Category — p. News and Changes

Spring is around the corner at Disney World, bringing with it big Spring Break crowds, the Flower and Garden Show, and welcome and wonderful warming.

These and other topics are in this month’s WDW Magazine, which you can find on Apple Newsstand, Google Play or at WDW-Magazine.com.

My contribution this month is avoiding the spring break crowds.

The best way to do so is to not go then; the second-best set of ideas are in WDW Magazine!

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Google+ or Twitter or Pinterest!!

WALT DISNEY WORLD 2014/2015 ADMISSION TICKET PRICES

Update: Disney World ticket prices increased on February 22, 2015.  I’ll revise this page shortly, as it still reflects earlier pricing!!

(This page is sponsored by Undercover Tourist.)

Three types of Walt Disney World prices are important to think about:

• Walt Disney World theme park admission ticket prices—the tickets that grant you admission to the parks
• Walt Disney World resort hotel prices, and
• Park and hotel food prices

This page focuses on Walt Disney World theme park admission ticket prices from now until they go up again.

MORE DETAILS ON WALT DISNEY WORLD ADMISSION TICKET PRICES 2014/15: HOW THE TICKETS WORK

There are multiple types of Walt Disney World theme park tickets, but the one most relevant to most first time visitors is the Magic Your Way ticket, with or without the Park Hopper option.

You buy one theme park ticket for each person who will be three years old or older at the time of your visit (kids younger than three enter the parks for free.) The tickets have two pricing levels: one for kids who will be younger than ten at the time of your visit (but 3 or older) and the other for people ten or older.

When you buy your tickets, you also say how many “days” you want—from one to ten. Each “day” you buy permits unlimited visits to one theme park on one day. If you also add the Park Hopper option, you can make unlimited visits to any of the theme parks in one day–one theme park, two, three, or all four theme parks.

• For example, if you buy a three day ticket without the park hopper option, you could make two visits to the Magic Kingdom on day one, three visits to Epcot on day two, and two visits to the Animal Kingdom on day 3
• If you have a three day ticket with the park hopper option, you could for example make two visits to the Magic Kingdom and one to Disney’s Hollywood Studios on day one, one visit to Epcot and two to Disney’s Animal Kingdom on day two, and one to Epcot and two to the Magic Kingdom on day three
• What you can’t do without a park hopper ticket is visit more than one theme park on the same day. For example, you can’t, on November 25th, use one day of your three-day ticket to visit the Magic Kingdom, and another day of this same ticket to visit Epcot that same day. More than one theme park in a day requires a park hopper

You do not have to use your days all in a row boom boom boom—e.g. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Once you use your first day, you have 14 days to use all the days on your ticket. So on a three-day ticket you could visit the theme parks Monday, Thursday, and Sunday.

• You can also add days at the same price that you would have paid had you bought all those days at once, but have to do so no later than the day you use the last day of your original ticket (and within 14 days of the first day)
• So if you buy a three-day ticket, and realize a few days later that you need more days, you can add two days and they will cost only the difference between what you paid originally for a three day ticket, and what you would have had to have paid for a five day ticket, so long as you add these days no later than the day you use your third day
• You can also add stuff like the Park Hopper during the same day window at the same price as you would have paid when you first bought your ticket

However, you can’t “subtract” days if you overbuy.

HOW WALT DISNEY WORLD PRICES ITS THEME PARK ADMISSION TICKETS

1. While Disney typically increases ticket prices at least once a year—typically in the summer, but in late February in 2014—it does not change theme park admission prices based on the seasons of the year, the way that it increases and decreases prices at its resort hotels. You pay the same amount for admission on the busiest and the least busy days of the year.

(This material, by the way, is updated as of Disney World’s February 2014 price increase, and applies to tickets bought from then until Disney’s next price increase.)

2. Disney sells tickets by the day—one through ten days. The way it prices these days, the first three days are very expensive, while days after the third are comparatively almost free. See the image for exact Disney World prices.

