Disneyland Discounts Tips & Info
Disneyland offers vacation package, room-only, and other discounts throughout the year. In this post, we will explain the deals that are available throughout the year, and analyze whether they will really save money on your Southern California vacation.
We won’t bury the lede: Disneyland discounts pale in comparison to those offered by Walt Disney World. Since Disneyland has fewer hotels and those are typically booked to near-capacity, it’s less important for Disney to offer hotel discounts. Beyond that, there’s a hotel room shortage in Anaheim, which together means a relative lack of discounts.
In this post, we’ll offer information on typical discounts at Disneyland Resort. The good news is that it’s much easier to understand the various discounts at Disneyland than it is Walt Disney World’s discounts. The bad news is that this is because there are far fewer types of Disneyland discounts…
The biggest “missing” discount when it comes to Disneyland discounts is the lack of Free Dining, a fall staple at Walt Disney World. This is because Disneyland doesn’t even offer a dining plan (you might find references to it online, but the Disneyland Dining Plan was discontinued a few years ago).
Disneyland also lacks some of the other novel discounts that are from time to time found at Walt Disney World. Basically, Disneyland has vacation packages and hotel rooms with percentage off discounts as their main types of discounts, with a few variations on those same types of discounts.
Still, some of the Disneyland discounts that are offered are better than others. Discounts are quite predictable as they typically repeat from year to year, so to get an idea of how the various discounts stack up and when they might be offered, we’ve put together this article rating Disneyland’s discounts.
We’ve put this article together much like our Walt Disney World Discount Comparison post as a way to judge which discounts are best, rather than to offer specific information about current discounts. A myriad of fan sites and blogs (as well as Disneyland.com!) post dates and prices for every discount the moment it’s released.
However, very few actually analyze the discounts and offer commentary as to which are worth it. In other words, this post is meant to help those of you who are unfamiliar with Disneyland Resort discounts understand how good the discount you’re considering really is (despite Disney’s best marketing efforts, some discounts are better than others).
In the course of planning numerous Disneyland trips in the last several years, we’ve learned a lot about traveling frugally to Disneyland Resort. Hopefully this Disneyland Resort Discount Guide is a helpful primer for those who don’t visit Disneyland as often, but are looking to save the most money possible when planning your Disneyland Resort vacation!
Disneyland Discount Reviews
Authorized Third Party Disneyland Ticket Discounts – There are a limited number of third parties that are authorized by Disneyland to sell tickets at a discount. AAA, Safeway, and Costco are all among these, and they each have small standard discounts of a couple dollars per ticket. In our experience, the best deal is by buying discount Disneyland tickets safely and securely from ParkSavers, an authorized seller of Disneyland tickets with the best prices that we’ve found. We have a Tips for Buying Discount Disneyland Tickets page with many more details and tips.
Discount rating – The discounts from these authorized Disneyland ticket brokers are fairly modest, and usually not as good as the SoCal or military discounts, but if you don’t qualify for either of those tickets, this is the best way to go. This is especially true if the authorized brokers are running specials.
Official Disneyland Vacation Packages – Disney pushes the official Disneyland Vacation packages, despite the packages offering little–if any–savings. These packages include stays in Disneyland Resort hotels, park tickets, the Disneyland Dining Plan (optional), plus additional perks like luggage tags, a photo, and $10 credits at ESPN Zone. Other perks like Extra Magic Hours and Morning Magic aren’t part of the package, per se, as you don’t need to purchase the package to get them.
This “special offer” is available year-round, and can be priced out online. Sometimes, the vacation packages offer insignificant savings over purchasing park tickets and a hotel stay separately. More often, the bundles are the same price or more expensive than the park tickets and hotel stay. Sure, you get some minor trinkets and a $10 ESPN Zone credit by booking this package, but how much is that worth to you?
Discount rating – Our biggest gripe with this “discount” is that it’s impossible to tell whether you’re actually receiving a discount unless you price out a package, and then price out park tickets and the hotel stay for the same dates. This is the case because Disney doesn’t itemize the components of the package, nor is there a discounted amount stated. In pricing out several packages for various dates, we found ourselves potentially saving $0 to $169.28, and that’s only factoring the value of park tickets and the hotel stay.
$150+ is nothing to sneeze at, but in reality, there’s a good chance that you could book a discounted hotel stay and park tickets from an authorized third party reseller separately and save more money (check out our article on Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets for that!). Disney pushes the vacation packages because the more it can lock guests into purchasing, the better for Disney.
