Traveling to Disneyland: Admission Ticket Options

May 7, 2012 in All Posts, disney california adventure, disneyland, disneyland resort, Jessica, Tips & Tricks for Families, Travel Tips by Jessica McConnel

There have been many times I’ve wished I lived in California just so that I could be close to Disneyland and visit whenever I wanted… *sigh*. A girl can dream. But, since I don’t live there – and likely won’t anytime soon, it’s a good thing I enjoy traveling and planning for it (and talking about it)! For me, the planning and anticipation is half the fun, and I’m lucky enough to have been able to do it many times for our family vacations.

Hi! I’m Jess, and I live in Idaho with my husband and kiddos, Liam (3 years) and Carolina (7 months) – I’m very excited to be a new contributor here on Babes in Disneyland, and here’s the order in which I research and plan a trip to Disneyland:

1 – Pricing/Purchasing park tickets (how many days do we stay)

2 – Transportation (fly or drive)

3 – Lodging (picking a kid friendly place)

4 – Preparing the kids (get them excited)

5 – Making a plan (rough itinerary and dining reservations)

6 – Typing up packing lists (I’m no Boy Scout, but I’ve adopted “always be prepared” as my Mommy Motto)

Naturally, I’ll start by sharing my thoughts on #1 with you – pricing and purchasing park tickets. I know you want to go ahead and buy those plane tickets while they’re a good deal, but first you’ve got to know how long you are going to be staying. I’ve visited the parks from one day up to seven days, but we’ve found that since having kids three days is our sweet spot for a couple of reasons: A) Three days gives you a middle day, it’s such a bummer when you have a first day, followed by a last day; B) A three day pass gets you a Magic Morning (which is an early entrance into a park, one hour of no crowds and super short lines – love it); and C) It’s affordable for our budget. However, I do recommend adding on an extra day or two to your overall stay in California so you don’t have to feel so rushed – it’s your vacation so you should relax, spend some time in Downtown Disney, and maybe check out some other sights around SoCal.

(Just a few old tickets in my “collection.”)

Next up, you need to consider the best ticket for you. (If you live in California, then you’ve probably already stopped reading this article, but just in case – know that there are special ticket deals out there for you… lucky.) I highly recommend a Park-Hopper ticket (meaning you can get into both Disneyland and Disney California Adventure in the same day), it costs about $30 extra, but it’s totally worth it. Like Disneyland, Disney California Adventure has many fun things for little kids to enjoy; my three year old is especially pumped to go to Cars Land which will be open just in time for our visit this summer. Here are the current ticket prices as listed from Disneyland.com, valid through December 31, 2013:

1 Day – 1 Park per day $87

1 Day – Park-Hopper $125 ($119 for children, ages 3-9*)

2 Day – 1 Park per day $170

2 Day – Park-Hopper $200 ($188 for children)

3 Day – 1 Park per day $220

3 Day – Park-Hopper $250 ($235 for children)

4 Day – 1 Park per day $245

4 Day – Park-Hopper $275 ($255 for children)

5 Day – 1 Park per day $260

5 Day – Park-Hopper $290 ($270 for children)

*Bonus: Kids 2 and under are free!

This summer my family is taking advantage of an amazing discount for members of the U.S. military (retired now, my dad served in the Navy for 20+ years). We can get a 3 Day Park-Hopper ticket for only $99 – over $100 saved per person! It only lasts until September of this year, so if you can swing a trip before then you’ll be saving a bundle. You can also check for special ticket prices through educational associations, AAA, travel companies, travel websites “package deals”, and Costco. Costco sells the Southern California City Pass that gives you three days at the Disneyland Resort and one day each at Sea World and Universal Studios for $279. It’s a great deal–our family’s done it and totally recommend it. Please note that all Disneyland Resort admission tickets are non-transferrable. Never purchase tickets purchase partial tickets from individuals or online. Learn more about the serious risks of purchasing shared tickets. It’s illegal.

Since we are getting this great deal, my parents will be picking up the tickets for us ahead of time at the military base. If you are purchasing tickets straight from Disney you have a couple of options for how to receive your tickets. I have tried them all, but only recommend two: You can buy them online from Disneyland.com and print an e-ticket for free (recommend), you can have them hold the tickets at Will Call for $5 (don’t recommend), have them mail it to you Standard for $5, Express for $15, or International Express for $25 (why spend the extra money?), and finally another way I have purchased tickets is at the grocery store. You heard me right: you know that section on the end of an aisle where they sell a whole bunch of different gift cards? Oh yeh, they have Disneyland park tickets too, might as well get some milk while you’re there (recommend).

Ok – so you’ve got your ticket, now how do you get from Point A to Point DLR? That’s for next time! Until then, let me know what your first step is when planning a trip from out-of-state, and what ticket tricks do you have up your sleeve?

Read more from Jessica on her blog, Idahome. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, or on Instagram.

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