For example, a three day ticket costs (including tax) an adult $292, or an average of more than $97 a day. A ten day ticket would cost the same adult $377. The added 7 days cost in total around $85—or just a tad more than $12 per day.

3. A park hopper costs (after tax) about $64 for all ticket lengths longer than three days. It’s about $43 for a one day ticket, and about $52 for two and three day tickets.

I have also uploaded an excel spreadsheet with the same data in it as the chart, so that you can multiply by the number of members of your own family.

4. In the summer of 2013, Disney changed its policy for one day tickets.  These used to cost the same regardless of which park at which you used them; now a one day adult ticket for the Magic Kingdom (including tax) is more, around $105, but for the other three theme parks a one day ticket is ~$100.  These per-park differences don’t apply to tickets with more than one day.

TIPS AND TRICKS FOR WALT DISNEY WORLD THEME PARK TICKETS

There are other ticket types than the ones discussed above—less relevant for first time visitors. For details on all of them, see this page on MouseSavers.com.

While it’s hard to find discounts on tickets, it is sometimes possible. Check sponsor Undercover Tourist, MouseSavers.com, Triple A if you are a member, and if you have military ties, this page and also MilitaryDisneyTips.com.

Since you can add on to your tickets–days, park hoppers, etc.–but can’t subtract, it doesn’t really pay to overbuy. Start with the minimum you think you need and add on later if needed.  Remember to add no later than the day you use your current last day!

All of this site’s To-Do Lists tell you exactly what ticket type you need for their associated itineraries.

FREE TICKETS ON YOUR BIRTHDAY?

Disney world no longer offers free tickets on your birthday.

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Google+ or Twitter or Pinterest!!

I’m in Orlando to help out my client at a ginormous convention at the Orange County Convention Center.

The plans to attend came together very late, so the only flights available got us here a day early.

So of course we went to the Magic Kingdom, where I had a chance to see parts of the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train where the construction walls had been taken down. (Click the images to enlarge them.)

This new ride will be the final component of the New Fantasyland expansion.

There’s a press event for it at the end of April/beginning of May, so all expectations are that it will be open by then–and perhaps well before.

It looks really, really fun!

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Google+ or Twitter or Pinterest!!

Last week Jason Garcia of the Orlando Sentinel published about Disney World’s new advertising campaign touting FastPass+ and staying at Disney resorts.

Right now, those not staying at Disney-owned resorts can use FastPass+, but can’t book rides ahead of time, while Disney resort guests can.

(So far, booking great same-day FastPass+ has not been a big deal–see this.)

Garcia’s article quoted Disney spokeswoman Marilyn Waters a couple of times–interestingly, and glancingly, on “non-hotel” guests as well (bold added):

“Disney would not say when it will begin offering reservations to non-hotel guests. Waters said only that it will happen ‘in the coming months.’“

Not sure what to make of this.

It could be referring to the annual passholder test that has recently begun.

But it could also be referring to making reservable FastPass+ available to regular people with regular tickets not staying in a Disney World hotel. 

This would make a lot of people happy…

Pretty much everyone expects that Disney will make the whole MyMagic+ thing better for on-site guests than for offsite.

But how much better has not been clear–and still isn’t.

If off-site guests get reservable FastPass+, something will be different for them–the booking window, the number of FastPass+ available per day, access to “Tier One” FastPass+…maybe all the above.

Pragmatically speaking, the next big practical test of FastPass+ will be the busy spring break season–this will be the first test of the full system during a sustained period of high crowds.

I could not see Disney offering reservable FastPass+ more broadly to off-site visitors until it makes it through this test…

My guess is that if off-site guests get access to reservable FastPass+, it’ll happen at earliest this summer.

There’s a press event scheduled for April 30 to May 2. Topics in it include not only the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train but also MyMagic+.  If the spring break tests of FastPass+ go well, that’s a natural time for the announcement of such an expansion of eligibility…

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Google+ or Twitter or Pinterest!!

