At what age do kids have to get the 'adult' ticket?

[moopdog]

I should already know this, but I forget. I'm thinking it's 9 but that seems obscene? Tell me I'm wrong, please!

 

[MinnieForMe]

I know someone will correct me if I'm wrong but I believe a kid's ticket is 3-9 and an adult is 10+. It's even more crazy when you go to a character meal and have to pay the adult price for a fussy 10 year old that doesn't eat anything but the kids meal anyway.

 

[tripletots]

I should already know this, but I forget. I'm thinking it's 9 but that seems obscene? Tell me I'm wrong, please!

It is obscene! When my youngest became Disney Adults we couldn't afford the tickets anymore.

 

[jennyf2]

Funny you posted this.... I was laying in bed thinking the same thing. We are planning another trip this August & I was pricing it out last night & realized my 10 year old (6 days ago) will be an ADULT!!!! I cannot imagine him ordering anything from the adult menu & what a waste of $$ to let him order from the kids .....

 

[kaytieeldr]

It is obscene! When my youngest became Disney Adults we couldn't afford the tickets anymore.

At/by age 10, most children are able to enjoy, access, and appreciate pretty much ALL the Walt Disney World attractions. Therefore, it's entirely reasonable to charge adult ticket prices.

eta: Currently, on multi-day tickets (4/5/6/7/8/9/10 days) the price difference between an Adult ticket and a Child ticket is $23. That's per ticket, not per day.

 

[loveysbydesign]

It's really a shame that they don't have 2 kinds of kids tickets. Especailly because you have to pay the same amount of $$$ for a 3 or 4 y.o. as you do a 9 y.o. and the 9 y.o. generally can go on all the rides by meeting the height requirements while the 3 y.o. can not.
They should have an age 3-7 ticket and an 8-12 ticket, or something like that!

 

[MEM]

At/by age 10, most children are able to enjoy, access, and appreciate pretty much ALL the Walt Disney World attractions. Therefore, it's entirely reasonable to charge adult ticket prices.

eta: Currently, on multi-day tickets (4/5/6/7/8/9/10 days) the price difference between an Adult ticket and a Child ticket is $23. That's per ticket, not per day.

You are 100% correct! I am as frugal as they come but I consider Disney ticket prices to be an EXCELLENT value.

 

[arihillfarm]

Funny you posted this.... I was laying in bed thinking the same thing. We are planning another trip this August & I was pricing it out last night & realized my 10 year old (6 days ago) will be an ADULT!!!! I cannot imagine him ordering anything from the adult menu & what a waste of $$ to let him order from the kids .....

Just stay away from the buffets (where he will be charged adult price) and order from the kid's menus at sit down restaurants or counter service. We're in the same boat here with a recently turned 10 year old that eats like a bird and only likes kids meal fare. We're planning another trip sometime this summer and my husband is going to be really bummed that we won't be able to do any buffets because of the cost. We used to do a buffet as a late lunch and fill up and then split a counter service for dinner, but no way am I paying $25+ for my daughter to only eat two bites of mac and cheese and a chicken finger.

-Astrid

 

[bigmama67]

We're not even in a position to buy tickets we can spread out over multiple trips, at least not for all of us...we are planning to go when DD is 4 JUST BEFORE DS turns 10; then go at least once more before DD turns 10 (DS will be a "Disney adult" by then; then go once more when they are both "Disney adults"), so we're not in a good position there! Maybe we'll get multi-day tickets for DH and me, and deal with the kids' tickets as they come. I dunno...

 

[sharlon]

One thing to remember is that if you buy a non-expiration ticket for a child (say 8 years old), it is that person's ticket forever, no matter how old they are. So, you can buy the ticket when they are a child and if there is a day left on it when they are grown up, they can still use it. I hope that makes sense.

 

[tzolkin]

At/by age 10, most children are able to enjoy, access, and appreciate pretty much ALL the Walt Disney World attractions. Therefore, it's entirely reasonable to charge adult ticket prices.

eta: Currently, on multi-day tickets (4/5/6/7/8/9/10 days) the price difference between an Adult ticket and a Child ticket is $23. That's per ticket, not per day.

That's what I was going to say. The tickets are really about the same price.

The bigger expense is if you choose to do the dining plan.

