2019-2020 Discount Disney World Ticket Tips
Our 2019-2020 discount Disney World ticket guide offers money-saving info, pros & cons of Park Hoppers, tips for the best deals on tickets for Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom, and price increase history/predictions. (Updated September 15, 2019.)
If you’re just wondering the best place to safely buy the discounted Walt Disney World multi-day tickets from an authorized reseller, we highly recommend Undercover Tourist. They usually have the best prices on discount Walt Disney World tickets, with some being significantly discounted from Walt Disney World’s gate prices!
For more detailed advice, the latest news about prices increases, and more, continue reading! We’ll start with the most recent update, which is the New Mid-Day Magic Discounted Ticket for Walt Disney World. This 2-4 day ticket allows entrance to the parks after noon, making it a good option for night owls or people who like to sleep in on vacation. As we cover in our post about the new ticket, there are some downsides…
Additionally, if you’re a Florida Resident, you can save 40% on 4-day Walt Disney World park tickets and 30% on 3-day tickets. With this option, admission begins on a selected start date and must be used within a limited number of days.
For more latitude in spreading out visits, there’s also the Florida Resident Seasonal Flex Tickets. These come in 3 or 4 day varieties and are valid through February 29, 2020, with holiday blockout dates around Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s. Both of these new Florida Resident ticket deals are available for purchase through December 17, 2019. Proof of Florida Residence is required.
Beyond that, the most pertinent news about Walt Disney World ticket prices is the last increase, and likelihood of another in late 2019 or early 2020. Disney ticket price increases are a regular thing, and the most recent Walt Disney World ticket price increase happened in early 2019. This followed the announcement of the grand opening date for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, which is now open.
Due to the roll-out of the date-based ticket system at Walt Disney World last year, this most recent price increase is not uniform. Some tickets didn’t increase in price at all, others are up by a few dollars, and select dates spiked dramatically. Most interestingly, September 2019 ticket prices did not increase. Rather, the biggest increases–up to 25% in some cases–occur during the peak holiday season.
Another price increase on Walt Disney World park tickets is possible before the end of the year, with October 2019 being the most likely time for that to occur. At one point, this was nearly a sure thing, but lower crowds than anticipated at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in California and now also at Walt Disney World have raised some concerns that Disney is now facing attendance woes due to a “pricing problem.”
Nevertheless, if you have a Walt Disney World trip planned, we highly recommend buying tickets sooner rather than later to lock-in current prices. There’s zero downside to buying now, it’s all upside. You avoid paying more money later if or when prices increase, and even if that doesn’t happen again this year, it almost certainly will in early 2020!
With so many different park ticket options, plus FastPass+ and MagicBands, this might already seem overwhelming. If you have more questions about which type of Walt Disney World tickets you should purchase or need other assistance, the rest of this guide is for you. Given their cost, and the different ticket options, it’s important to know as much as you can before you buy your Walt Disney World tickets so you don’t waste money.
In this Walt Disney World 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, and by the end of this post, you’ll know way more than you ever thought there was to know about park 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.)
Ready to get started? Here are our tips and tricks for saving money on Walt Disney World tickets for now through December 31, 2020!
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 Undercover Tourist, 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, 2020.
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 and make FastPass+ reservations. 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). As we cover below, FastPass+ is really important to saving time at Walt Disney World!
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 Undercover Tourist, we recommend ParkSavers. Readers of this blog can save an extra $2 per ticket at ParkSavers with discount code DISNEYTOURISTBLOG at check-out. Other good options include Get Away Today and Official Ticket Center.
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 for FastPass+); 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 fireworks. Currently, Disney’s Hollywood Studios has two overlapping nighttime spectaculars (Fantasmic and Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular) that are impossible to see in the same night.
However, you also won’t want to spend 2 full days in Disney’s Hollywood Studios–even though Slinky Dog Dash is a really fun new ride in Toy Story Land there–so the best solution is to spend 1-day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and see Fantasmic that night, and then park hop back a second night just to see Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular.
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 2-3 hours 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.
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 $490 after tax (via Undercover Tourist), 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 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 $70/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 course, etc.
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.
Why to Buy Tickets in Advance
When you purchase tickets from an authorized Walt Disney World ticket broker before your trip, you can make FastPass+ ride reservations before you trip. You definitely want to book FastPass+ for popular attractions like Avatar Flight of Passage, N’avi River Voyage, Frozen Ever After, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, etc., in advance, because if you wait to make reservations on the day you visit, there won’t be availability.
This is especially important now that FastPass+ is available for the Pandora – World of Avatar attractions. Wait times for these have been in the 120 minutes range since they opened for those who don’t have FastPass+! We cannot stress enough how important it is to make FastPass+ reservations in advance, and buying tickets before your vacation is the only way to do that.
