Park tickets, question on # of days

[Erica09M]

For our trip we'll be at Disney for 8 days/7 nights (including day we arrive and day we leave) but only plan on visiting parks for 5 days. Should I or shouldn't I only buy a 5 day park pass?

Kids will be 5 & 23 months.

My original plan was to not visit the parks the day we arrive, just hang out at the resort and do Chef Mickey. Have one down day during the week where we won't visit the parks, and eat at TRex. Then the day we leave we won't be visiting the parks because we'll depart early. So that's 3 of the 8 days not visiting a park.

The down day is so we can swim (staying at CBR, kids will LOVE the kiddy area!), shop DTD, etc. I have rheumatoid arthritis and back/hip issues... so this will help give me some down time that I think will be much needed. The days we aren't visiting the parks, I have planned our meals accordingly (Chef Mickey, TRex, quick breakfast at resort the day we leave) assuming we get those ADRs. If we can't get those ADRs, I have back-up plans for other meals outside of the parks.

Just looking for other opinions!

 

[Kim1964]

I think your plan makes sense. For our 10 day trip next year I am only planning to get 7 or 8 day tickets. We don't do parks on arrival day, we take at least one day to hang at the resort, and one day will be Blizzard Beach. Why pay for days you won't use? You can always add days on before you use up the days you have if you realize you want another park day. I did that a couple of weeks ago. I originally had 7 day tickets and on day 6 I paid $19 to bump them to 9 day tickets. We used all 9 days.

 

[mickeymaker2003]

Once you get there, you would have the option to add more days if you'd like. Adding days beyond day 4 is $3 per person per day. Even if you wanted to hang out at the resort all day and stay out of the parks during the day, it may be worth the few dollars to be able to go and see the fireworks or Illuminations or something simple if the mood strikes.

 

[sksjasams]

We bought our tix from Undercover Tourist. We had MYW base tickets. With UT, the price is the same whether you get 3 day tickets or 6 day tickets. My intention was only to buy 4-day tickets for our week long trip, but we actually got 6-day tickets. We did stick with our original plan and only go to the parks 4 days afterall, so I'm glad the extra days were free. I believe they have similar price deals for other level tickets. You definitely don't need to go to the parks everyday, a rest day is part of any good plan. The benefit of having the extra free days on the tickets is if you decide you want to eat at one of the parks on your day off, you would still need a ticket to get in. For us, I wouldn't have paid extra for that flexibility, but it's something to consider.

 

[justcantwait]

I get tickets for every day we're there. If we decide to pop into a park to grab a bite to eat, or see the fireworks, or get something at a shop, we're covered. The cost is so small per day after the first few, so it gives us the freedom to do what we want. Maybe your DH will take the kids for a few rides on Dumbo and give you a rest! Whatever you decide, have a great time!

Kathy

 

[dissybroad]

imho don't buy tickets for day of arrival. use it to decompress from travel and settle in. visit areas that don't require park pass or make a dining reservation where you don't need park admission. also allows for unforeseen complications like (actually happened to us in may) water in the RV gas that caused breakdown on RT 4 and first night in a distant hotel!!!

 

[opus_00]

We never buy tickets for day of arrival or departure. Previously, we have always taken one down day in the middle of the week (for which we did NOT buy a park ticket) to swim and/or shop and eat at DTD.

However, here is something to think about (and what we may do next year). Since it only costs a few dollars to add park days greater than 4 (or is it 5? I forget), we are considering purchasing park tickets for every day of our trip (minus our departure day). This will give us the flexibility to go to a meal at an EPCOT restaurant (or other restaurant that requires park admission) if we want to do that. Also, I remember that last time we went (June 7007), we were all so hot and exhausted one day at AK by about 1pm, that we just left the park and went swimming at our hotel pool (Swan). The kids enjoyed that as much as the parks, but I was regretting that we didn't have an extra day's admission to go back to AK and see some things we missed. On our next visit, we may take two of these half-days to relax, swim, and shop, and we will know that we have an extra day (or half day) to go back to that park if we want to. Also, if the park is very crowded and you're not getting to do everything you want, it's nice to know you can come back another day.