disney World ticket sellers that can be trusted. In addition to Get Away Today, we also recommend Undercover Tourist. Both are highly reputable and offer great customer service. (Beyond this trio, there are other trustworthy third party sellers, but we can’t vouch for any of them.)
If you’re comparing prices, remember to compare apples to apples: Disney prices don’t include the Florida 6.5% tax, whereas prices from the sellers we recommend do include tax into the final price you pay. Sorry bold that all, but we get so many comments from people who miss that, and wonder why the discounts aren’t as good as promised. Also make sure you’re comparing Park Hopper tickets to regular tickets or not. Lots of people make mistakes in not comparing the same tickets to one another.
Additionally, you might be eligible for discount tickets through your employer or a membership program like TicketsAtWork that can save even more than the alternatives. The only downsides are that some of these tickets require more advance notice for processing, and that what you receive is a ticket voucher (it still can be linked to My Disney Experience); you will need to pick up the actual ticket when you arrive at Walt Disney World.
Moving on, let’s take a look at which type of ticket options are best for you…
Which Tickets to Buy?
Sometimes people ask which ticket is our favorite for first-time visitors to Walt Disney World, and it really depends upon how long you’re visiting. In our Walt Disney World Vacation Planning Guide, we recommend most first-time visitors take a 6-8 trip.
Assuming you are going this route, you probably won’t spend every moment in the park. You’ll want a rest day in the middle to spend recovering poolside, and maybe a shopping day (or morning) at Disney Springs. With that said, we recommend buying a ticket that is 1-2 days shorter than the duration of your vacation–unless you’re visiting for 4 days or fewer, in which case you should purchase a ticket for every day. Always get at least a 4-day ticket. Ideally, get nothing less than a 5-day ticket.
Meaning, if your vacation is 8 days, we recommend the 6-day or 7-day ticket. If you are visiting for 6 days, get the 5-day ticket. In our experience, a 6-day Walt Disney World vacation is about the sweet spot for first-timers. That means either a 4-day or 5-day ticket is going to be a smart bet for most people reading this. (If you have more time, that’s excellent!)
Are Park Hopper Tickets Worth it?
The Park Hopper add-on allows you to visit multiple parks in the same day. You can bounce around the parks and maximize your time in the parks. Some guests can skip the Park Hopper option: particularly those with small children and those who won’t stay out late.
On the other hand, Park Hopping can be really beneficial if you want to revisit favorite attractions or head over to a certain park for the evening for dinner. With the exception of Magic Kingdom, you won’t need to spend multiple full days in any park, and the ability to bounce around is a great solution allowing you to spend additional partial days in the other parks.
Another benefit of the Park Hopper option is spending more hours per day in the theme parks. Since each park has different opening and closing hours, getting a Park Hopper is a good way to extend your day (particularly in the off-season when parks close earlier) or spend more time in Magic Kingdom. Magic Kingdom often closes later than the other parks, so you squeeze a couple more hours out of day by starting your day in Animal Kingdom (for example) and heading to Magic Kingdom once Animal Kingdom closes.
If you’re staying in an eligible on-site Walt Disney World resort, you’ll also potentially need the Park Hopper option to take advantage of Extended Evening Hours. This perk is incredibly advantageous, as crowds are usually low during these nighttime hours. If you don’t buy the Park Hopper option, you’ll need to start your day in the park offering Extended Evening Hours in order to take advantage. See our Guide to Extended Evening Hours at Walt Disney World for taking advantage of this perk, eligibility, and more.
Because of these two things, we generally recommend purchasing the Park Hopper option. While it does cost more, if you’re buying multiple day tickets, you might be surprised to learn that the extra cost is insignificant. Currently, a discounted 7-day Walt Disney World Adult Park Hopper Ticket will cost around $650 after tax, with some dates costing more and some costing less. Obviously, that’s a lot of money.