If you’re unfamiliar with FastPass+, we have a comprehensive Guide to FastPass+ at Walt Disney World that includes step-by-step tips for using FastPass+ and a ton of tricks for using it. Basically, FastPass+ is a web-based ride reservation system that replaced the old paper FastPass tickets.
It’s really important that you understand FastPass+ before your trip. Many attractions “sell out” of FastPass+ weeks in advance, and standby waits on the day you visit for some of the attractions above can exceed 2 hours. Using FastPass+ effectively will save you a ton of time. Because of this, we highly recommend purchasing Walt Disney World park tickets in advance, and making FastPass+ reservations as soon as possible.
If you wait until you arrive at Walt Disney World to purchase your tickets, not only do you pay more money, but you can’t make your FastPass+ selections until you arrive. Many popular attractions won’t have any availability, meaning you will have to either skip them or wait in long standby lines. Our Walt Disney World Ride Guides cover which attractions are the best uses of FastPass+ in each park.
Affiliation Discounts
If for some reason you don’t want to buy discounted Disney tickets from Undercover Tourist, Get Away Today, Undercover Tourist, or Official Ticket Center, 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 last year, 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 than Undercover Tourist, ParkSavers, or Get Away Today. 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 FastPass+ 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 option…
What About An Annual Pass?
In the past, it has made sense to consider an Annual Pass for your trip to Walt Disney World. After Annual Pass tiers changed, that now is typically not true unless you are a Florida resident or are a Disney super fan who will travel to Florida 2-3 times per year. For the normal “Platinum” Annual Pass to be a better value than normal park tickets, you’d have to spend 15+ days in the parks.
Beyond that, there is a 10% discount on food and non-alcoholic beverages at participating restaurants at Walt Disney World. The discount includes some of our favorite restaurants, such as Flying Fish, Jiko & Sanaa, and others. You can see the full list of participating restaurants here–it’s a nice mix of counter service and table service locations. Additionally, Annual Passholders will now receive 20% off most merchandise purchases.
Thanks to these benefits, if you’re taking a trip slightly shorter than 15 days or if you’re visiting for two 5+ day trips within a 12-month window it still might make sense to buy Annual Passes.
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 FastPass+ 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 FastPass+ ride 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, 2020, 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 Undercover Tourist buy the appropriate tickets at the best discount.
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!
Just purchased tickets through Tickets at Work for a trip the second week of December 2018. 4 day Disney World Park Hopper with 5th day free was $434 for ages 10+.
Looks like Park Savers is cheaper today (7/26/18). Two adult and one child, 3 day park hoppers (with the Disney Tourist Blog discount) is coming up as $1097.00 vs. $1162.98 at Disney. UndercoverTourist is showing $1132.17 for the same.
Thanks for the reminder–they’ve been cheaper for the last couple of days. I need to go back and update this (again)!
Undercover tourist is a very reputable and cheaper than park savers. Better deals.
Hi! I am a FL resident only interested in visiting Disney World for one day (Saturday 7/21/18), are there any discounts for one day passes?
Here is what is available for Florida Residence….
Experience a full day of magic at the wondrous Walt Disney World theme parks! 1-day, 1-park tickets range from $102.00 to $129.00, depending on the date and the theme park.
For even more magic, consider the 1-Day Ticket with Park Hopper Option—which offers same-day admission to all 4 theme parks at Walt Disney World Resort! Prices range from $136.50 to $156.50 for Guests ages 10 and up, and $130.50 to $150.50 for a Guest ages 3 to 9.
Question – purchased a 6 night stay, with 5 day hopper tickets & then decided to add 2 nights for the Fri/Sat before at a different resort. Is it possible to switch to the 7 day hopper? Or are we limited by the initial reservation to 6 day hopper & purchasing a full price 1 day ticket?
I am a first time advance ticket buyer through a third party site. We are traveling to Disney in February of 2019, and I was wondering how these third party sellers are able to sell tickets for that timeframe when Disney World itself is not offering them for 2019 yet (due to upcoming price increases that have yet to be announced, I assume). Could someone fill me in on this before I take the plunge and buy my tickets from an authorized third party seller?
Thanks!
Just a note on the Undercover Tourist Flash Sale – it’s only for mailed tickets, which expire this year (Dec 2018); sale is not for e-tickets. I’m starting my bargain shopping early (for October 2019) so it didn’t help me.
E-tickets are $10 more but I ordered mailed tickets after calling them first and they said that the only mailed tickets that they have right now do not expire until December 2019. And they can easily be linked to My Disney Experience and the magic bands. I’m also shopping for 2019!
