Disney World Florida. What do you do about park tickets???
Discussion
I am thinking of taking my wife and 6 year old son to Florida this Sept. I am lucky enough to be able to borrow a friends house whilst out there so its a fly drive package I am going on. The dilema is what do you do about tickets for the parks!! is it worth buying them before you get there as it seems very expensive. Do you buy a single day ticket whilst there, which places are a must and whats not worth it. I would be very gratefull for any advice. Many thanks in advance.
We've been a few times and normally just buy tickets at the gate or online from Disney. If you are going for a few days get a multi-day park hopper ticket, this allows you to move between the parks each day. Quite often some parks are open later than others and there are parades / firework shows so you may want to spend the morning in say Animal Kingdom and then move to Magic Kingdom for the evening. There was an online deal last year from Disney giving two weeks unlimited access to all the parks for around £250 ( can't remember the exact price ), it's a lot of money but can work out cheaper as individual tickets are around $90 a day at the gate.
There aren't really any discounts to be had, check the exchange rate as it can be cheaper to buy in the US rather than beforehand, especially if you have a good credit card that doesn't charge commission on foreign transactions.
Beware of people trying to sell you cheap tickets on International Drive as they are normally time-share salesman. You might get cheap tickets but they will make you sit through a 4 hour presentation first, we've never done it but I'm told the insist on giving you a ride to the presentation making it harder for you to leave early!
If it's your first time you would probably want to spend at least a day at each park to experience all the attractions and shows.
There aren't really any discounts to be had, check the exchange rate as it can be cheaper to buy in the US rather than beforehand, especially if you have a good credit card that doesn't charge commission on foreign transactions.
Beware of people trying to sell you cheap tickets on International Drive as they are normally time-share salesman. You might get cheap tickets but they will make you sit through a 4 hour presentation first, we've never done it but I'm told the insist on giving you a ride to the presentation making it harder for you to leave early!
If it's your first time you would probably want to spend at least a day at each park to experience all the attractions and shows.
I've just realised my reply was very Disney focussed!
The other parks are also very good, SeaWorld, Universal and Busch Gardens in Tampa. If you are visiting a few of these check out the Florida FlexTickets as it allows access to all the parks for up to 14 days.
Also have a look at the park websites as Universal / SeaWorld often have deals which include both parks and it can be cheaper to buy these tickets online ahead of time. They are electronic tickets which you print and take with you so no hassle with things being sent from the US.
The other parks are also very good, SeaWorld, Universal and Busch Gardens in Tampa. If you are visiting a few of these check out the Florida FlexTickets as it allows access to all the parks for up to 14 days.
Also have a look at the park websites as Universal / SeaWorld often have deals which include both parks and it can be cheaper to buy these tickets online ahead of time. They are electronic tickets which you print and take with you so no hassle with things being sent from the US.
I guess you have to look at your budget but we always buy 14 day Ultimate tickets. They're usually the same price for 14 days as for 7 days.
The thing is, if you buy single day tickets you feel obliged to stay there for the whole day and that can be very draining. If you've got a 14 day ticket then it's no problem to go for a few hours in the morning, and then perhaps go back another evening.
Another thing is the weather is random in Sept so if rain sets in you might want to cut and run.
As you're not staying on site, find out which parks have early entry for Disney guests and don't go on that day, although it should be fairly quiet in Sept anyway.
If you haven't done it already, sign up for the forums at http://www.thedibb.co.uk - there's a lot of useful information there but sometimes it gets a bit Jeremy Kyle. Don't make fun of anyone or you get banned.
The thing is, if you buy single day tickets you feel obliged to stay there for the whole day and that can be very draining. If you've got a 14 day ticket then it's no problem to go for a few hours in the morning, and then perhaps go back another evening.
Another thing is the weather is random in Sept so if rain sets in you might want to cut and run.
As you're not staying on site, find out which parks have early entry for Disney guests and don't go on that day, although it should be fairly quiet in Sept anyway.
If you haven't done it already, sign up for the forums at http://www.thedibb.co.uk - there's a lot of useful information there but sometimes it gets a bit Jeremy Kyle. Don't make fun of anyone or you get banned.
