2026 Discount Disney World Tickets Guide
Our guide to discount Disney World tickets offers money-saving info on the best deals on tickets through December 2026 at Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios & Animal Kingdom. Plus, price increase predictions, pros & cons of Park Hoppers, and everything you need to know about admission.
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 DTB5 at checkout for an extra $5 off on any 3-day or longer Walt Disney World or Universal Orlando ticket! This is on top of their deals on Central Florida theme parks, including Walt Disney World, Epic Universe, Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, and SeaWorld Orlando.
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. Both offer exceptional customer service and added flexibility, even superior to what Disney offers directly. These low prices coupled with Get Away Today’s “Best Price Guarantee” makes them our recommended ticket seller.
Let’s start with the latest updates concerning special offers on admission for Walt Disney World:
New 3-Day, 3-Parks Magic Walt Disney World Ticket Deal for Winter & Spring 2026 – Get a 3-day, 3-park ticket starting at $109 per day for visits through May 22, 2026. This ticket is for 1-day admission to EPCOT, 1-day admission to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, 1-day admission Disney’s Animal Kingdom, and zero (0) days admission to Magic Kingdom. Limit one theme park per day—for a total of 3 admissions, on 3 separate days.
This ticket offers huge savings, but with the major drawback of not being able to visit Magic Kingdom. That’s going to be a non-starter for many guests, as Magic Kingdom is Walt Disney World’s most popular park. However, the above post explains ways to work around this limitation and still save money (and have a better experience!) with the 3-Day, 3-Parks ticket.
This is the only discount that’s currently available as of January 2, 2026. However, we’re expecting two more special offers to be released literally any day now, based on past precedent and what Disneyland has already released. Here are details on these same discounts from last year…
50% Off Ticket Deal for ‘Cool Kid Summer’ at Walt Disney World – Families can save on summer fun! Save 50% on kids (ages 3 to 9) 3-day or longer standard Walt Disney World theme park tickets. Last year, this promo ran from May 27 through September 20th, and the 2026 version at Disneyland has very similar dates. This could be announced at any point between today and early April 2026.
This is an insanely good deal, and there really isn’t any catch. To the contrary, the catches come with the other special offers, as we explain in the commentary to this post. Suffice to say, you should take advantage of this deal if you have kids ages 3 to 9 years old. It’s likely the best discount of everything listed here.
Winter & Spring Florida Resident Ticket Deal at Walt Disney World – Florida residents can purchase a 3-Day or 4-Day Discover Disney Ticket. The Discover Disney Ticket has been offered without fail year in and year out for the last decade-plus. Last year’s version was valid for use from January 13 to May 23rd, and was released on January 5th. We expect similar validity dates for 2026, with a release next week.
This is another great deal, usually costing ~$60 per day for the 4-day duration or ~$75 per day for the 3-day version. Obviously, spending the extra $15 for the extra day is the way to go for maximum savings. The 4-day ticket is actually the best ticket deal we’ve seen on a per day basis in a few years!
All 2026 Walt Disney World ticket deals can be purchased from Get Away Today for even bigger savings than via Walt Disney World directly!
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 Lightning Lanes at Walt Disney World. 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.
Lightning Lane Multi-Pass (LLMP) and Single Pass (LLSP) can be purchased before arriving at Walt Disney World, which is a huge difference as compared to the prior Genie+ service that was same-day only. We only recommend buying Lightning Lane Multi-Pass for Magic Kingdom (almost always), Disney’s Hollywood Studios (usually), and EPCOT (sometimes). We seldom recommend purchasing LLMP 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 turn to potential price increases in 2026…
2026 Ticket Price Increases
For each of the last couple years, Walt Disney World did not increase ticket prices at the start of the new fiscal year. That’s how price increases used to work at Walt Disney World, and still do at Disneyland. Instead, Walt Disney World simply released 2026 tickets at higher prices from the outset with the annual product release. We expect the same thing to occur between March and May 2026, and again in October 2026.
What this has meant is that the price increase was unavoidable, as tickets for this year were never available at a lower price. This is either good or bad news, depending upon your perspective. The negative is higher prices. The positive is that the annual release usually sees higher prices, and then there’s another price increase later in the year, on top of that.