It's really a shame that they don't have 2 kinds of kids tickets. Especailly because you have to pay the same amount of $$$ for a 3 or 4 y.o. as you do a 9 y.o. and the 9 y.o. generally can go on all the rides by meeting the height requirements while the 3 y.o. can not.
They should have an age 3-7 ticket and an 8-12 ticket, or something like that!

There really aren't that many rides that the 3-7 group can't do. My DS4 was able to do everything except for RnR, Primeval Whirl, and Sum of All Thrills this last trip. Really, only one major attraction out of all 4 parks. We miss at least that each trip with rehabs/refurbs and they don't discount the tickets any for that.

 

[seashoreCM]

The same recommendations apply to child non-expiration tickets as to adult (10+) tickets. If the ticket won't completely cover a second vacation then you will probably lose money compared with buying separate expiring tickets.

You might inquire at restaurants to see if they have a junior (ages 10-17) price or menu.

 

[bigmama67]

One thing to remember is that if you buy a non-expiration ticket for a child (say 8 years old), it is that person's ticket forever, no matter how old they are. So, you can buy the ticket when they are a child and if there is a day left on it when they are grown up, they can still use it. I hope that makes sense.

Really? I didn't know this, that's very cool! I will keep that in mind. I always assumed my 10 y.o. DD would not be able to use the ticket I bought when she was 4.

 

[kaytieeldr]

You might inquire at restaurants to see if they have a junior (ages 10-17) price or menu

Not available at Walt Disney World restaurants. Repeated requests won't change WDW's stand on this.

 

[Nik's Mom]

I agree that the ticket price difference is reasonable. The adult meal price for a 10 year old is kind of crazy though, at least for my son. He is a light eater and would probably not be able to finish 1/2 of an adult meal. It would be a total waste of money. So we won't do the dinint plan anymore.

 

[ksloane]

Yep. It's 10. And I agree the park tickets themselves are not such a price difference and I'm ok with it, but the dining plan is an entirely different story. My daughter will be 10 this year when we go and I've decided until she graduates to eating like an adult, we're going to do the quick service dining plan. It seems that she'll eat a lot of those "adult" meals where she's not going to touch the adult meals at the sit down restaurants. I'll miss the table service, but just can't see throwing that money away.

 

[Macgyver91]

My kids LOVED it when they turned 10. They would say that according to Disney they are officially adults! Crazy kids... We have learned not to fight the dining plan and try to embrace it...LOL We sometimes share meals and it works great. Of course it doesn't work with the buffets but it works with the others and even if we just share one or two it still spreads out our meals a little. For instance, at the burger places I will order a double meat burger with fries and a drink with the dining plan. I will then purchase a plain bun for under a $1 and then split the QS burger. The fries are usually plenty for 2 and the drink is huge, plus if you ask for a cup of water it is free!

 

[Yoshi]

At least they go by age and not height. Last year I was processing my season pass at a local amusement park and there was a family in front of me who bought a junior pass for their 5 year old the year prior (you can purchase a pass certificate at the end of the season at a lower price than waiting until next spring to buy the pass). When they went to process the pass the kid was over the 48" limit for a junior pass and had to get the regular pass and pay the difference to upgrade.

 

[allison443]

At/by age 10, most children are able to enjoy, access, and appreciate pretty much ALL the Walt Disney World attractions. Therefore, it's entirely reasonable to charge adult ticket prices.

eta: Currently, on multi-day tickets (4/5/6/7/8/9/10 days) the price difference between an Adult ticket and a Child ticket is $23. That's per ticket, not per day.

Thank you for the info!

 

[pixiewings71]

We don't worry about ticket prices, after all if you buy an AP you don't pay a "child's price" for that. For us it's worth it to pay the same price for the kids' tickets as ours, in fact the kids generally ride more rides then DBF and I do so it's an even better deal for them. What we are bothered by is the meals, DD14 is picky and tiny, she can't eat a full meal, ever. So what we generally do is share, or go to CS where we can get her whatever she wants. She still orders from the kids' menus as much as she can because she eats so little. But she does it everywhere, not just at DL. Even at TS places we've been able to order her meal from the kids' menu, we tip the server on the price of an adult meal but she simply can't eat that much food. We haven't into many issues with that.