Guide to Discount Disney World Tickets (2024)
Our guide to discount Disney World tickets offers money-saving info, pros & cons of Park Hoppers, tips for the best deals on tickets for now through October 2025 at Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios & Animal Kingdom. Plus, price increase predictions, which is likely to happen this fall or holiday season. (Updated March 20, 2024.)
If you’re wondering the best place to safely buy the discounted Walt Disney World multi-day tickets from an authorized reseller, we recommend Get Away Today, which offers an exclusive discount to readers of this site–enter promo code DTB23 at checkout for an extra $8 to $30 off per ticket! They have excellent deals on Central Florida theme parks, including Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, and SeaWorld Orlando in addition to Disney’s theme and water parks.
This is one authorized sellers we recommend (see info about the other below), with the highlighted one changing based upon which currently has the best pricing. All three offer exceptional customer service and added flexibility, even superior to what Disney offers directly (call centers are currently short-staffed, making speaking with a person at Disney “challenging” to say the least). These low prices coupled with Get Away Today’s “Best Price Guarantee” makes them our recommended ticket seller.
Before we get going, let’s start with the latest Walt Disney World ticket news–there are several ticket deals currently available. First up, there’s the Discounted Florida Resident Discover Disney Ticket. This offers Floridians the opportunity to buy a 4-day ticket for just $59 per day. These tickets are valid for use from April 2 to September 28, 2024, with an advance park reservation.
Much more significant is the 4-Park, 4-Day Walt Disney World Magic Ticket. This is available to the general public and offers admission starting at $99 per day admission without requiring reservations from April 2 to September 22, 2024. The big limitation here is that there’s no Park Hopping and you can only visit each park once, which is Walt Disney World’s way of redistributing attendance away from Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios (the two busiest parks) and to EPCOT and Animal Kingdom (the least busy parks).
If you can get past those two limitations (our post above explains how to work around them–especially during Party Season), the 4-Park Magic Ticket offers tremendous savings. The exact amount of the discount varies due to date-based pricing, but we’ve found that it averages around $100 per person. You can buy this ticket directly from Walt Disney World, or available for an even deeper discount via Get Away Today!
Rounding out the deals, there’s a new offer for Universal Orlando that’s very similar to Walt Disney World’s 4-Park Magic Ticket. Enjoy four days of thrills at Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure when you purchase Universal Orlando’s 2-Park Play 4 Days Promo Base Ticket, starting at $74 per day. With this, you can visit one park per day, upgrade to Park-to-Park tickets to visit multiple parks in the same day, or even upgrade to a 3-Park ticket to visit Volcano Bay.
You should also be aware that free FastPass+ has been replaced by paid line-skipping at Walt Disney World. We cover everything you need to know in our Guide to Genie+ at Walt Disney World & Lightning Lane FAQ. This system is totally different from its predecessor and can be overwhelming. Once you get past that rather steep and sometimes counterintuitive learning curve, it can be leveraged to your advantage.
You can only purchase Genie+ on a day-by-day basis during your Walt Disney World vacation. The latest wrinkle is that Genie+ now has per-park pricing, which is more expensive at Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Not-so-coincidentally, we only recommend buying Genie+ for Magic Kingdom (almost always), Disney’s Hollywood Studios (usually), and EPCOT (sometimes). We seldom recommend purchasing Genie+ at Animal Kingdom–there’s a reason why it’s cheapest there; it’s usually unnecessary.
With so many different park ticket options, this might already seem overwhelming. In this WDW park ticket guide, we present the pros and cons of different tickets so you can make an informed decision about which options are best for your family. We’ll break down everything you need to know about the complexities of Walt Disney World tickets.
We sort through the different options and give you recommendations on what types of tickets are best for you, plus where you can save money on Walt Disney World tickets. (If you’ve come looking for info on discount Disneyland tickets, you’ve come to the wrong place–but we do have an article with Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets, too.) By the end of this post, you’ll know way more than you ever thought there was to know about park tickets!
With that out of the way, let’s start with the latest ticket news & rumors…
2024 Ticket Price Increases
Typically, Walt Disney World raises ticket prices in February or October–sometimes both. Thus far in 2024, ticket prices have not increased, nor did they go up last October for regular tickets. Instead, the company raised rates on just about everything else, and also introduced per-park and date-based pricing for Genie+ and Individual Lightning Lanes, which effectively amounted to an indirect increase to the normal price of admission.
