Best place to buy park tickets?

[Dad_of_4_girls]

Have been searching around - found Ares Travel, Getaway Today, a few others.

If I buy them on-line and print them from home - do I get a hard plastic media when we arrive (staying off-site) or do I have to keep the paper printout the whole time? I like the "keys to the kingdom" at WDW - everything in one hard media

also saw a few references to "passport plus" tickets - includes some DTD discounts - can't find much reference to them, although they seem to be the same price as regular hoppers.

Oh yea - I am looking for 3 day hoppers. Also going to do Universal for 1 day -- but not the other things in a SoCal Pass so that doesn't look like a good deal.

Your experience/reccomendations?

Thanks!

 

[bumbershoot]

The hard plastic cards are the "souvenir" type tickets that you'd typically get with a vacation package from Walt Disney Travel Company or another travel agency that books through them (Costco Travel, AAA, etc).

When you buy a ticket from a place that sends a printout or you print it out, you exchange it for a proper ticket.

But that ticket is going to be paper, not plastic.

Back to the second bit...I know that with Getaway, you go to a ticketbooth to exchange the paper for the ticket. I *think* it's the same deal with Ares.

Buying directly from disneyland.com means you print out what they send to you, then take that page right up to the turnstiles (no ticketbooth stop!), they scan it, and out pops a ticket from the machine. SO easy. Generally a bit more than the other sites mentioned (even when taking the fee those places charge into account), but you'll have to do the math for your own particular family (for instance, the savings for a 2 person family probably wouldn't make GAT or Ares worth it, once the fee is added in...but a 6 person family would save lots of money over disneyland.com) to see what the best deal is!

For me...going right to the turnstiles is worth quite a bit...

 

[clb79]

Our Kroger Brand Supermarkets here in Utah sell 3 day hopper cards that are plastic (like a credit card, but a little thinner). Make sure you hold onto the separate receipt that shows they were activated successfully just in case (although we didn't have any problems at the turnstile, better safe than sorry)

I know the local Supermarkets down near the parks also sell hoppers and would assume they are also "hard media" cards.

 

[PoohBearFriends]

How much do they charge for fees with GET. I am pricing for my friend and couldn't find that out for sure. There are 5 of them going.

 

[vickiea]

There are no fees with Getaway for just tickets. For packages they have a $20 fee.

I ordered 5 (2A, 3C), 6 Day park hopper passes from GET for $930, that was $50 cheaper than listed on the Disneyland site.

I haven't used them yet.

HTH
Vickie

 

[firefly87]

Have been searching around - found Ares Travel, Getaway Today, a few others.

If I buy them on-line and print them from home - do I get a hard plastic media when we arrive (staying off-site) or do I have to keep the paper printout the whole time? I like the "keys to the kingdom" at WDW - everything in one hard media

also saw a few references to "passport plus" tickets - includes some DTD discounts - can't find much reference to them, although they seem to be the same price as regular hoppers.

Oh yea - I am looking for 3 day hoppers. Also going to do Universal for 1 day -- but not the other things in a SoCal Pass so that doesn't look like a good deal.

Your experience/reccomendations?

Thanks!

We got our park hoppers from AAA. They were the same price as on the Disney site but you get free parking at the park (doesn't sound like you need that) but you also get 1 early entry where you get into the parks 1 hour before the park officially opens (Fantasyland and Tomorrowland only). You can usually only get early entry by staying on-site.

 

[klam_chowder]

Dad_of_4_girls, can you pls share which place had the least expensive park tickets?

I need park tickets too - going early Dec. Here's the rub...DH & I can only be in the parks for 2 days so are paying a premium.

cheers,

 

[bumbershoot]

Ah, whoops, sorry for saying GAT had a fee. Last time I was checking GAT it was for transportation, and they did have one.

 

[bumbershoot]

disneyland.com: 2 day adult, 151.
gat: 2 day adult, 143
ares: 2 day adult, 149 + 1.25 convenience fee

 

[klam_chowder]

Thx a mint bumbershoot!

oh well, the things we do for our addicti...er...


cheers,

 

[kungaloosh22]

We got our park hoppers from AAA.

