Heading to Disney Soon? We’re Sharing 8 of the Best Ways to Save on Disney Tickets!
Looking for discount Disney tickets?! You’ve come to the right place.
Ready to plan your next magical Disney trip? Keep reading!
Disney family vacations can be a magical experience, but as many know, they can quickly turn into a very expensive trip.
The park tickets alone can be a big budget-breaker… but it doesn’t have to be that way! If you’re looking to save the most money on Disney tickets, be sure to check out these tips and tricks to get the best deal on your Disney vacation.
Know this before you go to Disney!
Disney’s health and safety policies have largely returned to normal following the peak of COVID-19. Reservations are still required to enter a park through January 8, 2024. Beginning January 9, 2024, theme park reservations will no longer be required for date-based tickets.
Face coverings are now optional both outside and indoors at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Face coverings are not permitted on water slides or in the water.
Events that would typically draw a crowd are back on schedule too, including meet & greets, parades, and nighttime shows!
1. Check out the year-round Disney ticket offers for state residents and military members.
If you’re able to plan your trip based on discounts and special offers, you can save big on ticket prices! For instance, California and Florida residents can save up to 40% off select tickets, and military members can get specially-priced theme park tickets at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
Take advantage of the various discounts that may be available to you at the park you’re wanting to visit. Note that blackout dates and specific purchasing instructions may apply and prices are subject to change based on the date.
Be sure to look at all the current Disneyland specials and Disney World specials before planning your trip!
2. Sign up for the MouseSavers.com newsletter as it’s one of the best ways to save on Disney tickets.
MouseSavers.com is a popular site devoted to helping you save money on Disney and other theme park vacations – whether you need a Disney ticket discount, Disney World hotel discount, a Disneyland vacation package discount, OR any other Disney discount, deal, or offer!
Sign up for their free newsletter to stay in the loop about updated Disney news! They have countless information about discounts, including ways to get Disney discount tickets for teachers, college students, and more for Disneyland! They also show you step-by-step guides to ensure you’re constantly getting the best deals and freebies.
3. Buy Disneyland Tickets through Get Away Today for discount Disney tickets.
Another site we love to use for booking our Disneyland trips is Get Away Today. Theme park reservations can now be made up to 120 days in advance, but the actual purchase of tickets and/or hotels travel beyond 120 days. With Get Away Today, they take care of all of this for you, so you don’t have to stress about availability when buying tickets for the days you want. They do it for you!
With Get Away Today, tickets are:
- Always discounted off the gate price
- The only refundable Disneyland ticket option
- Delivered via email within minutes of booking
- Valid for travel through 1/12/2024
All plans by Get Away Today are subject to charges for making changes to your itinerary and cancellation. They offer something similar to travel insurance known as the Peace of Mind Plan. It costs $75 and covers all changes to your travel up to 72 hours before your trip.
Below is the difference between the change fees when booking with the Peace of Mind Plan versus without it. Note that these fees are only subject to changes you want to make to your vacation booked through Get Away Today, and booking through Get Away Today does not require you to purchase the Peace of Mind Plan though it is highly recommended.
Normal Change Fees vs Peace of Mind Plan:
Ticket Voucher Change: $50/Ticket
With Peace of Mind Plan: FREE
Hotel Reschedule Fee: $150
With Peace of Mind Plan: FREE
Hotel Change Fee: $150
With Peace of Mind Plan: FREE
Dropped Night Fee: $150
With Peace of Mind Plan: FREE
Hotel Cancellation Fee: $250
With Peace of Mind Plan: FREE
Package Cancellation Fee: $250
With Peace of Mind Plan: FREE
Get Away Today is currently offering packages including discounted rates for the Disneyland Hotel along with neighboring Anaheim hotels. Avenger’s Campus also just opened last June at Disney’s California Adventure, and it features WEB SLINGERS: A Spider-Man Adventure, character encounters, and unique dining and shopping opportunities. We couldn’t think of a better time to book your Disneyland vacation ASAP to take advantage of all this!
4. It’s kind of a no-brainer, but don’t book your Disney trip during peak season.
Depending on the time you travel, both crowd levels and ticket prices fluctuate, but you can still save by knowing which “slower” seasons generally offer the lowest prices and booking.
Undercover Tourist mentions that many factors such as Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival, fireworks, and other entertainment always affect the crowd levels.