The good news is that prices for current tickets haven’t increased since December 2022, which is the first time in the 15 years we’ve been tracking prices when there was not an annual increase. The bad news is that Walt Disney World has already increased ticket prices for 2025. But the good-within-bad news is that, unlike normal, this did not apply to tickets for 2024. It was a really weird move, as ticket price increases normally take effect immediately.
There’s a chance that Walt Disney World raises prices in October 2024, but we’re skeptical. Annual Pass prices will probably increase then, but not regular admission. It would defy logic to increase prices for 2025 in Winter 2024…and then wait until only 3 months are left in the year to increase prices on the remainder of 2024 dates. Not only that, but the big ‘price increase day’ always results in a wave of negative headlines, and Disney usually does everything at once to avoid dragging out the bad press.
What’s more likely is that prices go up again in early 2025. Walt Disney World is once again tweaking things with Lightning Lane pre-booking, and our guess is that will require changes to admission options. With that, price increases seem likely, which might be why Walt Disney World has not been nearly as aggressive in increasing prices.
If the last three years have taught us anything, it’s to expect the unexpected. Subscribe to our free email newsletter for all of the latest updates as we hear more rumors or official announcements about ticket prices.
Regardless, if you have a Walt Disney World trip planned for now through October 2025, we recommend buying tickets sooner rather than later to lock-in current prices (beyond the scope of this post, but we’d advise doing the same with your hotel room). There will likely be one price increase between now and the end of 2025, with 2 price increases in that timeframe being a possibility.
With that said, this is not as imperative as it used to be. A couple of years ago, Walt Disney World was raising price twice annually, meaning that you could ‘beat’ as many as 3 price increases by buying tickets early. That amounted to locking-in huge savings, but Disney has since (thankfully) slowed down on its price increases. There’s still zero downside to purchasing tickets in advance–but there’s also not as much upside.
Where to Buy the Cheapest Disney Tickets
As we mentioned at the beginning, to save money on multi-day Walt Disney World tickets, we recommend buying from Get Away Today, which is an authorized discount Disney ticket broker that typically has the lowest prices on legitimate park tickets. You can order tickets for use now through October 2025.
Another excellent ticket seller we recommend is Undercover Tourist. These two typically compete with each other on prices, and are usually within a few dollars of one another. Which is better often depends upon the ticket type and when you’re searching. (Like airfare, ticket prices fluctuate, especially as the various reputable sellers try to beat one another on pricing.)
After purchasing, you’ll receive confirmation codes for My Disney Experience via email, which enables you to easily link the tickets to your My Disney Experience account. This also means that the tickets are compatible with MagicBands, which you’ll receive with your Walt Disney World hotel reservation; you can also purchase special edition MagicBands in the parks.
There aren’t many Disney ticket sellers that are actually legitimate, so be careful if you find a deal elsewhere. The sellers we mention in this article are the ones that have the best reputations and offer the biggest discounts. If you find a better deal somewhere else, well…you know what they say about when something sounds too good to be true!
Authorized discount Disney ticket brokers are great ways to save money on park tickets over gate prices, but not every third party ticket broker is reliable and trust-worthy. Most places selling discount Disney tickets are scams. Buying tickets on eBay or Craigslist is about as good of an idea as buying Louis Vuitton purses on a street corner.
Disney tickets are non-transferrable–they are tied to your fingerprint once partially used. If you get burned by these sellers with a partially-used or counterfeit ticket, Disney won’t have sympathy. You’ll have to pay full price for tickets at the park gates. Not exactly the best way to start the day on a Disney vacation!
The good news is that there are several legitimate, authorized Walt Disney World ticket sellers that can be trusted. In addition to Get Away Today, we also recommend Undercover Tourist. Both are highly reputable and offer great customer service. (Beyond this trio, there are other trustworthy third party sellers, but we can’t vouch for any of them.)
If you’re comparing prices, remember to compare apples to apples: Disney prices don’t include the Florida 6.5% tax, whereas prices from the sellers we recommend do include tax into the final price you pay. Sorry bold that all, but we get so many comments from people who miss that, and wonder why the discounts aren’t as good as promised. Also make sure you’re comparing Park Hopper tickets to regular tickets or not. Lots of people make mistakes in not comparing the same tickets to one another.
Additionally, you might be eligible for discount tickets through your employer or a membership program like TicketsAtWork that can save even more than the alternatives. The only downsides are that some of these tickets require more advance notice for processing, and that what you receive is a ticket voucher (it still can be linked to My Disney Experience); you will need to pick up the actual ticket when you arrive at Walt Disney World.