However, compare it to a 1-day Park Hopper ticket directly from Disney, which can cost over $180 after tax. For less than the price of three 1-day tickets, you can purchase a 7-day discounted Park Hopper. That 7-day ticket works out to being less than $95/day!
Other multi-day tickets offer similar savings, so be sure to look at the prices of other multi-day Walt Disney World tickets and do some comparison shopping to see just how much you can save. Walt Disney World advertises that “the more you play, the less you pay per day” and this is definitely true.
What About Park Hopper Plus Tickets?
The Park Hopper Plus ticket option (formerly “Water Park Fun & More”) offers everything included with Park Hopper Tickets mentioned above, plus access to Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach water parks, ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, Disney’s Oak Trail Golf Course, and Winter Summerland or Fantasia Gardens mini golf.
With Park Hopper Plus tickets, you are eligible for the same number of “Plus” admissions as the number of days on your ticket. Meaning that if you have a 7-day Park Hopper Plus ticket, you also have 7 entrances the water parks, mini golf, etc. (Be mindful of operating schedules, as not all of these options are open year-round.)
Whether this ticket is right for you really depends upon whether you want to do any of the parks beyond the 4 main theme parks. If you want to do one of the other things even once or twice, you come out ahead to purchase the Park Hopper Plus Tickets. We love both Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach, and enjoy both of the mini golf courses (albeit less so than the water parks) and recommend this ticket option to anyone who will be spending 6 days or more at Walt Disney World.
What About the Water Park and Sports Option?
The Water Park and Sports Option is available as an add-on to select Walt Disney World theme park tickets for $70 plus tax. This option allows guests to visit one theme park each day, plus various water park or sports experiences that same number of times.
The Water Park & Sports Option is valid at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon or Disney’s Blizzard Beach water parks, ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, Disney’s Oak Trail Golf Course, FootGolf at Disney’s Oak Trail Golf Course, Disney’s Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf, or Disney’s Winter Summerland Miniature Golf. (Again, pay attention to operating schedules, as not all of these options are open year-round.)
Basically, this ticket is the non-park hopper version of the aforementioned Park Hopper Plus ticket option. The analysis for the Water Park and Sports Ticket Option is identical to the Park Hopper Plus, but for those who only want to do one theme park per day. We generally favor the Park Hopper Plus option as it offers great flexibility and the upgrade cost to that is insignificant, but that’s just us.
Affiliation Discounts
If for some reason you don’t want to buy discounted Disney tickets from Get Away Today or Undercover Tourist, there’s a possibility you qualify for some other form of discount. The most common discounts are: Florida resident, military/department of defense, corporate or “club” discounts, Disney Vacation Club, and sometimes Walt Disney World ticket discounts for Europeans.
Of these discounts, military Disney ticket discounts are typically the best, followed by AAA discounts. AAA discounts are only offered through local offices and tax isn’t included in their price quotes. Note that Disney ended its relationship with AAA, so there are no additional perks for buying Disney tickets through AAA anymore.
AAA discounts typically are not as good as the prices offered by the discount ticket brokers, but military or department of defense discounts are always better. The “Stars and Stripes” promotion (only available to select members of the armed forces and department of defense) will usually annihilate what is offered by third party discount ticket brokers or AAA. This promo isn’t always offered, so call Shades of Green at 888-593-2242 prior to ordering tickets to see whether it’s available for your stay.
Another option available to some people is TicketsAtWork. This is a members-only site that partners with certain corporations to offer company employees exclusive discounts and special offers for theme parks, attractions, Broadway shows, special events, hotels, concerts, and movie tickets. In other words, Tickets at Work is a “perk” that’s available only to employees of certain corporations.
