2024 Disney Park Tickets Tips & Tricks
Our 2024 ticket buying guide covers how to save money on park admission at Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and other theme parks. This covers info & tips on the best deals & time-saving add-ons for Florida, California, Paris, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong–every park in the world! (Updated January 17, 2024.)
The first thing you need to know is that Disney typically raises ticket prices each year in February. This usually impacts a variety of park ticket durations, with off-season ticket prices usually not increasing much (or at all) to keep base prices the same (and thus conceal the increase). For example, the lowest price dates at Animal Kingdom have not increased at all since 2018–but all other parks at Walt Disney World have increased significantly, especially during peak season.
Multi-day prices and popular dates (e.g. Spring Break, Columbus Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s) typically increase by much larger amounts. Unfortunately, with the date-based system, it’s easier to obfuscate the increases. The good news here is that the 2024 ticket price increase has not occurred at Walt Disney World or Disneyland. At least, not yet.
The bad news is that ticket prices at Walt Disney World did not increase at all last year, meaning that it’s highly likely–almost a sure thing–that there will be significant increases in February 2024. Accordingly, we’d recommend buying now from Get Away Today to lock-in current savings, beating the next price increase and get the lowest rates.If you’re looking for the short and sweet version of that post, that’s it–buy now from an authorized discount ticket seller to save up to $75 per ticket!
Disneyland is a slightly different story, as ticket prices increased there in October of last year. Sometimes, tickets increase in both October and February, and that may be the case this year as the California parks have continued to experience pent-up demand. However, with nothing new on the horizon in 2024 and signs of ‘revenge travel’ exhausting itself, our expectation is that Disneyland probably won’t raise rates in February 2024. We’d put the chances of it at under 50/50, whereas Walt Disney World is above 90%.
In this post, we cover other ways to score legitimate discounts on Disney Parks tickets. We cannot stress the “legitimate” part of the above enough. There’s a plague of fake and unauthorized tickets being sold for the parks. Roadside stands, eBay, Craigslist, shady websites, etc–there are many Disney ticket scams to which budget-conscious guests fall prey. Worse yet, if you innocently purchase invalid tickets from a scam, you’re going to pay twice, because Disney isn’t going to accept the fake tickets.
Suffice to say, if a ticket deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. While it is possible to save money on Disney tickets, most savings are of around $5 to $50 per ticket, with the biggest savings being on multi-day tickets for 5 days or more. (Sometimes, 10-day tickets are discounted by $80 or more.) However, you will never find legitimate, half-price tickets.
Tickets are often one of–if not the–most expensive aspects of any Disney vacation, so we understand the desire to save as much money as possible. However, you have to be smart about it. Spending money on a shady but “great deal” that turns out to be a scam will cost you more in the long run. Our Disney ticket tips & tricks cover only the best, legitimate ways to save money on Disney tickets, and authorized sellers from which to buy those tickets.
With that out of the way, let’s start by discussing the options for discount Walt Disney World tickets…
Walt Disney World
Walt Disney World has myriad ticket choices that enable you to buy exactly what you need and nothing more or less. It’s a complicated, date-based system that can be difficult for a first-time Walt Disney World guest. Disney representatives often only make matters worse, as they upsell or subtly “encourage” guests into buying the more expensive tickets.
To underscore just how much you can save by knowing which type of tickets to buy and from which authorized discount ticket brokers to buy them, Get Away Today currently has select multi-day Walt Disney World park tickets discounted by up to $75 off! This will save you a lot of money over buying park tickets directly from Disney. Use code DTB23 at checkout for even bigger savings.
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. Both sellers offer huge savings on 10-day tickets with all the add-ons, but that’s an extreme example–more common savings are around $35 to $40 for multi-day base tickets.
You can order tickets for use now through December 31, 2024, and you will receive confirmation codes via email for My Disney Experience. In our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post, we discuss which add-ons you should and should not get, how many days you might want tickets, and also compare prices among the four reputable Orlando discount ticket brokers.
Simply knowing about the different options so you don’t purchase unnecessary add-ons and buying from the discount sellers with the best price on particular tickets can save you a lot of money, and significantly cut down on the cost of your park tickets. It’s pretty easy to do, especially since many guests (especially those families with small children) don’t truly need Park Hopper or other add-ons.
Disneyland
Disneyland Resort park tickets are slightly more straightforward. Since there aren’t water parks and only two parks–Disney California Adventure and Disneyland–it’s a pretty simple process. It’s basically a question of whether or not to get the Park Hopper option, and how many days to stay in the first place. (There are also various ticket tiers with different pricing, which effectively means you’ll select dates for visiting when buying the tickets.)