Moving on, let’s take a look at which type of ticket options are best for you…
Which Tickets to Buy?
Sometimes people ask which ticket is our favorite for first-time visitors to Walt Disney World, and it really depends upon how long you’re visiting. In our Walt Disney World Vacation Planning Guide, we recommend most first-time visitors take a 6-8 trip.
Assuming you are going this route, you probably won’t spend every moment in the park. You’ll want a rest day in the middle to spend recovering poolside, and maybe a shopping day (or morning) at Disney Springs. With that said, we recommend buying a ticket that is 1-2 days shorter than the duration of your vacation–unless you’re visiting for 4 days or fewer, in which case you should purchase a ticket for every day. Always get at least a 4-day ticket. Ideally, get nothing less than a 5-day ticket.
Meaning, if your vacation is 8 days, we recommend the 6-day or 7-day ticket. If you are visiting for 6 days, get the 5-day ticket. In our experience, a 6-day Walt Disney World vacation is about the sweet spot for first-timers. That means either a 4-day or 5-day ticket is going to be a smart bet for most people reading this. (If you have more time, that’s excellent!)
Are Park Hopper Tickets Worth it?
The Park Hopper add-on allows you to visit multiple parks in the same day. You can bounce around the parks and maximize your time in the parks. Some guests can skip the Park Hopper option: particularly those with small children and those who won’t stay out late.
On the other hand, Park Hopping can be really beneficial if you want to revisit favorite attractions or head over to a certain park for the evening for dinner. With the exception of Magic Kingdom, you won’t need to spend multiple full days in any park, and the ability to bounce around is a great solution allowing you to spend additional partial days in the other parks.
Another benefit of the Park Hopper option is spending more hours per day in the theme parks. Since each park has different opening and closing hours, getting a Park Hopper is a good way to extend your day (particularly in the off-season when parks close earlier) or spend more time in Magic Kingdom. Magic Kingdom often closes later than the other parks, so you squeeze a couple more hours out of day by starting your day in Animal Kingdom (for example) and heading to Magic Kingdom once Animal Kingdom closes.
If you’re staying in an eligible on-site Walt Disney World resort, you’ll also potentially need the Park Hopper option to take advantage of Extended Evening Hours. This perk is incredibly advantageous, as crowds are usually low during these nighttime hours. If you don’t buy the Park Hopper option, you’ll need to start your day in the park offering Extended Evening Hours in order to take advantage. See our Guide to Extended Evening Hours at Walt Disney World for taking advantage of this perk, eligibility, and more.
Because of these two things, we generally recommend purchasing the Park Hopper option. While it does cost more, if you’re buying multiple day tickets, you might be surprised to learn that the extra cost is insignificant. Currently, a discounted 7-day Walt Disney World Adult Park Hopper Ticket will cost around $650 after tax, with some dates costing more and some costing less. Obviously, that’s a lot of money.
However, compare it to a 1-day Park Hopper ticket directly from Disney, which can cost over $180 after tax. For less than the price of three 1-day tickets, you can purchase a 7-day discounted Park Hopper. That 7-day ticket works out to being less than $95/day!
Other multi-day tickets offer similar savings, so be sure to look at the prices of other multi-day Walt Disney World tickets and do some comparison shopping to see just how much you can save. Walt Disney World advertises that “the more you play, the less you pay per day” and this is definitely true.
What About Park Hopper Plus Tickets?
The Park Hopper Plus ticket option (formerly “Water Park Fun & More”) offers everything included with Park Hopper Tickets mentioned above, plus access to Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach water parks, ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, Disney’s Oak Trail Golf Course, and Winter Summerland or Fantasia Gardens mini golf.
With Park Hopper Plus tickets, you are eligible for the same number of “Plus” admissions as the number of days on your ticket. Meaning that if you have a 7-day Park Hopper Plus ticket, you also have 7 entrances the water parks, mini golf, etc. (Be mindful of operating schedules, as not all of these options are open year-round.)
Whether this ticket is right for you really depends upon whether you want to do any of the parks beyond the 4 main theme parks. If you want to do one of the other things even once or twice, you come out ahead to purchase the Park Hopper Plus Tickets. We love both Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach, and enjoy both of the mini golf courses (albeit less so than the water parks) and recommend this ticket option to anyone who will be spending 6 days or more at Walt Disney World.
What About the Water Park and Sports Option?