Disneyland Resort Room-Only Discounts – These room only discounts are available to the general public for booking only their hotel rooms. Room only discounts are typically tiered, with the deepest discounts usually available for the more expensive room tiers at each hotel (for example, you might save 20% on an Artisan Suite at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, but only 15% on a Standard Room). Room-only discounts are offered to fill up the hotels during low booking seasons, meaning that you should not expect to find room-only discounts during the height of summer tourist season, spring break, or Christmas week.
For the last couple of years, Disneyland has really pulled back on the room-only discounts available to the general public. They have mostly been available for weeknights the first five months of the year, with the exception of Easter week and some other blocked out dates. Early fall dates have been available here and there, but we haven’t noticed many other public discounts.
Discount rating – Unless you qualify for one of the other “special” room discounts, the room-only discount is the best discount you’re going to find when visiting Disneyland Resort. Unfortunately, even then, it’s often difficult to stomach the high prices of the three on-site Disneyland hotels. They’re all priced at the level of Walt Disney World Deluxe hotels, and while the hotels themselves are nice, the perks of staying on-site at Disneyland Resort are far fewer.
This is probably a topic better addressed by our Off-Site v. On-Site at Disneyland Resort post. On the plus side, if you’re going at a time of year when room-only discounts are being offered, even if you don’t take advantage of them, you can rest assured that it’s one of the least busy times of the year for Disneyland and Disney California Adventure!
Annual Passholder Room-Only Discounts – Annual Passholders at Disneyland Resort typically receive slightly better room-only discounts than the general public. Just like the general public room-only discount, these are typically broken down into tiers with the best discounts available at the Grand Californian, Disneyland Hotel having the next-best discount, and Paradise Pier Hotel having the lowest discount.
These discounts are typically last minute as they are based upon Disney’s internal booking projections. These discounts range from a standard 10% off to 40% off for the slowest times of the year (weeknights in January and February, generally). Check the Disneyland Annual Passholder site regularly for changes in these rates as Disney finds that it needs to fill additional rooms. These are often available later than the general public discounts with the presumption on Disney’s part that Annual Passholders are in a better position to book a room at the last minute.
Discount rating – Unless you qualify for one of the “special” discounts below, this is typically your best option. In fact, even if you’re NOT currently an Annual Passholder, it might be worthwhile to purchase an Annual Pass before your trip to qualify you for this. (The caveat to that is you can’t check Annual Passholder rates online unless you have an Annual Pass…in which case you should call Disneyland or contact an authorized Disney travel agent to check rates and book for you.) Disneyland Annual Passholders also receive discounts on food and merchandise, so a low-level Annual Pass for at least one person in your party may quickly pay for itself. You will need to present your Annual Pass at the time of check-in.
Hotel Booking Site Discounts – Usually, sites like Expedia.com, Booking.com, Hotels.com, Priceline.com, and Orbitz.com have the exact same rates and general public discounts as Disneyland’s own booking site. This is rare, but it’s worth checking each of them out before booking if your options are limited on Disneyland.com. Some even have special pages for Disney special offers. Click here for Expedia.com’s Disney special offers page.
Discount rating – I am not a fan of using these booking engines for hotel stays. Usually, their prices are the same as the hotels themselves (after all, the hotels are paying a cut to the booking engines), there are sometimes fees involved, and canceling is usually more difficult.
You also don’t earn rewards (this doesn’t apply to Disney hotels, but if you can’t earn Hyatt, Hilton, or SPG rewards for those hotels if you’re a member of their perks programs and you book through a third party). However, I do typically check each of these sites just to make sure they don’t somehow have a better deal. When they do, I reluctantly book with them if the terms aren’t too restrictive.
Southern California Resident Room Discounts – Southern California residents typically only receive ticket discounts, but receive room discounts comparable to Annual Passholders on very rare occasions. Proof of residency is required at check-in. The only way of knowing whether such a discount is available is contacting Disneyland Resort’s reservations center or travel agent, and inquiring as to whether a SoCal discount is available.
Discount rating – If you’re not an Annual Passholder but are taking advantage of a SoCal ticket deal (below), it’s worth checking to see if any resident room-only discounts are available. This discount is rare, but it’s worth a try.
Southern California Resident Disney Ticket Discounts – Disneyland Resort frequently offers multi-day ticket discounts to locals who have Annual Passes. When offered, this discount is typically for 2 or 3-day tickets, and is available for Southern California residents within ZIP codes 90000-93599 and Northern Baja California residents within ZIP codes 21000-22999. Proof of residency is required for purchase AND admission (so don’t have a resident buy them for you if you’re outside of the zone). More details on the current, specific ticket discounts are available here.
