# Cheapest Day pass (adult) to Disney World



## travelplanner70 (Feb 8, 2009)

2 adults are sponeding 3 days in Orlando - most of the time at Disney.  What are the cheapest prices for day passes?  Cheapest 3-day pass?  Thanks for the help.


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## klynn (Feb 8, 2009)

jo-jo said:


> 2 adults are sponeding 3 days in Orlando - most of the time at Disney. What are the cheapest prices for day passes? Cheapest 3-day pass? Thanks for the help.


 
1-day (no hopping, no plus options) is $79.88
2-day (no hopping, no plus options) is $158.69
3-day (no hopping, no plus options) is $225.78


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## donnaval (Feb 9, 2009)

We just got back from Orlando and were floored by the high prices of Disney one-day passes.  We always thought Disney was a very family-friendly destination--not any more!  We had my 77-year-old mom with us and there's no way she would get $80 of entertainment from a short day (what she could handle) at Disney, so we didn't go.

I feel for the families who have to shell out literally thousands of dollars now for multi-day, multi-park passes.  But it affects every age level--all my mom would've done was walk around for a few hours and sit on a bench now and then.  The parks are nice, but $80 to do that in one of them????

I don't understand the reasoning behind the outrageously high one-day pass prices.  Our very first Disney visit many many years ago was on a one-day ticket, when we enjoyed ourselves so much we knew we had to come back for more.  A reasonable one-day pass would be a great marketing tool for the expensive multi-day passes, seems to me.  

To rub salt in the wound, while we were there the radio and TV stations were constantly playing commercials about 2-day passes for $99 -- for Florida residents only.  We would have been willing to pay that price for two days but nope, since we had spent all that money flying there from our home in PA, Disney was only interested in gouging us for $80 plus tax for one day.  So they got none of our money this trip!


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## lprstn (Feb 9, 2009)

Tell me about it.  I get tics for a discount through job, but it takes me a year to purchase our 5-day-non-exp tics for a family of 6.  I purchase 1 each month...


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## Mjpierce (Feb 9, 2009)

I recently posted about this.  Disney prices are lousy for short term stays, but reward you for longer ones.  For example, a 3 day adult park hopper pass is $271 (AAA, the cheapest discount you will probably find). A 10 day park hopper pass is $287. Obviously, the per day cost drops dramatically as you extend your stay, in this case from 90 dollars per day down to 29 dollars a day.
Still, to buy 3 adult tickets and 1 child ticket for 9 days cost me over 1000 dollars.  The beach vacation last year was a *lot* cheaper.
We won't even talk about my 10 year old having to be included as one of the "adults."

I just thought of something- why doesn't Disney offer senior discounts on park tickets?  In terms of ride time used, my 10 year old being considered an adult does make sense- he is tall enough to go on all the rides, and will certainly be zipping around doing as many as he can.  Arguably, the average senior, (especially the senior seniors), would be going on less rides in a day than a younger person.

Let's start a petition...


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## bnoble (Feb 9, 2009)

Single day tickets are basically never discounted---the only way to get a deal on one is to go to a timeshare sales pitch, and personally, that's not worth it to me.  You don't really get a return on longer stays until you hit four days or more.



> why doesn't Disney offer senior discounts on park tickets?


Because they don't have to.  2008's numbers won't be out for another month or two, but in 2007, they drew just a shade under 47 *million* guests to the four theme parks.

That said, you can easily get your money's worth without really having to "ride stuff".  On my most recent visit, we left the kids with the grandparents, and spent a long weekend with just the adults.  We spent two of our days at Epcot's Flower & Garden festival, and only went on one ride each of those two days.


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## Indy (Feb 9, 2009)

Do you think AAA or Underground Tourist have the cheapest prices?


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## lprstn (Feb 9, 2009)

Oh, best way to go is to one of their 'Parties' they have the Mickey not so scary halloween, and the Mickey Very Merry Christmas party...you have to go to the park after 3:30pm but the price is 1/2 off.

Also, you can go free on your birthday now for a limited time.