The Water Park and Sports Option is available as an add-on to select Walt Disney World theme park tickets for $70 plus tax. This option allows guests to visit one theme park each day, plus various water park or sports experiences that same number of times.
The Water Park & Sports Option is valid at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon or Disney’s Blizzard Beach water parks, ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, Disney’s Oak Trail Golf Course, FootGolf at Disney’s Oak Trail Golf Course, Disney’s Fantasia Gardens Miniature Golf, or Disney’s Winter Summerland Miniature Golf. (Again, pay attention to operating schedules, as not all of these options are open year-round.)
Basically, this ticket is the non-park hopper version of the aforementioned Park Hopper Plus ticket option. The analysis for the Water Park and Sports Ticket Option is identical to the Park Hopper Plus, but for those who only want to do one theme park per day. We generally favor the Park Hopper Plus option as it offers great flexibility and the upgrade cost to that is insignificant, but that’s just us.
Affiliation Discounts
If for some reason you don’t want to buy discounted Disney tickets from Get Away Today or Undercover Tourist, there’s a possibility you qualify for some other form of discount. The most common discounts are: Florida resident, military/department of defense, corporate or “club” discounts, Disney Vacation Club, and sometimes Walt Disney World ticket discounts for Europeans.
Of these discounts, military Disney ticket discounts are typically the best, followed by AAA discounts. AAA discounts are only offered through local offices and tax isn’t included in their price quotes. Note that Disney ended its relationship with AAA, so there are no additional perks for buying Disney tickets through AAA anymore.
AAA discounts typically are not as good as the prices offered by the discount ticket brokers, but military or department of defense discounts are always better. The “Stars and Stripes” promotion (only available to select members of the armed forces and department of defense) will usually annihilate what is offered by third party discount ticket brokers or AAA. This promo isn’t always offered, so call Shades of Green at 888-593-2242 prior to ordering tickets to see whether it’s available for your stay.
Another option available to some people is TicketsAtWork. This is a members-only site that partners with certain corporations to offer company employees exclusive discounts and special offers for theme parks, attractions, Broadway shows, special events, hotels, concerts, and movie tickets. In other words, Tickets at Work is a “perk” that’s available only to employees of certain corporations.
Tickets at Work most definitely is legitimate. Unfortunately, we cannot offer a price comparison to Tickets at Work because we don’t work for companies partnered with Tickets at Work, nor do we know anyone who does. Anecdotally, we’ve heard that in some cases, Tickets at Work offers prices that are slightly better. In other cases, their prices are worse. We’ve also been told that shipping can take 2-3 weeks with Tickets at Work, which could be a deal-breaker if you’re trying to make reservations in a hurry. Check with your company’s HR department to see if your company is a Tickets at Work partner.
Now, let’s cover one other possible Walt Disney World park ticket options…
Florida Resident Ticket Discounts
If you live in Florida (and have proof of residence–DVC membership does not count), there are occasionally discount 2-day to 4-day Walt Disney World ticket offers from January until April and Summer through September each year during times when attendance is historically light. For Floridians, these are the best deals of the year–better than anything else on this list.
The current Florida resident ticket deal is discussed at the top of this post. The downside of this deal is that it’s only valid Mondays through Fridays, but the upside is that there’s a discount at all during the popular Christmas season. Many years, there’s nothing at all this time of year!
What About An Annual Pass?
Walt Disney World resumed new Annual Pass sales late last month. Everything you need to know about buying an AP is covered in our Walt Disney World Annual Pass FAQ. All tiers of APs (Incredi-Pass, Sorcerer Pass, and Pirate Pass, and Pixie Dust Pass) are still available for purchase. However, Walt Disney World has already warned that tiers are likely to sell out soon. Note that unless you’re a Floridian or DVC member, you’re only eligible to purchase the Incredi-Pass.
This AP can make sense if you’re taking at least two trips to Walt Disney World in the span of 365 days. Some fans use APs for this specific purpose, taking week-long trips during the Halloween or Christmas season each year, and essentially putting one of those trips at the beginning of the window and another at the end of the window. (For example, doing the second week of December 2024 and the first week of December 2025.)
If you’re doing two week-long trips, the Incredi-Pass will work out in your favor. You’re looking at 7-day tickets that will be over $700 each, adding up to more than the cost of the Incredi-Pass on their own. The story is similar if you’re taking 3 shorter trips in a 365-day stretch. Let’s say you’re doing three long-weekend trips of 3-days each. Individually, those tickets would cost you over $460 each, totaling more than the cost of the Incredi-Pass.
