One day Ticket Question/Discussion

[barbaraann]

Have you ever bought a one day ticket to a theme park?

The only time that I have purchased a one day ticket, to any theme park, was back in 2012, when I was visiting WDW with family and friends, and my grandson, age 19, was traveling with us. Kids get a certain age, and they get cranky. I didn't purchase a park hopper for him, because I didn't think he'd end up using it. I was right. He spent almost all of his time in the hotel, on his computer, with his friends back home. He went to Magic Kingdom with us one day, and spent one day with us at Universal. I lost money on the deal, since I bought him a 2 day, two park ticket for Universal. I paid for the one day ticket to Magic Kingdom at the TTC.

My point is, that if I only had one day to visit a park, I would just stay home. I wait to do my traveling, when I can purchase a multi day ticket, and I make a vacation of it.

I don't live in California, but if I did, I'd most likely have an annual pass, and I'd take advantage of the monthly payment plan.

I sit here wondering just how many people buy one day tickets? Are they locals, who can only afford to go one or two days year, and make a day of it? Are they out of towners, who figure one, or two days is plenty enough time to see and do it all?

Disney wants to fill up it's park each and every day of the year, that's for sure. The parks are more crowded than ever. I've heard, and seen this first hand, when traveling in what I thought was a down season, and when I arrived, the parks were packed.

What's your theory about who buys one day tickets, and why?

 

[mom2rtk]

I have bought one day tickets a number of times, and probably will again.

Not every family is an "all Disney" sort of a family. Sometimes families compromise and spend part of their trip doing things some family members like, and part of their trip doing things others like.

Some families want to visit Disney, but can only afford one day.

When we visit the beach, I love adding a day at the Magic Kingdom on my way back to the airport.

Different strokes.

 

[goooof1]

Yep....a quick Disney "fix" on the way to visiting friends in San Diego. Well, we were driving right by DLR, why NOT stop in for a day.... (a busy easter day, but hoppers made it a fun and long day!)

 

[Lolly&Rue]

I live in California, and a 4.5/5 hour drive from Disneyland. I have never been to Disneyland for more then one day and I have probably been 15 or more times in my life. It is VERY common for people who I know to visit for only one day and then I know a handful of people who have annual passes. Most people I know like Disney but they aren't crazy into Disney so it is nice to go once every year or two and see what is new and have a Disney day. Also there is a lot to do around here that is only a short drive away (Vegas, Beach, San Francisco, San Diego, Catalina Island...) Disney is just one of those options, so one day every year or two is more then enough.

Our upcoming trip will be the first time my husband or I have spend more then one day in the park, and we only did that because we are traveling with young kids and wanted to make sure we didn't feel rushed and could take a break mid day. We are only going for 2 days in the park and feel like that is plenty of time mostly because we know we will be back.

 

[tkradtke]

I've done one day tickets before, but it's been a while. Growing up, one of my best friend's family was from California. I'd go with them them each summer and we always spent one day - open to close - at DLR. When my husband and I were dating, we flew to CA for a wedding and decided that since we were in the area, we would spend a day at Disney.

Side note - Since my daughter and I are going to DLR next month, I decided to dig out my photo albums that included those trips (mid-late 80's and mid 90's) to show her how things used to look. Apparently I took a grand total of 6 photos over the course of all of those one day trips to DLR!

 

[Bobsmom]

When we went to WDW last spring my boyfriend's niece was there with the college program and used her guest passes to let us into the parks, but it was spring break so magic kingdom was blacked out. We bought 1 day tix as a result.

 

[barbaraann]

The closest thing in Chicago that qualifies as a theme park, would be Six Flags, Great America in Gurnee. I believe their one day ticket costs about $70. The cost of showing one's family a good time for a day is sure a whole lot more than when I was a kid.

 

[KBinCO]

When we took a Disney cruise we bought a one day WDW ticket after. We couldn't do more than one day because the kids missed enough school with the 7 night cruise. It was all a big mistake anyway bc after the cruise, my kids hated the park and said they only wanted to take cruises from now on. Who knew our 4 and 5 year olds would hate WDW?

 

[Ydnameht]

All but 2 of my Disneyland trips have been with 1-day tickets. I usually go up for a day with friends when I'm visiting them in San Diego in the summer.

And when I was a kid and visiting my grandparents in my FL we'd sometimes go to WDW for 1 day as well. I didn't ever spend more than a single day at a time in any theme/amusement park until I was in my mid-20s.

 

[cmpeter]

Normally I go for longer. But, we are going to So Cal for a wedding and I don't have the time to spend more than one day at DL. And, one day is definitely better than zero days!

 

[DallasToDis]

We have a small family so decided to go out of town for Thanksgiving last year. There are usually always some cheap flights from where we live to LA so we decided to go there. We were looking for a place that could do nice a Thanksgiving buffet, kids could go to the beach, etc so decided on a resort in Newport Beach which of course is near Disneyland. We had been to Disneyland before, but never at holiday time so decided to just head over for one day on Black Friday. We did some favorite rides and took the holiday time tour in the afternoon. Since we had been before the one day was perfect and put us in the Christmas spirit.

 

[BayouQueen]

I'm a Southern California native and have many friends who aren't really into Disney too much and would never become pass holders, but if friends or family are meeting up, they'll buy a ticket for the day to go.

 

[Amysita]

A friend of mine (from Virginia) bought a one day ticket when she went w/ her hubby who was there on a business trip and she found herself with a day all to herself, she had her hubby drop her off & went to DL for the day.

 

[mich311e]

We're from Phoenix and my best friend's family was with us over Thanksgiving weekend. A friend of her daughter was also in town for Thanksgiving and came to just Disneyland with us for the day. We had park hoppers but we stayed in Disneyland that day since that's all she could do.

 

[BayouQueen]

A friend of mine (from Virginia) bought a one day ticket when she went w/ her hubby who was there on a business trip and she found herself with a day all to herself, she had her hubby drop her off & went to DL for the day.

Oh, I bet this happens a lot, because Los Angeles and Orange County play host to so many business travelers, conventions and conferences.

 

[barbaraann]

Thanks for all the great responses.

A day ticket now costs about $100 dollars. I would never drop that much money for any one day entry fee here in Chicago. However, spending multiple days in California, means that my average ticket cost per day is now in the $60 range.

I have always said that people that live in California are lucky, because they can go to Disneyland. I always tease my husband, and tell him we should retire to California, and he can drop me off in the morning, and come back and get me at night. Then he laughs, and says how the cost of living in California is way higher than living in Chicago.

 

[DahliaRW]

To DLR? Yes. When I was 13 and went to visit my best friend in CA and we got to go to DL for the day. This was back when a parking lot existed where DCA is now.

When we were in Japan we spent 1 day at each of the Disney parks there (TDL and TDS), but I don't remember if we bought 2-day tickets or 2 one day tickets (I can't remember how they worked there). We were on vacation in Japan, and were not traveling to Japan to spend 5 days at Disney parks - lots of other stuff to see!

I have bought 1 day tickets to many other theme parks (not Disney).

 

[westcoastminnie]

We typically do multi-day trips, anywhere from 3 to 8-9 days (if we have a valid AP at the time) but did a one day ticket once when we found ourselves in the area. If Season of the Force is still around late-August, we will make our way up from San Diego after our cruise and just do a one day single park ticket. Lucky for us, I checked the date and it is considered a "value" day