Another possibility is that Walt Disney World switches to airline-style dynamic pricing on park tickets and resort hotels for 2027. This has already rolled out at Disneyland Paris, and the company’s CFO revealed that Dynamic Pricing Planned for Disney World & Disneyland. It’s a matter of it, not when. When dynamic pricing is introduced, it will behoove guests to purchase tickets as far as possible in advance to lock-in the lowest 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 December 31, 2026, 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).
This is not as imperative as it used to be. There’s still zero downside to purchasing tickets in advance–but there’s also not as much upside. Of course, we don’t know what the future holds, both with potential price increases and dynamic pricing.
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, 2026.
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. (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 2026 and the first week of December 2027.)
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, 2026, 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 DTB24 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!
I bought 3 one day park hoppers off craigslist sellers this past Spring Break 2013 successfully! I saved over 120.00 and while its a risk, it worked out great for us. These were individuals who got stuck with extra tickets when family members did not show up.
Hi AMY! there are so many people in criaglist selling tickets for Disney, do you still have the telephone where you buy them??? I really need for 9 people. THANKS
Hi, amy, mary,
can you give me that guys phone or email as well.
Hi there. We are a large family heading down in Dec. Would you share that number with me as well? Thanks!!
“These were individuals who got stuck with extra tickets when family members did not show up.”
…I’m guessing that means the person from whom she bought the tickets doesn’t have a constant inventory, so the person’s phone number won’t do any of you any good.
If someone on Craigslist *does* have constant inventory of Disney tickets, they’re a scammer, so you wouldn’t want their phone number, anyway! 🙂
So I’m wondering….Can you buy 10-day tickets and use them for two people over 5 days???
Nope. WDW tickets use biometrics, which mean they’re associated with your fingerprint.
My husband is a police officer. Do you know about a uniformed officer discount on park tickets? Someone mentioned it to me, but I’ve not found any information about it. Thank you!
Sorry, I have never heard of that. You might try contacting Disney directly. Or perhaps he has a union rep who might be able to help?
Since y’all aren’t military, just wanted to add that the Stars and Stripes tickets (which are only valid for people staying at Shades of Green or a Disney resort) aren’t the only discounted military tickets. For the past several years Disney has been selling Armed Forces Salute tickets, and Shades of Green also sells discounted regular Disney tickets for those staying off site. Which is a better deal is really dependent on how long you’re staying, and what you want to do. Shades of Green has info on all the military tickets on their website. And as an extra discount if you buy your tickets at either a base ITT office or at Shades of Green, you don’t have to pay sales tax on them. I know you can buy the Armed Forces Salute Tickets at the gate, though I’m not sure about other military tickets, but you have to pay tax. My husband and I used Armed Forces Salute tickets in 2010, and got 4 day water park fun and more tickets for $124 each total. For an extra $25 per ticket we could have added the park hopper option as well. Prices have gone up some, but they’re still a better deal than gate prices. The only con was that the tickets we bought at Shades of Green had to be activated at the gate before use. We stayed at AKL, and they said they could add unused activated tickets to the Key to World card, but once the tickets been used they can’t. Keeping up with two cards wasn’t that big of a deal, so we decided against going to a park to activate the tickets and then taking them back to add to our Key to the World. I mean seriously, who’s going to have a fresh WDW ticket in their hands standing in front of a park gate and resist the urge to go in the park? And as far as discounts go, if your one of those weIrd people who actually goes to non-Disney attractions while in central Florida, Shades of Green sells tickets to Sea World, Universal, etc.
Thanks for the detailed explanation of the military ticket offerings!
Hi all, I just thought I would add to the military ticket info. There are actually two seperate types of discounts that you can get. For the seriously discounted “Salute” tickets, an active duty/ Reserve military member MUST be with you at the gate to exchange the tickets where they will check his/her military I.D. The second less discounted option is to buy at a military base or through Shades of Green. You don’t pay tax and maybe save $10 per ticket. A member of the military can purchase these and give them to you for use WITHOUT them present. Here’s a link for more info on the military tickets.
http://www.militarydisneytips.com/Disney-Armed-Forces-Salute.html#eligibility
Regardless of where you buy the Armed Forces Salute ticket (on base at an ITT office or at Shades of Green) they must be activated before you can enter any of the gates. Keep this in mind and head for the assistance booth FIRST on your first day of using the tickets. You only need to do this once. We used these tickets last year and didn’t activate them first – it added a few minutes to our experience. This is done to verify the identity of the military member so also – don’t forget your military ID card – they do check before activation. The cost of this ticket is great! It is by far the best deal out there for military members and retirees! You can’t beat this price!