Where the math gets complicated is for those planning two trips in a 365-day stretch with a combined total of 10 or fewer days. In this scenario, the cost of your tickets will actually end up being around $75 less than an Incredi-Pass. However, the AP also offers discounts on merchandise & dining, which alone will easily add up to $75 saved over 10 days in the parks. Beyond that, it opens up access to the aforementioned superior resort discounts or, if you won’t use those because you’re staying off-site, free parking at the theme parks.
So either way you slice it, two trips totaling at least 10 days over the course of 365 days is the likely breakeven point for the Incredi-Pass. That’s going to vary from person-to-person, though. We’ve heard from people who could make less work and others who couldn’t justify APs until 11 days.
However, that’s more or less the general rule. If you’re traveling more than that, it’s easy to justify Walt Disney World APs. Less than that, and it becomes much more difficult. If it’s a close call, we’d recommend purchasing passes. The money-saved via discounts and other perks, such as freebies and access to exclusive events like ride previews, does add up and is difficult to account for in your initial calculation.
Conclusion
Hopefully the above info helped you determine which Walt Disney World park ticket you should buy and how to save money on those tickets. If you still have some questions, here are some general rules:
- Thanks to very good discounts, our top recommendation for Walt Disney World is the 5-day to 7-day Park Hopper ticket, all of which provide excellent savings.
- We recommend the Park Hopper option for most people, but if you definitely won’t visit more than one park per day, you can save additional money by skipping the Park Hopper option.
- By purchasing via an authorized ticket broker, you can make park reservations ahead of time. If you buy tickets once you arrive to Walt Disney World, you’re at a disadvantage in two ways: you pay more for tickets and you cannot make park reservations in advance.
- Do not consider an Annual Pass unless you will visit Walt Disney World for roughly 15+ days in a 365 day window, or will take multiple shorter trips.
- If you are planning a vacation and definitely going to Walt Disney World before October 2025, it’s always best to buy tickets as far in advance as possible to lock-in current prices and avoid future increases.
It’s important to know that my suggestions are based on our preferences, and they may not work for you. It’s really best to read through this and then apply it to your own circumstances by looking at your own schedule and preferences, and determining what type of tickets are best for you. Finally, head to Get Away Today and buy the appropriate tickets at the best discount (using promo code DTB23 at checkout).
For where to eat, try out our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews page. If you want to save money on tickets or determine which type you should get, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at unconventional things you should take on your trip. For overviews of all of these topics and so much more, the best place to start is our comprehensive Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide to make the most of your experience!
Your Thoughts
Have any questions about which tickets might be best for you? Which Walt Disney World tickets do you think are best, and why? Hopefully this guide to Disney discount tickets has provided you with some valuable tips & tricks to help you save money on Walt Disney World tickets, and has helped you figure out which kind of Disney tickets are right for you. If you still have any questions, please leave them in the comments and we will try to help!
Hi Tom!
Does your opinion on the annual pass still hold true if you are a DVC member as we are offered a discount on annual passes? I am a newer DVC member and was considering the annual pass for next year. Our yearly Disney vacation seems to run about 11-12 days on average. Thanks!
Ok our family of 14 are planning our Disney vacation from December 29, 2018 till January 5, 20190 we have already booked a house and have purchased the magic bands, and our next purchase are all our 5 day passes. Do you think we are going to have problems being denied entry not being on Disney property? Is there public transportation? Are there senior discount tickets? Thank you for your time Linda
Hi Tom, we love your blog! We’re heading to WDW in August for our first trip. I have a question: we bought 7 day tickets last year with the 25 % off deal for Canadian residents and paid 277 US$ each (before tax). I can’t figure out what it will cost to add an 8th day. All I’ve read says that they charge you the difference between what you paid and the cost of the extra day, but I don’t know exactly what that means in terms of our tickets. Can you help? And can I add over the phone, or does it have to be in person? Thanks, Tom!
Hi Sarah. This has been a big conversation among Canadian Disney fans. Apparently, since the promotion is over, they will not add days for the discounted rate. Rather, they will start a new 1 day ticket at the new (raised) full price : / You could consider, if you’re staying on property, foregoing your Canadian tickets and opt for a room discount promo, and then buy an 8 day ticket. This may not be cost-effective for you though. For our family, the savings on 5x 6 day base tickets is better than ANY other promo (including free dining), so we couldn’t justify switching out. Of course, you could (and should) phone and see what they say. I was hoping to add another day to our package, and this seems to be the consensus. We’re also going in August! Are you so excited?!
