College student and Disneyland annual pass

[disneypharm]

DD will be starting college in S. California and would like to get an DL annual pass. We will be there in August and would like to spend 2-3 days going to the parks before dropping her off for college orientation. Can she get a CA resident annual pass and if yes, can we get the pass before our visit to the parks?
I tried to find my answer by googling or going to Disney site but no luck.
Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[starry_solo]

She won't be a resident until she actually gets to CA and lives here for an extended period of time (I think a year). So no, you can't get the AP before then.

However, to establish residency for college requires a longer period of time (usually a year before applying for school).

How to establish residency to get a license:
https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/dl/residency_requirement

I don't think DL will be as strict as the state but she will probably need to provide a copy of the lease of the place she is renting for college to get a CA pass.

 

[disneypharm]

Thank you for your quick response. I understand the residency requirement for college. She will be attending a private college, so I am not worried about establishing residency for college tuition. She will be living in the dorm for the first year, so I assumed that residency for Disney is based on living in the state (having a CA address) and not as strict as college residency (eg, living and paying taxes for a year and etc...). I was trying to find out if she can buy a CA resident annual pass by just showing her college acceptance and her dorm address!

 

[beachdreamr1229]

Usually when I've purchased the so cal APs, I've had to show my CA driver's license. So, you could try, but there's a good chance it won't work out unless she gets the deluxe or up. If she's attending a nearby college like Chapman, they may have some information through the student union. Keep in mind, too, that the so cal pass is only good on weekdays during specific times of the year, so if the university isn't super close, she may not be going as often as she thinks.

Another option, she could try to work there. I didn't work for Disney, but I worked for a park in my college town and it was a great way to get insider knowledge of how parks work. It was a fascinating experience and gave me some extra money for my expenses.

 

[disneypharm]

Thank you for your help. It is Chapman so she will be close to DL. I doubt that she will be working at DL anytime soon since she will be studying for 2 degrees (double major). She is a huge Disney fan and would love to go to DL on weekends with friends. She has her Fall schedule and it seems that she has some afternoons off, so that would an option too.

 

[starry_solo]

If she wants to go on weekends then she'll want to get the deluxe or higher .

Southern CA pass has too many blackouts.

Also, she would need to show a picture ID to get an AP.

 

[ashley0139]

So I know you can use in state ID, I know you can use utility bills sent to the address. I would bet that she could use her college ID as proof. However, as you say that you are planning to go before you drop her off, which means she won't have any mail or ID, I'm not sure you will have necessary proof. But you can try.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

There have been recent changes to the AP blockout calendar (with more changes supposed to be coming), so make sure your DD looks at the calendar carefully to see if/how the available dates will work for her.
If you go to the ticket booths and are not able to purchase her AP at that time, at least you will find out exactly what she will need to bring with her to prove her residency later on. And, in that case, maybe you could buy her an AP gift voucher which she could use later when she receives her student i.d. and other proofs of address.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Thank you for your help. It is Chapman so she will be close to DL. I doubt that she will be working at DL anytime soon since she will be studying for 2 degrees (double major). She is a huge Disney fan and would love to go to DL on weekends with friends. She has her Fall schedule and it seems that she has some afternoons off, so that would an option too.

I’m assuming she’s a Freshman at Chapman. IF so some food for thought, and I’m not judging or anything just some things that I hope you guys have thought through:

Tbh an AP to DLR in college near DLR sounds so much fun (and especially visiting with friends)! But maybe give serious consideration to her settling in first and then looking into an AP. A double major is going to require lots of study time- and the college experience itself requires all the other spare time she will not have. Clubs for everything under the sun! Oh, right, and studying. Those afternoons? Yeah, I remember seeing my college schedule and being like “look at all the free time!” ROFL!!! Those afternoons were for studying, activities, more studying, and sometimes sleeping because even the most responsible of students ends up pulling all nighters. I’m sounding Debbie-downer but I’m trying to be realistic here. Until she’s a month or two into her first semester she won’t know what her schedule is. Until she starts studying for the courses she won’t know what her study load is.

