The Present Traveller and demystifying Walt Disney World Park tickets

When I was a kid and went to Disney World…

I’ve heard a number of people (who have been to Walt Disney World in years past) say something like, “When I went to Disney World years ago, there weren’t so many things to plan, you just showed up at the park.” It’s true, in the last decade or so Disney has added more moving pieces when it comes to what Walt Disney World entails, from Fast Passes to park hopper/non park hopper tickets, to parties and specialty events  — there are a number of options when it comes to your Disney World vacation. It can all be a bit confusing and overwhelming when it comes to deciding which options are right for you and your family. So, I wanted to take some time to try to demystify some of the key elements of a Walt Disney World vacation. Of course, no element is more key than your park tickets.

First and foremost, as far as all of the moving pieces of a Disney vacation are concerned, it’s always good to work with a travel agent who works for an Authorized Disney Travel Planning company. They will have special training and expertise to guide you through the planning and vacation process. You do enough planning and calendar management in your daily life, so why not take a vacation from the planning and managing and let someone else do all of that for you? Let the vacation start from the very beginning of the planning process instead of when you actually arrive at your vacation destination.

You still want to be educated about the different elements of your vacation so you can make informed decisions as your travel agent guides you through the planning process. So, what are the different types of tickets and how do each of them work?

Types of park tickets

Let’s start with the basics. Here are your main options for  regular park tickets:

1. Base ticket– This allows you to visit one park per day of ticket for the 4 main Disney World parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios). This type of ticket does not allow you to visit more than one park in a day, but you can go and come from the same park in the same day
2. Park Hopper ticket– This allows you to visit multiple parks of the 4 main parks in the same day. For example, you can visit Magic Kingdom in the morning and then visit Epcot in the evening for a dinner in the World Showcase. Also, this type of ticket allows you to go and come from the parks during that day
3. Park Hopper Plus ticket– Not only does this ticket allow you to “hop” from park to park and go and come as you please, but it also allows you to visit the two water parks – Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. When you go with this option, the number of water park days is the same number of days you get is the same as the number of regular park days you get. For example, if you get a 4 day Park Hopper Plus ticket, you get 4 park days at the regular parks and then you get 4 water park days, as well. So, that’s a grand total of 8 park days!

Here are some other key notes about park tickets

1. You can’t just buy a Base Ticket and use two “days” on one day in order to park hop. If you want to visit more than one park in the same day you have to purchase a Park Hopper Ticket.
2. The per-day cost of the tickets go down as you purchase more days. For example, current pricing for a 2 day Base Ticket is $109 per day before tax, whereas a 10 day base ticket is $44 per-day before tax. That’s a big difference!
3. You can not add Park Hopper to a single day ticket. If you are doing 4 days of tickets and want to add Park Hopper or Park Hopper Plus it can only be added to all 4 days. The only caveat to that would be if you bought 4 separate one day tickets (but why would you do that since the per day cost is less when you buy multiple days?).

Other types of tickets

Above are your basic ticket options. Here are a few others that don’t fit into those categories, or are available to only special populations:

1. Florida Residents Tickets- Obviously, this is specifically for those living in Florida. You must be able to show proof of a Florida address in order to purchase these types of tickets. There are multiple discounts and passes for those living in Florida – great perk of living in the Sunshine State 😊
2. Annual Passholder Tickets– For non-Florida residents there are 3 basic types of annual passes.
   1. Water Park Annual Pass– Allows you to pay for one year’s worth of visits to the Walt Disney World Waterparks. You can visit an unlimited number of times
   2. Disney Platinum Pass– Allows you to pay for one year’s worth of visits to the 4 main parks. Does include park hopper as well as some other discounts and perks. There are no black out dates and you can visit as many times as you want during that year time frame.
   3. Disney Platinum Pass Plus– Basically combines options a and b to allow you to visit both the water parks and 4 main parks during the year time frame.
3. Military tickets
   1. Military Salute Tickets– Each year Disney offers a special discount to active military services members, retired service members, and their families. These are specially priced tickets that can be purchased in limited quantities. These tickets must be activated by the service member or one of their dependents. These can be purchased through leisure services on post or at Shades of Green Resort on Disney World property. Only 6 tickets can be activated per service member per calendar year, and currently the tickets come in 4 and 5 day options.
   2. Military discounted tickets– there are other options for discounted tickets for active and retired military personnel, but they are less discounted than the Salute tickets. The Salute tickets are usually going to be the best option unless you are planning to visit Disney World for less than 4 days.
4. Party Tickets– These include Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. These are special events and are held on select nights in the fall and winter at Magic Kingdom Park. These parties do require a separate special event purchase even if you visited Magic Kingdom park during the day using a regular ticket.
5. Other special event tickets– These include other special event options such as Early Morning Magic at Magic Kingdom or H20 Glow Nights at Typhoon Lagoon and food or drink demonstrations at Food and Wine festival at Epcot. (I’m sure I could do an entire separate blog on special event tickets).
6. Special promotional discount tickets– Disney rarely offers ticket only discounts but the terms and specifics vary depending on the promo but Disney does currently have 4 park magic ticket promo. See below associated website (https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2018/12/attention-planners-and-resolution-makers-experience-walt-disney-world-resort-in-2019-with-special-4-park-magic-tickets/)

So, there you have it. That’s a quick overview of some ticket basics. Hopefully, you feel a bit more informed about the ticket options available. Which Walt Disney World tickets options would you like to see me post further information about? What options would you like to see Disney offer in regard to tickets? I’d love to hear your thoughts and input.