What Ticket To Buy

Buying a ticket has alot of consideration to it than you might think there is to it. Disney has a tiered base system of tickets and although it may appear straight forward, you might the ticket you choose is not the best value you could have gotten. Please refer to our Ticket Pricing page for information on the various types of tickets, how much they cost and what they offer.

Things To Consider

Length of Stay

How long are you staying? A weekend? A week? Two weeks? You need to first see what are the total possible days you can stay. If your going down from May 1 to May 7, your going to be there for 7 days. However, on May 1 and May 7, you will be traveling. So now your down to 5 days. Do you want to spend a day off and do nothing? Do you want to take a day and go see some non-Disney attractions like Universal Studios or Sea World? If you take 1 day off and 1 day for Sea World, then your down to 3 days at Disney. Take these things into consideration.

People in your party

Who are you travelling with? Seeing as your reading this, you might be the gung-ho Disney one in the bunch, but your best friend who is going with you might not be so to them 2 or 3 days in Disney is enough, where you might need 4 or 5 days at least. If your going with young children, they will need days off to rest, as would some elderly members.

Are you returning within one year?

Are you going to be coming back to Disney in less than one year from your current trip? If we're still using the May 1-7 trip as an example, if your going to be coming back to Disney that winter in December, and planning 4 or 5 days per trip at the parks, then an Annual Pass would save you money over 2 4 or 5 day hoppers.

How much do you plan on doing?

Are you going to be strictly doing the Disney-MGM Studios, Magic Kingdom, EPCOT and Animal Kingdom? Or do you want to incorporate the water parks in as well? Do you hate Animal Kingdom? All these things factor into your overall decision. Try to anticipate your needs. If you want to spend 2 days in the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT, then you've allready got a 4 day pass that you'll need before you even consider the Studios or the Animal Kingdom.

Are there any specials going on during your trip dates?

From time to time, Disney will run some incentive packages for guests to try to coax them into staying longer. The discounts don't usually run too deep, but if you were going to be staying on site from May 1-7 initially, and Disney has a special package that includes an extra night or two with park tickets, you may consider extending your vacation to take advantage of these discounts.

What time of the year are you going?

If you're going to be travelling during the busy Christmas to New Years period, you may not want to endure the crowds that come down and therefore limit your stay. If that's the case, then your ticket will only need less days.

Are you a member of The Disney Club/Disney Vacaction Club/AAA/AARP?

Various groups offer discounts on park tickets. The Disney Club, which was formerly known as the Magic Kingdom Club, offers a percentage off park tickets. Other clubs and associations have discounts as well. If your in limbo between two tickets due to price, factoring in your membership to AAA, for example, might give you enough of a savings to let you go that extra day. You'll need to refer to your club or association's information for more details on how these savings can take place.

Will you be returning in more than a year?

Although purchasing an Annual Pass might not be worthwhile to you, buying a Seven Day pass might, even if you're not planning on coming back for a while. If you buy a seven day pass, and only use 4 of those days, you'll still have 3 days left on it. Since the tickets are good forever, the next time you come, you'll have 3 days waiting for you. Moreover, those 3 days that are leftover will be cheaper than buyinga Three Day-Three Park pass.

Conclusion

The best thing you can do is take every aspect of your vacation into consideration and pick the best ticket you think your party needs. Sometimes people like spending time at the pool more than the parks, and other times, there isn't enough time at the parks so trial and error might end up being your best tool. My advice is it's better to buy more than you need so you won't be left hanging, plus, you'll have another incentive to come back and use up the extra days!