Disney tickets are expensive. I realize there are ways to get free tickets to Disney, by listening to time share sales pitches or jumping through other hoops, but I am not going to discuss those options. If you have a great technique for scoring almost free Disney tickets you are welcome to share it in the comment section.
Tickets to Disney vary in cost depending on how many days you are buying, if you are a Florida resident, and if you want a park hopper pass. Basically the more days you purchase the cheaper it is to visit per day. For example a single day admission ticket to Disney is $75 (ouch!). A ten-day pass is $237. That is a huge savings if you can afford it!
Children under 3 are free, children’s tickets are ages 3-9, and everyone over 9 needs an adult ticket.
Florida resident’s receive a discount on ticket prices, a single day ticket is $67 and a 7 day pass is $213. A better deal for Florida residents is to purchase a seasonal pass for $239. We purchased these passes when we lived in Florida. The black out dates for these passes are during the summer, Christmas and spring break.
These times are typically more crowded anyway, so your seasonal pass allows you to enjoy Disney during the slow times.
Park hopper passes allow you to visit more than one park each day. These are great, especially if you have older kids who can handle the transportation between parks. There is an additional fee to add the park hopper option to your ticket.
Disney is running a few specials this year, one is free admission on your birthday. You can read all about this special offer on Disney’s website.
The big special this year for Disney is the Armed Forces Salute. This provides every service member with a free 5 day park hopper pass and up to 5 family members can purchase 5 days passes for $100. You can find out all about this incredible deal here. Family member passes can be upgraded to park hopper passes for an additional $25 per pass.
Many area hotels offer discount tickets to Disney and there are many package deals that can be purchased as well. Disney offers dining plans, hotel and ticket plans, the options seem endless. Just make sure you evaluate the plan and make sure it fits into your family’s vacation goals and budget!
Thanks for the tips! I’d really like to get Disney in now that my daughter is old enough to really enjoy it. After all – that’s why I had a kid – to have an excuse to go to Disney!
The last few years we’ve gone, I’ve found I can avoid buying park hoppers with careful planning. That saves several hundred dollars. Other than that, I have no good way to save on tickets.
Tiffany-
I agree, if you plan well you do not need a park hopper. The only time I thought it was nice was when we were only going for one day. We would visit one park in the morning and another in the evening. When we wen this year, we didn’t get the park hopper and we were fine!
Toni
We paid for park hopper the one time we went and there was only one day out of the four that we went to more than one park. I think we’ll skip it next time. I’m wondering if it is worth booking at a Disney resort. They make it sound like you get a few extra perks I’m not sure if it’s worth it. We have a large family though (6 kids) and with most of their accommodations we’d need 2 rooms. One of the fancy villas sleeps 8 but I got a quote of $11,000 for the week. Definitely out of our budget!! We’ve been pricing condo rentals and I think it would be cheaper to rent a condo for all 8 of us. Plus then we’d have access to a full kitchen which I think would save even more money.
If you are a Florida Resident, then I highly recommend getting the season pass. We were going to spend a week at Disney with my in-laws, and found that it’s was only $50 more to get the whole year! We bought our passes through AAA, which made them even more reasonable! Then we had them all year long! (well, minus the blackout dates… but who wants to go during the hot summer, anyway?!) It was awesome. The other great thing about Disney, is that unlike parks like Busch Gardens, Sea World, etc whose passes are only good for that actual year (expiring on Dec 31st), Disney passes are good for a complete year. So you get it in May, it’s good till the next May.
We have sometimes bought a year pass and then planned our vacation earlier the following year to get 2 years out of 1. You can take your vacation in September this year and then next year as long as you go again before September you can use the same passes if they last 1 whole year from date of issue. We did this last year for Legoland.
Hi,
Just curious if the active/retired service member has to be “present” to use the tickets at Disney??? I read in your previous post that they could be purchased at the ITT office on some bases, but wasn’t sure if the service member has to be present at Disney to use the tickets??? My FIL is interested in getting us the tickets, but will not be at Disney with us. Thought maybe since you used the “program” in January you might know the answer.
Thanks, Annette
Do you know if the Armed Forces salute tickets have to be used in consecutive days? Like, do they expire so many days after the first time you use it or can you use it any days until the end of the deal in December? Thanks for all you do. I LOVE your site!!
Another way (formerly) American-owned companies say thank you.