Tickets at Work most definitely is legitimate. Unfortunately, we cannot offer a price comparison to Tickets at Work because we don’t work for companies partnered with Tickets at Work, nor do we know anyone who does. Anecdotally, we’ve heard that in some cases, Tickets at Work offers prices that are slightly better. In other cases, their prices are worse. We’ve also been told that shipping can take 2-3 weeks with Tickets at Work, which could be a deal-breaker if you’re trying to make reservations in a hurry. Check with your company’s HR department to see if your company is a Tickets at Work partner.
Now, let’s cover one other possible Walt Disney World park ticket options…
Florida Resident Ticket Discounts
If you live in Florida (and have proof of residence–DVC membership does not count), there are occasionally discount 2-day to 4-day Walt Disney World ticket offers from January until April and Summer through September each year during times when attendance is historically light. For Floridians, these are the best deals of the year–better than anything else on this list.
The current Florida resident ticket deal is discussed at the top of this post. The downside of this deal is that it’s only valid Mondays through Fridays, but the upside is that there’s a discount at all during the popular Christmas season. Many years, there’s nothing at all this time of year!
What About An Annual Pass?
Walt Disney World resumed new Annual Pass sales late last month. Everything you need to know about buying an AP is covered in our Walt Disney World Annual Pass FAQ. All tiers of APs (Incredi-Pass, Sorcerer Pass, and Pirate Pass, and Pixie Dust Pass) are still available for purchase. However, Walt Disney World has already warned that tiers are likely to sell out soon. Note that unless you’re a Floridian or DVC member, you’re only eligible to purchase the Incredi-Pass.
This AP can make sense if you’re taking at least two trips to Walt Disney World in the span of 365 days. Some fans use APs for this specific purpose, taking week-long trips during the Halloween or Christmas season each year, and essentially putting one of those trips at the beginning of the window and another at the end of the window. (For example, doing the second week of December 2024 and the first week of December 2025.)
If you’re doing two week-long trips, the Incredi-Pass will work out in your favor. You’re looking at 7-day tickets that will be over $700 each, adding up to more than the cost of the Incredi-Pass on their own. The story is similar if you’re taking 3 shorter trips in a 365-day stretch. Let’s say you’re doing three long-weekend trips of 3-days each. Individually, those tickets would cost you over $460 each, totaling more than the cost of the Incredi-Pass.
Where the math gets complicated is for those planning two trips in a 365-day stretch with a combined total of 10 or fewer days. In this scenario, the cost of your tickets will actually end up being around $75 less than an Incredi-Pass. However, the AP also offers discounts on merchandise & dining, which alone will easily add up to $75 saved over 10 days in the parks. Beyond that, it opens up access to the aforementioned superior resort discounts or, if you won’t use those because you’re staying off-site, free parking at the theme parks.
So either way you slice it, two trips totaling at least 10 days over the course of 365 days is the likely breakeven point for the Incredi-Pass. That’s going to vary from person-to-person, though. We’ve heard from people who could make less work and others who couldn’t justify APs until 11 days.
However, that’s more or less the general rule. If you’re traveling more than that, it’s easy to justify Walt Disney World APs. Less than that, and it becomes much more difficult. If it’s a close call, we’d recommend purchasing passes. The money-saved via discounts and other perks, such as freebies and access to exclusive events like ride previews, does add up and is difficult to account for in your initial calculation.
Conclusion
Hopefully the above info helped you determine which Walt Disney World park ticket you should buy and how to save money on those tickets. If you still have some questions, here are some general rules:
- Thanks to very good discounts, our top recommendation for Walt Disney World is the 5-day to 7-day Park Hopper ticket, all of which provide excellent savings.
- We recommend the Park Hopper option for most people, but if you definitely won’t visit more than one park per day, you can save additional money by skipping the Park Hopper option.
- By purchasing via an authorized ticket broker, you can make park reservations ahead of time. If you buy tickets once you arrive to Walt Disney World, you’re at a disadvantage in two ways: you pay more for tickets and you cannot make park reservations in advance.
- Do not consider an Annual Pass unless you will visit Walt Disney World for roughly 15+ days in a 365 day window, or will take multiple shorter trips.
