Disneyland Ticket Discounts

LAST UPDATE: 6/14/13

There are many Disneyland ticket discounts. You can get a Disneyland pass discount every day of the year, though the discounts are deeper in the off-season. But even with a discount, you’re probably going to have to pay 80%-95% of full price in most cases. Still, if you’re buying multi-day passes for a couple or a family, that can amount to a chunk of money!

Prices and blackout dates listed on this page are subject to change at any time.

Jump to:

• Important Things to Know About Disneyland Tickets
• 1-Day and 2-Day Ticket Discounts
• Advance Purchase Ticket Discounts
• Last Minute Ticket Discount
• Southern California CityPASS
• Annual Passport Deals & Discounts
• Southern California Resident Discounts
• DVC Member Discount
• Teacher Discounts
• College Student Discounts
• Y.E.S. (Youth Education Series) Program
• Youth Group Discounts
• Corporate and Government Agency Discounts
• Credit Union Discounts
• Military Discounts
• Hilton HHonors
• Canadian Disneyland Tickets
• Australia/New Zealand Disneyland Tickets

Important Things to Know About Disneyland Tickets

In addition to discounts, there are things you should know about Disneyland tickets. You may save yourself some time, money and/or aggravation by reading the tips below.

Jump to:

• Where NOT to Buy Disneyland Tickets
• Lost Tickets
• Upgrading Tickets
• Expiration
• Blackout Dates
• Using Walt Disney World Tickets at Disneyland

Where NOT to Buy Disneyland Tickets

There are lots of legitimate ways to get discounted Disneyland tickets. Unfortunately, there are also some ways to get ripped off.

Never buy partially used passes. For instance, someone may claim they bought a 4-day ticket and ended up using only 2 days of it, so they are reselling the remaining 2 days. Sounds good, right? The trouble is, there is absolutely no way to tell whether the pass does, in fact, have the number of days remaining that the seller claims, until you get to the gate and see if it works. If it doesn’t, Disney will not be sympathetic, because Disney tickets are nontransferable. That means they can legally be used only by the original purchaser.

It is a very bad idea to buy Disney passes on eBay or Craigslist. Unfortunately both of these online resources are extremely popular with con artists. Recently scammers have even taken to presenting fake “invoices” or “receipts” that seem to be from legitimate businesses that supposedly sold them the tickets. They always have some sad story about buying nonrefundable tickets, and now they can’t go, and they just want to get some of their money back. But the passes they sell you are partially or completely used up, or were never valid to begin with.

Tickets can look perfectly new and real, yet be worthless. For example, they may be selling real Disney ticket stock shoplifted from supermarkets or other stores, but since the tickets were never paid for, they have not been validated and have zero value.

There is no way to find out if the tickets you buy from a stranger (or even “a friend of a friend”) are any good in advance of your trip. You are very likely to arrive at the gate and find out you have invalid passes. Here is a news story, another story and yet another story about this type of scam.

Websites that seem to be offering super low prices on Disney tickets are almost guaranteed to be scams. There are legitimate, authorized Disney ticket brokers, but they don’t have a lot of profit margin once they pay Disney. There is no way a ticket dealer can offer new, authentic Disney tickets at extremely low prices without losing money. Scam sites may outright rip you off (charge you for tickets you never receive), or even worse, they may just be harvesting your personal information and credit card number so they can sell that information to criminals.

Some signs of a scam ticket site:

• Disney does not allow its authorized ticket dealers to use the word Disney in their URLs (domain names or website addresses). If the site’s URL has the word Disney in it and it is not a site operated by Disney, do not buy tickets there.
• Disney does not allow legitimate ticket brokers to sell discounted 1-day tickets, so if you see a site offering those at a discount, run away fast.
• You can’t pick up the ticket until the morning you are entering the park, and/or you have to return the ticket when you’re done with it. This is a big red flag that they are reselling days off a multi-day ticket. There is at least one very glossy, professional-looking website offering this “service,” which is possibly fraudulent and definitely against Disney’s rules. See the section above about partially used passes — you do NOT want to get caught up in this scam!
• Some sites require you to pay by Western Union or other cash-equivalent services, which means you’ll never be able to get the money back. That should be a huge red flag. ALWAYS pay by credit card (not debit card) when making purchases on the Internet!

Lost Tickets

Take VERY good care of your tickets, because Disneyland WILL NOT replace lost tickets. It doesn’t matter if you have your receipt, a photocopy of the tickets, or whatever. They just won’t do it. (They will replace Annual Passes for a fee, but that’s the only exception.)

A Disneyland Cast Member told Sue Pisaturo of Small World Vacations that many, many people lose their tickets by putting them in lanyards (ID card holders hung around the neck). The ID card holder portion is usually made to snap off, and frequently lanyards also have a “breakaway” feature for safety purposes. Unfortunately, these features can easily result in lost tickets. I’ve lost my ticket this way myself! It’s better to keep your tickets in your wallet or a deep pocket.