Seriously? I mailed and got a response that the e-tickets expire 2019. Didn’t notice the e-ticket part until I was about to place the order and checked it again. Tried to call, got a busy signal so I did the online chat and they said the paper ones expire Dec 2018. Without the sale and adding the e-ticket fee made them the same (or more) than most other sites. (4-day base ticket with the special for the 5th day) I guess I’ll try to call again tomorrow.
Just called on 5/30. She said they tell you to call because the older tickets expired end of 2018 but now all that they have are the ones that expire the end of 2019.
I just wanted to let you know… I called as well on June 1 and was told they have tickets that expire in 2018 and in 2019 but that as long as I let them know my travel dates, I would NOT receive tickets that expired before my travel dates. So I placed my order and immediately sent an email with the confirmation/order number to tell them I would not be going until October 2019, that I was told all I needed to do was tell them. I got a return email confirming my email was received and a note would be made about my travel dates.
Today I received my tickets and couldn’t find an expiration date anywhere on them so I used the “chat” feature to try to get help (included a picture). I was then told my tickets expire Dec 2018 (!). I repeated everything I had gone through, including that someone had mentioned the later expiring tickets on a chat board. Allegedly a manager is supposed to be calling me tomorrow. Initially the return authorization email I was sent said I would need to pay a 5% return fee out of my refund; when I objected to that, she sent another email with that language missing. But I’m still going to have to find time to go the post office and spend extra for signature confirmation because at this point I really do not trust this company.
I just wanted to let you (and anyone else following this) know because if I hadn’t been a bit paranoid and contacted them to check on the expiration date, I would have shown up next year only to find out my tickets were expired and had to pay more to upgrade to a current ticket at that point. I would hate for anyone to start their vacation that way.
I do think the pricing changes day to day so you need to check all the options you listed. We purchased our tickets last week (7 day base) through Get Away Today as it was $100 cheaper (for 13 tickets – big group) to buy through them than undercover tourist, however the price we paid is now exactly what it is with the flash sale on undercover tourist.
For a while, Get Away Today and ParkSavers were the only ones ‘battling’ back and forth on pricing, but now it seems like Undercover Tourist is getting back in the game. That’s great for consumers…but not so good for me as I try to keep this updated! 😉
You might want to update this post or do a new blog about the flash sale at UnderCover Tourist through Friday. It just started today and has much better prices than other authorized dealers right now. Grabbed my tix for October. $292 off plus whatever savings I lock-in once the tiered multi-day pricing happens.
Love the blog otherwise, take care!
WHOA, those are some big price differences. I’m honestly a bit surprised UT is offering that strong of deals, as they’ve fallen behind some of the ‘newcomers’ in the last couple of years, and I assumed that was them resting on their name recognition/marketing prowess. Good to see such a great discount, and thanks for the heads up!
In the past, I’ve purchased tickets from Undercover Tourist and was very satisfied. But I thought that I’d try Park Savers this time and compare prices. Today Park Savers is charging $422 for a 7 day adult Base Ticket, which I’m sure is Magic Your Way. Undercover Tourist currently has a special for $407.98 for the 7 day adult Magic Your Way ticket,and its $1 less if you go through Mousesavers website. This includes taxes.
If you purchase through Get Away Today, do you need to pick up the physical tickets if you are staying on site (renting through DVC) and have magic bands? Currently, I am seeing that as our cheapest option for the 7 day base ticket. Thank you so much for your help!
Hey Emily, we ordered our tickets from Get Away Today (just got back from Disney last week) and we didn’t have to pick up anything. They emailed us the confirmation numbers needed to link to our My Disney Experience App, which then linked to our MagicBands. We never had to pick anything up. I also had a couple of questions along the way… nothing about our current purchase, but about multiple other purchases and future vacations and they emailed me right back the one time and called me right back the next. Great customer service I have to say!!
This website was really not helpful on 1 day ticket discounts. I went to the “recommended” discount sites and prices were more expensive than just going straight to Disney’s website. Very disappointing and misleading information.
Discounts are not available on 1 or 2-day tickets from any authorized sellers.
I went on Park Savers website to check the price for a 4 day park hopper, and it’s actually $2 MORE than purchasing from Disney direct. Why would this be? I thought it was supposed to be less than purchasing from Disney direct?
Did you get to the screen in the ordering process from Disney when tax is added? That’s one possibility; it’s also possible you’re comparing two different types of tickets.
Hi Tom,
We live in Switzerland coming to Disney world end July / early August. Want to buy tickets and book 30 days early Fast Pass for our family of four. Will tickets be shipped to my home or need to be collected at the main park ?