- If you are planning a vacation and definitely going to Walt Disney World before October 2025, it’s always best to buy tickets as far in advance as possible to lock-in current prices and avoid future increases.
It’s important to know that my suggestions are based on our preferences, and they may not work for you. It’s really best to read through this and then apply it to your own circumstances by looking at your own schedule and preferences, and determining what type of tickets are best for you. Finally, head to Get Away Today and buy the appropriate tickets at the best discount (using promo code DTB23 at checkout).
For where to eat, try out our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews page. If you want to save money on tickets or determine which type you should get, 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 unconventional things you should take on your trip. For overviews of all of these topics and so much more, the best place to start is our comprehensive Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide to make the most of your experience!
Your Thoughts
Have any questions about which tickets might be best for you? Which Walt Disney World tickets do you think are best, and why? Hopefully this guide to Disney discount tickets has provided you with some valuable tips & tricks to help you save money on Walt Disney World tickets, and has helped you figure out which kind of Disney tickets are right for you. If you still have any questions, please leave them in the comments and we will try to help!
SO GRATEFUL. I have put off paying for an AP several times, and I was hoping to give myself one soon for my 50th Birthday present to myself. Then the price went up! I thought my chances were over. I would have never known Sam’s had them, or ever sold them, if it weren’t for you! I am already a member, so it was a no-brainer for me to finally make my AP dream come true! Happy 50th B-Day to me!!! Thank youuuuuuu!!!
To other first-time AP holders! I saw Disney recently announced Friends & Family tickets for AP holders! 1-day Park Hoppers are $89 + tax, and up to 6 can be purchased! They have to be purchased at the park, though, and must be used on the date of purchase. I’m a very happy new AP holder!!
Unfortunately they have either sold out of the old passes or Disney has made Sam’s increase their prices. AP platinum passes are now $1119 + tax via the Sam’s Club link as of this morning…
The only draw back is that you cannot make any fast passes until you purchase your ticket the day you enter the park. . Otherwise it is a good deal.
Here’s a question for someone. I purchased my Platinum AP from Sam’s Club & linked it to mde account. My 60 day mark for making fast pass+ selections is not until August. Does anybody know the answer to this question, if pass was purchased from Sam’s Club, do you get a free magic band?? I didn’t think about that until I was reading info on another site. Everyone is saying you can make fast pass+ selections at the 60 day mark, but haven’t heard anyone say whether or not you will get a free magic band. If anybody knows the answer, please let me know! Thanks!
Thank you so much for the tip – was able to lock in old pricing through Sam’s Club this afternoon so it is still available for anyone interested!
Is anyone having a problem linking a Sam’s Club purchased AP voucher to their My Disney Experience account? I was told by a cast member to link the voucher ID# to my account & I’m not sure what is going on. I add the number & once I hit next, it just spins & nothing happens. I think Disney’s website is having some technical difficulties so I tried through the My Disney Experience app & it says not able to add tickets at this time. So frustrating! I need to get it added because my 60 day mark to make my fast pass+ selections will be here soon & not sure what I need to do. Anybody have any suggestions???
Hi Kat,
I just bought the ticket and got linked with the DisneyExperience with no problem. Just try again and I think it will work.
Thanks Marcel!
A Disney Rep had to do it because my whole account had some glitches. Got it all squared away! Thanks for your help!
THANK YOU SO MUCH for this post!! My family and I are coming to the end of our first wonderful year of being Annual Pass Holders. However, upon renewing, we freaked out when we saw the new price. However, thanks to you, we got them through Sam’s club and saved A LOT.
Thank you! Your posts are awesome and SO HELPFUL!
🙂
You are a wonderful man! Thanks for the Sam’s Club info about the AP. We totally appreciate it.