Discount rating – This is a good deal if you’re a Southern California resident who is going to visit Disneyland more than 1 day per year but fewer than 6 days. In other words, only people who will go for a few days. If you’re going to visit for 6 or more days, you might as well purchase a Southern California Select Annual Pass, which will offer admission for 170 days. I know Disneyland isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but for me, paying $70-100 more for 168 more days worth of admission is a much better deal. If 2-3 days is all you want, though, this is a good option.
Military Disneyland “Armed Forces Salute” Room Discounts – Disney’s popular “Armed Forces Salute” was extended through October, and we wouldn’t be surprised if it’s extended again come summer (it has been extended every year for the past several years). Active or retired Military personnel receive excellent room-only discounts than the general public. These discounts typically max out at 40% at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel, 35% at Disneyland Hotel, and 30% at Paradise Pier Hotel. Many dates will have lower discounts and some are blocked out completely. Call (714) 520-7088 to book this offer.
Discount rating – Disney does a lot for military personnel, which is absolutely great. If you’re planning a stay on-property at Disneyland and qualify for this discount, it’s the best offer you’re going to find. Keep in mind, though, that many-off property Disneyland hotels within walking distance of Disneyland and Disney California Adventure also offer military discounts, and are cheaper to begin with. Still, it’s tough to criticize this discount, and at up to 40% off, Grand Californian Hotel is actually quite attractive.
Military Disneyland “Armed Forces Salute” Ticket Discounts – This Disneyland ticket offer is also available now through October. There are a handful of blockout dates on this ticket including, ironically enough, July 4th. When purchasing these tickets, active or retired US military personnel may purchase 3-day Disneyland Resort Park Hopper tickets for $129 each to be used by themselves, family members (including spouse) or friends.
Discount rating – These tickets are by far the cheapest that Disney offers, so if you qualify, jump on this deal. This is a frequently-offered discount, so don’t fret if you’re traveling after October. It’s not expected to be canceled after that, but prices and exact details will likely be adjusted a bit. If you’re eligible for these tickets, buy them, as they are without a doubt the best deal you’ll be able to find.
For more information about these Disneyland military discounts and other military tips, visit the excellent MilitaryDisneyTips.com.
Costco Travel Discounts – If you’re a Costco member, you can sometimes get a good deal on a vacation package put together by Costco via their travel service. The special offers here range from normal prices with pointless (we think) perks like a free 5 x 7″ photo to free meal vouchers, or even a free extra night at a Good Neighbor Hotel. Members can see current deals on the Costco Travel Disney page.
Discount rating – This discount is way too variable to properly assess. If you’re already a Costco member, it’s definitely worth checking to see what the offers are, but it’s unlikely that you’d ever save enough to justify purchasing a membership just to take advantage of these offers. The free Premium Character Meal Vouchers deal is probably the best, and even that’s only about a $40 value per person over the course of your stay. This is on top of any room-only discount available to the general public, making these Costco packages really good deals if none of the other special offers here apply to you. Costco still can’t touch the military or Annual Passholder discounts, but they do sweeten the deal a bit!
Foreign & Association Discounts – In addition to the military discount, there are some association discounts. Of particular note is that Disney & AAA terminated their partnership last year, so there are no longer special perks for AAA members. AAA travel agents can still book Disney trips and sell discounted tickets, but they are the same offers available to the general public elsewhere. Members of other random associations should also check with their association to see if a discount is available on Disneyland tickets or hotels. Likewise, sometimes special discounts are available for citizens of other countries.
Discount rating – Unlike Walt Disney World, where foreign guests are like “discount royalty,” not much is offered in the way of unique foreign discounts for Disneyland. Discounts for US associations are out there, but they’re usually nothing special.
Other discounts may be offered from time to time, but these are the most common ones that Disneyland offers. As you can probably gather, the pickings are slim. Disneyland isn’t big on vacation packages, so room-only discounts and limited ticket discounts are about it. For Disneyland trip planning tips and comprehensive advice beyond these Disneyland night ride recommendations, make sure to read our Disneyland Trip Planning Guide and related articles.
Your Thoughts…
Have you taken advantage of any Disneyland discounts? Which works best for you? Have any questions? Any other tips for saving at Disneyland? Share your thoughts in the comments!
This will be our first trip to Disney, im overwelmed and looked at so many sites to get the cheapest tickets. please help in any way and thanks in advance:}
Is there any way to add a 4th day to these 3 day tickets at a reduced price, so we don’t have to pay around $100 if we wanted to do a 4th day?