I’m not sure you realize that’s the hottest time 9f year for Florida. Around 90 degrees farenheit & extremely humid. March & April are best for weather. 80 degrees & nice.
Thank you for all the information you provide! I have a question regarding the tickets. If we purchase a 5 day ticket (to visit one park per day) do we have to use all of those days during our stay or are they good for the entire year of 2019? Ex: We plan to go to Disney in February 2019 and again in November 2019. Can we use 3 days in February and 2 days in November?
Unfortunately, theme park tickets expire 14 days after their first use. So, you could take a break of a few days to go to Universal, but not of a few months.
Disney used to sell a no-expiration option for scenarios like you’re describing (and we loved it!), but that’s a thing of the past.
You’re too fast for me Tom!
That’s what I thought! We still have some “no expiration” tickets! From way back…. Thanks for the confirmation!
I still have tickets from 2010 that we’re no expiration. Do you think they will still accept them as valid entry to the parks ?
Yes, they will.
Unfortunately, no. Disney World tickets purchased now will only have an expiration date of December 31, 2019 until first use. Once the ticket has been used, the expiration date is 14 days from the date of first use.
It’s also worth noting that if a ticket is never used and expires, the ticket will still retain its full face value towards the purchase of any single Disney World theme park ticket purchased through Walt Disney World.
Nice post..
Its really helpful to us at the time of vacation ticket booking.
I really love your service.
Thank you so much for providing us such a beautiful discount on vacation ticket.
Personally, I think that Sanaa is one of the hidden dining gems of Walt Disney World. I know that Tom had recently posted a dining review for Sanaa and if your kids aren’t picky eaters I’d definitely recommend giving it a shot, both for the food as well as the great views of the animals! The bread service is a lot of fun and everything we have ever had there has been outstanding.
If you’re looking for a great character dining experience, I would also recommend the Cape May Cafe breakfast at Disney’s Beach Club Resort. Not only is the food very good but they really do a great job of getting the characters around to every table and they spend a good amount of time visiting.
Other places we love include ‘Ohana, Kona Cafe and The BOATHOUSE. I’d recommend any and all of them.
Hi! Loving your blog.
I am considering going with your advice about buying tickets at one of your recommendations… I am bit of a control freak… is it complicated at all to add these tickets to your reservation? I’m planning to book a room and dining plan… but the free dining won’t save me money because I’d have to upgrade my room… and I really want dining so I can’t do a room only discount… Seems my only option to save a little is buying discounted tickets… I just want to be sure it is safe, easy and uncomplicated.
Jamie,
So long as you stick with one of the authorized resellers that Tom indicates in his post above you won’t have any issues about the transaction being safe and secure. Once you have purchased the tickets you should get a confirmation email which will contain a code which you can then use online via My Disney Experience to link your tickets and assign them to each individual. I actually purchased 4, 7-day Park Hopper Plus tickets a few months ago and just linked them last night as our FastPass+ reservation day is tomorrow. No issues and couldn’t have been easier!
In regards to other potential ways you can save, I’d definitely recommend reading the blog entry on this site about the Dining Plan and doing the math to determine if you’ll really save money getting that based on how you and your family eat. In many cases, it’s actually cheaper to pay out of pocket for food (although some prefer to just not have to think about it). That may then open the door for you to go with a room-only discount as well and save you quite a bit more.
Have a great trip!
Actually, I should have noted this in my original response but if you’re wanting the Disney Dining Plan that is only available as part of a package which would include your tickets. Based on that, if you’re set on doing a dining plan you won’t be able to save on tickets by purchasing those separately.
Rob, thank you so much for your reply! I’m thinking this will be our last dining trip as one kid will move into the adult bracket next time. And I’m not paying that $75 price for a child. As for getting our money worth, we like experiencing good food… I insist they cannot eat any cheap junk like Mac n cheese on a trip like this. And we pick places that paying out pocket would hurt… Two years ago We did table service at Akershush, Coral Reef, Tusker House, Be Our Guest, & TRex… We enjoyed everything! Plus lots of “snacks” at Epcot food & wine fest. Any favorite food suggestions?
We’ve been looking at Get Away Today for a Disneyland package. We noticed that available rooms come and go, and are limited, so you have to book way in advance to get the dates you want. We also ran the dollar numbers for the hotel and park tickets on both the Get Away and Disneyland sites. We found it odd that Get Away says the package is $2682 approx but discounted down to $2224 (with tax). On the Disneyland site, the exact same room and tickets are $2296 (that includes the tax as well). So, what does Get Away provide that would make them say the package is $2682 and then discounted? We booked right through the Disneyland site last year and were more than happy with the experience. Trying to decide with whom to book. Also, just a few days ago the price at Get Away was $2210, so it appears the price goes up and down.
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!