Tom just one doubt for an abroad user. I am a member of Sam’s Club in US and have the online an account. The tickets at Sams are send on my e-mail, so I can put on MyDisneyExperience account? Because on the site the message is that I have to go to a nearby Will Call.
The will call is where you activate the AP at Disney property. The certificate has a code you use to load in MDE. You take certificate to activate at Disney on first use, which is basically what you do when you purchase from Disney as well.
Thanks so much Tom! We were able to get our annual passes (1st time buyer) through Tickets at Work and saved quite a lot of money. We read your posts all the time and have found such helpful information that have saved time and money.
Thanks so much for the Sam’s Club tip today! That saved me a LOT of $! Two questions. (1) Will I be able to use the AP number to make a reservation for the Star Wars AP preview and then activate the AP when I get to Disneyworld? (2) Is there any reason not to buy a second AP voucher to use after this AP expires? I assume that the AP renewal price in Aug 2020 would be about $100 off of the then current AP price, correct? So it would be much cheaper to “renew” using a second Sams Club voucher than it would be to take the renewal discount, correct?
Am I crazy, or does the Sam’s Club link take you to a page where the AP prices exactly match the new, higher Disney prices? Is there something else I need to do to see the old prices? As someone who would have to join Sam’s Club first (not currently a member), am I not eligible for the old prices?
Or did the older passes sell out this morning? I’m typing here at 2:30pm EDT on Friday.
You have to sign up to have an account with Sam’s Club website. When you sign in to your account, the “member” pricing is shown, bringing the price back down to the level prior to the increase
TY!
I can’t believe the Sam’s Club discount on APs! You are AWESOME! We are going in July and in May I purchased an AP for me direct from Disney and discounted tickets for my husband and son from Undercover Tourist, with the possibility of upgrading them when we got there. Well, then this new AP price came out and that plan was over, until you posted this! I just bought my husband an AP and we’ll save his unused for next summer for our son. I’m going to move the dates online before the ticket prices go up so I won’t get hit with any major price increases later this fall. We never plan that far out but we will this time!
Just as a note because I was curious before I purchased… The Sam’s Club discounted APs are emailed with the usual code to link the ticket to your MDE account, so you can use FP+. The expiration date when linked is 12/31/2030, just like the AP I purchased direct from Disney.
Hi Sarah. One doubt. When you bought online at Sam’s site, the tickets with the numbers were sent online to your e-mail? Or did you need to go to a Will Call site?
Hi Marcel: Sam’s emailed me a pdf voucher with the number to link in MDE so you can make FP+, book AP discounted hotel rooms, etc. You just have to take the voucher to will call at the parks or Disney Springs to activate before you can go through the turnstiles, just like an AP purchased direct from Disney.
I wish this worked for the Premier Passport, but those can only be purchased at an actual ticket booth. Do you an any suggestions on avoiding the increase on the Premier Passport? You have to purchase it at a actual ticket booth so I don’t think Sam’s is an option.
Todd B.
THANK YOU for this information! I was just about to buy an annual pass for the first time, when the price skyrocketed. I was so disappointed, to say the least. I didn’t even realize that Sam’s Club sold annual passes to Disney World, and I’ve been a member forever. You just saved me over $269!
Tom,
Do you happen to know how this would work if you wanted to purchase from Sam’s Club, but already had a trip and tickets, room reservation, and FPs booked for just two weeks out? I used a Disney Travel Agent and she ask me to get 10 PHs so she could get more commission when I knew I planned on upgrading to APs when I booked this trip. It was no big deal until they jumped in price and now I don’t know that I can justify APs at that price if I can get them cheaper. Could I purchase these at Sam’s and call and activate and them switch them over and me not lose my FPs and maybe pay the $50 modification fee?
Thanks for you recommendations and advice!!
Thank you for the links! I just saved lots of money for 2 passes. I was planning on buying them when I moved to Florida next month but instead purchased them now and will leave the voucher alone until I move there.
How long do you have before you have to redeem the vouchers?
