Going to parks before checking in to Disney hotel?

[TinkBink]

Looking for some planning help! I have only ever booked hotel/ticket package together so I'm not sure how to approach this one. We will be staying offsite for 4 days for a gymnastics competition and then moving to a Disney hotel for 5 days. However, we'd like to use some time while we are offsite to visit the parks but my understanding is if you book a package, you can't use the tickets until you check in? So my questions are:

Do I book a package with a 5 day ticket and then buy separate tickets for 2 or three days? Or do I book a room only package and my tickets separate?
If I buy tickets separate and I'll be offsite some time and onsite some time, how does it work with multipass 3 vs 7 day advance booking?
Can I still use a magic band to enter parks/lightning lanes if I'm offsite?

Thank you for any help or tips you can provide!

 

[focusondisney]

Looking for some planning help! I have only ever booked hotel/ticket package together so I'm not sure how to approach this one. We will be staying offsite for 4 days for a gymnastics competition and then moving to a Disney hotel for 5 days. However, we'd like to use some time while we are offsite to visit the parks but my understanding is if you book a package, you can't use the tickets until you check in? So my questions are:

Do I book a package with a 5 day ticket and then buy separate tickets for 2 or three days? Or do I book a room only package and my tickets separate?
If I buy tickets separate and I'll be offsite some time and onsite some time, how does it work with multipass 3 vs 7 day advance booking?
Can I still use a magic band to enter parks/lightning lanes if I'm offsite?

Thank you for any help or tips you can provide!

Yes, you can buy a tickets separately for however many days you need & pick what day they starts. Buying separate 2 or 3 day & 5 day tickets will be more expensive than buying a 7 or 8 day ticket. You can buy tickets directly from Disney’s website or from an online ticket site that offers a small discount. You will add the tickets to your MDE & assign to each guest. You don’t need park reservations because they’re date based tickets. Once they’re entered into your MDE account, you can use your MBs & proceed as normal for park entry & LLs. For your offsite stay, your LL booking window will open 3 days before the ticket start date. For onsite, it opens 7 days before your resort stay arrival.

Since you are buying tickets separately, you might want to do a room only reservation instead of a ticketless package. First, you have to call to book a ticketless package. Room only reservations can be made online. The package has a $200 deposit, 30 day cancellation & must be paid in full at 30 days. Room only deposit is 1 nights cost, balance is paid on check in, cancellation is currently 5 days before arrival, going to 8 days in 2025.

 

[TinkBink]

Yes, you can buy a tickets separately for however many days you need & pick what day they starts. Buying separate 2 & 5 day tickets will be more expensive than buying a 7 day ticket. You can buy tickets directly from Disney’s website or from an online ticket site that offers a small discount. You will add the tickets to your MDE & assign to each guest. You don’t need park reservations because they’re date based tickets. Once they’re entered into your MDE account, you can use your MBs & proceed as normal for park entry & LLs. For your offsite stay, your LL booking window will open 3 days before the ticket start date. For onsite, it opens 7 days before your resort stay arrival.

Since you are buying tickets separately, you might want to do a room only reservation instead of a ticketless package. First, you have to call to book a ticketless package. Room only reservations can be made online. The package has a $200 deposit, 30 day cancellation & must be paid in full at 30 days. Room only deposit is 1 nights cost, balance is paid on check in, cancellation is currently 5 days before arrival, going to 8 days in 2025.

Thank you so much for the information! It seemed a lot cheaper to book the tickets and room separately. So when I go to purchase multipass, and I look 7 days in advance, I assume it will just only let me select from my days onsite?

 

[Miffy]

Thank you so much for the information! It seemed a lot cheaper to book the tickets and room separately. So when I go to purchase multipass, and I look 7 days in advance, I assume it will just only let me select from my days onsite?

Yes, that's correct. Your off-site days will be bookable 3 days in advance.

For your park tickets, make sure to check out Undercover Tourist, which usually has better ticket prices than buying direct from Disney. They're completely reliable, btw, and many DISers use them. I used to before I purchased an AP.

 

[aleria24]

I have a question about this. Can I use my package tickets on check in day? Say we want to arrive at 8 am on check in day, leave our car at the resort and head to a park. Is that allowed or do tickets only activate at resort check in time?

 

[focusondisney]

I have a question about this. Can I use my package tickets on check in day? Say we want to arrive at 8 am on check in day, leave our car at the resort and head to a park. Is that allowed or do tickets only activate at resort check in time?

The tickets will work fine at park opening. Your package & therefore the tickets, are fully paid for 30 days before you arrive, so no need to check in first. However, you can check in when you arrive if you prefer. You don’t have to wait for official check in time to do so. If you haven’t done online check in & want to charge back to your room, you should check in early anyway.

 

[scrappinginontario]

I have a question about this. Can I use my package tickets on check in day? Say we want to arrive at 8 am on check in day, leave our car at the resort and head to a park. Is that allowed or do tickets only activate at resort check in time?

If you want to try for a VQ at 7AM, ensure you have fine online check-in.