Upgrading Tickets

You can apply the value of an unused ticket or pass, or even a partially used one with days left on it, toward the purchase of a higher-priced pass, as long as you do it before your pass expires. For instance, if you buy a 3-Day Park Hopper and then decide on the third day of use that you’d rather have an Annual Pass, you can apply the value of the Park Hopper toward the Annual Pass. Discounted passes will be credited at the actual rates you paid (that info is encoded on the ticket). To upgrade a ticket, go to any Guest Services window.

Expiration

Unlike tickets and passes at Walt Disney World, all multi-day passes at Disneyland expire 13 days after the first day you start using them. (Unless you use them up first. Naturally a 3-Day Park Hopper is “expired” once you’ve used all three days, even if 13 days haven’t passed yet!)

Old Disneyland passes that were issued in the days before expiration dates applied can still be used. Their original value is too low to be worth applying to a new pass, though. Just use them for admission (Guest Services will trade them for passes that will work at the gates) — or if they’re old enough, they might be worth more as collectibles!

Blackout Dates

If you buy a restricted Annual Pass (such as the Southern California Annual Passport, which has many “blackout dates”), but you plan to start your trip on one of the blackout dates, the blackout will not apply on the day you purchase the pass. So if you go to Disneyland on a Saturday and buy an Annual Pass that is normally not valid on Saturdays, you will still be able to use it that day at both parks.

Using Walt Disney World Tickets at Disneyland

Interesting, unpublished fact: you can use any unexpired, leftover days on a Walt Disney World ticket at Disneyland or Disney California Adventure! Present the Disney World ticket at the front gate (NOT a ticket booth) on arrival — they will take it somewhere, deduct a day from it, and give you a one-day Disneyland Park Hopper ticket. You can repeat this day by day until the Disney World ticket is used up. They will not give you a multi-day ticket all at once, even if you have multiple days left on your Disney World ticket. Also, MouseSavers.com reader Danny P notes that any Disneyland ticket obtained from exchanging a Walt Disney World ticket must be used on the same day it was exchanged.

This policy has been in effect at least since I started this site (2001), and the information was last reconfirmed by a MouseSavers.com reader in May 2013. Don’t even bother calling Disneyland to ask about this — the people answering the phone have no idea and they will tell you they don’t take Disney World tickets.

Disneyland tickets are NOT accepted at Walt Disney World, and Annual Passes are only good at the park where they were purchased (Walt Disney World Annual Passes are NOT good at Disneyland, and vice versa). However, there is now a Premier Passport that is good at both locations.

1-Day and 2-Day Ticket Discounts

One-day and two-day tickets to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure are seldom discounted. The exceptions are all for advance purchase only:

• tickets sold through universities (for students)
• tickets for school teachers
• tickets offered to employees by large corporations and government agencies in Southern California
• military discounts through base MWR offices
• aRes Travel sells discounted 2-day tickets

Advance Purchase Ticket Discounts

There are no advance purchase savings if you buy directly from Disneyland online or by phone, except during special promotions.

Park Hopper Tickets are valid for admittance to both Disneyland Resort theme parks, including visits to both parks on the same day.

NON-Hopper (1 Park Per Day) Tickets only allow you to visit one park each day. However, you can enter Disneyland one day, DCA another day, etc.

3-Day and longer tickets include one Magic Morning admission for early entry into selected attractions at Disneyland Park before the park opens to the public on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday.

Jump to:

• Discounted 2-Day to 5-Day Advance Purchase Tickets for First Use by December 31, 2013
• Other Places to Buy Advance Purchase Tickets

Discounted 2-Day to 5-Day Advance Purchase Tickets for First Use by December 31, 2013

aRes Travel is an extremely reliable, authorized Disney ticket vendor I’ve been recommending for years. aRes offers discounted 2-Day to 5-Day Tickets at lower prices than Disney.

