Welcome to Disneyland Q&A here on Babes In Disneyland.  The above question is one I get asked quite often and given an article in the Orlando Sentinel today, I thought I should address it here on the blog.

Question:  Should I buy Disneyland tickets from one of those agencies who reuses mulit-day tickets?

Answer:  There are a variety of companies who offer Disneyland admission tickets at a “discounted” rate.  They tout their business as legitimate, but they are not.  Their racket goes something like this: They purchase multi-day tickets and deliver them to guest the night before your visit.  The guest uses the ticket and then returns the ticket with the unused days on it to the vendor.  The vendor then turns around and gives the tickets to another guest to use for their day at Disneyland.

Here’s the problem with this racket.  Disneyland Resort tickets are nontransferable.  It says it right on the ticket.  And while, I’m not sure of the specific laws here in California, a workers running a similar sham were recently arrested in Florida where this kind of activity is against the law.

What I can tell you is that using this type of ticket can spell disaster for you as a Disneyland Resort guest for a number of reasons.  First and foremost, using a ticket that is not yours is actually a prosecutable offense called “Defrauding an Inn Keeper.”  Don’t believe me?  Ask the annual passholders I detained and saw booked by Anaheim PD back when I worked at Disneyland.  No amount of savings is worth that kind of disgrace, especially in front of your children.  Believe it or not, resort Cast Members can figure out a lot of information about your tickets just by the codes embedded in their bar code, including when and how they were purchased–information that a guest could never substantiate if the tickets were not theirs.  If a Cast Member is suspicious of your ticket, they could question you about it.  Second, should you have a problem during your visit and you wish to receive some sort of compensation for your trip, you will have no tickets to turn in or show your proof of attendance at the park.  There are times when Disneyland will provide tickets to return to the park if you have to leave because of an emergency just after getting there, have a super HORRIBLE experience, etc.  In order to get tickets to come back, you will have to give them your tickets–something you cannot do if the tickets are not yours to give.  Lastly, should you lose your multi-day ticket you will really be up a creek without a paddle with the “ticketing agency” from whom you are borrowing the tickets.  Should you lose your OWN tickets while at Disneyland, there are ways to try to recover them through credit card records, etc.

Anyway, that’s my two cents on these “ticketing agencies.”  Beware and use common sense.  Don’t buy second-hand tickets from any sort of business, eBay, Craigslist, etc.  In my opinion, it’s better to be safe than sorry and not worth the involved risks.  And I do want to note that this does not pertain to specific group rates often offered by the military or other organizations.  If you have questions about their ticket sales, it is best to contact Disneyland to verify that they are selling authorized tickets by calling the Disneyland operator at (714) 781-4000 and ask for Group Sales.