The best times to visit Walt Disney World in 2023:
- Jan. 18 – Feb. 15
- March 1-10
- April 17-30
- Weekdays in the first half of May
- The second half of August
- Most days in September (minus the days around Labor Day)
- Most weekdays in October (minus the days around Columbus Day)
- Weekdays in November (minus the week of Thanksgiving)
- Weekdays in December (minus the weeks of Christmas and New Year’s Eve)
5. Check AAA Disney Discounts!
If you’re a member of AAA, take advantage of their Disney discounts. According to the AAA website, you can save up to $55 per ticket depending on the day.
This can add up to significant savings when you’re booking a trip for a whole family, so be sure to double-check AAA before buying your tickets. You can even earn AAA cash by booking in person!
6. Book longer Disney stays for maximum savings (and maximum fun!)
Believe it or not, another way to save on Disney tickets is by extending your stay. If you’re able to plan a longer vacation, you’ll actually save more money per ticket. The longer you stay, the less you’ll pay per day!
Be sure to pay attention to the ticket expiration dates, though:
- 1-day – The ticket expires on the selected start date.
- 2-day – The ticket expires 4 days after the selected start date.
- 3-day – The ticket expires 5 days after the selected start date.
- 4-day – The ticket expires 7 days after the selected start date.
- 5-day – The ticket expires 8 days after the selected start date.
- 6-day – The ticket expires 9 days after the selected start date.
- 7-day – The ticket expires 10 days after the selected start date.
- 8-day – The ticket expires 12 days after the selected start date.
- 9-day – The ticket expires 13 days after the selected start date.
- 10-day – The ticket expires 14 days after the selected start date.
7. Pay with gift cards!
Did you know you can pay for a Disney vacation with gift cards? Although not an enormous difference, Sam’s Club offers small discounts on Disney gift cards. Other retailers including Target, Costco, and even Amazon will also sometimes have a sale on Disney (and other) gift cards, and Sam’s Club occasionally increases their discount to a larger percentage.
Plus, if you’re a Target RedCard holder, your 5% discount applies to Disney gift cards, so you can save a little every day!
With this in mind, some people have paid off their entire vacation with gift cards!
8. Consider booking an After Hours party.
Both Disney World and Disneyland offer additional opportunities to experience the park with special After Hours parties and other themed events outside of the park’s regular operating hours.
This genius tip comes to us from Soleil, an annual Walt Disney World passholder and Hip2Save’s resident Disney expert! These events can be a bit of a splurge, but she explains how an After Hours party can be the best way to squeeze the most magic per hour out of your Disney vacation.
Consider an After Hours party, especially if you are looking to gain the most out of your experience at the parks. For 3+ hours, party guests can gain exclusive access to the park with little to no wait times. You can accomplish everything you wished to get done in those few hours!
You’ll also get other perks like snacks and character meet and greets included with your admission.
Prices vary, but it’s totally worth the splurge because you’d have to spend multiple days at the same park to get a smilar experience. This coming from an annual passholder who frequents the parks OFTEN (I’m talking even after work for just a few hours)! I love taking advantage of the After Hours events. One of my favorite aspects is that it’s also cooler at night here in Florida! No heavy lines, crowds, and definitely no sunburns! – Soleil
Do you have any tips for scoring discount Disney tickets? Share with us in the comments!
As an AP, I would NOT consider September through December the slow season anymore. Due to Halloween and Christmas parties that run for months, the park is always relatively busy. Instead, January/February are absolutely the slowest months.
Correct. And Oct 1 is the 50th anniversary of Magic Kingdom so all the hotels and park passes are booked for October. There is no down month right now.
we went the second week in December and it was packed! Like the one day we only got to ride 5 rides which included our fast pass rides. It was outrageous!
Buy your Disney souvenirs at CVS and Walgreens in Orlando. Walmart might even have some. So much cheaper.
What do you think is the worst week to go to Disney?
There is no down week. Since the parks reopened, it’s been utter chaos, packed parks, and unless you spend a hefty amount of money on a hotel on property and buy Genie+ and Lightening Lane passes, you won’t get on much. 19 year annual passholder here, who would normally stay off property. My pass renewal is $1612 and it used to be $850 for the same. Tack on another few hundred dollars for Genie Plus and LLane if you can splurge on an on property hotel. Otherwise, forget it. Still need park reservations too. Just not worth it.
At those prices very hard for a daily with young children. 😰
I bought gift cards from gift card deal website $2000 for $1680. I did a lot of research before and it has worked out. You have to wait a month for the card but otherwise legit. I found out about it on the ways to save for Disney fb group which is an awesome resource. They are so helpful and answer so many questions. I also ordered ears and dresses for my girls from Ali express. Shipping wasn’t too slow 2-3 weeks for most stuff and the quality was good.