I just went to undercover tourist and tickets to disney for one day cost more than the game admission. :-/
I meant Gate****
One day tickets are not discounted. I suspect the difference in price had to do with Disney’s price not showing tax.
I just researched tickets and found that AAA was cheaper than Undercover Tourist
For which tickets (3-day, 5-day, etc.) and are you comparing prices after tax? In my experience, it’s really rare for AAA to be cheaper.
I saw the same thing yesterday. I spoke to AAA and their tickets were $286 for 6 day MYW tickets…. BUT, I checked today, and they are $296!! Do they change every day?? I was surprised to see this!
I am looking for a 3 day
1st day-magic kingdom
2nd day-universal or sea world
3rd day- animal kingdom
No park hoppers just one park a day where should I buy the cheapest tickets
Hi Tom. I would love to take my two daughters and one grand daughter to Disney but I am COMPLETELY overwhelmed with all the choices. There is just so very much to take in! I want to make the most of my trip and do the right thing to be able to do that but even reading ALL of your information and researching I am still completely lost and overwhelmed. Do you do a “one on one” to help people like me??
Traci, there are plenty of travel agents who specialize in Disney and their services are free. Disney pays them a small commission to help you. They will look at your travel group and suggest resorts, giving you prices for all types of options. They will recommend when to go, where to stay, what tickets to get and which dining plans are best. They will even book meals and make touring plans for you. Check it out.
We are (2 adults and 1 child) from Japan and would like to visit Disney for 2 days. Where can i find the travel agency info you have recommended pls? Theres so much information plus it takes forever for me to read thru my non-native language.. and I would prefer speak to someone to get advise. THANKS SO MUCH!
Need some guidance here we are planning on a two week vacation in 2015 mostly adults but 3 children ages 7 an 2 an 3 mentally challenged adults want to have 5 days at Disney we also want to try to cut down the parking fees what would u recommend we are planning this in oct 20 an also would like to know about the yes discount pla
If you stay in an on-site Disney hotel, parking is free. For an October visit, the free Disney Dining Plan is also likely. More details on that here: https://disneytouristblog.com/disney-dining-plan/
When you buy tickets through AAA, when do you receive them? Are they on your Key to the World when you check in at your Disney hotel, or do you have separate paper tickets? Thanks!
If you book a package through AAA, I assume you’d receive them at check-in, although I’m not entirely sure. Might want to check with AAA!
I I love Disney
Hi. My husband and i are planning to take a family vacation. Probably 5 nights. We have 6 kids so a family of 8. We want to have a great time. At the same time try to save as much as we can. What do yall recommend?
There are a lot of pages on this site with tips for saving money at Walt Disney World. Here are a few:
https://www.disneytouristblog.com/disney-world-discounts/
https://www.disneytouristblog.com/frugal-travel-trips/
https://www.disneytouristblog.com/disney-world-trip-planning-guide/
You might consider Fort Wilderness if that type of thing interests you.
Hope that helps!
Is there any good deal if you are only planning on visiting the disney parks for 2 or 3 days?
If you are traveling with a child between the ages of 6-18, you could get tickets during open enrollment for the YES (Youth Education Series) program. They are only available certain times of the year (last 2 years: Jan-Feb and Jun-Oct), but are by far the best discount I have ever seen.
There are some limitations to the tickets like they cannot be upgraded and have to be used within 7 days of your class, but you can get and 8-day ticket for under $200!
I’ve heard this from someone else, too. Great tip!
where do i find this discount?
We go to disney every year.Went this year from Jan29th to Feb12th. Stayed at Coronado Springs Loved it.We are from Canada East Coast and it cost so much for air far and Disney tickets that we would not be going next year. Please let us know how and where we could get cheaper tickets. Mabe then we could go.We are seniors and we bouth love Disney. Thank you
Shirley. We are from the east coast as well. If you are flying out of YHZ check the Sunwing and Air Transat sites. No baggage fee and direct flights. We paid less than $470 per person round trip for the end of March.