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## jbuzzy11 (Feb 9, 2009)

last Aug when Disney prices were going to go up I purchased 2 adult and 2 child 10 day hoppers with no expire option... $2000!!


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## mecllap (Feb 9, 2009)

They don't have cheap tickets because they don't have to -- plenty of people will pay the prices they charge, and the parks will be crowded.  Now charging less during the occasional less-busy times might be helfpul for those of us who could go then -- but they seem to average it out so it works for the company.  They do other discounts (lodging, dining, etc. for off-seasons -- which are short for them).  We seniors don't cost them any less per person, because the rides never go empty -- they're always running.  We are likely to cost them just as much (or more) in operating costs as anyone else does.  (I need to use their bathrooms now much more than I used to! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: ).

Yes -- a one-day ticket is expensive -- but that's true of most things these days  -- other places raise their prices as well, and I think Disney thinks they offer more value than other places, so they charge for it.  Except for an experience like Discovery Cove, WDW is probably always going to lead the pack on admission cost.

(Please don't take this a rant against the OP or Disney -- just trying to explain it a bit).


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## tombo (Feb 9, 2009)

This is from a February 3rd Business Week article:

"Lower Theme Park Attendance
Disney's theme park company, which should have enjoyed a healthy Christmas season, instead was saddled with lower attendance, mostly at its parks in the U.S. Overall, the theme park unit saw its overall earnings fall 24%, to $382 million. The movie studio, which did have some hits with films like the animated flick Bolt, saw operating earnings fall 64%, to $187 million. "

And from the Orlando Sentinel:

"Attendance at Walt Disney World and Disneyland dropped about 5 percent in the first quarter, the company just said on its earnings conference call, with roughly equal declines at both resorts. 

But Disney also said future bookings during the second and third quarters are actually running slightly ahead of last year’s pace, which executives said is primarily due to strength in Orlando following the “buy four nights, get three free” the company launched late last year. 

In fact, Disney said it is extending the booking window for the promotion until March 29 and extending the travel period the offer applies to from June 27 to Aug. 15."

The tickets haven't reduced in price, so attendance and profits have fallen. However the buy four night get three free at Disney resorts have bookings slightly ahead of last year (can you imagine them offering this a year ago?). Disney is not immune, they will cut prices on tickets (like they did with free admission on your birthday) and lodging (like they have done with the buy 4 get 3 free rooms) or they will see attendance keep falling and occupancy rates at dismal levels.


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## bnoble (Feb 9, 2009)

A 5% year-over-year decilne in current market conditions is _nothing._

Between 2000 and 2002, attendance fell at the four WDW parks from 43.2M guests to 37.6M.  That's a loss of almost 13% over two years, or about 6% per year---and that's understating the case, because right up until 9/11, the parks were doing better in 2001 than in 2000.

http://www.scottware.com.au/theme/feature/atend_disparks.htm

Disney hasn't gotten to 9/11-levels of panic yet.  To weather that storm, they closed some resorts, but still didn't lower ticket prices.  Admission is the driver of their business---it will be the very last thing they discount in a tangible way.

Don't be fooled by the birthday promotion---because of the way the ticket prices are structured, that's a very small discount for most people.  The gift card is a much better deal for anyone visiting more than 2-3 days.


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## tombo (Feb 9, 2009)

A 5% drop in attendance is not a big drop, but a 24% drop in earnings is a big problem for any business. Disney might not reduce prices on tickets since they are giving away so many free rooms, but if earnings remain 24% down (or get even worse), don't be surprised to see Disney run some more admission specials. Also running the buy 4 nights lodging and get 3 nights free all the way through the summer vacation season (until August 15th) is something they never planned to do. The original offer ended at the end of March, now they are worried enough that they can't fill up their rooms (even in the summer) that they have extended their offer of free rooms through their busiest times of year including June, July, and August. As I said before, even Disney is not immune in this economy.