AA355 said:
Brilliant, thanks for taking time to reply. Is the flexticket for all parks or is Disney seperate?
It's for pretty well everything else significant apart from Disney http://www.orlandoflexticket.co.uk/pages/home
AA355 said:
Thats awsome, I will take both of your advices and get a flexticket and get a disney pass. thanks very much again for the replies
How long are you going for? Obviously I don't know anything about you, but one thing I would say is to find out the opening hours of the various parks before you get there (ther're published a few months in advance) and then rough out an itinerary.Maybe you'll be fine, but if you're the sort of people who decide what to do on the day, then it's easy for the day to get away from you and (in my view) it's too expensive to just be there and end up at the back of the queue all the time. It really pays to be at the parks as early as possible - ie be getting into the carpark 30 mins before the park, but watch for the Disney early entry days for their guests, and weekends will be busier with locals. Having said that, as mentioned earlier, it should be pretty quiet in Sept so you might not need to be so intense.
We're in Florida at the moment (last day today 
) and we bought the Disney 14 day ultimate ticket from the Disney Store last October as that was the cheapest place.
We were going to get the other tickets for Seaworld/Busch Gardens etc over here but we haven't had time to go to the other parks.
The Disney parks are so big it has taken us a few days to get round each one (and we've still missed bits this time).
) and we bought the Disney 14 day ultimate ticket from the Disney Store last October as that was the cheapest place. We were going to get the other tickets for Seaworld/Busch Gardens etc over here but we haven't had time to go to the other parks.
The Disney parks are so big it has taken us a few days to get round each one (and we've still missed bits this time).
I've always bought tickets in advance as it has worked out cheaper. The flex ticket works a treat.
If you're going on rides and have a little one a lot of them have an express queue for parents with kids which cuts down on queing time, as does the "single riders" line if only one of you wants to go on. You can also "fast pass" some rides which helps.
If you're going on rides and have a little one a lot of them have an express queue for parents with kids which cuts down on queing time, as does the "single riders" line if only one of you wants to go on. You can also "fast pass" some rides which helps.
We always go late April, early May. Great weather.
We always use www.park-tickets.com - you collect them over there. Used them twice with no problem.
We always use www.park-tickets.com - you collect them over there. Used them twice with no problem.
Deva Link said:
Well, you can look at one of the weather sites and look back at the history.
I've never been in Sept but gather that the weather is very random - early on it'll hot and humid, but should be more bearable later in the month. You could get heavy thunderstorms (as you will from May - Sept) but a bit less frequent than at the height of summer.
Most serious possible problem in Sept is hurricanes - I don't think it's been bad for a few years, but it has in the past.
We're not fans of very hot weather (or rain) and we've been a few times in Oct, which is perfect for temps and little to no rainfall, but the last few years, apart from this year, we've been there late April to early May. having said that, it's been unusually hot there so far this year.
It's a different kind of holiday for us now though - we stay in a WDW hotel (despite having a villa in the family) and we take it very easy over typically 18 days. Usually our youngest (but now in her 20's) daughter comes out for a week or so too. I like it because it's a very easy holiday - all you've got to do is turn up and everything's there for you, and the familiarity means we can get into instantly, instead of taking a week to wind down.
I like driving a big SUV for a couple of weeks too - Hertz messed up last year and gave us a Cadillac Escalade, which in that environment was just brilliant.
I've been for work in both July and December. The December weather is quite good but gets dark early. The July weather is pretty much unbearable imo.I've never been in Sept but gather that the weather is very random - early on it'll hot and humid, but should be more bearable later in the month. You could get heavy thunderstorms (as you will from May - Sept) but a bit less frequent than at the height of summer.
Most serious possible problem in Sept is hurricanes - I don't think it's been bad for a few years, but it has in the past.
We're not fans of very hot weather (or rain) and we've been a few times in Oct, which is perfect for temps and little to no rainfall, but the last few years, apart from this year, we've been there late April to early May. having said that, it's been unusually hot there so far this year.
