Disney World Tickets – Park Hopper and Magic Your Way

You’d be forgiven if you think you need a rocket science degree to understand the Disney World ticket system. At first glance, it’s a confusing array of options with strange terms like park hopper and Magic Your Way. Don’t worry though, not all ticket types are available to all guests and once you understand the basics, you’ll be able to narrow down the list to find the most appropriate ticket type for your Walt Disney World vacation.

Ticket options range from the One Day One Park option which, as it says on the tag, is good for one day admission to one of the four theme parks, to the higher-end Premium Annual Pass that gets you into all Disney World themes. and water park with Park Hopper privileges every day for 365 days.

An average family, staying for a week on vacation, will have about a dozen different ticket options to choose from. Taking time to understand the different benefits included with different options could save you a lot of money, which is important if you’re interested in a cheap Disney vacation. Spending a little time on research will help you avoid buying a more expensive ticket that has features you’ll probably never use.

In 2005, Disney introduced the Magic Your Way ticket system, which is essentially a pick-and-mix way of purchasing your admission tickets. You start with a base ticket and then add various options to tailor the ticket to your needs. There is a volume discount, so the more days of admission you add to your Base Ticket, the lower the cost of a day’s admission. Base Tickets can be purchased for a minimum of one and a maximum of ten entry days. You can only visit one park per day with a Base Ticket and they expire 14 days from the first date of use.

Three additional options are available at additional cost to increase the flexibility of your base ticket

1. Park Hopper: For a flat fee, you can add park-hopping privileges to your ticket, allowing you to visit more than one park each day. If you’re only buying admission for one or two days, this can get expensive, but it becomes a more affordable option for longer visits.

2. No Expiration Date: Daily admission gets cheaper the more you buy day tickets, so if you’re planning a short trip, consider buying a ten-day pass and adding the option with no expiration date. This means that unused days never expire, so you can use the pass on future vacations. The price of the option depends on the number of days you add to your Base Ticket, but cannot be added to a day pass.

3. Plus Pack: If you want to visit the water parks or Disney Quest, you may want to consider adding a plus to your base ticket. The number of bonuses you can buy is fixed and is linked to the number of days of your Base Ticket. for example, a one, two or three day ticket has two benefits, while a ten day ticket has five.

It’s possible to add options to your ticket after you’ve purchased it, so you can start with a base ticket and then choose to add park skip privileges or perks once you’ve started using it.

Annual Passes provide unlimited access to all four theme parks for one year and an add-on is available to provide unlimited access to the water parks as well. Benefits available to Annual Pass holders include free parking, shopping discounts and ad hoc discounts on room rates at Disney hotels.

If you are traveling from the UK, your ticket options are different. Several advance purchase tickets are available to British travelers, including a five-day premium ticket that includes park-hopping privileges to all four theme parks for five days and three water park tickets. The Seven-Day Premium Ticket increases this to seven-day admission and five water park admissions. Both expire 14 days after first use. Alternatively, Ultimate Tickets provide unlimited theme and water park admission, as well as park-skip privileges for 14 or 21 days.

Before choosing your ticket options, you should have an idea of ​​what you want to do during your vacation; there is no point in paying for options that, after all, you will not be able to use. Don’t forget that you can sometimes save money in the long run by buying a more expensive ticket. For example, if you plan to visit Walt Disney World on vacation again next year, see if you can travel a couple of weeks early, as this will allow you to take advantage of the Annual Pass options; effectively using the same ticket for both vacations. Since Disney often offers hotel discounts to annual pass holders, it’s possible that the discount you can get on next year’s accommodations will more than cover the additional cost of the pass.