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## Mjpierce (Feb 9, 2009)

To respond to about the senior tickets idea, I know that it is not all about the rides- but for Disney and how it figures park staffing- a lot of it *is *about the rides.  Big Thunder Railroad is a good example- depending on ridership, BTR's capacity can be adjusted by putting more or less trains in simultaneous service, anywhere from one to five trains.  More trains running of course means more staff people have to be there to monitor the loading and unloading of each train.

IMHO, older grandparents who come along to be with their grandchildren but don't take up a lot of ride capacity are a great thing for Disney.   They spend money on food, drinks, souvenirs, etc.., but cast a very small footprint in terms of ride capacity and therefore have a smaller impact on staffing than other guests would. 

Senior discounts could arguably encourage more families to bring along older relatives, and increase Disney's bottom line.

Or, it is 11:00 at night, and I'm rambling and have no clue what I'm talking about...


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## Mjpierce (Feb 9, 2009)

*AAA vs Undercover Tourist*

To answer another question posted above, I've compared, and if you already belong to AAA, their prices are definitely better.  A 10 day base ticket through AAA is 240, through Undercover Tourist it is 247, and through Disney after taxes it is 252.

In the grand scheme of things, though, the amount of money that you save is not very substantial, no matter where you buy them.


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## pgnewarkboy (Feb 10, 2009)

Mjpierce said:


> To answer another question posted above, I've compared, and if you already belong to AAA, their prices are definitely better.  A 10 day base ticket through AAA is 240, through Undercover Tourist it is 247, and through Disney after taxes it is 252.
> 
> In the grand scheme of things, though, the amount of money that you save is not very substantial, no matter where you buy them.




I recently compared both AAA and undercover tourist .  You can get a cheaper price from undercover tourist if you buy through a mousesaver.com newsletter link.  The nice thing about AAA is their price includes parking.  Although the actual ticket price is higher through AAA their ticket includes parking so it pretty much becomes a toss-up between the two depending on how the parking costs are split between attendees.


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## dioxide45 (Feb 10, 2009)

pgnewarkboy said:


> I recently compared both AAA and undercover tourist .  You can get a cheaper price from undercover tourist if you buy through a mousesaver.com newsletter link.  The nice thing about AAA is their price includes parking.  Although the actual ticket price is higher through AAA their ticket includes parking so it pretty much becomes a toss-up between the two depending on how the parking costs are split between attendees.



How does AAA prices include parking? If you are thinking of the AAA Diamond Parking Pass, that doesn't give you free parking, but rather just prime parking spots close to the gate. You still have to pay for the parking.

We are definitely going to look in to AAA tickets. Though when I looked online at the AAA website it linked me to Disney's website and the prices were not discounted. The website it linked to was branded for AAA/CAA but I didn't see the discount, not even in the cart.


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## Mjpierce (Feb 10, 2009)

AAA tickets include the preferred parking *area*, but you still have to pay for parking.  If you search TUG, you'll find differing opinions on whether the AAA Diamond parking areas are helpful- It would seem to depend on how you use the parks. 

I stand corrected on the AAA vs. Undercover Tourist, I forgot about the extra  discount when I posted last night.  I should know better than to post my opinion so self-assuredly when I haven't covered all the bases.

When I bought my tickets for next week, I had missed the window to sign up before the February newsletter came out, so I was unable to get the extra discount link through mousesavers...How much is a ticket through Undercover with that discount?


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## bnoble (Feb 10, 2009)

> but a 24% drop in earnings is a big problem for any business. Disney might not reduce prices on tickets since they are giving away so many free rooms, but if earnings remain 24% down (or get even worse), don't be surprised to see Disney run some more admission specials.


Expect radical cost-cutting measures before admission is discounted.  In response to 9/11, Disney closed entire resorts for months at a time, and staggered attraction hours inside the parks.  But, they didn't cut admission.

I know, I'd like to pay less for tickets.  But, TWDC would need to be in very dire straits before they go that route.