If you order the AAA tickets (tickets only, not a package) and have them mailed to your home, are they paper tickets or plastic card type tickets?

 

[todzwife]

You can usually only get early entry by staying on-site.

Nope, not true. You get an early entry for any 3+ day park hopper. If you are staying on site you get early entry EVERY day that it is available.

(someone correct me if I'm wrong though)

 

[rmom]

If you belong to a credit union, don't forget to check with them. I was going to buy with GET but recieved a letter from our credit union that is $20/ticket cheaper for the 3 day pass. The savings will help pay for our breakfast with Goofy.

 

[firefly87]

If you order the AAA tickets (tickets only, not a package) and have them mailed to your home, are they paper tickets or plastic card type tickets?

I'm not sure......they were mailed to my mom's and I'll have to ask her! I think they are the thicker paper ones though. At least that is what they were when we went in March and I'm almost sure we got them from AAA.

Nope, not true. You get an early entry for any 3+ day park hopper. If you are staying on site you get early entry EVERY day that it is available.

(someone correct me if I'm wrong though)

Really?? So it doesn't matter where you get your hoppers, as long as it's 3+ days, you get an early entry? I did not know that. Thank you for the correction!

 

[bumbershoot]

Really?? So it doesn't matter where you get your hoppers, as long as it's 3+ days, you get an early entry? I did not know that. Thank you for the correction!

There are tickets that don't have the Magic Morning included. Convention tickets (like Gay Days, etc) and military tickets don't generally have the MM on them. All the others, however, do.



And just in case anyone here is thinking about upgrading tickets to APs...it's worthwhile to know that you do NOT keep the discount when doing so. So if you pay 150 for a ticket instead of 170, you'll be paying the difference between the AP and what you paid.

It's different at WDW, for those who know the WDW process, where they "bridge" the price from what you paid to the current gate value, and you "keep" the discount.

But not at DLR. So if you're planning to upgrade, it's worth knowing that before you make yourself crazy trying to get the best discount...if you don't need to split up the price, might as well just buy the AP from disneyland.com, take the e-ticket you print out to the turnstiles, get a temp AP, then get your picture taken and get your card at the AP center later that day.

 

[Jrsy Boy]

If you belong to a credit union, don't forget to check with them. I was going to buy with GET but recieved a letter from our credit union that is $20/ticket cheaper for the 3 day pass. The savings will help pay for our breakfast with Goofy.

Also, if you work for a large company or corporation, check with HR to see if you have "voluntary benefits" through something like Beneplace. Our voluntary benefits were linked with TicketsAtWork.com, which turned out to be the cheapest place for us to get our recent 3-day hoppers.

 

[DizMe]

Also, if you work for a large company or corporation, check with HR to see if you have "voluntary benefits" through something like Beneplace. Our voluntary benefits were linked with TicketsAtWork.com, which turned out to be the cheapest place for us to get our recent 3-day hoppers.

California teachers (not sure about elsewhere) also get a discount on tickets through CTA. The one drawback is that they only go up to a 3-day hopper. If you want more than that, you have to purchase elsewhere. The info can be found here http://www.tsaspecialservices.com/entertainment.htm. Wow! I just discovered there is even a discount on APs for California teachers--$263!

Mousesavers gives a whole list of possible places to check http://www.mousesavers.com/dltickets.html

 

[Dad_of_4_girls]

thanks for the comments!

Looks like it will be Getaway Today.

We have had the "hard paper" tickets before - actually sill have some from our honeymoon that have 1 day left on hoppers w/no expiiration for WDW - saving those for a special occasion

 

[tatehermosa]

If I order from Getawaytoday will they send my tickets via email or through snail mail. It says at checkout 1-5 business days but I leave on Saturday.

Thanks,

Tate

 

[tatehermosa]

To answer my own question: I just called GAT and ordered the tickets. They do not charge for shipping if you are only buying Hoppers and you pick them up at the ticket booth when you get to Disneyland.