Guide to Discount Disney World Tickets & Black Friday Deals

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 December 31, 2024 at Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios & Animal Kingdom. Plus, price increase predictions, which is likely to happen this fall or holiday season. (Updated November 24, 2023.)

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. For Black Friday 2023, you can save up to $88 per ticket to Walt Disney World via Get Away Today. As always, the biggest savings are on the longer duration tickets with Park Hopper and other add-ons. If you’re looking at shorter duration tickets, the savings will be more modest.

Many of these are ‘Extra Day Free’ on longer duration tickets, which is part of why the savings are so high! (The above discount code won’t be valid on Black Friday deals–but you’re better off with this sale than the coupon, anyway.) You can also bundle and save with SeaWorld and Universal Orlando tickets, the latter of which have 2 days free with their current ticket promo.

Additionally, there’s the Discounted Florida Resident Holiday Magic Ticket. This offers Floridians the opportunity to buy a 4-day ticket for just $59 per day, plus tax–for a total price of $235 plus tax. Discounted 2-3 day tickets are also available.

This ticket deal is valid through December 22, 2023 and is valid on Monday through Friday only. All adults will need to show proof of Florida residency at park entrance. Both a theme park reservation via the Disney Park Pass system and valid theme park admission for the same park on the same date are required.

Beyond that, there are a couple of things you need to know before visiting. Guests are still required to make a theme park reservation via the Disney Park Pass system in order to visit the parks through January 8, 2024. This can only be done once you’ve purchased tickets, which is yet another reason (aside from saving money) to buy your park tickets early.

For the overwhelming majority of dates, park reservations are now a formality (which is why it’s being retired in early 2024). However, it’s likely that peak travel dates like the weeks of Columbus Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s will all book up weeks in advance. Plan accordingly.

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 never recommend purchasing Genie+ at Animal Kingdom–there’s a reason why it’s cheapest there; it’s 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…

2023-2024 Ticket Price Increases

Typically, Walt Disney World’s annual ticket price increase occurs in February or October–sometimes both. Thus far in 2023, 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 date-based pricing for Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes, which effectively amounted to an indirect increase to the normal price of admission. Beyond that, overall costs are up dramatically due to a mix of direct increases and reduced discounts.

However, another price increase did occur last December. This resulted in higher prices for single-day tickets and the Park Hopper option, and also multi-day tickets. Many ticket types increased quite significantly–with larger jumps than we had anticipated. Since then, the date-based price of Genie+ has also increased significantly, reaching a new peak of $35 during the week of Thanksgiving 2023. That’s more than double the daily price one year ago.

There’s a chance that Walt Disney World ticket prices will increase in December 2023, but we’re skeptical. All other price increases–including Annual Passes and base tickets at Disneyland–increased in October. 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 increase in early 2024. Perhaps February, but maybe before then. 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 skipped the October price increase.

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 December 2024, we highly 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 almost certainly be one price increase between now and the end of 2024, with 2 price increases in that timeframe being a distinct possibility.

If you’re visiting sometime between now and Christmas 2024, you will without a doubt come out ahead buying early. Beyond that, there’s zero downside to purchasing tickets in advance–it’s all upside. You avoid paying more money later if or when prices increase.

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 December 31, 2024.

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 2023 and the first week of December 2024.)

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 December 31, 2024, 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!