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## mecllap (Feb 10, 2009)

I thought I'd recently checked out the access to AAA parking area with tickets thing, and it only applied if you book a whole package with lodging through AAA, not just tickets.  I do need to doublecheck to see if they now sell the 10 day tickets (a couple of years ago they were only doing up to 7-day tix).  

The current SoCal AAA book does list a "senior discount" of a whopping $2 for a one-day Disneyland ticket (don't know if that's at the gate, or at a AAA office -- that sometimes makes a difference).


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## FlyKaesan (Feb 10, 2009)

[Buying and selling, anything, is not permitted in the TUG forums. - DeniseM Moderator]


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## dioxide45 (Feb 10, 2009)

mecllap said:


> I thought I'd recently checked out the access to AAA parking area with tickets thing, and it only applied if you book a whole package with lodging through AAA, not just tickets.



It all depends on your local AAA office. Some will give you the pass if you are a AAA member and ask for one. Others will give you one if you buy tickets through them while others require a complete package booked through AAA. So there is no hard and fast rule.


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## bnoble (Feb 10, 2009)

Right---there's no such thing as 'AAA', really.  There are a bunch of individual clubs.  For example, I am now a member of AAA-MI.  When I lived in Pittsburgh, it was AAA-West Penn.  Each club gets to set its own rules, within limits.


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## mdurette (Feb 10, 2009)

I have found undercover tourist with links from Mousesavers to have the best rates.  We now work it that we purchase 10 day no expiration tickets.  My husband and I are not on the same cycle of usage so it works out.  Basically one of our trips I need to buy one - the next he does and the other we don't need any.  Works for us!


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## malyons (Feb 10, 2009)

curious about undercover tourist prices....do they offer the same deal every month?  Or do the deals change?  I have plenty of time for my next trip to WDW and just signed up for the newsletter, so just curious how it works


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## janej (Feb 10, 2009)

The deals do change.  I purchased two ten day non-exp tickets last January and found the price lower in May or June when my sister purchased hers.  The 10 day non exp works best for us too.  We got the water park and hopper options all included for about $500.  We found we only use 2-3 days per trip since we spent at least 2 days in water park or Disney Quest.  That stretches the tickets to 3-4 trips.  I do feel your pain for one time visitors.  I plan to bring my parents for our next trip.  I am not sure what I should do for them.  It seems like 3 to 7 day tickets are priced about the same.  I might just get them 7 day tickets so that they can take their time exploring.  But then they still won't be able to go to water park with us.


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## jamstew (Feb 10, 2009)

Indy said:


> Do you think AAA or Underground Tourist have the cheapest prices?



Undercover Tourist has the best prices I've found (prices on their site include tax & shipping), but they don't have a discount for 1-day tickets either AFAIK.


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## jamstew (Feb 10, 2009)

Mjpierce said:


> .How much is a ticket through Undercover with that discount?



10-day base is $240, including tax & shipping.


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## Mjpierce (Feb 11, 2009)

*re: AAA parking pass, types sold*



> I thought I'd recently checked out the access to AAA parking area with tickets thing, and it only applied if you book a whole package with lodging through AAA, not just tickets. I do need to doublecheck to see if they now sell the 10 day tickets (a couple of years ago they were only doing up to 7-day tix).



I bought my Disney tickets through the main AAA website online. When I bought the tickets, you simply wrote in the message box that you would like a Diamond Pass, and they sent it along with my tickets.

One of the reasons we went with AAA is that they offered the tickets in the length we wanted, 9 days-not all places did.  They have 1-10 day tickets available, with no day length left out.


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## Mjpierce (Feb 11, 2009)

> Quote:
> Originally Posted by Mjpierce
> .How much is a ticket through Undercover with that discount?
> 10-day base is $240, including tax & shipping.
> ...


Thanks for the response.

There is then a 2 dollar difference between Undercover Tourist and AAA on a 10 day base ticket.  I guess it would really come down to whether you wanted to use the AAA parking areas.

Once again, the bottom line is that the differences between the official Disney ticket prices and discounted prices are pretty minimal.
Just like the difference between buying your timeshare from the developer vs. buying it on the resale market.


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