I Hear Sam’s Club members get a discount on tickets. Can anyone confirm? It was a pretty good discount from what I saw. Almost too good to be true. Wondering if anyone knows.
The Sam’s Club discount is a site called Tickets At Work that is available through a lot of workplaces. Typically, the discount looks great up front but they add on a bunch of fees that are hidden until you check out at the very end so the discount is not much. You’re better off using the giftcarddeal dot com site mentioned above for the greatest savings but even if you have a Target Redcard, you can buy Disney giftcards and get 5% savings then turn around and buy your tickets directly through the Disney website, which is typically a better savings than tickets through Sam’s Club/Tickets at work. If you want to stick with Sam’s Club, you can buy slightly discounted Disney giftcards there then buy tickets direct through Disney. If you pair this with a good cashback credit card (and obviously pay it off immediately) you can get a decent % savings as well.
I agree.
Just went to Disney last week of April. It was over crowded, overpriced, overrated. I don’t know why they implemented park reservation system or genie+ or lightening lane. None of that helped. I researched & studied best time to go, best way to use the ride reservation system, best restaurant’s, quick service to order, best hotel deal, flight. The highlight of our trip was the weather. We enjoyed the weather.
We went last week of March, not April. Overall doesn’t matter. I would recommend people wait to go and see if Disney get’s it together. The new system’s are heavily flawed. It went from worse to worse then.
I wish Disney would have invested more money in expanding their parks in the U.S. instead of overseas to offset the overcrowding. Anyway, the library has books to plan your vacation with many tips, too. Plan, don’t wing it. I would like to know what each reader recommends in their state for family friendly destinations.
A great family friend place is Branson MI!! Our family loves to go there!
We are in Tennessee, and my suggestion is Dollywood. The park is beautifully done. PLENTY to do for each family member from the littles to grandparents. There are shows to see included in the ticket price, seasonal festivals and delicious food from snacks to buffets with country cooking. There are places to sit and enjoy a break, such as craftmans valley where there are a bunch of nicely shaded rocking chairs to sit and people watch. Craftsmans valley is so named as there are artisans on site who make leather goods, iron work, glass designs and much more. Their skill is mesmerizing and fun to watch! This area is also near a water feature. Just beautiful scenery, built in the great Smokey mountains. It can be fast paced and go go if you want, or it can be leisurely to stop and see the sights and shows and have a meal. The “must get” is a loaf of warm cinnamon bread from the grist mill. Lots of rides from roller coasters to fair rides, and every thing in between. The park, while built in the mountains, is very handicap friendly. Plenty of on site scooters, strollers and such to rent. There is a parking lot tram that takes you to and from your car parking area as well. We love going. It’s always a lovely time!
We went to Disneyland the first week of March. We got the Genie + and Lightning Lane added on to our tickets, 2 day single park/day tickets. We were able to get on all the big rides at least once and some multiple times with the LL feature and the app. Also got on rides that don’t use the LL feature. What bothered us was the rides seemed to break down a lot more often than in previous years, and we’ve been at least 1/year since 2006(not including when the park was closed due to C-19). Stay at a hotel outside the park but within walking distance. Our hotel was about a 15 minute walk to the park, and we could pick up breakfast on the way and stop at a souvenir shop on our way back for cheaper food and souvenirs!! This type of thing would be much harder with small children, our kids are big now so we can hoof it all over the park quickly.
Is there hotels that you recommend that are walking distance?
I believe this person is talking about Disneyland, not Disneyworld. You cannot walk from park to park in Disney world. It’s massive.
NO thank you! Disney will not see my money. I will spend it on something else that my kids will actually enjoy!!!!
Disney is not on my list of places to visit. Over priced and not what it used to be.
Go to Dollywood instead. She cares about families.
If you have smaller kids, under 8, Storybook Land in Egg Harbor, NJ is fantastic. Not overwhelming, half the park is shady, family owned, free parking, admission is reasonable. Rarely need to wait more than 15 minutes for a ride.
Knoebels in PA is another great choice. I’ve never been but a friend said she and her son had a wonderful time. You can buy a day pass or pay per ride. Very family friendly.
January and February are a little slower but that’s when Disney performs maintenance on various rides.
Everyone uses the trip planning, books, apps and websites so “planning” in avoiding lines/crowds not worth it.
https://storybookland.com/
https://www.knoebels.com/