How to Choose Your Disney World Park Tickets
Which Disney World theme park tickets should you buy?
When it comes to a Disney World vacation, one of the biggest investments you’ll make is the theme park tickets. Disney World park tickets are priced to compete with top-tier entertainment like Broadway shows, NBA games, and music festivals.
When you start your vacation planning, knowing how Disney World park tickets are priced, and what the options are, can really help your Orlando itinerary fall into place.
- Which Disney World theme park tickets should you buy?
- Disney World theme park ticket options
- How many days will you visit the Disney World parks?
- Adding the Park-Hopper option to your Disney World tickets
- Other add-ons to your Disney World park ticket
- Disney World park tickets are priced based on the date you will be visiting
- Buy your Disney World park tickets early
- Purchasing Disney World park tickets at a discount
- More tips for your Disney World and Orlando vacation
These are the show notes for Go Informed Podcast episode 65. Click below to hear the show now, or search for Go Informed: Build A Better Vacation on your favorite podcast app!
Disney World ticket options
At Disney World, you’ll need to decide more than just how many days you want to visit. Tickets are priced based on:
- How many days do you need admission?
- How many parks would you like to visit on any given day?
- Do you want to include water parks or golf in your ticket?
- What is the first date you’ll spend in the parks?
Let’s take a closer look at each of these options, so you can be ready with the right decision when you buy your tickets.
How many days will you visit the Disney World parks?
One of the first things you’ll need to decide is the number of days you’ll spend in the Disney World parks. You can choose a park ticket covering admission from one to ten days total, beyond that you’ll want an annual pass.
One-day park tickets are always the most expensive option at Disney World
On a per-day basis, tickets that are only good for one day’s admission are always priced the highest. Here’s an example:
- One-day one-park ticket for April 7, 2021 is $140
- A two-day one-park-per-day ticket starting April 7, 2021 is $271
- A three-day one-park-per-day ticket starting April 7, 2021 is $389
- A four-day one-park-per-day ticket starting April 7, 2021 is $475
- A five-day one-park-per-day ticket starting April 7, 2021 is $506
- A six-day one-park-per-day ticket starting April 7, 2021 is $521
- A seven-day one-park-per-day ticket starting April 7, 2021 is $539
Note that these dates are in the heart of spring break season. As we’ll discuss in a moment, Disney World’s ticket prices are based on the time of the year you will visit. These Spring Break dates are at the top of the pricing scale.
Incremental price goes down a lot once you get to a five-day ticket
You can see in the example above that as more days are added, the incremental increase goes down, especially when you get out beyond a four-day ticket. Here the cost to go from four days in the parks to five is only an extra $31. Thirty-one dollars for an entire day (or even part of a day) in one of the Disney World theme parks is a fantastic deal.
Staying on-site at Disney? Cover your arrival or departure day in your park ticket
Depending on your travel plans, you may be able to spend time in the Disney World parks on the day you arrive or the day you depart. Especially if you stay on-site, this can be a great way to take that last extra ride on a favorite attraction or get a jump on your vacation.
There are a lot of great reasons to stay in a Disney World hotel, and a top one is convenience. It’s easy to spend a partial day exploring a park when you just have a quick trip from your hotel.
If you’re planning to stay on-site for three nights or more, it can make a lot of sense to upgrade your park ticket to a four or five day admission. At $31, even just a few hours in a park on that fifth day can be totally worth it.
Disney World multi-day park tickets don’t have to be used on consecutive days
If you purchase a multi-day park ticket from Disney, you’ll have a few extra days to use it up. Here’s the rules:
- Two day park ticket must be used within 4 days
- Three day park ticket must be used within 5 days
- Four day park ticket must be used within 7 days
- Five day park ticket must be used within 8 days
- Six day park ticket must be used within 9 days
- Seven day park ticket must be used within 10 days
- Eight day park ticket must be used within 12 days
- Nine day park ticket must be used within 13 days
- Ten day park ticket must be used within 14 days
Adding the Park-Hopper option to your tickets
So far we’ve just talked about the “Standard” ticket option at Disney World. A standard park ticket allows admission to any one of the four Disney World theme parks per day. If you leave that park during the day you can re-enter, but that’s the only one you can visit all day.
Park-hopper allows you to visit up to all four of the Disney World theme parks on any given day.
Want to get more familiar with the four parks at Disney World? Episode 9 of the Go Informed Podcast is an introduction to the entirety of Disney World. Listen here or on your favorite podcast app.
How much does it cost to add park-hopper to a Disney World ticket?
Let’s go back to our sample prices and take a look at what it costs to add the park-hopper option.
| Days | Park Hopper | Standard | Total cost to add Park Hopper | Daily added cost for Park Hopper |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $205 | $140 | + $65 | + $65 |
| 2 | $346 | $271 | + $75 | + $37.50 |
| 3 | $464 | $389 | + $75 | + $25 |
| 4 | $560 | $475 | + $85 | + $21.25 |
| 5 | $591 | $506 | + $85 | + $17 |
| 6 | $606 | $521 | + $85 | + $14 |
| 7 | $624 | $539 | + $85 | + $12 |
For multi-day tickets, park hopper doesn’t cost that much more
As you can see from the numbers, the park hopper option is a flat-rate addition to your Disney World ticket. If you are only visiting for one day, adding park hopper will increase your ticket price by around 50%. But for multi-day tickets the increase is not nearly as great.
