Buy tickets ahead of time or not?

[SaraK]

The last time we came to Disneyland (3 years ago) we bought tickets ahead of time. This time I'm not sure if we will or not. If we don't buy them ahead of time how long of a line can we expect to stand in on our first day there? How early should we get in line? Thanks!

 

[sonnyjane]

Any particular reason you're thinking about not buying in advance?

That's what I would always recommend. You just print it at home and take it right to the turnstiles, no need to wait at the ticket booths. Even if the ticket booths had a short wait of 5-10 minutes, that's still 5-10 minutes of waiting that could be avoided.

 

[SaraK]

Any particular reason you're thinking about not buying in advance?

That's what I would always recommend. You just print it at home and take it right to the turnstiles, no need to wait at the ticket booths. Even if the ticket booths had a short wait of 5-10 minutes, that's still 5-10 minutes of waiting that could be avoided.

The only reason we were thinking about not purchasing them ahead of time is that I get nervous about losing them. The Disney website says they will not accept photocopies.

I just realized HoJo sells them at the front desk so we may buy them there instead.

It's good to know the wait would only be 5-10 minutes (is that what you think the average wait is?)

 

[xXtowerOFterrorXx]

I say buy in advance, why put yourself at risk of having to spend more time waiting in lines at DL than already necessary!

 

[sonnyjane]

The only reason we were thinking about not purchasing them ahead of time is that I get nervous about losing them. The Disney website says they will not accept photocopies.

I just realized HoJo sells them at the front desk so we may buy them there instead.

It's good to know the wait would only be 5-10 minutes (is that what you think the average wait is?)

Oh haha that 5-10 minute figure was just a "best-case scenario" guess I made. It could be more, could be less. Remember, you can print them and if you lose them, you can just log into your email account and print them again from your hotel.

 

[Shell4624]

What I did for our most recent trip (oct 29 to Nov 1) was purchase on Oct 19th, via Getawaytoday.com (cheaper than Disney gate prices). You recieve an email confirmation (can't lose email, right ). I printed the confirmation sheet but also saved the email just in case. When we arrived and checked in at DLH, they printed hardcopies of our tickets for us. I want hard copy paper tickets (not printed at home) for our scrapbook.

In the past I've purchased through GAT and walked to the ticket booths the day before we are scheduled to enter the park to have them print the tickets. as mentioned above 5-10min wait

 

[sonnyjane]

What I did for our most recent trip (oct 29 to Nov 1) was purchase on Oct 19th, via Getawaytoday.com (cheaper than Disney gate prices). You recieve an email confirmation (can't lose email, right ). I printed the confirmation sheet but also saved the email just in case. When we arrived and checked in at DLH, they printed hardcopies of our tickets for us. I want hard copy paper tickets (not printed at home) for our scrapbook.

In the past I've purchased through GAT and walked to the ticket booths the day before we are scheduled to enter the park to have them print the tickets. as mentioned above 5-10min wait

For everyone else reading that might not be familiar with how the e-tickets you print at home work.... You print out your email with barcode on an 8.5"x11" piece of paper at home, you bring that directly to the turnstiles (no need to exchange them anywhere), and then they will give you the regular paper tickets that everyone else gets in order to get FP's, etc. You can keep those as mementos or what have you. The print-out ticket is NOT the ticket you must use for the rest of your trip. They trade you for a regular ticket at the turnstiles.

 

[SaraK]

Oh haha that 5-10 minute figure was just a "best-case scenario" guess I made. It could be more, could be less. Remember, you can print them and if you lose them, you can just log into your email account and print them again from your hotel.

Good point. Or I could print two "originals" and keep them in separate places. That would work, right? Thanks so much for your help!

 

[bumbershoot]

The only reason we were thinking about not purchasing them ahead of time is that I get nervous about losing them. The Disney website says they will not accept photocopies.

I just realized HoJo sells them at the front desk so we may buy them there instead.

It's good to know the wait would only be 5-10 minutes (is that what you think the average wait is?)

With an e-ticket that you are printing out from a PDF, it looks exactly the same as a photocopy. That they put that on their page is ridiculous. Don't worry one little bit about it. The electronic ticket option at disneyland.com sends you two emails, and one has the PDFs in it. If your'e bringing a laptop/tablet/smartphone/whatever thing you might bring that gets your emails, you can just keep that email, save the PDF on that device, and bring the tickets. If you don't have anything that can be hooked up to a printer, then make sure the email address you use is one that can be gotten to from ANY computer. So gmail, hotmail, etc. Not your work Outlook, LOL. IF by chance you lose them, then you've got backups, and backup ways to get to it. Sounds like you're staying at HoJo, so if you don't want to print them to travel with them, you can just log into your email from their public computer in the lobby and print the PDFs right then and there on your way to the parks.