YES = Youth Education Series. Do a search for this, then look for “individual enrollment”. I signed my son up for a class in summer 2014, and the discount was about 15% off regular prices, way better than any regular discount tickets. Our class was canceled, but they let us keep the discount tix. You are allowed one adult discount ticket per kid registered, and they will allow 2 adults if it’s an only child, I think. If you flake on the class, I have heard that they revoke the discount, but I don’t know if that’s true, I have heard otherwise as well.
From the reviews, it seems the classes are engaging and usually involve priority entrance to about 3 attractions as well.
I am taking my children and grandchildren to DisneyWorld for a special vacation this year. I am paying for the accomodations with my timeshares (3 years worth). There are 18 of us in all and we are going for 1 to 2 days. How do I find out more information about the Youth Education Services tickets? I have to watch every penny as I am on a fixed budget.
Could you please advise. I have never been there before.
Thank you. The childen’s ages are from 6-17. There are 7 adults.
My understanding is that the Y.E.S. “loophole” has been closed in that the tickets are now only good for the participating child in individual enrollment, but I could be wrong.
Basically, you register for a program and have the option to purchase discounted park tickets after you register. The program itself has a cost, though, negating savings on the tickets. http://www.disneyyouth.com/our-programs/education/sp/individual-enrollment/#categories-individual-enrollment
I just booked our YES experience this morning. We are doing individual experiences, and NO there is NO extra fee. The price is included in the (super discounted) tickets. I was so stunned by the whole thing I actually called Walt Disney World to make sure it was legit. …It is!!
So excited to give this a try. And if it isn’t all I think it will be, I still got a great rate on tickets. Win-win!
please send more info on how to purchase youth education series tickets. thx
I actually did an advanced internship for YES in 2000. I know they have undergone some changes but they are a great way to see the parks with students. It can be the educational component to a Disney trip. Having the YES Program makes Disney an easier sell to school boards when considering a Disney trip. I hadn’t heard of being able to sign up as individuals. We mostly had school groups and brownie troop like visitors. I know they have a special home school week. The Yes program offers people many behind the scenes opportunities. Just a sample of what they used to offer is I taught America’s Story at MK, Disneys animation, Disney’s Production Sciences at Studios and Science and Synergy at Epcot. I believe some of the offerings have changed.
Individuals could (and can) sign up, but from what I understand, this was being abused as a way to sign one kid up for the program and then get discounted tickets for large groups, with the discounts well exceeding the cost of the one kid to participate in the program. I believe this loophole has been closed.
As for the program itself, I’ve heard great things about YES. Definitely a great way to turn a Walt Disney World trip into an educational experience!
I have a question about the YES program. I will be traveling with 6 kids between the ages of 7 and 17. There will also be 4 adults (church group situation). Is this YES program something we could use to purchase tickets for all 10 of us?
Just google it, thats what I did. For our 3 tickets we will save about $150. Incredible deal.
Does anyone know if tickets purchased through the YES program can be fast pass enabled, and will we receive them in advance so that I can make fp reservations before we go?
We’re going in Feb. my granddaughter is 7. I need to check this out
Hi, I just purchased 5 day NO expiration tickets from Undercover Tourist. However, I am thinkign of returning them. I am VERY nervous that they will not work once I get to the park. OR they will work for our first trip, then when I return in a year and try to use unused days, the ticekts will no longer work.
Have you had any problem with no expiration tickets from Undercovertourist? Disney will not say in writing that they are authorized! Also, the tickets are paper tickets. Is this normal?
Thank you so much for any help you can provide.
I’ve never heard of anyone having an issue with Undercover Tourist. If you snoop around on Google, you’ll see that they’re very highly regarded.
Paper tickets are normal.