2030, according to a comment below…
Thank you! I always love your blog – but you just saved me $800!!!
Oh my gosh! Thank you so much for the 6/21/19 tip! I was super upset when the AP price jumped earlier this week and thought we were gonna have to make some sacrifices for our trip to make up the price difference. This was a lifesaver (or tripsaver, really)! And now I’m a Sam’s Club member haha.
Thanks for the great tips like always! I’m assuming there’s no way to pay to upgrade my current park hopper to AP thru tickets at work or Sams club? I was planning on upgrading when we get there in Sept and this increase has me stressed.
Wow! You just saved me over $1000 for annual passes for my family of 4 going through Sam’s! Huge thanks!
Tom – do you know if I buy APs through Tickets at Work, and activate them in the future, will I then have to pay the difference? We don’t have any current trips scheduled but the price is too good to pass up if I won’t have to pay more later.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a TicketsAtWork account, so I can’t see the terms and conditions. Normally, an AP voucher would lock-in the current price and you could redeem it when you’re ready without paying the difference. I strongly suspect that is the case here, but am not 100% certain.
Tom – what if I am a current AP holder. Could I purchase through TicketsAtWork now but then use that to “renew” my AP when it expires?
I just purchased mine and my husbands AP through TicketsAtWork and I was trying to read super fast not to lose that awesome deal, and just saw that as on the Disney site they don’t activate until the first day you use them. You will have to take the voucher that they will email you to a local sales office to pick up your passes. I haven’t gotten my voucher email yet to see if these are on Disney site or just located somewhere in Orlando. Either way I just saved us $500! Thank you.
Rick, I think that’s generally true. What I’m planning on doing is taking a several months long break to let my current AP lapse when it expires in March 2020 and then I will activate it again when I go to the parks again in late 2020. Since the vouchers appear to have a 2030 expiration date on them, I don’t think there would be any problems with that (other than what to do about FP+ reservations for the first trip in late 2020 before I activate the new APs, but that’s probably not a huge deal if I plan on going during a slow time of year).
Thanks Whit. So when you renew an AP, do you need to have it activated again at the park, or does it just continue from the expiration date of the old one?
Rick, I don’t know for sure, but I suspect that if you are doing anything other than renewing (within the renewal window, which I don’t remember how long that is) your AP either on the web, MDE app, or by phone, you’d probably need to do it in person. So since the voucher isn’t technically a “renewal” voucher, I think you’d probably be limited to doing something in person until you’re out of the renewal window. I’ve also read since my previous post that you can actually link the vouchers to your MDE account and even make FP+ reservations in advance without technically activating your AP until you actually arrive at the park for your trip. YMMV on that though…
The pass i bought through TaW show activation expiration through 2030. This matches what my passes looked like pre-activation in the app when i purchased direct from Disney online, so I expect there to not be a markup.
Brandon, do you know if your purchase through TaW was coded as a travel purchase by your credit card or something more like entertainment? I’m trying to figure out whether to buy through TaW or Sams Club, because I have a cc that gives 3% rewards on “travel” purchases, but not on “entertainment” purchases. I think that going through Sam’s Club may be safer, but wondering if you have any info on that you could share. Thanks!
I also just bought my pass through TaW, but I don’t see any expiration date on it.
It has a TaW order # and a disney reservation number. Says where it can be used, etc., and that it is valid for 1 year after first use. Where did you see the 2030 date?
Thanks!
Brandon was there a date for the will call for how long you get to pick up your tickets at the Orlando site?
Whit, mine was coded as “entertainment” on my credit card and not travel.
Anyone who bought the passes thru tickets at work know if there’s a deadline for the will call pick up?
Hello!
Love all your helpful tips and advice. If I buy an annual pass at Sam’s Club, when does my year officially start? From the time I buy or the first date of use? (I don’t have a trip planned until October).
Thanks!
Date of activation/first use.
Thanks Tom!