When you Purchase a DL ticket online....

[Stinasmom]

I need to let my mother know the details about purchasing a DL ticket online...

Once you select what you want, and pay by credit card, do they send you a form you print out and then take to a ticket window at DL ....
OR
do they mail you actual credit card style tickets that will work at the gate?

I'm guessing she'll just buy from the DL website since the pricing is all the same...

thanks for any detailed info!!

 

[22Tink]

I don't purchase my DL tickets through Disney anymore. I get mine through Ares travel and save around $15 per ticket. I think there may be other discount sites but I'm not familiar with them. With Ares you pay with credit card and they email you a voucher to print off and take to the ticket booth in DL to get your actual tickets.

 

[Stinasmom]

Thanks the above reply...

my parents are only needing two day non park hopper tickets... so no discounts :-(

Just want them to be prepared if they are going to be printing off vouchers and then needing to find a ticket window when they arrive to be ready the next day when I ask them to join me for ROPE DROP! ;-)

 

[22Tink]

I think they'd still save through Ares even with a 2 day non park hopper. Ares offers all levels of tickets and they're all cheaper than directly through Disney, in my experience. Either way, tell them to read their email carefully to make sure they print off the correct page. My email from Ares has a link you have to click on to get to the actual voucher.

 

[Cal-Pie]

If they purchase on the website they will be emailed a ticket to take directly to the gate, no need to stop at the ticket booth. Or they could opt for a credit card type ticket to be mailed to them for an additional $5/ticket.

 

[disney world dreamer]

during check out you can choose from an e-ticket or mailing physical tickets.

if you choose the e-ticket it will be sent via email.
print the email and take it directly to the entrance.
they will take the piece of paper and give you a physical ticket.

if you opt for snail mail it costs to ship it.

i went in 2013 with my friend for the first time.
she opted for the e-ticket.
i opted for the snail mail.
i will opt for the e-ticket next time since you take it directly to the entrance and you don't have to pay for shipping.

 

[gatorlisa]

Like others have said, you have the choice of an eTicket that you have to swap at the entrance for a regular ticket, or having the actual regular tickets mailed. The fee for having the actual tickets mailed is $5 per order (not per ticket). Disneyland tickets are still made out of a thick paper, not the plastic cards like WDW now uses. I ordered tickets a little over a month ago and chose to pay the $5 to have the actual tickets shipped to me. Took a little over a week for them to arrive where I live in the Southeast.

 

[VandVsmama]

I've purchased tickets before directly through the Disneyland website and I actually prefer it over the time-intensive process of using aRes Travel's Disneyland tickets. When you buy your tickets directly from the DL website, if you select the option for electronic tickets, you can print out a piece of paper that has a big bar code on it...1 per person. You take those bar code print outs (those are your tickets) with you to the main gate. The CM scans them and then hands you your regular paper tickets. You do NOT have to stand in line at the ticket booth at all. Just go directly to the main gate.

I've also gone the aRes tickets route and would have to say that for us, personally, it wasn't worth all the hassle. With this option, you have to tell aRes which dates you will be at DL. They will give you a voucher which you then take to the ticket booth (NOT the main gate). If the CM helping you isn't familiar with this type of ticket, then sometimes it takes awhile. In our case, we stood in line for 20 minutes at the ticket booth and then once we got up to a window, it took another 10 minutes to actually get our DL tickets.

Also with aRes tickets, if your travel dates change, then aRes has to issue you new tickets. So let's say that when you bought your aRes DL tickets, there was an awesome deal going on and you got $30 off per ticket (I'm making that # up, BTW). You tell them your travel dates. But then your situation changes and you have to change your travel dates. You have to call aRes Travel to change the dates....they refund you the $$ from the first purchase, then you pay for the new tickets with your new dates. If that smoking $30 off/ticket deal is no longer available at that time, then you have to pay the higher price.

And the tickets are only good for those dates.

 

[22Tink]

I've purchased tickets before directly through the Disneyland website and I actually prefer it over the time-intensive process of using aRes Travel's Disneyland tickets. When you buy your tickets directly from the DL website, if you select the option for electronic tickets, you can print out a piece of paper that has a big bar code on it...1 per person. You take those bar code print outs (those are your tickets) with you to the main gate. The CM scans them and then hands you your regular paper tickets. You do NOT have to stand in line at the ticket booth at all. Just go directly to the main gate.