It's a different kind of holiday for us now though - we stay in a WDW hotel (despite having a villa in the family) and we take it very easy over typically 18 days. Usually our youngest (but now in her 20's) daughter comes out for a week or so too. I like it because it's a very easy holiday - all you've got to do is turn up and everything's there for you, and the familiarity means we can get into instantly, instead of taking a week to wind down.
I like driving a big SUV for a couple of weeks too - Hertz messed up last year and gave us a Cadillac Escalade, which in that environment was just brilliant.
Went with the family in late Oct and first few days November. The weather was pretty good, most days were hot enough that if you got soaked on a ride you dried out pretty fast. There was one day we went to the Atlantic beaches and it was just so hot it was unbearable, but not in the rancid humid way it is in the summer.
For example Fort lauderdale just walking from the room to the car park my shirt would look like Eddie Jordan's.
F i F said:
The December weather is quite good but gets dark early.
Winter weather there varies a lot - my family were there in Dec 2009 / Jan 2010 and it was literally freezing (as in icy) which they're just not geared up for at all. This winter has been extremely warm.I would say the early darkness thing isn't an issue - if anything it's quite nice to separate day and evening. But the thing to watch for is the park opening hours - in the busier months they'll be open very late but in winter they can close at 5 or 6PM.
For Seaworld or Universal tickets we always use www.attraction-tickets-direct.co.uk, they guarantee to be the cheapest, you get the real tickets sent to your UK address prior to going so you don't have to queue up at a kiosk when you get there, and they usually throw in some sort of free meal voucher for Planet Hollywood or similar.
For Disney tickets if you only want to go to each park once and don't need a £400 '21 day unlimited flexo-tastic' ticket, we've found the cheapest way is to go to the US Disney website and buy the "magic your way" tickets for how many days you're going, then add "water parks and more" for water parks or golf, buy the tickets and pay in US Dollars (your bank will convert at that day's exchange rate), then get them fed-exed to your UK home adress - we paid the equivalent of £185 for 3 days of Disney and 3 days of Disney water park/golf, £30 a day is pretty good value IMO.
We've bought tickets in the last week for all of the above and did quite a bit of research, we go to Florida every year and the above works best/cheapest for us every time.
For Disney tickets if you only want to go to each park once and don't need a £400 '21 day unlimited flexo-tastic' ticket, we've found the cheapest way is to go to the US Disney website and buy the "magic your way" tickets for how many days you're going, then add "water parks and more" for water parks or golf, buy the tickets and pay in US Dollars (your bank will convert at that day's exchange rate), then get them fed-exed to your UK home adress - we paid the equivalent of £185 for 3 days of Disney and 3 days of Disney water park/golf, £30 a day is pretty good value IMO.
We've bought tickets in the last week for all of the above and did quite a bit of research, we go to Florida every year and the above works best/cheapest for us every time.
yellowbentines said:
For Disney tickets if you only want to go to each park once and don't need a £400 '21 day unlimited flexo-tastic' ticket, we've found the cheapest way is to go to the US Disney website and buy the "magic your way" tickets for how many days you're going, then add "water parks and more" for water parks or golf, buy the tickets and pay in US Dollars (your bank will convert at that day's exchange rate), then get them fed-exed to your UK home adress - we paid the equivalent of £185 for 3 days of Disney and 3 days of Disney water park/golf, £30 a day is pretty good value IMO.
I don't think your suggestion is good value - I think you're being skewed by thinking the prices are higher than they really are. Your "£400" number is way out.Disney has for years sold the 14 day Ultimate (which is only available in the UK) ticket for the same price as the 7 day one. For 2011 it's £220 for adults. The 21 day ticket is £259.
It's not cheap, but bearing in mind you're going to have to spend quite a bit on tickets however you do it, then my view is that you might as well spend a little bit more and get the flexibility of having tickets that cover your length of stay. It's costing a fortune to be there anyway - there's no point in scrimping on tickets if you end up with "dead" time.
Edited by Deva Link on Sunday 8th May 16:30
Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff