Everything You Need To Know About Walt Disney World Tickets!
By Rachel Ruppert
Are you ready to embark on the magical journey of planning your Walt Disney World vacation? Let's talk about one of the most important decisions you'll make during the planning process: choosing your theme park ticket! There are several ticket options available, and it takes a bit of research to help determine which one is best for you. So, grab your Mickey ears and let's dive into a breakdown of Walt Disney World theme park tickets:
Standard Tickets
The Standard Walt Disney World Theme Park Tickets are available for between one to ten days. This allows you entry to one park per day, out of the four main parks – Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. Each of these theme parks offer a unique experience geared towards all ages so we recommend at least a 4-Day ticket so you’re able to enjoy all of the parks!
Park hopping is not possible with the Standard Theme Park Ticket unless you upgrade to a Park Hopper or Park Hopper Plus. The pricing structure is designed so that the cost of a ticket is reduced daily. So the longer the length of the ticket you purchase, the cheaper the “per day” cost.
Adult tickets are sold as "Guests age 10+" and child tickets are sold as "Guests age 3-9." Guests who are age 2 and younger are free and do not need a theme park ticket.
Park Hopper
An optional ticket add-on is the Park Hopper feature. This allows you to visit multiple theme parks in the same day! If you want to rope drop Epcot and then spend your evening in Hollywood Studios to watch Fantasmic, you can do this with the Park Hopper tickets! This adds a lot of flexibility to your trip if you want to take a midday break at your resort and then go back to the parks later that day. You won’t be limited to returning to the same park you visited that morning.
The Park Hopper add-on is priced according to the number of theme park days you buy, and it applies to every day of your tickets. So you aren’t able to add a Park Hop to only one day of your trip. For example if you purchase a 6-Day theme park ticket with the Park Hopper add-on, you are able to park hop any of those 6 days!
Water Park and Sports
With the Water Park and Sports option, you can visit one of the main Disney theme parks, per each day of your ticket. You also get a select number of visits to the Disney water parks or other recreational facilities on Disney property. For each visit you can choose one of the following: Typhoon Lagoon water park, Blizzard Beach water park, ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex, one round of golf at Disney’s Oak Trails golf course, or a round of mini golf at Winter Summerland or Fantasia Gardens.
Park Hopper Plus
This ticket option is similar to the Water Park and Sports, but this allows you to Park Hop in addition to one valid admission per person, per day to any of the following: Typhoon Lagoon water park, Blizzard Beach water park, ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex, one round of golf at Disney’s Oak Trails golf course, or a round of mini golf at Winter Summerland or Fantasia Gardens.
Important Notes:
Water Parks- subject to closures due to inclement weather or renovations. Operating hours may be limited seasonally.
ESPN Wide World of Sports – admission is only permitted when an event is scheduled.
Golf- Having a scheduled tee time is required. A round of golf or miniature golf can only be played once a day.
Special Event Tickets
Disney offers several seasonal events throughout the year such as Theme Park After Hours, Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, and Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party! These events are held on select nights so it’s good to check ahead of time to see if any fall during your trip. Event tickets are purchased outside of regular theme park admission, and are typically nonrefundable. The theme park that is hosting the event may close earlier than usual to guests without an event ticket. For example if you do not plan to attend the Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party during your trip, you may want to avoid Magic Kingdom on any of the party dates since that park will close early. Or if you have Park Hoppers, you can spend part of your day at Magic Kingdom and then hop over to a different theme park to enjoy your evening.
Ticket Promotions
Occasionally Disney will offer special promotional rates for theme park tickets! These can be a great way to get a good deal on park admission! However they usually come with specific restrictions and stipulations, so it’s important to read all of the fine print so you know exactly how the tickets will work and if they are the right fit for your trip. The other caveat with these is that they typically cannot be added to a Disney vacation package, and instead must be purchased as a stand alone ticket.
Ticket-only purchases must be paid in full in order to book and are nonrefundable and nontransferable.
A Disney vacation package consists of your resort room reservation plus your theme park tickets, and other optional components you can add like the Memory Maker Photo Package and the Disney Dining Plan. Disney vacation packages are a bit more flexible since they only require a $200 deposit, and the remaining balance isn’t due until 30 days prior to your check in day. The $200 deposit is fully refundable until the final payment due date.
There are so many factors to consider when it comes to Walt Disney World theme park tickets! It takes a bit of planning because you’ll want to decide ahead of time how many theme park days you’d like, which theme parks (or water parks) you’ll want to visit, your budget, if you want to stay in each theme park from open to close, etc. Your People Mover Travel Advisor can provide insight and answer all of your questions to make sure your trip is specially tailored to you! Remember, this is your chance to customize your Disney experience and make it truly unforgettable. So take your time to explore all the options. We're here to help you every step of the way!
Rachel has had a passion for travel for as long as she can remember! She grew up visiting Walt Disney World every year and fell in love with international travel on her first trip to Europe at age sixteen. This love led her to pursue a degree in tourism and hospitality; studying abroad in Italy; participating in the Disney College Program and working at Walt Disney World as a Cast Member where she met her now husband! She and her husband love to travel and are always looking forward to their next adventure!
If you want to work with Rachel to plan your next great adventure to an all-inclusive resort, a Disney park, on a cruise or beyond you can fill out a quote form here!