I've also gone the aRes tickets route and would have to say that for us, personally, it wasn't worth all the hassle. With this option, you have to tell aRes which dates you will be at DL. They will give you a voucher which you then take to the ticket booth (NOT the main gate). If the CM helping you isn't familiar with this type of ticket, then sometimes it takes awhile. In our case, we stood in line for 20 minutes at the ticket booth and then once we got up to a window, it took another 10 minutes to actually get our DL tickets.

Also with aRes tickets, if your travel dates change, then aRes has to issue you new tickets. So let's say that when you bought your aRes DL tickets, there was an awesome deal going on and you got $30 off per ticket (I'm making that # up, BTW). You tell them your travel dates. But then your situation changes and you have to change your travel dates. You have to call aRes Travel to change the dates....they refund you the $$ from the first purchase, then you pay for the new tickets with your new dates. If that smoking $30 off/ticket deal is no longer available at that time, then you have to pay the higher price.

And the tickets are only good for those dates.

Sounds like your experience has been very different from our experiences. We have never had a cm not be familiar with our vouchers? To each their own, but I didn't find them to be a hassle at all and $15 off per ticket for 6 people is a nice savings for us!

 

[californiamomof4grls]

I was originally buying a ticket at a time through DL site. They send you an email you print email. The email says Your Parkhopper or something like that. It was a barcode on the top of it. As for saving we saved almost $25 a ticket! I didn't want them to mail me all 7 of the tickets so we are doing will call at the ticket booths.

 

[Watchtower]

Like others have said, you have the choice of an eTicket that you have to swap at the entrance for a regular ticket, or having the actual regular tickets mailed. The fee for having the actual tickets mailed is $5 per order (not per ticket). Disneyland tickets are still made out of a thick paper, not the plastic cards like WDW now uses. I ordered tickets a little over a month ago and chose to pay the $5 to have the actual tickets shipped to me. Took a little over a week for them to arrive where I live in the Southeast.

You can still get plastic cards if you book a package through Costco or the Walt Disney Travel Company (and possibly other travel companies). The bonuses you get with those packages (free lanyards, luggage tags, etc.) are mailed three weeks prior to your reservation, and include "souvenir" park tickets, ie; plastic. The tickets you get at the ticket booths, or at the turnstiles while exchanging an eTicket, are the thick cardstock type.

 

[huskies90]

Has anyone used Get Away Today for tickets? They are a few bucks cheaper than ARes. Can these tickets (or even regular DL gate tix) be upgraded the same way WDW tickets can?

 

[avalon451]

Thanks the above reply...

my parents are only needing two day non park hopper tickets... so no discounts :-(

Just want them to be prepared if they are going to be printing off vouchers and then needing to find a ticket window when they arrive to be ready the next day when I ask them to join me for ROPE DROP! ;-)

Way.com has 2 day, 1 park per day tickets for $176; Disney website has them for $195. They used to send you an eticket that you took to the turnstile and exchanged for a regular ticket, but apparently now they send you the hard ticket in the mail. We used them last year and we're using them again this year.

 

[hlbtimes2]

A little tip to save a few $$ and buy direct from Disney- use your Target red card to purchase Disney gift cards. YOu will get a 5% discount. Use the gift cards at Disneyland.com to purchase your park hoppers. They will email you a electronic ticket you can print or you can use it on your smart phone.

 

[avalon451]

Has anyone used Get Away Today for tickets? They are a few bucks cheaper than ARes. Can these tickets (or even regular DL gate tix) be upgraded the same way WDW tickets can?

Yes, you can upgrade or add days or park hopping to your tickets at the park ticket booths. Last year I had my 3-day parkhopper through way.com and by day 2, I decided to add the fourth day; I upgraded them no problem at the ticket booths for the same cost that Disney charges for tickets bought from their website direct. Once you have your park tickets in hand, there's no differentiation that they were bought from disney.com or from one of its other authorized ticket sellers.