I have never once experienced 5-10 minutes at the ticket booths. Even when there was no line (which is RARE, and please note that our trips have overwhelmingly been at slow, slow times of the year) the process at the ticket booths seems to take a year. It always seems to me that each guest and CM are trying to negotiate world peace, that's how long each transaction takes.

The electronic option through disneyland.com is great.

Order, open email, open PDF, print, have the CM at the turnstile scan it, out pops a proper ticket for you, go on in and enjoy!

 

[SarafinaPink]

One more thing to consider: if you are planning on going next summer or later, you may want to buy tickets ahead of time to avoid price increases. They usually happen around May, and you could save quite a bit (they've raised prices pretty drastically the last few years). You will have to check expiration date of the ticket of course, but usually disney tickets are good for a year or longer (current ones on disneyland.com are good through dec 2013)

 

[dadzgirl70]

Buy them ahead of time. We made the mistake and did that once. I'll never do that again. 35 minutes we stood in line! It took forever.

 

[Eeee-va]

If you happen to lose your email, you can probably take your credit card to the ticket booths and get tickets that way. In 2009 I mistyped my email so I never got my electronic tickets, and they advised me to get them from a ticket booth. It DID take quite a bit of time to get the tickets from the ticket booth--probably 10 minutes, and there was NO line at all as we went in an evening, not first thing in the morning--but the e-tickets should be safe even if you DID happen to lose your copy.

 

[ImNoPrince]

Ditto the call to buy them ahead. DH booked our trip and tix through Alaska Air. We were told to go to the ticket booth for our tickets. There were no lines, but it took for...ev....er to get them. I would avoid the ticket booth for anything if you can.

 

[Meech Loves Mickey]

For everyone else reading that might not be familiar with how the e-tickets you print at home work.... You print out your email with barcode on an 8.5"x11" piece of paper at home, you bring that directly to the turnstiles (no need to exchange them anywhere), and then they will give you the regular paper tickets that everyone else gets in order to get FP's, etc. You can keep those as mementos or what have you. The print-out ticket is NOT the ticket you must use for the rest of your trip. They trade you for a regular ticket at the turnstiles.

How long does it take at the turnstiles to get your regular ticket when you have a paper ticket? What if you have a 4 day pass and have to go thru the "special" line?

We had planned on getting our tickets at the booth the evening before our first park day so we could get our names printed on the tickets etc. so we would only have to show ID's and minimize our time at the turnstiles in the monrning when we go to DCA....

 

[SaraK]

Thanks for all your input - it all makes sense! We will either buy ahead tonight or buy at the HoJo front desk (they open at 7 am so getting them before the park opens should be no big deal).

 

[sonnyjane]

How long does it take at the turnstiles to get your regular ticket when you have a paper ticket? What if you have a 4 day pass and have to go thru the "special" line?

About 6 nanoseconds. They literally do it instantly.

 

[ValpoCory]

Buy them ahead of time. We made the mistake and did that once. I'll never do that again. 35 minutes we stood in line! It took forever.

If you are going between early January and late May, it may behoove you to wait to order online until Disney decides whether or not they will have a promotional ticket pricing plan.

 

[lurpee]

Thanks for all your input - it all makes sense! We will either buy ahead tonight or buy at the HoJo front desk (they open at 7 am so getting them before the park opens should be no big deal).

How long will you be there? Don't forget that Costco has four day PH's for $259.99 which includes a $50 GC. So that means that you can buy one for $259.99 and then buy the second one for $209.99.

 

[disneymum58]

How long does it take at the turnstiles to get your regular ticket when you have a paper ticket?

We have done this before. You give them the e-ticket. They scan it and out comes your "paper" (business card size) ticket. Then you will probably have to show your ID and sign it, as that is something everyone has to do these days.

 

[junmatno]

Good point. Or I could print two "originals" and keep them in separate places. That would work, right? Thanks so much for your help!

SaraK, to pick up the e-tickets, we usually take a walk the night we arrive and pick up our tickets from the booth. We also use Get away today.