And “go with friends”. So if she already has friends with APs to DL you’re obviously good to go here! ...But if not is she hoping to make friends who she can then go to DL with on weekends? If it’s the later maybe she meets awesome DL passholders and everything is great, or maybe she really makes friends with people who don’t have APs (and maybe can’t even afford APs, most of my friends -and even me- in college would not have been able to tbh).

Like I said, just some food for thought

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

For various reasons, your daughter would not be eligible to buy a So Cal annual pass for Disneyland ahead of time. I would think she might be considered eligible for one if she brought proof of Chapman admission and housing agreement to the Disney customer service and ticket booths. If that's the level of pass she wants, you can always see how it goes. I would actually recommend choosing the deluxe pass though because the only So Cal pass available for purchase right now is weekdays only and has a lot of additional blockouts. The deluxe pass will give her more flexibility. If you buy the deluxe pass, then you can purchase ahead of time online, but there will still be processing at the ticket booths that will need to be completed on the day of first use. That step can be taken any time in the day before the park closes though, so you can start your day going through the park gates and then step out to take care of the pass processing sometime later in the day.

Btw, an older sister of one of my son's friends was also very excited about getting into Chapman a couple years ago. The proximity to Disneyland was definitely a perk in her mind. Her mom mentioned how much she enjoyed her Disney visits during her freshman year, how it helped her get off campus and take breaks from college stuff, and even make new friends.

 

[lunasea]

Thank you for your help. It is Chapman so she will be close to DL. I doubt that she will be working at DL anytime soon since she will be studying for 2 degrees (double major). She is a huge Disney fan and would love to go to DL on weekends with friends. She has her Fall schedule and it seems that she has some afternoons off, so that would an option too.

Then any of the So Cal passes would be useless for her. The lowest has zero weekends and the next one up has like 12 Sundays for the year. I agree with the PPs abut Deluxe or higher.

 

[cmwade77]

Definitely Deluxe or Higher and there would be no proof of residency required unless you wanted to use financing options for monthly payments, otherwise there wouldn't be enough weekends available to make it worthwhile.

 

[longboard55]

I actually think its a great idea. I see Chapman groups there all the time. You will save in the long run. DL is not like WDW, people go all the time, like several times a week. No kidding

 

[disneypharm]

OP here. I haven't been on Disboards for a long time, so I am not sure how to reply to posts directly.

Thank you all for your very helpful posts. Your posts have definitely made me think about options for DD to visit DL.
#gottalovepluto I agree with you about waiting to see what her real schedule and friendships will be like. DD already has a friend at Chapman who is a junior (DD will be a freshman) and has never visited DL, so I agree that she should wait to see if she will have a friend who is willing to visit DL with her. I have already considered the deluxe pass, but wanted to see if we can save some money by going the CA AP route. I also wanted to use the pass while we are there, so that I don't have to pay for the 3-day pass in addition to an AP.
Oh well, a lot to think about!!

 

[Luv Bunnies]

We live in California and my son attends college in Florida. I was wondering if he would qualify for Florida resident discounts at WDW, so I called and asked. The CM put me on hold for a while and looked it up. She said he would need either a Florida driver's license or a utility bill to show that he was actually a permanent resident of the state. Living in a college dorm does not count since it's meant to be a temporary housing arrangement. She said if he ever moved into an off-campus apartment, he could qualify with a utility bill if it was in his name. He has three years to go and is not planning to live off campus or get a Florida driver's license. No discounts for him!

 

[disneypharm]

Thanks #Luv Bunnies
I assume it works the same for DL! I just checked the price for a Deluxe AP ($729) and 3-day park hopper pass ($330). It would definitely save us money to have the AP before the 3-day visit. With a deluxe pass, visit to the parks is allowed on most weekends, except for some holidays (Thxgiving, Christmas). She will be coming home during those holidays, so it will be ok.