I’ve been roped in volunteered to help with The Palooza 2014, a celebration at Disney World being inflicted on us organized by Carl Trent of Dad’s Guide to WDW and WDW Magazine.

The Palooza will go from December 14 through December 20, but the key event will be a fireworks party at Epcot on December 15.  See more on the Palooza and this party on Dad’s blog here.

I’m not entirely sure what my role will be–although I think we can rule out swimsuit model.

Moreover, it is with some relief that I note that the event is not on Main Street at the Magic Kingdom, nor at the Tri-Circle D Ranch at Fort Wilderness, which means none of the manure-handling tasks that I imagine Carl would like to send my way will actually transpire. Yay Epcot!

Anyway, as the Palooza unfolds I’ll keep you posted–but for now, save the date!

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Google+ or Twitter or Pinterest!!

NEW DISNEY WORLD DEAL INCLUDES LATER AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER 2014

Disney World has announced a combined room rate and photo deal for stays 4/27/14 – 6/15/14 and 8/15/14 – 9/30/14.

This is the earliest in the year it’s announced a late August/September deal for a while.

This deal needs to be booked by April 20, 2014.

It requires at least a three night hotel stay, and at least two days of tickets.

Those getting the deal will get room rate discounts:

• Value Resorts: up to 10% off (excluded: Art of Animation Little Mermaid rooms)
• Moderate Resorts: up to 15% off (excluded: Port Orleans French Quarter)
• Deluxe and DVC Resorts: up to 25% off (excluded: the Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian)

In addition, you’ll get Disney’s Memory Maker Photo Package for free. The Photo Package is a way of pre-paying for photos taken by Disney photographers.

Disney’s web page on this deal is here, or check with my friends at Destinations in Florida Travel–877-918-8941 or online here.  Remember to mention yourfirstvisit.net when you call! And then they’ll sprinkle a little pixie dust on me if you book with them…

SOME ODDITIES WITH THIS DEAL, AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT FREE DINING

The room rate discounts are slim compared to recent deals for this time period—about ten percentage points lower than last year. (Last year’s deal.)

It’s also unusual for Disney to announce a room rate deal for this period before it announces free dining—which has been available during at least part of the August-September timeframe for more than a decade.

This deal also follows a deal that’s also unusual—the current room rate deal that overlaps with the first part of this deal, but includes an extra ticket day free. We haven’t seen free ticket days for a while.

So what’s going on? Well, as usual I don’t know, and as usual I’m willing to guess.

• First, there’s an ongoing battle in Florida about the county hotel tax treatment of certain room discount transactions. By shifting what would normally be “room rate” deals into—with the addition of both required ticket buys and ticket or photo deals—“package deals,” these deals are, I think, protected from any negative fallout from that battle. So that may be part of it.
• Or it could be as simple as perhaps the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train opening later than hoped—I saw today rumors of the summer, though until today I’d been hoping for early spring—and Disney needing something to carry it marketing message until then.

Or it could be both, or neither.

Many have asked if they should take this deal or wait for a better offer—especially for free dining.

I have mixed feeling on this. First, whenever a new deal comes out–like free dining–you can always compete with everyone else to get it, and, if you are successful, cancel your old deal, keeping your new one.

On the other hand, if lots of people book up what are normally slow September days with this room rate/photo deal, then the odds that Disney will provide other deals in September are slimmer.

So here’s my advice:

• If you are going to go during the August/September eligible period regardless of free dining, then book this deal. At least you’ll have a deal…and can always try for a better deal later if one comes out…
• If you’d only go during the eligible period with free dining or a better room rate deal, skip this and wait for the hoped-for appearance of those deals…which I’d expect to see come out no earlier than late April…

What about you?  Gonna take this deal, or wait–and why?

Follow yourfirstvisit.net on Facebook or Google+ or Twitter or Pinterest!!