How Everyone Wastes Money on Disney World Tickets

It’s no secret that planning a trip to Disney World can be really pricey! One of the most expensive things about going to Disney is actually buying theme park tickets. It’s more than $100 for you to visit for just one day, and if you multiply that cost for a larger party across multiple days, you could be spending thousands.

Disney World is expensive!

If you’re dropping that much cash, you’ll want to be smart about your purchase and avoid making these big ticket mistakes!

Buying Unnecessary Park Hoppers

Let’s start by discussing Park Hopper tickets. It’s easy to buy a Park Hopper and then never use it during your trip because you get too tired or too busy to hop to another park during the day. And if you’re going to be at Disney World for several days, you may not even need a Park Hopper to complete your list of must-dos!

EPCOT

The good news is that you can always add on Park Hopper during your trip. Just remember it will be added to each day of your ticket (even those you’ve already used)– so make sure to crunch those numbers before you buy!

Buying Too Many Days of Tickets

Another mistake that’s easy to make when purchasing your theme park tickets is buying too many days. Many new Disney World guests like to buy tickets for every day of their vacation, but if you’re staying for several days, you’ll likely want to plan a “rest” or “break” day in the middle of your visit.

Magic Kingdom

During your rest day, you can take some time to visit Disney Springs, or explore your resort hotel. Even if you have a full vacation’s worth of tickets, you’ll likely be so exhausted by the end of the trip that you don’t get the full value of your tickets — only visiting the park for a few hours before you need to tap out.

Adding Genie+ to Every Park Day

One of the newer mistakes guests may make when purchasing tickets is buying Disney Genie+ each day of their trip.  If you’re traveling during the off-season especially, you likely won’t need to use Genie+ every day.

Disney Genie!

Genie+ is much less helpful at Animal Kingdom and EPCOT when the parks aren’t busy. So if you’re not wanting to spend the extra dough, you can purchase the new service day-by-day in the My Disney Experience app, starting at midnight on the day of your visit. If you’ve got multiple guests in your party, it could save you hundreds!

©Genie

Unnecessarily Purchasing the Water Park & Sports Option

The Water Park & Sports ticket add-on can be a great option if you’re looking to experience some of Disney World’s “extras.” However, if you purchase this addition, make sure to take full advantage of what you’re paying for. Don’t overestimate how much energy you’ll have to do bonus activities during your trip!

Blizzard Beach

Automatically Purchasing Tickets With a Package

Most guests who stay in a Disney World Resort hotel choose to purchase their trip as a package, with hotel and tickets bundled together. However, we encourage you to run the numbers before you buy — in some cases, you can save money by purchasing those two offerings separately.

Gran Destino Tower at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort

It’ll be different for every trip and family, but you may want to stick with the package if you hope to purchase the Dining Plan when it returns. That’s an option that’s only available in addition to a room and ticket bundle.

Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort

Not Using Party Tickets Properly

And finally, let’s talk Holiday Parties! These events are pricey, so you’ll definitely want to get the most for what you paid. If you purchase a ticket to a party, make sure you arrive as early as possible, and use the full amount of time if you can.

Magic Kingdom Halloween 

You may also want to avoid buying a theme park ticket for the day of your event. You won’t be getting the full value of the ticket due to the start of the party, and you’ll be able to get into the park early with your event ticket anyway, so you can still experience some daytime offerings.

©Disney |

Those are some big ways that you might be spending too much on Disney World tickets. Now, you can go forth and save your family money on a most magical vacation! For more planning tips and advice, stay tuned to AllEars!

Click Here to See How Much Ticket Prices Have Increased Over the Years!

Have you ever made any of these “mistakes” before? Tell us in the comments!

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5 Replies to “How Everyone Wastes Money on Disney World Tickets”

  1. I visited the ticket center at Disney Springs last week to add park hopper to one of my park passes and they said I had to add it to all 5 of my park passes, even though I only had 2 left. Everyone said you could just add it to one day, but that was not the case when I went to do it.

  2. More information please! If tickets aren’t purchased with resort reservations, is there another outlet to get them from? If so, please name it. Also, what is the savings?

  3. We have always purchased park hopper (added “+” feature to warm weather trips) tickets for every day while on vacation including day of arrival and departure. IMO, just buying one park tickets is like eating a 5 star meal but being too frugal to spring for dessert. After enduring the price of base tickets, the hopper and + features USED to be worth the cost. Now that park hopping is not true hopping, I’m not certain what we will do on our next trip.
    Basically, we enjoyed the ability to enjoy anything and everything Disney parks had to offer WHEN we chose to enjoy it. Sadly, those days appear to be over, money or no money.

    1. For your first visit, one park per day tickets is okay. There is more than enough to do at all the parks as everything will be new to the first time visitor. For repeat visits, the park hopper is definitely a necessity.

    2. I agree, Disney was fun when we had choice.
      Now, if we get days, it has to be used at once (Discontinued no expiration).
      Park hopping is now limited and made useless.
      The basic cost has almost tripled since my last trip.
      Regular Disney customers are a thing of the past, and Disney does not care.
      Its not made for families anymore, its made for greed.