AAA, Safeway, Costco, and a handful of other SoCal retailers have small discounts of a couple dollars per ticket in store from time to time, but those savings are usually smaller. Additionally, there is a Southern California resident special on tickets from now through June 2, 2024. If you’re not a Southern California local (with ID to prove it), your best option is purchasing online via authorized discounted sellers.
The best deals for buying Disneyland tickets safely and securely via Get Away Today, which is an authorized seller of Disneyland tickets with the best prices and customer service that we’ve found. They have tickets that are valid for admission from now until December 31, 2025.
One thing to note here is that Disneyland tickets are available through the end of 2025, not just 2024. Although we’re uncertain that a price increase will happen this February, we’re pretty confident one will happen in February or October 2024, and there’s a 99.99% or higher chance that Disneyland will raise prices before December 31, 2025. Buying now locks in current prices, and could mean avoiding between one and three price increases! If you already know how many days worth of tickets you need and are looking for the best price, that’s all you need to know.
If you need more assistance with determining how many days to buy tickets, if you should get the Park Hopper option, and whether a Magic Key might actually make sense, check out our Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets post.
Tokyo Disney Resort
Your options are pretty limited when it comes to tickets for Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea, but the good news is that park tickets there are significantly cheaper than for the US Disney Parks. The Japanese parks most definitely are locals’ parks, so the pricing strategy there is to charge a premium for Annual Passes and less for one to four day tickets.
Not only are the single and multi-day ticket prices lower, but for Americans, the dollar-to-yen exchange rate is excellent right now, making park tickets for us a relative steal. Of course, you still have to pay for airfare to get there in the first place. Read our Money-Saving Tips for Tokyo Disneyland Park Tickets post for our full recommendations on buying the best tickets–and at the best prices–for Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea!
Although not at a discount, you can purchase Tokyo Disneyland & DisneySea park tickets in advance from Klook. This is what we strongly recommend doing because the official TDR website has issues with foreign credit cards. (Some work, most don’t. If you run into a problem, it’s them–not you!)
Unfortunately, these are the exact same price as buying directly from Tokyo Disney Resort. However, the big difference–and huge advantage–is that you can actually buy them with a U.S. credit card and purchase them before you arrive. While buying tickets upon arrival is an option (physical credit cards do work once you’re on the ground in Japan), that’s only if tickets don’t totally sell out. Not worth the gamble when flying halfway around the world, in our estimation.
Hong Kong Disneyland
Hong Kong Disneyland has by far the easiest ticket system. There are 1-day and 2-day park tickets (no Park Hopper since there’s only one park), and three tiers of Annual Passes: Silver (valid for 250 days per year), Gold (valid for 340 days per year), and Platinum (valid for 365 days per year). Each of these passes also offers discounts on food, merchandise, and hotels. The break even point on the Silver is 3 days, with the other passes having varying break even points of ~6-10 days based upon whether you’d buy 1 or 2 day tickets.
About the only way to save on single day Hong Kong Disneyland tickets of which I’m aware is to buy from Klook, which will save you about $8 per ticket, and will allow you to instantly print your ticket. You can also use the coupon to purchase a discounted meal voucher for Hong Kong Disneyland.
Disneyland Paris
It used to be the case that Disneyland Paris Annual Passes were a bargain, and we recommended those over regular tickets to anyone spending at least 3 days in the park. Despite living in the United States, we were Disneyland Paris APs for several years. That has changed in the last couple of years due to massive price increases.
Disneyland Paris has also adopted surge pricing on regular tickets, meaning that single day ticket prices vary based upon anticipated attendance. This makes things a bit more complex, since there are three tiers of normal single day tickets now: Mini, Magic, and Super Magic.
Note that only the single day tickets are subject to the tiered pricing. If you purchase a multi-day ticket, the tiers are irrelevant. However, even if you are going for multiple days, you should look at the tiered pricing calendar, as 2 Mini tickets (if you’re going during a slow season) is actually a cheaper option than one 2-day ticket. Zut alores, très compliqué!
For multi-day tickets, there are also some money-saving options available, particularly for Europeans. Americans might have a more difficult time scoring deals, but we cover all the ways to save in our Disneyland Paris Park Ticket Tips & Info post.
Shanghai Disneyland
The good news is that park tickets for Shanghai Disneyland are inexpensive as compared to the US parks, especially during their low seasons (they also have surge pricing); the bad news is that prices have already increased and upcharges have been introduced since Shanghai Disneyland opened two years ago.
