Best deals on WDW tickets?

[Shellbe76]

Planning our first trip and wanted to know where people have got the best deals on passes for WDW, US, IOA etc. Is it better to buy them before, or buy them in the USA? We're planning on buying the 5 day Hopper for Disney, and the 5 park Orlando Flexi ticket for the rest, and also we're going to Discovery Cove.
Thanks

 

[SEVANS2208]

If the Orlando flexi ticket is the one that includes Sea World then I don't know if this is your best deal as you get admission to Sea World included with your booking for Discovery Cove.

Regarding tickets for WDW I always order mine from their US website as they tend to have more choice of tickets. I'm sure someone else will be able to tell you about better deals but I have found that ordering from Disney direct is v. good (though maybe not the cheapest - not sure, sorry).

Sorry I can't be of more help but all I would say is generally it's best to get the tickets before you go if you're sure you're going to do all the parks. We don't buy ours for Univeral & Iof A until we're there but only because we never know whether we'll have the energy to do it all!!

 

[vernon]

You don't say how long you are going for, but if you go for a Disney 5 day hopper plus (and use the plusses for two waterpark days), one day at DC and another 3 or 4 half/three quarter days at SW you've already up to 11 or 12 days entertainment. Unless you're going for three weeks I would leave any other ticket purchases until you're there, just in case you find you don't get the full use from them.

I wouldn't worry about WetnWild, IMHO it's a far inferior product when compared to the WDW waterparks. At BG they are almost certain to do a second day "free" so you could get by on a "one day"ticket there and depending on how you feel you could get a 1,2 or 3 day ticket to cover US/IOA. I think just buying a single day at BG and maybe 2 days for US/IOA will be cheaper than getting the Orlando flexticket and gives you the flexibility to decide if you have the time and inclination to fit in more parks. You still can make a little more use of the SW tickets if you have spare days. I really like to do SW over 4 or 5 half days mixed in with pool time,shopping and some nice restaurants. It allows you to have a couple of mornings where you don't feel like " WE HAVE TO GET TO THE PARKS , WE'VE PAID A FORTUNE FOR THIS TICKETS" and end up in need of another holiday to get over this one LOL


I think a lot of people like ticketmaster and a recent edition to this site's offerings ( it's so new I haven't used it yet ) is http://www.officialticketcenter.com/cobrands/tc11.htm so you can compare their prices. I did notice on Universals own website http://www.usf.com that they were doing 5 days for the price of two, but my PC here at work won't let me open that page to see exactly what that deal is.

IMHO very often people on their first trip or two end up over purchasing park tickets ( this is particularly the case with tickets like the UMP and Orlando flex that are "use em or lose em" the hoppers and single day tickets can at least be used on a future trip if you don't get the time to use them) and end up either letting them go to waste or end up rushing around at a pace that isn't conducive to returning home feeling like you've actually had a holiday.

 

[Shellbe76]

Well, we're going for 2 weeks - knock off two days for travel, leaving 12 days.

We wrote down an itinery (sp?), and thought we'd do one day at all the Disney Parks, one day at Busch, Seaworld, US and IOA & Discovery Cove leaving a couple of days to go back again if we want to. All this ticket malarkey is a lot to take in! I know with Discvoery Cove you get a 7 day Seaworld ticket, but when we added all the prices seperately for the Flexi-ticket, it was only a bit of a difference, can't remember now for sure. More research needed I think!

Thanks for the advice

 

[vernon]

Shellbe, I honestly think you'll struggle to get BG, US AND IOA all in on top of the other things you have planned. Depending on the time of year you go, I would say that a day at each of the waterparks is a must, they are great fun and make a nice change from galloping around the parks all day. One of the best way to recoup some of the cost of the holiday is to do some shopping in the US instead of buying things here, generally you'll save about 40% on clothes/jeans etc over there. This can work in well with your prepaid days for SeaWorld by allowing you to go to SW until say 4.00 then spend a couple of hours shopping ( usually a couple of hours is all small children and/or husbands can take without losing their sense of humour LOL )

In your situation I would drop BG, not because it is an inferior park, just because it's 3 hours travelling. If your kids aren't big enough or not keen on the big coasters I'd probably think about leaving out IOA (IMHO the BEST park in Orlando) and make do with Universal as a taster of a non Disney park. In just two weeks you're not going to be able to do everything. You've made a big outlay in taking on DC ( FANTASTIC day out) I would take the $200 per person that a flex ticket would cost you and put it towards the next trip you have already paid out for enough park days to cover your holiday if you use them sparingly.

It's not easy to "do " MK in just one day, most people find it is a two day park, particularly if you have smaller children. For teens I would probably go to just one day at each of the Disney parks (At AK it's possible with an early start to be through by 4.30 and use the remainder of that day to cover the balance of MK) and one at IOA.

 

[MoreThanVillas]

Out of all the park tickets... I find the best value one to be a 5 Park Orlando Flex.

This ticket will entitle you to 14 days of unlimited use to Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, SeaWorld, Wet'n'Wild, and Busch Gardens.

If you love roller coasters and adrenalin pumping rides, miss out the Disney Parks and go for this ticket.

If you have got children under 10 with you, it is odds on that they will want to go and see the mouse. If this is the case, just buy a 1 day pass for Magic Kingdom, and then get the flex ticket for the rest of the time. At the parks above, they still have pleanty of childrens rides... and some great Big Kids Rides too.

Good luck with the trip!!!

 

[wdwukman]

I also found the Orlando Flex-ticket to be a great buy. I booked through Virgin Holidays and paid £119 for a 4 day Flex-ticket. This gives me unlimited access to US, SW, IOA & Wet'N'Wild for 14 days.

I also purchased a 10 Day World Hopper Pass when the 10 Day pass was on special offer at £199. I purchased from The Disney Store here in the UK. That offer no longer stands I believe so you are best to opt for a Disney 5 Day Park Hopper Plus Pass. This is the pass I have purchased on both of the occassions I have visited Orlando in the past (although last time we went we were given a 7 Day Park Hopper Plus Pass, even though we paid for a 5 Day one. What a great mistake to make!). The 10 Day Pass does expire after 20 days of its first however, so if you plan to visit again in the near future a 5, 6 or 7 Day Park Hopper Plus Pass may be better for you.

I purchased a 10 Day World Pass this time because in the long run it worked out better for me and my friends. It was only £20 more expensive than a 5 day one and I have visited WDW on two occassions in the past so I have a fairly good idea how long I want to spend there. I also wanted to visit DisneyQuest this time round, and with this ticket I have that option (this option is also available as part of the 7 Day Ticket Plus 4 options deal).

I am going for 14 days so I am going to have my work cut out to use up all the days but in the end I know the money was well worth it.

 

[edie w]

We're visiting for the 4th time in October and have bought 5 park Flex tickets and special 10 day Hopper+ passes.

Because we booked in bulk (5 adults and 3 over-9s, plus 2 children) we got excellent prices - £127/£107 for Flex Ticket and £184/£144 for 10 day Hopper+. These were from Attraction Tickets Direct (www.attraction-tickets-direct.co.uk), and arrived in a couple of days. They are the real thing, not vouchers.

Can't stop looking at them!

Although we've bought 24 days' worth of tickets for a fortnight's holiday (13 full days) we think its worth it for the flexibility of being able to come and go more or less as we please.

On our previous two visits we did visit every park - some more than once - and fully intend to do the same again. There will still be time to laze by our pool and shop til we drop.

We all love the holiday - the kids love the magic the thrills and the pool; those of us who do paid work love the complete mental relaxation, and my SIL who looks after their children loves the action!

170 days and counting.....