We have the spent the last 4 year at Disneyland for our family vacation. Years 1 &2 we booked through Costco, year 3 we got season passes and book directly through Disney, this year (we still have our passes) I did my research and found I could still book through costco. For a family of 5 we got 4 nights at Paradise Pier we each got a premium character dining voucher , lanyard with disneyland pin, luggage tag, plus as a family we got a $40 disney gift card, free 5×7 print, aand a coupon book for dowtown disney. The differance in booking through costco and booking through disney was about $30 more (costco) but with disney they only offered 1 fastpast per guest. Costco was a better deal for me because we love the character dining. Before we book February 2016 I will be calling to ask about that off seasons discount before i book through costco.
great tips and information for all the outdoor lovers. Disneyland is the place where fun never ends!!
Do you know when the AP discounts for Disneyland come out for November?
Thanks
Does the military discount apply to Canadian military?
No, it does not.
I live in the Midwest and am planning a first time trip to DL. Any tips on airfare deals? We will be traveling the first week of Oct. 2015. Thanks in advance!
We have a trip planned in February and I really want to get a character meal booked. Our family is not the earliest of risers so is there anyone who can recommend a good character dining lunch or dinner?
Goofey’s Kitchen has a great lunch/dinner buffet that you can use premium character dining passes for, Ariel’s Grotto was not that great when we went this past March. These two are the only lunch/dinner character dining locations😢. Check the times for the breakfast they might serve a little later than you think. My favorite is Minnie and friends at The Plaza Inn. Captain Hook and Peter Pan put on a great show.
Can the Disney Gift Cards be used to purchase park passes ?
Yes You can spend the gift cards at the parks… in the stores… at the restraints… or to book rooms or tickets.Some people buy them as a form of savings acct. for their trips.
Target has $50 Disney Gift Cards, and if you pay by Red Card they (and everything else at Target) are 5% off. Cards are available at stores (even here in Ky.) and online.
I’m paying deposits for 2 rooms at the Disneyland Hotel in spring 2015, and I already have 8 $50 gift cards coming to me- for $380, or $20 off.
Only trick is, Target limits GCs to 3 to an online order. So 42 more orders (ha!) and I’ll pay for the whole trip and save $330- maybe more should the package be re-valued! I’m booking through AAA and they accept Disney GCs for payment as well.
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mousesavers is offering buy 3 day hopper Disneyland get 4th day free….they have a whole website saying they are legit…any info would be helpful…thanks/cp
Mousesavers doesn’t sell tickets, they just give information regarding deals–and they are a legit website for information.
As for the buy 3 days, get a 4th day free, it’s not that great of a deal. The per-day cost of tickets dramatically decreases once you get past day 3, so you’re saving very little money by getting that fourth, free day. You’re much better off just purchasing the discount tickets we mention in this article. Good luck!
In my experience, the Premier Passport is by far the best engine for discounts at Disneyland. They still offer far more discounts, including at numerous counter service dining locations, than WDW in this regard. If you’re going to visit both parks in a year for extended periods of time or numerous visits, the Premier Passport might be worth it. At $700/$749 in its first couple of years existence, the expense was much more justifiable for us. Now, it’s not so much, especially when you can get Disneyland Deluxe for $499, $480 less than the Premier Passport cost!!
As far as other Disneyland area discounts, if you collect hotel points, see how you might exchange them for a Good Neighbor Hotel (also works well with SPG for WDW Swan & Dolphin). That is a HUGE way to cut costs in my experience, and I have found many Good Neighbor shuttles at Disneyland to be much more reliable than WDW shuttles. “Every 20 minutes” can be as much as every 2 hours, whereas the Good Neighbor shuttles at Disneyland, especially those which you contract for a very modest fee, will almost always be on time (within 5 minutes) and call additional buses…which arrive quickly…if the first fills.
What I’ve found with the sites like hotels.com, orbitz, etc is yes they all seem to offer the same price, but then many times you can apply discount codes on top (check retailmenot.com for promo codes) that are good on WDW and Disneyland resort hotels. I used to only use these sites for reviews for the reasons you mentioned, but I’ve noticed more promo codes recently.
Hotels.com most of the time will give you 10% off just for booking through their app, any hotel. Orbitz right now has 15% off using code OUTTAHERE and it’s valid on many of the good neighbor hotels and the 3 Disneyland hotels. With free cancellation in most cases.
I was looking at WDW when they had the spring room % off and some of the sites matched the discounted prices Disney offered, but allowed promo codes on top of that.
Excellent tip. The various booking engines also have their own rewards programs (most of which aren’t that good). I’ve also found that sometimes you can call the hotels directly and get them to match whatever discount the booking engines are offering. This can be a big benefit if you’re a member of their loyalty programs.
Looking to go to Grand Californian in late June/early July. Orbitz is listing 20% off….Disney won’t match the discount when I called directly. So my question is this….is the Orbitz deal legit (ie, will I show up and not have a room, will they stick me in a room with one king bed when I have my wife and two children, etc.)? If it’s legit, what’s the catch? I feel like there must be some sort of risk here to justify a $500 savings over 5 nights.
Tom, I think I read correctly, that Military can purchase discounts for friends? We go often with military friends and often get jealous of their discounts! Lol is this true? Even though we are not a military family, can my military friends purchase theses discounts for us?? Thank you!
Yes if your family or friends are staying the same dates and you plan on staying together the whole trip (they must be there at check in/out and show ID’s and they must go to the same parks each day and leave together you are there guest using their services) then yes your Family/friends can take you as their guest but there are a few rules like stay together…. they have a limit on how many rooms per active military id card and also how many tickets per id card. It is amazing to have the ability to make memories with the ones you love. I just wish the disabled vets were extended this option as they too would love the ability to do the same.
A military person, active or retired with ID, can purchase a total of 6 park tix/year. The personnel must be present to activate the tix at the time of the first park entrance. They say that the personnel must enter the same park at the same time as their guests; but I have never experienced that, other than the initial check-in. I suppose it is within their right to require concurrent attendance at any given time. Also, these tix are cheaper from a military base than on-site at Disney! Other than the limited guest entrances that Disney employees get, this is the best price for Disney and WDW tix!
As far as hotels, yes, the military personnel must be the first to check in, and the last to check out for all rooms using the discount. I believe they can get a total of 6 rooms – each hotel may be different. WDW Shades of Green is military-only (and guests) hotel. It is on Disney property, and easily hooks up directly to Disney transportation. SofG also gets to take advantage of Magic Hours! I cannot speak more highly of SofG, and have stayed nowhere else in WDW – Disney ambiance may be better, but you can’t beat the price or room space!
Two more things….There is sometime a seniors rate on room only. Has to be qualified senior (show ID at check in) and they can book up to 2 rooms at a time. When my mom booked it was the same discount as military. Also PIN discounts do exist. I have no idea how I got it. I got one mailed to me 2 years ago. SADLY was not able to use it !
We’ve never received a Disneyland PIN code (we receive them all the time for Walt Disney World), but I’ll do some research to verify and update the post. Thanks! 🙂
2016: Disneyland Resort Reservations told me all senior discounts at the Disneyland park hotels ended two years ago.
My top tip for cheaper off site reviews and slightly cheaper tickets is getawaytoday.com it is a solid site for the Del Sol, Castle In, etc.
Interesting site. I haven’t found anything cheaper on it (just in playing around with it for a bit) yet, but I will definitely make sure to check it out when booking from now on. Thanks for the tip!
I too have had good luck finding discount prices on get away today. We are not traveling until Oct of 2015 so I have plenty of time to play with prices. But they have solid cheaper prices than others.
Getawaytoday does offer good prices. WE are looking to go in October and their prices are only a few dollars less than Costco. And Costco comes with character meals. WE have a 4 and 6 year old so the character meals are a nice bonus for us.
Tom, I know you’re a huge fan of Disneyland at Christmas time – what are your thoughts on visiting for the first (and possibly only) time during the holidays? We are a family of five (me, DH, DS 15, DS 10 and DD 7) from NY – have been to WDW twice (2012 and 2013), and 4/5 of us were bitten by the Disney bug (DH not so much…). 🙂 As much as I would love to see Disneyland during the holidays, I’m worried that the crowd level would make it difficult for us as first-timers to really appreciate all there is to see and do. Any thoughts appreciated – thanks!
When, specifically, would you go? November-December crowds range from moderate to crazy depending upon exact dates. Christmas week is the worst, weekends are generally bad, but weekdays the first couple of weeks of December (after Thanksgiving) are moderate.
You can find more info on Disneyland crowds here: https://www.disneytouristblog.com/disneyland-busy-crowd-times/
Unfortunately, due to school schedules it would have to be somewhere in the last week of Dec/ first week of Jan range – probably not the best time for newbies. Thanks Tom!
I will add two things from experience: the reservation agents for Disneyland will tell you the AP rates if you call; you don’t need a travel agent. An you don’t have to have the AP when you check in to a Disneyland hotel; you can activate the AP after you arrive and show it later in the visit.
Thanks for the tip on activating the Annual Pass. We had been told by a booking agent that you needed to have it upon arrival (which we didn’t question), but it wouldn’t surprise me if they were wrong. I’ll do some more research and update the post when I can confirm. Thanks!