Fortunately, there are now discounted 1-2 day tickets available via Klook. Depending upon the ticket season, you’re looking at a savings of around $5-10 per ticket. Not huge savings, but considering that tickets are in the $65-75 range, that’s not bad–and it all adds up.
Regardless of how you purchase your Shanghai Disneyland park tickets, we recommend getting digital tickets. Once you have them, take a screenshot of the ticket (for safety in case the internet is down) as well. Make sure to bring your passport in case the Cast Member requests to check your ID (you should always have your passport on your person when traveling internationally).
Shanghai Disneyland also offers “Disney Premier Access” which is a paid, digital FastPass service for its most popular attractions. If you only have 1-day in Shanghai Disneyland and don’t arrive at rope drop, this can be a good, time-saving purchase. If you do rope drop, stay late, or have multiple days in the park, we view this as unnecessary.
Planning a visit to one of the Disney theme parks? Check out our Disney Parks Trip Planning Guides for everything you need to start planning a trip to Walt Disney World, Disneyland Resort, Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disney Resort, Hong Kong Disneyland, and Aulani in Hawaii.
Your Thoughts
As for tickets, what are your preferred type of tickets to get? Do you purchase optional add-ons, like Park Hopper or MaxPass? Do you have an Annual Pass? Any tips or tricks of your own to add? Any questions? Hearing feedback about your experiences is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Hi Tom,
I tried to purchase tickets from Get Away Today for our November trip and the site says that there are no tickets available. Do you know if they are no longer selling tickets to Disney World or are they closed due to the current situation? I would imagine that online E-tickets would still be available for purchase even with the parks closed now. Thank you for all of your help with our planning. You will never know how many vacations you made more “magical” because of your blog!
Just don’t purchase tickets. Don’t go, it is not worth it. Long, Long lines for mediocre experiences. You have better things to do with your money. Disney closed their park and won’t refund my tickets. I took my family last year to Disneyworld in Orlando and did a private tour. I paid something like $5,000 for the day, which is fine because that is what it costs. This year they close the park and can’t do the most basic courteous thing of refunding the tickets that can’t be used. Unbelievable.
So just realize that Disney doesn’t care. They only want to limit their liability regarding the coronavirus.
Do you review the 4 Park Magic Ticket anywhere? It appears that the tickets are not limited to mid-day, like the Mid-day Magic Ticket is. Is there any indication why it is only available through 9/30/20? Has it been popular, and would possibly be extended into October 2020 and beyond?
Historically it has never been offered in October (I believe this is the third time it has been offered). I assume this is due to the popularity of the Halloween parties. I wish it was offered in October because we are also going to Disney this year. I highly doubt it will be extended into October, November and December.
Walt Disney is rolling in his grave…the one thing he wanted was a fun place that was AFFORDABLE to all. You need to be wealthy for 6 people to stay at a Disney property hotel and go to Magic Kingdom and Universal. Food, extras and souvenirs are another big bill. Really sad.. God bless Mr Disney.
Tom,
Thank you so much for addressing the fact that people need to purchase tickets from a legitimate site. Too many people are getting scammed into buying tickets that are obviously too good to be true. You’re absolutely right in saying that by purchasing fake tickets you’re going to be paying more, or you’ll be cancelling your trip completely because now you can’t afford it. Thanks again for addressing this issue.
I’ve used Getawaytoday before successfully and found their customer service to be great for Disneyland. Didn’t know they also cover Disneyworld, but will definitely take advantage of their discounted prices.
Make sure to read the redemption instructions because there are timeframes for receiving the MDE codes. Our FastPass+ window doesn’t open for a while, but some people may not have the luxury of waiting up to 10 days. Thanks!
We just booked a July trip during free dining. We got our tickets through Disney because of the free dining. (4 day park hopper) We are thinking about adding a day in the parks. It is better to just do that through Disney too or buy a one day park hopper somewhere else (if you can) and link our tickets. Maybe that won’t work? Thanks for your help!
You should book those through Disney because your price per day will go down significantly beginning on that 5th day. You definitely shouldn’t buy them from a 3rd party since you are bought the originals from Disney. I’d call Disney customer service and ask to add the additional day.
I have looked at tickets several times on the Get Away Today site and tried to use the promo code for the extra $5 off, but it is telling me the promo code is invalid. Also, we do have access to Tickets at Work through my husband’s company, but those tickets are actually about $50 per ticket more expensive than the Get Away Today tickets are, and there is a no refund policy on their site as well.
Visit Orlando, then wait for the code for 5 to 10 off. Cheapest multiday tickets.
