A Note About Purchasing Disneyland Tickets Discussions

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Hello everyone,

This information may have already been posted, but want to put this in a separate thread...

There have been a few threads going round and round about who can purchase Disneyland tickets at this time, and because there have been some threads that have been derailed I posted that there wouldn't be any more discussion about purchasing tickets.

I've purchased a 1-day ticket for June 8 (want to see the Avengers Campus), and a 2-day hopper hopper - going this Saturday and May 4th (May the 4th Be With You!). This is what I've found.

When you purchase tickets online, before checking out you get a box you have to check that states that you and all guests are California Residents (see below*). When you call to purchase a ticket there is no such restriction and anyone can buy them. Also, the Disneyland recording, (714) 781-4565, states something like: At this time only California residents can make theme park reservations. All guests can purchase tickets.

I talked to a CM about this conflicting information, and of course she said that the CMs don't have any control to what the messages say. She also confirmed that anyone can purchase tickets. Of course, for the one day tickets you need to make a reservation, and right now only California residents can make reservations. No one knows when that will change, and I expect when Disney sees how things go in the next couple of weeks they'll choose one of the dates they have been discussing in their own meetings.

Having said that, feel free to discuss purchasing tickets and your strategies, keeping in mind that for now 1-day tickets are only available to CA residents.

I appreciate everyone that has helped to keep threads on track and for encouraging each other to be a little kinder to each other.

(PS, I'll be live streaming on Saturday and Tuesday. I'll be checking out the changes on the attractions, hopefully riding Rise of the Resistance for the first time. https://www.facebook.com/disunplugged and Sí Disney in Spanish. I was going to park at one of the hotels on Harbor Blvd, but I think I'll park in Mickey and Friends, and show how we need to walk to the parks - I read along the tram route, so will share that.)


* Online purchase note when checking out:

 

[Kender]

Thank you for putting out this update and doing a little more legwork to get to the bottom of what's going on . It is definitely frustrating to have two official pieces of information from Disney that are in direct contrast to each other. I appreciate the effort this took and I'm grateful you did so.

May the Force be with you and help you get a ride on RotR!

 

[coaches24]

I wish you luck with ROTR. I got to ride it last year before DL shut down. It was a fantastic ride and I am super excited to get to ride it again (hopefully).

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I wish you luck with ROTR. I got to ride it last year before DL shut down. It was a fantastic ride and I am super excited to get to ride it again (hopefully).

Thank you. I'm glad they don't have plexiglass yet, so really hoping I get on before they decide to add it.

 

[dina444444]

Thank you. I'm glad they don't have plexiglass yet, so really hoping I get on before they decide to add it.

I saw some pics/videos from the CM previews and there was plexi on ROTR

 

[TikiTikiFan]

Thanks for taking the time to check into this!

Good luck securing a spot on Rise!!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

I saw some pics/videos from the CM previews and there was plexi on ROTR

Awwww, man!!! Thanks for letting me know, Dina. I won't be shocked.

 

[dina444444]

Awwww, man!!! Thanks for letting me know, Dina. I won't be shocked.

I think it’s there so when they can start loading vehicles like they do at wdw it’s ready to go.

 

[EPCOT-O.G.]

Thank you for this post. This is fascinating. I know a ticket doesn't guarantee entry, but imagine a potential situation where a less than tech-savvy person, more old school, bought tickets by calling, flew there from out of state, and showed up with an intent to get into the park, and was not let in. If purchasing on the phone does the CM plug in a specific date as well for the reservation? And at that time do they do some verbal acknowledgment of CA residency?

 

[TikiTikiFan]

Thank you for this post. This is fascinating. I know a ticket doesn't guarantee entry, but imagine a potential situation where a less than tech-savvy person, more old school, bought tickets by calling, flew there from out of state, and showed up with an intent to get into the park, and was not let in. If purchasing on the phone does the CM plug in a specific date as well for the reservation? And at that time do they do some verbal acknowledgment of CA residency?

The same thing that happens when those types of folks show up at WDW expecting to get in when all the Park Passes are gone for the day. "Sorry, Charlie!"

 

[kelmac284]

Another wrinkle I used a 3rd party to buy my tickets. I am not going till Sept and bought hoppers but I just wanted to do it because of the discount and also because I wanted to have them and have them linked to my account so that when my window for booking ressies comes up I had them. There was no where that they asked me anything but having just come from Disney World I can tell you when we drove up each day they asked us if we had valid admission AND a reservation. Obviously we did but I am guessing if someone DID and didn't have one of those they would be turned away. Not really sure how DL will handle it and we are Californians but I would def not risk it just in case.