Hi JLC, yes, we are SUPER excited. It’s our first time, and we’ve been planning since we bought our discounted tix last year. I did call Disney, twice, in fact! And both times I was told the same thing that you’ve heard – that we would have to pay the difference in price to add a day or a park hopper. Which almost doubles the price now, as we only paid 277 each for 7 days when we bought back in Feb. 2017. What a huge price difference! I also asked “Dad” from Dad’s guide to Wdw, and he checked and got the same info. So, I think we’re out of luck. But – we will try the day we get there, at a ticket window..you never know what might happen! But there’s no way we’ll pay the difference. With our discounted rooms, we are super happy with the deals we’ve gotten, and will have more money to snack and buy Disney clothes. 🙂
Hi. I’ve booked a trip for the end of July. We are taking my parents with us. It is their first time and something my mom has always wanted to do. We are buying their tickets. My Disney travel agent strongly recommends only ordering tickets through the package at Disney. She did not want me to get them through a Disney authorized seller. She said she’s seen too many problems in the past, and she can only help clear up any problems if the tickets come directly from Disney. I was surprised by this because it seems like so many people use other ticket sellers. I was thinking of using ones that Tom talks about because it would save us money with the extra tickets that we are buying. Has anyone ever had problems with these tickets? We used a different seller for our first trip and had no problems. I think it was Undercover Tourist.
Hi Jennifer- I have used Undercover Tourist, Park Savers & just recently Get Away Today (per Toms recommendation) for many trips & have never had a problem. I immediately link my ticket to my My Disney Experience account which has to verify it & that makes me feel better, lol! I guess things could happen, but so far so good!
Hi Tom, i love your blog and use it for Japan and now WDW. Just to be clear, if i buy from getawaytoday.com and i booked my rooms from an agent, i can linked this together on my disney experience? So I woukd have 60 days beforehand to book my fastpass+?
Am I getting this right? Thanks!
That is correct!
I’m planning a trip to WDW in May 2019. When do you suggest I purchase tickets and also hotel accommodations? This is our first time and want to make sure I plan accordingly.
As a general rule, your best bet when planning any Walt Disney World vacation is to book your resort and buy your tickets as early as you can. There are a couple different reasons for this.
In regards to tickets, Disney has historically raised ticket prices in February the last several years, the last being a little over a month ago. However, there is a lot of evidence to indicate that Disney will go to tiered pricing for their multi-day tickets starting later this year due to the new lands and attractions opening in 2018 and 2019. If you buy your tickets now, you can lock in at the current prices and avoid that increase as those tickets would be good through December 31, 2019. I’d definitely recommend following Tom’s advice in this post regarding where to get your tickets to ensure you’re paying the best price.
As far as resorts go, I’m assuming that you’re planning to stay at a Disney owned and operated resort for the purposes of this response. You can expect that Disney will release their 2019 rack rates on or around June 19, 2018 if they follow the pattern of the last several years. I’d definitely recommending booking as early as you can to lock in the resort and room type you prefer. You can always modify your reservation at a later time to take advantage of discounts that Disney may offer, but at least this way you know you’ve got a room lined up that suits your needs and preferences.
Other than that, I’d say that if it’s your first trip to Walt Disney World, definitely make use of all the great information Tom and Sarah have on this site. You will almost certainly find that the things you learn here will save you time, stress, and money. The fact that you’re already out researching how to go about your trip is a great sign that you’re taking the right approach. Have an amazing and magical vacation!
hi! my family and i are planning a trip this spring break. we’re planning a 4 day trip starting friday 03/16 we have bought the 4 day passes for Fl residents. my question is can i use these passes for the weekend and then upgrade them to weekday annual passes on sunday afternoon? i’d still have one day remaining, but i’m not sure if it’ll be allowed or enough.
your site is great! thanks for all the tips and planning help. with 5 boys (between 11-1) you are a wdw life saver!
Hypothetical: If I buy tickets from one of these 3rd parties, and I rent a DVC room, do I get Magicbands, or would I need to purchase these separately?
You would still get MagicBands for your DVC room reservation. Just make sure it’s linked to your My Disney Experience account and you’ll have the option to customize them in advance of your trip. Typically, with most of the sites that let you ‘rent’ DVC points you are also able to set up Disney’s Magical Express transportation as well.