I’m leary too, because, I asked a Disney person, when I called & asked about tickets & unless that person didn’t know what they were talking about, said that the tickets from undercover tourist was not guaranteed, that also they were not an authorized dealer & the only one that was & that was AAA, & they also didn’t know that much about the MouseSavers newsletter, only that they were ex cast members & it was not affiliated with Disney, I don’t know if anyone else has been told this but it was enough to make me leery, because we are on a tight budget & can’t afford buying tickets then get there & them not work & have to purchase them again, they said that they may not be any good during certain times of the year, undercover said yes, but Disney said they’re not guarantee, it would pretty much be a gamble, could you please reassure us.
I don’t know what to say other than that I have purchased from Undercover Tourist on multiple occasions without any issue, and I know for a fact that they *are* authorized by Disney. My recommendation would be to call Disney again and see what you are told by someone else.
Cast Members often do not know about things beyond what they are trained on, specifically, and they wouldn’t be trained to recommend a third party ticket seller. So the Cast Member likely just made something up on the fly.
If you’re still not convinced, just buy directly from Disney. You’ll have peace of mind that way, at least.
Did they work?
We have used Undercover Tourist for WDW tickets and they are great! No problems.
Viajamos desde Puerto Rico en junio del 2012 y compramos los boletos para Disney y Universal/Island of Adventure a Undercover Tourist. Todo estuvo perfecto, los boletos tardaron 3 dias en llegar a PR y no tuvimos ningun problema para entrar a los parques!!!! Lo recomiendo!!!!
Carmen, Yo viajo ahora a Disney y la verdad es que he pensado comprar los tickets por Undercover Tourist, pero uno siempre tiene temores de que esto funcione. Tu lo recomiendas. Como funciona el teme, ellos te entregan los tickets o un voucher que despues cambias en el main gate. Las otras veces siempre hemos comprado los ticktes en la web page de walt disney world, pero en undercover son mas baratos.
Saludos
My family always uses undercover tourist and never ever had a problem
We always buy 10 day premium passes with park hopper option. It is expensive upfront but allows us to visit two parks each day and gives us 10 days bonus for Disney Quest, Miniature golf, or the water parks. We also get 5 visits out of them because we go to the parks twice each visit and use the park hopping feature. We have bought passes from Undercover Tourist every time and there has NEVER been a problem. Best value for your money.
Great guide! Last year we were planning a 9-night trip for this past April, and decided on a whim to book a 3-night trip in Early Dec to tide us over, and instantly knew that the Annual Pass would be the right choice.
We’re now looking into either renewing or waiting until summer to purchase a new AP and use it for our October 2012 trip, which is looking like 12 nights. If we renew, it’s only good until Dec 3 2012, if we wait, it’ll be good until Oct 8 2013. Trying to figure out if we’ll be going 2 years from now is the deciding factor.
This is making for some tough decision-making.
Totally agree about the AP encouraging reckless behavior! Since I bought my Premier Passport I’ve planned 4-5 Disney trips a year. I justify it the same way you do: the more trips I make, the move “value” I get for the DPP! It also doesn’t hurt that I only work one metro stop from the airport and get cheap airfare.
Despite all the money I’ve spent (which I cringe to think about), I’ve “saved” quite a bit with the DPP. Not just admittance, but also park hopping, merchandise discounts, special event discounts, TiW card, resort discounts, etc. Not to mention the prestige of having the “gold pass!” 🙂
Yeah, I’ve got to admit, that “prestige” is one thing I’d like (and a PLASTIC AP!), but we save over $100 by NOT getting the Premier Passport (crazy, right?). Maybe if we start visiting DLR during busier seasons (thus needed something more than the Deluxe) or if we start going to WDW water parks again, we’ll get the Premier!
We’re using Undercover Tourist for the first time for our upcoming December trip. Our trips are infrequent and haphazard enough that we usually just buy for length of trip. I ran the numbers for 1 AP + TiW (immediately after your TiW blog, as it happens), but the trip wasn’t long enough to justify it by itself. I think they will be more favorable next time though….
Yeah, an AP is definitely the way to go if it makes sense…and you can make it make sense by taking additional trips, if you get my drift! 😉
So, hubby and I now fall into the reckless group. As of about 2 months ago we decided to turn our yearly trip AAA discount “Magic your way package” into an Annual Pass and go a couple times next year. Since that decision, we’ve decided to go labor Day weekend, I’m going by myself for the 40th and I’m going to try to get down there again before Christmas, in addition to our 2 trips next year. It really is reckless, and I love it!!