 

[kikismom]

Does anyone know if you can call and use gift cards to purchase? I need nine 5 day park hoppers at some point this year. I want to use my Target red card to get the discount. I've never bought this many tickets at once though. Is there a limit to how many gift cards you can use when purchasing through the website?

 

[707MickeyGirl]

Does anyone know if you can call and use gift cards to purchase? I need nine 5 day park hoppers at some point this year. I want to use my Target red card to get the discount. I've never bought this many tickets at once though. Is there a limit to how many gift cards you can use when purchasing through the website?

I don't know if there's a maximum number of gift cards that can be used - seems like there shouldn't be. But I do know you can combine your gift cards. Each one can hold $1000.

 

[kikismom]

Thanks! Hopefully I can use all of them to pay.

 

[VandVsmama]

I saw some pics/videos from the CM previews and there was plexi on ROTR

We went on ROTR at WDW in January and it had plexiglass in the ride vehicle. It did not detract from the ride experience in any way.

 

[dina444444]

We went on ROTR at WDW in January and it had plexiglass in the ride vehicle. It did not detract from the ride experience in any way.

I road behind the plexi in WDW in November and I agree.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Thank you for this post. This is fascinating. I know a ticket doesn't guarantee entry, but imagine a potential situation where a less than tech-savvy person, more old school, bought tickets by calling, flew there from out of state, and showed up with an intent to get into the park, and was not let in. If purchasing on the phone does the CM plug in a specific date as well for the reservation? And at that time do they do some verbal acknowledgment of CA residency?

The cast member made sure I knew that only California Residents can visit the theme parks at this time. She also said that anyone without a reservation will not be admitted to the theme parks.

Does anyone know if you can call and use gift cards to purchase? I need nine 5 day park hoppers at some point this year. I want to use my Target red card to get the discount. I've never bought this many tickets at once though. Is there a limit to how many gift cards you can use when purchasing through the website?

Yes, you can use gift cards, however, they sometimes limit the gift cards that you can use.

I recommend that you combine your gift cards on one. It will make the transaction go much smoother. You can do so at this site: https://www.disneygiftcard.com/

My daughter, Kelly, told me just today that she could go on Saturday. So, I checked the calendar and selected Saturday, 1 May (as shown below), and purchased the ticket. I then remembered I need to actually make the reservation, and when I went to the site to make the reservation - no availability. You really have to check availability before purchasing your tickets - not just look at the "Select When You're Going." Of course, I know better, but I was multi-tasking while working and not really paying attention.

I called Disney to fix this - you know, link my daughter to my ticket and do their magic so she could go with me on Saturday.

You know what?

That's not the magic they do.... So, I had two alternatives:

1. Give her the ticket and she could pick another date to go
2. Get a refund (Yes, Disney was going to refund the ticket for me)

I decided - spur of the moment - to have Disney change the name on the ticket to me (not that the name really matters), and use it for a future reservation... like, maybe 17 July ...

So, I chose the spur-of-the-moment decision.


................................. Calendar for purchasing tickets .............................................................................................................. Calendar for theme park reservations ..................

 

[brightlined]

My daughter, Kelly, told me just today that she could go on Saturday. So, I checked the calendar and selected Saturday, 1 May (as shown below), and purchased the ticket. I then remembered I need to actually make the reservation, and when I went to the site to make the reservation - no availability. You really have to check availability before purchasing your tickets - not just look at the "Select When You're Going." Of course, I know better, but I was multi-tasking while working and not really paying attention.

I'm a little disappointed that DL kept the old 1-Day calendar exactly the same, and didn't update it to display the availability of that day. Not even to go so far as to block out the day like WDW does - just put the availability icons in the top left corner of the day so people can make a clearer decision. I know they had a lot to do to get ready for open, but, as someone who has worked on sites like this in the past, it doesn't seem like it'd be a huge undertaking, even if they did it now. (And I guarantee that a lot of people have done the same thing - clicked a day and made a purchase.)


Btw - not that we needed further confirmation that out-of-state folks are okay to buy multi-day tickets - I noticed that the terms and conditions for tickets on third-party sites no longer mention that you have to be a California resident to buy tickets (if it ever did). The only mention of CA residency: "At this time, only California residents may visit the theme parks in groups no larger than three (3) households, per state guidance. Continue to check state guidance for updated information."

 

[Disneyland1084]

In case DL announces on June 15th that out of state residents can come, I thought it would be nice if I was already prepared. I'm sure this has already been discussed, I just don't feel like going through the threads.

 

[Evita_W]

Nope, they ask you to certify that you are a California resident when you purchase and from what I have heard it will not let you check out with a billing address outside CA.

And while the state might allow it on June 15th, I would be prepared for Disney to wait until after dinner to change the rules.