Hi there,
I find your site incredibly helpful… thank you for all your posts! we are looking to hit WDW in Feb 2019. Do you know when prices for Hotel packages will be posted on the WDW web page? Right now I can only see until Dec 2018, so it make budgeting hard.
Thanks!
Angela. I use the following site as the have a discount tracker as well as historical discounts and release dates for everything, including rack rates. https://www.mousesavers.com/historical-information-on-walt-disney-world-resort-discounts/
If it follows the same pattern as the last few years it should be around June 19th.
Happy planning!
What are kids prices for park hopper? Can you recommend a hotel or best place to stay for 2 adults (senior) and 2 adults and one child almost 3. Separate rooms or bigger place with bedrooms…
For tickets at work, it looks like for a 4 day park hopper it’s $100 off gate price.l for both adult and children, but that’s based on their numbers. They do sometimes put an additional fee on. But the dollar amount they post is the cost of admission and tax. You can choose to have tickets emailed or standard. I’ve never actually used this for Disney World, but have used it for attractions and entertainment closer to me since i obviously have to stay at a hotel since I live in NJ
The wording of this post makes it sound like if I order tickets through get away, that they will automatically attach those tickets to my disney experience via the confirmation number?
Or is it where I order, they send me a confirmation number and then I log into My Disney Experience and input that confirmation number to get the tickets attached to my account?
It should be the latter Matthew.
While I haven’t personally ordered tickets from Get Away Today, I have done so using both Undercover Tourist and ParkSavers. Both will send you a confirmation code that you can then use to go in and link the tickets via your My Disney Experience account. None of the 3rd party sellers should be able to automatically link the tickets for you as they wouldn’t have access to your My Disney Experience account.
Gotcha. I saw that they had something about shipping the tickets so I got a bit confused by that too since it didn’t seem to mention anything about the ability to link tickets in the account.
Thank you!
Most of the legitimate 3rd party ticket sites, which Tom recommends here, will send you the physical tickets in addition to providing you with a confirmation code via email that you can use to link the tickets to your My Disney Experience account. For instance, with my recent ParkSavers purchase, I bought 4 7-Day Park Hopper Plus tickets. A confirmation code is then sent, typically within 24 hours, which I could use to link the tickets to my My Disney Experience account. This method does require you to link each ticket to a specific person before saving.
However, there may be times when you don’t want to link all the tickets you have purchased at the same time. In that case, when the physical tickets arrive in the mail a few days later, you can link each ticket, one-at-a-time, to a specific person. The latter can be handy if you’re purchasing a ticket for another Guest not linked to your My Disney Experience account, such as when giving it as a gift.
“Unused tickets don’t expire, so you can buy a year or more in advance of your trip to avoid having to pay increased prices.”
VS.
“If you purchase your tickets today, they are valid for first-use, until December 31, 2018”
I’m confused… If I purchase my tickets today, are they valid forever or just for the year purchased?
At this time, if never used, all new MYW tickets have an expiration date within a period of 9-24 months following purchase.
(The date of this expiration will be shown when the ticket purchased.)
However, if this ticket is never used by a guest and allowed to expire,
the purchase price of the ticket is not “lost” to the guest.
The unused and expired ticket can be turned in at WDW and its original purchase price can be applied to the purchase of a new ticket of like or greater value.
Thank you, Rob, for clearing this up for me! Now it makes sense.
All credit for this should go to Robo over on the DISBoards forums. He has an amazingly detailed thread regarding everything you ever wanted to know about Walt Disney World tickets. It can be found at: https://www.disboards.com/threads/all-about-tickets-at-wdw.3570721/
Thanks for responding here, Rob. I really need to reword that in the post because it definitely sounds contradictory. Sorry for the confusion!
Thanks for the link, Rob. I’ll have to check that out. And no worries, Tom. Just grateful for your blog and the many helpful followers who can add to the info.
Happy to help out. Absolutely love the blog and all the amazing information and assistance you provide to everyone fortunate enough to have enjoyed it! I especially love how you enjoy ‘running the numbers’ and ‘doing the math’. That’s how I roll with our vacations as well. Disney vacations are amazing but knowing you squeezed every drop of value out of what you got definitely sweetens the pot!