After reading on your blog about all the dining discounts and Tables in Wonderland, that sealed the deal for us. We’re huge foodies so the cost in savings on merchandise, food and hotels is totally going to pay off in less than 11 days. So, here’s my pledge. I’m making a point to save EVERY receipt (or photograph it that is!) that uses our AP discount and keep track for the entire year to see how much it pays off! It’s like a game and I can’t wait to see it play out!
Thanks again for all of the tips!
Fun game…but at the same time, scary to see how much money Disney receives from you each year. I think I am going to cringe come tax season when I finally pull out all our old receipts!
Fun game and even funner (is that a word?) game if you have a legitimate business write-off! Haha!
Hi Tom,
My traveling group falls into the category of “4-5 days, once a year or so” category. For our trip last year we decided on 10-day no expiration tickets with all the add-ons, and I have to say it’s working out great!
One nice thing about this type of ticket that is worth mentioning: the special parties aren’t as big of a financial decision as they would be for those with length-of-vacation tickets or annual passes. Instead of using a theme park day on the day of the party, you can go to a water park or even just hang around the resort. (My fiance loves to use this as an excuse to relax. I keep trying to tell him there’s no sleeping in at Disney World!) The cost of the party tickets are offset by not using a day of admission. On our last trip, we went to a Christmas party at the beginning of our vacation, and had such a good time that we decided to go to a second party. On our upcoming Halloween trip, we’ll play it by ear again!
YES! This is an excellent point, and also something we used to do!!! Whenever we would go to the Christmas party, we would do a “Deluxe Resort Christmas Tour” in the morning! That, coupled with the fact you can get in with the MVMCP or MNSSHP tickets at 4 pm actually makes the hard ticket events a pretty good value if you’re following this strategy.
Thanks for the reminder on this, I’m going to go back and edit the post!
Lots of good information here. I agree with your recommendation of the Park Hopper option. We really like it because it lets us see one Park during the day and then head to a different Park for supper that night.
My only question is if I book my Resort online through Disney and get my tickets through Undercover Tourist will Disney put those tickets on my Key to the World or will I have to carry around twice as many cards?
You’ll have to carry around twice as many cards. Small price to pay for saving a good chunk of change, in my opinion!
It’s also a good idea to photograph the back of your ticket when you get it, just in case you lose it.
We went in Feb 2012 & they put our Undercover Tourtist tickets onto our Key to the World cards.
My husband had an AP & he had to carry his separately, but not the rest of us.
I’m so glad to have read your Disney blog. I am booked to take my family (6 adults and 2 grandchildren ages 6 and 8) on February 13 a weekend in Orlando. We have 2 days to spend at the park. Can you please advise the best passes to buy, how to avoid long lines, and what sites we should try to squeeze in with so little time? It is my grandson’s birthday so any advise on birthday recognition I can arrange? Thanks. Rick Applegate, Pittsburgh
Hi,
I can’t seem to figure out how to leave an original comment with out replying to a previous one, sorry!
I very recently started reading your blog to prepare for a trip in May.
You have talked about buying discount tickets from brokers like Undercover Tourist, the importance of buying tickets in advance and reserving your FastPass selections asap. My question is, if I reserve a Disney hotel and purchase my park tickets separately on Undercover Tourist will I be able to reserve my FastPass selections 60 days in advance because we are staying at a Disney hotel or does purchasing these things separately void that opportunity and bump me to the 30 day zone? If it does move me to the 30 day zone, do you feel the savings is significant enough to be worth it? Have you had luck getting good FastPass selections at 30 days?
Thanks in advance!
Fahren,
As long as you link your Undercover Tourist tickets and your Disney room to your MDE account, you will be able to make FP+ reservations 60 days out.
I was looking at the price of a 2 day ticket to disney world for one adult on the disney Web site. The ticket cost $204.48 + $12.48 for tax. Then I looked at the official ticket center site for the same ticket it’s $209.00 + no tax. I was just wondering why the ticket is $5 more then the other one but there is no tax being charged?
That’s because 1-2 day tickets are rarely discounted, so the savings are minimal.