Tom I have to say for the first time I am very disappointed in your recommendations. I have always looked to your posts for insight on accommodations, tickets etc. I purchased tickets for my upcoming trip at Get Away Today. After I purchased I received an email saying that I would get them 5 days prior to my trip. Nowhere did it say anything about that prior to purchase so I called. The woman I spoke to really didn’t seem to know a whole lot about Disney and had to put me on hold until she eventually came back and said that Disney would send them to me directly within 5 days. I received the email from Disney in that time frame and they are WILL CALL tickets only with all sorts of restrictions on picking them up. This whole experience has been a disaster. I’m not sure what led you to recommend them but I hope you reconsider.
You will get an email with a code that will allow you to link the tickets to your My Disney Experience app for booking of Fastpass+. You just have to show your ID at Will Call to pick them up. The tickets are non refundable and non changeable.
Is buying WDW tickets from military MWR always the best option? Or are there other sites/ times when tickets can be found cheaper?
Get Away Today tickets are non-refundable and non-changeable. Meaning if an emergency comes up and you can’t go on the selected dates you are out of luck. If you purchase your tickets directly through Disney you can change your date up until the day before your expected arrival (of course you’ll pay the difference if you move it to a more expensive day). In my opinion this peace of mind is worth the extra $$$ to purchase through Disney.
I can’t remember if I’ve seen this mentioned before, but if you purchase tickets from an authorized ticket broker, like Get Away Today, can you still purchase a dining plan?
Hi Lynay! Once you link the tickets to your account, you can call Disney reservations to add the dining plan! That is, as long as you are staying on property.
Hope this helps!
Thank you! Yes, we are staying on property renting points from DVC member.
AAA has the best price for WDW park tickets! We always get them from them and we are DVC members!
AAA beats everyone else for best ticket prices for WDW!
Was wondering if there is a site that is legit where people sale Party Tickets if for some reason they are unable to attend an event. We are wanting to go to the Nov. 8 Christmas Party that’s already sold out.
Shannon, I have actually never seen anyone that sells Special Ticketed Event tickets. This might not be possible as well. If you purchase your tickets in advance you can save “some” money. When it comes to the Christmas Party tickets they do sell out pretty quick at times. They do sell faster closer to Christmas time. Another reason also they sell out closer to Christmas time (as I am an annual passholder), we start blackout days the 3rd week of December, so I attend usually the 2nd week of December and I believe a lot of other passholders try to do that as well.
Hi there,
I just went to getawaytoday.com and just wanted to let you know it’s less expensive to just book the tickets right through the Disney website. I don’t know what’s going on with that but there definitely isn’t a discount, in fact, like I said – it’s actually more expensive.
10-25-2019
Thanks
The 6 day tickets from get away is $461 pp. Disney direct has them for $456 PP and if you buy the 6 day ticket you get a $30 gift card back. I do not see how Get away today is a good deal at all. Plus if I buy gift cards at Target for the 5% off, I’ll save another $22 per ticket. So if I am doing my math right at 6 day base ticket comes to $404 each buying directly through Disney!
Hi Tom,
We are trying to plan a one or possibly two day for our honeymoon at the end of Oct into the beginning of Nov. I see that ParkSavers only give discounts on 3 days plus… Are there any places that give good one day tickets with hopper?
I know this is a tactic to get you to spend more days, but we are on a time frame. 🙂
Love your blog!!!
Hi…
I scanned your blog and if you’ve posted this I apologize for duplicating… 🙂
As you wrote about discount (legitimate) Disney tickets, I didn’t see a mention of military discounts. For those who qualify…active duty, retirees, and some DOD employees… you will save lots of money by purchasing your tickets from your local ITT or MWR office. The same tickets are available online from ITT or MWR offices.
Hi!
We are going for 1 day to Tokyo Disneyland at the end of this month (september)
I’ve check via the crowd calendar, and it does not look like a busy day. Would you say to buy our tickets in advance or just get them when we get there? 🙂
Thanks!
We are visiting Florida in August 2019 but we have decided not to visit the Disney Parks this year and we are going to enjoy the other parks which are a fraction of the price of Disney We feel due to the excessive cost of tickets and the long waits in the queues it not as enjoyable as it use to be and we also thought it was Walt Disney dream to build a place that was accessible to everyone not just those with deep pockets
Can you tell what these other parks are that are a fraction of the price of Disney. I’d love to visit them.
Hi, The parks we are visiting is Busch Gardens, Sea World and Aquatica and Lego Land and we have managed to get 14 day unlimited passes to the above with the exception of Lego Land and we have saved quiet a lot based on what we paid for the same tickets to Disney and Universal last year , We are also going to visit Space Kennedy and Gator Land so we have our fun packed Holiday without having to pay the high prices of Disney and Universal