By the time you get up to a four day ticket, the option to hop between the parks is around $20 a day. So the question you need to ask is how much do you want to be able to visit multiple parks in the same day?
Why add park hopper?
Here are a few reasons you may want to consider adding park hopper to your ticket:
- You want to rope drop an attraction in one park but eat dinner in another
- You want the flexibility to move to another park if the one you start in feels too busy
- You like the challenge of seeing more than one park in a day
- You only have a couple of days but want to at least step foot in every Disney World park
- You really want to see a certain park after dark but don’t want to spend the entire day there
What you need to know about park hopping at Disney World during 2022
As with a lot of things right now, park hopping is not quite as simple as it sounds. During Disney World’s COVID-19 operations, there are a few limitations to know about.
Park hopping is allowed at Disney World beginning at 2:00 pm
Guests with park hopper tickets are free to hop to a second/third/fourth Disney World park beginning at 2:00 every day. BUT you must have a reservation on that day for a first park, and you must enter that park before you will be allowed to hop to a second one.
Beginning at 2:00, you can switch to any other park, and can go on to visit all the parks that same day if you wish. Keep in mind that during the current operations, hours and capacity is limited.
Park capacity and hours are limited during COVID-19 operations
If the second park is at capacity you won’t be able to hop there. However, this is an extremely rare possibility – even on the most busy days there have not been capacity issues with park hopping at Disney World.
Note the park hours for your visit. Some parks may be closing at 7:00pm or 8:00pm. This still allows lots of time even if you can’t switch until 2:00, but the old challenge of visiting all four parks on the same day is currently a lot harder to accomplish.
Another new twist you’ll want to know about: Disney Genie and Lightning Lane. This is the replacement for Disney’s classic FastPass system. Get the basics here.
Other add-ons to your park ticket
If you plan to spend time either in one of the Disney World water parks, or at the Oak Trail golf course, consider adding this right into your park ticket. You can select the Water Park and Sports option (one theme park per day ticket), or the Park Hopper Plus Option (adds water parks and sports to your park hopper ticket) when you buy your tickets.
Note that it is also possible to simply buy a one-day water park ticket separately. Same with using the golf course. So if you’re not sure if you’d use these add-ons you can skip this when buying your park tickets.
Especially if you are planning to include the water parks in your vacation, adding these right to your ticket can save some money. Play around on Disney’s ticketing site early and do the math to see what makes the most sense for you.
Disney World tickets are priced based on the date you will be visiting
Higher demand = higher price
You can actually tell how busy Disney expects the parks to be on your dates just by pricing out the tickets. Peak dates can top out at around $160 for a one day standard ticket. The lowest one day ticket price you should see is around $110. (spring 2021 pricing)
When selecting your tickets, you’ll have to choose the date you intend to first be in a park. Take a look at the pricing calendar on Disney’s ticketing page and you’ll see a whole month of different prices.
You can use this pricing as a hack to help decide which dates to choose for your vacation. If you have flexibility, go for the dates with lower prices. This is Disney’s prediction so should be pretty reliable.
If the tickets for your dates are on the top end of the pricing, this means you need to plan for busier parks. I’ve got tons of tips for this here on the site – a good place to start is with this post. You’ll also want to get those tickets early so you can lock in your park reservations.
Buy your park tickets early
Disney World is currently operating with a park reservation system that requires guests to choose which park they will start in each day. You cannot make this reservation unless you hold a valid park ticket. And you cannot start your day in a park without that reservation.
Be sure to check Disney’s park reservation calendar before you lock in your dates, so you know ahead of time which parks still have available reservations. Waiting until the last minute to make park reservations can result in limited options, or even no available parks on your dates. When is the last minute? It totally depends on the date you want to go.
Purchasing your tickets in a package with your Disney World hotel is a great way to lock down your itinerary without a big cash outlay. When you book in a Disney package, just a $200 deposit is required – and once you’ve made that deposit you technically have park tickets. This allows you to make those park reservations right away.
Learn more about how Disney World vacation packages work here.
Purchasing Disney World tickets at a discount
There are a few ways to find discounted Disney World tickets. Usually it’s not directly from Disney, although they will occasionally offer promotional pricing in vacation packages.
One thing to keep in mind is that one-day park tickets are pretty much never discounted. If you’re planning to visit for just that one day you’ll be paying full price. See my examples above.
When you purchase through a third-party just be sure to stick with a reputable source like AAA/CAA, a large retailer, or a long-time Disney partner. Discounts are usually modest but can really add up if you’re purchasing multiple tickets.
More tips for your Disney World and Orlando vacation
Now that you’ve figured out the tickets, it’s time to get ready for the rest of your vacation. Get lots more tips here on GoInformed.net, including:
- 55 things you should know before you visit Disney World
- Ultimate Disney World hotel guide
- Tips for Disney World during COVID-19
- Adding Universal Orlando to your Disney World vacation
- How to choose your Universal Orlando park tickets
The Go Informed Podcast
Theme park tips and info on the go! Be sure to look for the Go Informed: Build a Better Vacation podcast on your favorite podcast player.
From audio theme park tours to my best Disney World and Universal tips and hacks, you’ll find it all on the Go Informed podcast.