Hi, I have 5 children & I just want to take them for one day. Is there a deal for that?
A late response, but now you can link tickets from Undercover Tourist to your stay through MyDisneyExperience!
How is that done? Can tickets bought outside Disney be linked to a MagicBand?
Undercover tourist is not even close to being the cheapest anymore … Lol this website is obviously affiliated …” If for some reason you don’t buy from undercover tourist…” Lmfao
What other websites do you know of?
If you can point to another LEGITIMATE site that is cheaper on apples-to-apples tickets, please do so. Make sure both tickets you’re comparing either have or don’t have Park Hopper, etc., and include tax.
When you actually compare IDENTICAL tickets from authorized resellers, you should see that the information in this article is spot-on.
LMFAO, indeed.
I noticed that AAA is now the same price as Undercover Tourist for a six-day park hopper. Do you know if AAA tickets are able to be connected to My Magic Plus? I’m considering them because of the benefits of parking closer.
Has anyone had any experience with Magical Gateway buying tickets?
That should be Magical GETAWAY… sorry
Have you heard anything about visitorlando.com? Are they legit? Their tickets seem to be a little cheaper than the places you listed. If I buy them now, they are good for a year? Thanks!
I agree w/Eddie – both undercover tourist and parksavers are MORE EXPENSIVE than getting tickets from disneyworld.disney.com. And all of my searches included taxes and park hoppers
I’ve found that AARP is the cheapest for our family. It ends up being about $15 cheaper than Undercover Tourist (even when we factor in the MouseSavers link). They partner with Ticketsatwork.com for discount tickets. Right now the promotion is to purchase a 3-day and get 2 extra days free, or purchase a 4-day and get 3 extra days free. We have 5 adults and 1 child and we are getting the 5-day park hopper. They mail your tickets to you, so there shouldn’t be any issue with FP+. I was going to go through ebates/orbitz for the same deal, but you have to pick up the tickets at will-call and that nixes our whole FP+ plans…so no. I hope this helps someone 🙂
I read this blog and some of the comments. thought Undercover Tourtist is a good place to buy ticket. Since I am first time, don’t know the ticket purchase process quite well. Here seems tell me what expect to happen after I order online, so I ordered ticket on Undercover Tourtist, but it still haven’t shipped out after 5days, yes I choose free shipping, but I only expect it use slow shipping method, I don’t expect it process the ticket that slow. And with only $10-$15 for a >$1500 order, do I really need to save that $10-$15 instead of goto http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/ where you can use target gift card to save at least $75 and it is the official site.
I really recommend people purchase ticket on official site.
What do you mean you can use Target gift cards?
If you happen to be a member of an Entertainment book (typically acquired through a school activity fundraiser or such), they have a really good deal on Disney World tickets. If you purchase 3-day with Park Hopper, you get 5 days, and the price is better than I’ve seen anywhere else, including AAA, or Undercover Tourist. http://www.entertainment.com/funtickets. Please be advised that you need to have an Entertainment book that is activated in order to be able to purchase these, but it’s only $25 to buy!
Update to the comment above. When you ‘checkout’ your transaction on Entertainment’s site, there is a ‘Fee’ applied that negates quite a bit of the savings. I called their customer service, and they say that it is a “fee for doing business with them”. Why hide it in the Taxes and Fees line? Still, it can be cheaper than other places. Just make sure you compare bottom line costs before committing.
Can you explain in some detail how you were able to use Target Gift Cards to your advantage when purchasing tickets? Sounds like a good idea but how does it work???
If you have a Target RedCard you get 5% off every purchase, which includes the Disney gift cards they sell in the store. Buy Disney gift cards with your RedCard, then purchase Disney tickets with the giftcard.
This was an awesome tip, best savings. Thank you for sharing.
Tom-
Quick question I didn’t see in the article. If I book a package with WDW in lieu of waiting for them to announce free dining during the fall, have already placed a deposit but have not paid in full, am I locked into the original price listed in the package or can they raise my original ticket quote since I’m not paid in full? I’d take the hotel discount, but we’re staying at Pop for financial reasons- when I did the numbers last year we went, the free dining at Pop was a great deal, plus we got free park hopper. Wasn’t sure what you thought.