Which Disney World Ticket Is REALLY Worth The Cost Right Now?

Thinking about planning a trip to Disney World but don’t know which Disney World ticket is going to work best for you and your travel party?

MagicBand Scanner

If you’re going to spend the big bucks on a park ticket, you want to make sure the price your spending is worth the experience you’re getting. So we’re going to break down the three main ticket options and discuss the pros and cons of each.

Do you have your handy-dandy notebook on ya? Good. Because you’re going to want to jot some of these things down.

Standard Theme Park Ticket

A standard Disney World park ticket will grant you access to one theme park per day. Just don’t forget to make your Park Pass Reservation after you’ve purchased your ticket! Park tickets are good for the day you select (a range of days, actually, depending on how many days worth of tickets you’re buying), but you still need to book a reservation for the specific park you’ll be visiting.

Disney may also use a hand-held scanner to read your MagicBand’s information — including admission tickets.

This reservation system kind of takes out the spontaneity of the standard theme park ticket. Then again, for a guest who plans out their trip ahead of time, spontaneity may never have been a concern. Though you could once choose to use your park tickets to make on-the-fly decisions for which days you’d visit which parks, those who made FastPass+ reservations and dining reservations ahead of time were already pretty locked-in to a certain park and day — unless they were willing to lose their reservations for the sake of choosing one park over the other the morning of.

FastPass+ is currently suspended in Disney World

The current average price for the standard theme park ticket, according to the Disney website, is around $109. We say *around $109* because this price fluctuates a lot, depending on the time of year. In September, you may wind up paying a few dollars less than the average since the parks have just exited the peak of the summer season. But in months like December, you may have to pay an extra $40 or $50 than the predicted average price since you’ll be visiting during the busy holiday season.

©Disney

That being said, out of the three different ticket options, the standard ticket is still going to be the cheapest because it’s the most basic of the choices.

Need help booking a Park Pass Reservation? No worries — we can help with that! Just click HERE!

Park Hopper

Wanting to hit up more than one park on a single day? The Park Hopper ticket option allows you to do just that!

Magic Kingdom Entrance!

Yes, you’ll still need to make Park Pass Reservations — but only for the first park you’ll be visiting that day. Once 2PM rolls around, you’ll be able to hop to any other park without a new reservation. This gives you a little more spontaneity than the standard option can provide.

Long lines are the worst part of a vacation!

Each Park Hopper ticket is an extra $65 on top of your regular park ticket. This might be a solid option for those who’ll only have one day in Disney World. But if you have multiple Disney days lined up for your trip, take advantage of spending a full day in the parks, if possible. Unless you opt to use Disney Genie+ or Individual Attraction Selections to skip some Standby lines, you could spend a good chunk of your day waiting in lines.

Disney Skyliner

Also, consider the parks you’re wanting to “hop” to, logistically speaking — some may be easier to manage than others. If you’re wanting to go from Hollywood Studios to EPCOT, that’s an easier feat, thanks to the Skyliner system. However, traveling from Hollywood Studios to Magic Kingdom might be less worth using a Park Hopper for, considering a good amount of your time will be spent on transportation to and from these parks.

Check out the best Park Hopping options for your upcoming Disney World trip HERE!

Park Hopper Plus

A Park Hopper Plus Ticket has the same benefits as the Park Hopper, PLUS you’ll receive a certain number of visits to a different Disney experience. Experiences currently include Disney’s Blizzard Beach, Oak Trail Golf, Fantasia Gardens Mini Golf (before 4PM), and Winter Summerland Mini Golf.

Blizzard Beach Entrance

The math is simple — if you purchase a 1 day Park Hopper Plus ticket, you’ll get 1 visit at one of these experiences. Three days will earn you 3 visits, 4 days will earn your 4 visits… You get the idea.

Winter Summerland Miniature Golf

A Park Hopper Plus ticket will cost an extra $85 on top of your standard park ticket.

Some of the experiences that are usually included in the Park Hopper Plus options are still temporarily unavailable, such as Typhoon Lagoon and the ESPN Wide World of Sports. The NBA Experience at Disney Springs used to also be included in this deal, but Disney recently announced the basketball experience is now permanently closed.

NBA Experience

Tickets for the Disney water parks usually run around $69 per person (ages 10+) and $63 per person (ages 3-9). So if you want to pay for the Park Hopper Plus for one day, it may be worth your while!

Fantasia Mini Golf

However, if you’re just wanting to visit the mini-golf courses and not the water park, those don’t cost much extra. Golfing at Fantasia Gardens or Winter Summerland will cost $14 per adult and $12 per kid. So don’t pay the extra bucks for a Park Hopper Plus ticket for the mini-golf benefit!