So I have a hotel booked for a Surprise Christmas trip this year. I have yet to buy the tickets. First, I know it will be busy, like really really busy. This is a Disney Bucket list so I’m well preparing myself for the insanity. So tickets. Our trip spans into 2019, and from what I’ve seen all tickets are valid only until 12/31/2018. How do you buy tickets if your trip starts in 2018 and ends in 2019. If i buy just a daily I loose the savings that i get for buying multiple days. Also I was thinking of an Annual pass for me, and tickets for my husband. My biggest concern with that is on the disclaimer is states that it does not guarantee admission especially during a high traffic day (xmas). My concern is that I’ll be turned away since I have a pass but my husband will be allowed in (he would leave me to, I just know it) since he has a ticket. If anyone has insight I’d appreciate it.
In regards to your first question, the expiration date on your tickets is for first use of the ticket. In your case, since you’ll start using the ticket before the 12/31/2018 expiration date you are fine. Once used, the expiration date for the ticket becomes 14 days from the date of first use.
As far as your concerns about being denied entry with an Annual Pass (assuming it’s one without a blackout date for the dates in question) that can actually happen with ANY Walt Disney World ticket. Walt Disney World Resort utilizes phased closures on high traffic days (of which Christmas would most certainly be one). More information on phased closures can be found at https://touringplans.com/walt-disney-world/capacity-closures.
The best way to avoid being denied entry would be to ensure you’re staying at a Walt Disney World Resort hotel and to arrive no later than mid-morning if you’re looking to go to Magic Kingdom. Keep in mind that even when a Park reaches a Phase IV closure, and nobody at all is being allowed in, there can sometimes be enough Guests leaving after the early fireworks that the Park will reopen to new Guests.
I always think I am pretty well versed on Disney until I read your newsletters. I gain a lot from them and realize that there are things I forget to consider. This year I was going to pass on the park hopper ticket. But you mentioning the different fireworks displays swayed me back again. Thanks Tom!
We visit WDW from Alberta, Canada and always use the AP. We find with the additional discounts and more than 10 days of WDW over 366 days – and daily/nightly park hopping – for 2 adults it is worth it. This can easily cover 2 trips over a “2 year” span of say November trip this year, October trip next year. Coming in from so far, we would naturally come in for more than 5-7 days per time anyway, so we have greatly noticed and enjoyed the benefits of Annual Passes, regardless of monetary exchange rates!
This is definitely a great way of leveraging an Annual Pass. Just be “careful” as that 2 trips in a 2-year span can quickly turn into “oh, well maybe we should take a long holiday weekend trip, after all, park admission is free!” and then suddenly you find yourself taking 4 trips in a single calendar year. I speak from past experience there! 🙂
You are so right!! I brought a AP because I was travelling from Long Island NY to DW in February for the Princess RunDisney race a 7 day trip and the following year in January for the Marathon possible 10-14 day trip. I now also have a trip booked in November for the Food and Wine race, a 5 day trip. I don’t even race but my daughter does! I now found out I have a week off in August from work and seriously thinking of going then too for a 5-7 day trip!! That would make 4 trips in one year. Well it makes sense I already paid for the pass! Hotel and airfare are the expensive part now.
I consider this another BENEFIT of buying the Annual Passes. Anything that encourages me to take an extra trip can’t be a bad thing….right? (At least, this is what I tell my support group…)
Hello! Does anyone know where I can buy 1 day tickets for my family for only Animal Kingdom? Who knew it would be so hard to figure out 🙂 But everywhere I look I find 3 day packages, hotel packages, park hopper etc. We are only going to Animal Kingdom and for 1 day only. Any help is greatly appreciated and if I can find discounted tickets even better! thanks!
Hi Jennifer
Undercover Tourister has the single day tickets listed below their multi-day tickets.
I hope that helps you!
Thank you!!
I am comparing Park Savers and Disney World for park tickets. Your post says that Disney doesn’t include tax, but for two 5 day park hopper passes, Disney is adding $57.86 in tax and Park Savers isn’t showing a breakdown of ticket price and taxes. Park Savers total is $890, and Disney’s total is $947.86. The tax is the only difference. Am I missing something, or did I possibly read your post wrong?
I bought Parksaver tickets in the past. Please note that they get their tickets from Expedia and if Expedia prices change so do Parksaver prices. I procrastinated a couple of days and the prices went up.
Was wondering what out of state tickets run will be there 4days any suggestion who to book through least expensive way
I like your tips, the DISNEYTOURISTBLOG coupon is not per ticket but per booking!
Thanks for your information
Ruud
So with that said, if you have a family of 4, can you just make four separate bookings to get the $2 per ticket discount (I realize I’m nickel and dime-ing trying to save $6 additional dollars)?
Not sure if you I’d this yet, but I got $2 off per ticket after the order went through.