DISCOUNT TICKETS to Walt Disney World

[DVC Sue]

We’ve used UT several times and we were very pleased. Any amount of savings off a Disney ticket is wonderful!

 

[godfather927]

I have a question on adding the Water Park and Sports upgrade to a 10-day ticket. We are planning for a 12-day trip in early Jan and aren't quite sure if we'll even have favorable weather for any water park days, but because the max number of theme park days we can buy is 10, we need to fill at least two days with something else. So my question is, if we add the Water Park and Sports upgrade, does that mean we can we can do water parks on two days of the trip without it counting toward our 10 day limit?

For example, can we do the following:
Day 1-4, each of the 4 main WDW parks
Day 5-6, water parks (same park twice if only one is open)
Day 7-12, repeats of the 4 main parks

Or does going to water parks on Days 5 and 6 mean we used up 2 of our 10 day tickets and so we would be locked out of the parks on days 11, and 12?

 

[lanejudy]

if we add the Water Park and Sports upgrade, does that mean we can we can do water parks on two days of the trip without it counting toward our 10 day limit?

Correct. The 10 theme park days are counted completely separate from the 10 “plus” entries. You will have 14 days from the designated start date to use any/all (15 if you also have the hopper).

 

[godfather927]

Correct. The 10 theme park days are counted completely separate from the 10 “plus” entries. You will have 14 days from the designated start date to use any/all (15 if you also have the hopper).

Thanks for the info! Now I have to decide if I should play things by ear or just add it ahead of time when buying the 10-day tix. Complicating matters is the fact that it's a much cheaper upgrade via Sam's club website vs all other ticketing site, let alone direct through disney. Also the fact that we'll probably try to play a round of mini-golf at the winterland course, even though the fine print says the add-on package is only good for prior to 4pm.

 

[godfather927]

I just checker AAA and they are -$83 vs. Disney for two 4-day Park Hoppers. They are not selling 2023 tix yet.

Does anyone know when AAA typically posts their 2023 ticket prices? I thought it would've been after Sept 1st, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

 

[BunsenH]

I recently purchased tix from Boardwalk Ticketing. Their prices were about the same as AAA. The ticket code was emailed within a few hours and the actual ticket cards were sent via UPS a few days following. I entered the codes into MDE and all worked perfectly.

 

[Twilightstar18]

How does the AAA/CAA discount work? The CAA site has a Disney ticket discount link to the WDW website, but the prices seem to be the same as the regular. Do they send you a separate discount code or do you purchase through AAA/CAA. Trying to compare prices with UT and with taxes UT seems better.

 

[lanejudy]

How does the AAA/CAA discount work?

My understanding for AAA (and assume it's the same for CAA) is that individual regions may offer discounts but as a whole WDW and AAA dissolved any relationship several years ago now. It tends to be the southern regional clubs that offer a discount. Are you sure the link on the CAA site is for discounted tickets, or just a link to buy tickets - which would be at regular WDW prices.

 

[godfather927]

Ok so here's an interesting "loop-hole" I might've just stumbled across...

When looking to buy 10-day tickets for an upcoming trip, I priced out UT, AAA, and Sam's club. Both standard 10-day base and also with the water & sports upgrade. Oddly enough, AAA was the cheapest for the 10-day base, while Sam's club was the cheapest with the upgrade. So after deciding on pulling the trigger on the upgraded tix, I started looking to renew my long-expired sam's club membership since it would still have been slightly cheaper even after paying to renew the membership for a year. So I went to login in after pricing out the tickets again just to make sure the cost hadn't increased for the days we wanted and oddly enough it let me add them to cart and proceed to checkout. So I entered my cc info and submitted the order, and it actually went through. To double check that I didn't have an active membership I had somehow forgotten about, I tried to do a normal online order and added laundry detergent, and sure enough it wouldn't let me checkout without the $45 renewal fee being automatically added to my cart, confirming my membership is still expired.

So in summary: if you had a Sam's Club account at any point in the past that has since expired, you apparently can still use it to buy disney tix even without an active membership. Might save someone else $45 who is in the same boat.

 

[godfather927]

Correct. The 10 theme park days are counted completely separate from the 10 “plus” entries. You will have 14 days from the designated start date to use any/all (15 if you also have the hopper).

Hi,

Follow-up question: After reading the fine print on adding the Water Park & Sports option, it seems like we can only use on "plus entry" to play one of the mini golf courses per day, and it must be before 4pm. I think this stipulation is still separate from the water park "plus entry". It's yet not clear if either Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon will be open for our stay at the end of the year, but assuming Blizzard Beach is the one that's open, it sounds like Itinerary A is allowed while Itinerary B is not?

Itinerary A:
Ride bus from resort to Disney Springs
Eat Lunch
Ride bus to Blizzard Beach
Enter Water Park
Leave Water Park
Walk to Winter Summerland to play Course 1 before 4pm
Ride bus back to Disney Springs
Eat dinner
Ride bus to Animal Kingdom (or back to resort depending on time)

Itinerary B:
Ride bus from resort to Disney Springs
Eat Lunch
Ride bus to Blizzard Beach
Walk to Winter Summerland to play Course 1
Enter Water Park
Leave Water Park
Walk to Winter Summerland to play Course 2 before 4pm
Ride bus back to Disney Springs
Eat dinner
Ride bus to Animal Kingdom (or back to resort depending on time)

 

[lanejudy]

it sounds like Itinerary A is allowed while Itinerary B is not?

This is what is said about mini-golf on the Water Park and Sports or PH+ option:

Miniature golf valid for one round. Round must start prior to 4:00 PM. Only one miniature golf visit per day.​

I don't know if there's any wiggle room to that rule; I've never tried it. Maybe if you leave and then returned if you would be allowed to do 2 rounds of mini-golf; or if it wasn't busy if they would allow it. Hopefully someone who has tried will comment.

That said, I think your itinerary B is ambitious trying to squeeze 2 rounds of mini-golf and the water park all into a few hours between lunch and dinner. Of course, timing can make a difference, so an early lunch and late dinner allows more time. Any time we've been to a water park, we arrived in the morning and ate lunch there and usually just do the water park; then back to the resort to shower/change before dinner at the resort and a quiet evening. Only one time years ago we did wander from Blizzard Beach to WinterSummerland and take a break for mini-golf during the day.

 

[godfather927]

This is what is said about mini-golf on the Water Park and Sports or PH+ option:

Miniature golf valid for one round. Round must start prior to 4:00 PM. Only one miniature golf visit per day.​

I don't know if there's any wiggle room to that rule; I've never tried it. Maybe if you leave and then returned if you would be allowed to do 2 rounds of mini-golf; or if it wasn't busy if they would allow it. Hopefully someone who has tried will comment.

That said, I think your itinerary B is ambitious trying to squeeze 2 rounds of mini-golf and the water park all into a few hours between lunch and dinner. Of course, timing can make a difference, so an early lunch and late dinner allows more time. Any time we've been to a water park, we arrived in the morning and ate lunch there and usually just do the water park; then back to the resort to shower/change before dinner at the resort and a quiet evening. Only one time years ago we did wander from Blizzard Beach to WinterSummerland and take a break for mini-golf during the day.

The caveat is that we'll be going in late Dec / early Jan so depending on the weather, we probably won't even want to arrive until closer to noon when it starts to warm up and might only be able to tolerate a couple hours of the water park anyhow if the temps are too chilly for us even then. We'll be buying rashguards to help keep us slightly warmer, but my ideal plan is an 11am lunch, then catch a bus to Blizzard Beach to start our first round of golf around 12:30pm. Then do a couple hours at the water park, then squeeze in another round on that second course before 4pm (if it's allowed.) That would put us on track for a dinner back at Disney Springs around 6pm or so.
If not, we'll just have to plan a second water park day (and take an uber there and back instead of dealing with buses at DS), which might be inevitable if the kids really like it there, but becomes more dependent on weather and could impede our other park day plans, ADRs, etc.

 

[Twilightstar18]

In the end I placed an order through Boardwalk ticketing and it worked well. I had 6, 6 day tickets to buy, so I divided it into 2 purchases to see how it went. There was an automatic email generated right away from parksavers with the order details. The confirmation code which can be linked to MDE was sent 5 hours later for the first order, and the next day for the second which I was able to easily link both times.
For 6 day tickets the price was $26 less than UT and $40 less than Disney per ticket which is a nice discount. Thought I would share as I had not heard about Boardwalk until I read this thread, and would use them again.

 

[nekonekoneko]

Hi,

Follow-up question: After reading the fine print on adding the Water Park & Sports option, it seems like we can only use on "plus entry" to play one of the mini golf courses per day, and it must be before 4pm. I think this stipulation is still separate from the water park "plus entry". It's yet not clear if either Blizzard Beach or Typhoon Lagoon will be open for our stay at the end of the year, but assuming Blizzard Beach is the one that's open, it sounds like Itinerary A is allowed while Itinerary B is not?

Itinerary A:
Ride bus from resort to Disney Springs
Eat Lunch
Ride bus to Blizzard Beach
Enter Water Park
Leave Water Park
Walk to Winter Summerland to play Course 1 before 4pm
Ride bus back to Disney Springs
Eat dinner
Ride bus to Animal Kingdom (or back to resort depending on time)

Itinerary B:
Ride bus from resort to Disney Springs
Eat Lunch
Ride bus to Blizzard Beach
Walk to Winter Summerland to play Course 1
Enter Water Park
Leave Water Park
Walk to Winter Summerland to play Course 2 before 4pm
Ride bus back to Disney Springs
Eat dinner
Ride bus to Animal Kingdom (or back to resort depending on time)

I have a question about both of your itineraries. You'll be going to DAK as your first park that day after dinner. And if you are going in the winter, the park is probably going to close between 7 and 8 pm. After dinner, and trying to hoof it from DS to a resort to DAK (remember, there's no direct bus from Disney Springs to any theme park), you'll be looking at like maybe 90 minutes, tops?

I'd be looking at the weather the day you want to do this, and if it's warm, go to the water park, and skip mini-golf. If it's cold, skip the water park, and do mini-golf. Then go to DAK and spend more time there. Your current plan is DS for lunch and dinner, a water park, at least one round of mini-golf, and a theme park, all in one day. That's a lot to pack in..

 

[godfather927]

I have a question about both of your itineraries. You'll be going to DAK as your first park that day after dinner. And if you are going in the winter, the park is probably going to close between 7 and 8 pm. After dinner, and trying to hoof it from DS to a resort to DAK (remember, there's no direct bus from Disney Springs to any theme park), you'll be looking at like maybe 90 minutes, tops?

I'd be looking at the weather the day you want to do this, and if it's warm, go to the water park, and skip mini-golf. If it's cold, skip the water park, and do mini-golf. Then go to DAK and spend more time there. Your current plan is DS for lunch and dinner, a water park, at least one round of mini-golf, and a theme park, all in one day. That's a lot to pack in..

Yeah, on paper it definitely looks more ambitious than I thought, but I just picked AK for the sake of the example since we had 3 AK park days planned for it this trip, so it's not that big of a deal if we end up skipping out on it due to time and instead just head back to the hotel after dinner. Likewise, I'm not really sure we'd do actually both rounds of mini golf in the same day, but just curious what the stipulations are in case that's what the kids end up deciding they want to do.

Having never done a Disney Water Park, I definitely want to prioritize that over a 2nd or 3rd visit at any of the main parks. And if we can squeeze in a round of mini-golf while we're right next door (assuming Blizzard Beach), then that's a bonus, but just wasn't sure on how all the "plus visits" work. Like you said, if it's too cold for the water park I'd still like to know if my ticket allows for us to play both courses at mini-golf, or if only one is allowed.

 

[nekonekoneko]

Yeah, on paper it definitely looks more ambitious than I thought, but I just picked AK for the sake of the example since we had 3 AK park days planned for it this trip, so it's not that big of a deal if we end up skipping out on it due to time and instead just head back to the hotel after dinner. Likewise, I'm not really sure we'd do actually both rounds of mini golf in the same day, but just curious what the stipulations are in case that's what the kids end up deciding they want to do.

Having never done a Disney Water Park, I definitely want to prioritize that over a 2nd or 3rd visit at any of the main parks. And if we can squeeze in a round of mini-golf while we're right next door (assuming Blizzard Beach), then that's a bonus, but just wasn't sure on how all the "plus visits" work. Like you said, if it's too cold for the water park I'd still like to know if my ticket allows for us to play both courses at mini-golf, or if only one is allowed.

Ok, that makes sense. I've never actually done mini-golf at Disney, so I can't answer that. But if it's just a theory you're using to brainstorm, then I understand!

 

[DaviVascaino]

In the end I placed an order through Boardwalk ticketing and it worked well. I had 6, 6 day tickets to buy, so I divided it into 2 purchases to see how it went. There was an automatic email generated right away from parksavers with the order details. The confirmation code which can be linked to MDE was sent 5 hours later for the first order, and the next day for the second which I was able to easily link both times.
For 6 day tickets the price was $26 less than UT and $40 less than Disney per ticket which is a nice discount. Thought I would share as I had not heard about Boardwalk until I read this thread, and would use them again.

thank you, I am buying from them after your review

 

[DisneyMommyMichelle]

Thanks for this thread, it has me looking more at Boardwalk ticketing. We are looking to get Five 10-Day Park Hopper Plus tix.

 

[DaviVascaino]

Just bought 2 tickets (out of 4, will be the other 2 this month) at boardwalk , received my eticket within hours and received the physical ticket in the mail a week later.

highly recommended, I saved close to $100 compared to UT and $130 compared to WDW

 

[cakebaker]

I've bought tickets with UT many times with no issues, but won't be using them ever again. Their CS during the hurricane was abysmal. We bought tickets to Univeral through them as well as Disney tickets. They absolutely refused to refund or change dates with our Universal tickets due to the parks being closed because of the hurricane. In the end, we managed to re-arrange our days through Universal and kudos to them for taking care of us when they didn't have to! We also booked a hotel for what was planned to have been our last night. UT stopped answering phones and so she tried chat to cancel the reservation. She was within the window to cancel when she messaged them, buy by the time they finally answered 3 days later, she was not and they refused to cancel and refund the hotel. She has requested a charge back for the resort through her credit card company. I know UT is favorite here and I expect a slew of responses telling me how great they are- but they weren't for us. I was terribly disappointed in their response at a time that was extremely stressful to start with!