• 5-Day Park Hopper Ticket purchased in advance is $285 adult / $265 child (ages 3-9) plus shipping (or you can print them at home for free). Includes one Magic Morning admission for Disneyland. For comparison, 5-Day Hopper tickets purchased at the gate cost $300 adult / $279 child.
• 5-Day NON-Hopper (1 Park Per Day) Ticket purchased in advance is $255 adult / $235 child (ages 3-9) plus shipping (or you can print them at home for free). Includes one Magic Morning admission for Disneyland. For comparison, 5-Day 1 Park Per Day tickets purchased at the gate cost $265 adult / $244 child.
• 4-Day Park Hopper Ticket purchased in advance is $270 adult / $250 child (ages 3-9) plus shipping (or you can print them at home for free). Includes one Magic Morning admission for Disneyland. For comparison, 4-Day Hopper tickets purchased at the gate cost $285 adult / $265 child.
• 4-Day NON-Hopper (1 Park Per Day) Ticket purchased in advance is $240 adult / $220 child (ages 3-9) plus shipping (or you can print them at home for free). Includes one Magic Morning admission for Disneyland. For comparison, 4-Day 1 Park Per Day tickets purchased at the gate cost $250 adult / $230 child.
• 3-Day Park Hopper Ticket purchased in advance is $245 adult / $230 child (ages 3-9) plus shipping (or you can print them at home for free). Includes one Magic Morning admission for Disneyland. For comparison, 3-Day Hopper tickets purchased at the gate cost $260 adult / $244 child.
• 3-Day NON-Hopper (1 Park Per Day) Ticket purchased in advance is $215 adult / $200 child (ages 3-9) plus shipping (or you can print them at home for free). Includes one Magic Morning admission for Disneyland. For comparison, 3-Day 1 Park Per Day tickets purchased at the gate cost $225 adult / $209 child.
• 2-Day Park Hopper Ticket purchased in advance is $195 adult / $183 child (ages 3-9) plus shipping (or you can print them at home for free). This ticket does not include Magic Morning admission for Disneyland. For comparison, 2-Day Hopper tickets purchased at the gate cost $210 adult / $197 child.
• 2-Day NON-Hopper (1 Park Per Day) Ticket purchased in advance is $165 adult / $153 child (ages 3-9) plus shipping (or you can print them at home for free). This ticket does not include Magic Morning admission for Disneyland. For comparison, 2-Day 1 Park Per Day tickets purchased at the gate cost $175 adult / $162 child.

First use on the tickets above must take place by 12/31/13 and they expires 13 days after first use or 1/13/14, whichever comes first.

• aRes makes ordering easy: you can order online or call and speak with an actual person at (800) 680-0977. Order at least 2 days in advance. You print your ticket receipt at home and present the receipt at the park ticket booths, where they give you the actual tickets. There is a $2 per ticket convenience fee.

Other Places to Buy Advance Purchase Tickets

There are no advance purchase savings if you buy directly from Disneyland online or by phone, except during special promotions.

AAA

The American Automobile Association is subdivided into regions, and the regions offer different attraction tickets. Some offer Disneyland tickets; some don’t.

• Automobile Club of Southern California offices now sell advance purchase Disneyland multi-day tickets at a slight discount. Be sure to call your local AAA office in advance to check prices and make sure they have the tickets you want in stock. Sometimes a free parking pass is included with the purchase of multi-day tickets. You must purchase your tickets at an Auto Club branch. If you will have a car while in Anaheim, the closest AAA office is at 420 N Euclid Street, about 4 miles from Disneyland. Phone number is (714) 774-2392. Thanks to pho lishus and Dan L for info.
• Some Central and Northern California AAA offices and neighboring states’ AAA offices (i.e. Arizona and Oregon) sell advance purchase Park Hopper tickets. They may or may not be discounted. Be sure to call your local AAA office in advance to check prices and make sure they have the tickets you want in stock. Sometimes a free parking pass is included with the purchase of multi-day tickets.

Supermarkets/Safeway

Some supermarkets such as Safeway and Ralphs (primarily in California and neighboring states) may carry promotional advance purchase tickets.

Last Minute Ticket Discounts

You can get slightly discounted Disneyland tickets at the Disneyland Welcome Center in the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Anaheim Resort, located at 2085 S. Harbor Blvd, Anaheim, CA 92802. They may not carry the full array of tickets, and they do not sell 1-day tickets. Call (714) 383-7052 for the latest ticket prices and availability.

Their prices do not beat advance purchase ticket prices from aRes Travel. However, if you didn’t get around to ordering tickets ahead of time, the Disneyland Welcome Center usually offers better ticket prices than are available at the park gate.

Thanks to Darkbeer for info and Cesco G for updates!

Southern California CityPASS

Planning a “grand tour” of Southern California? Be sure to consider the Southern California CityPASS, which includes discounted admission to Disneyland, Universal Hollywood and SeaWorld San Diego. The San Diego Zoo or Safari Park can be added as an option on this pass.

By purchasing this combined ticket, you save a substantial amount vs. buying each ticket separately. In addition, the price of the 2012CityPASS did NOT go up when Disneyland and Universal ticket prices increased in May, so now it’s an even better deal!

Click here for more information on the Southern California CityPASS.

Annual Passport Deals & Discounts

It may be more cost-effective to buy an Disneyland Annual Passport if you will be in the parks for more than a few days during the year. Be sure to include an Annual Pass in your calculations when deciding on the best pass to buy.

When purchasing tickets for a family, group or couple that will visit Disneyland together, it is often worthwhile to buy ONE Premium Annual Passport for someone in the party. That’s because in addition to the admission, a Premium Annual Passport includes parking, many Disneyland Resort restaurant and shopping discounts and discounts at the Disneyland resort hotels. Just have the Premium Annual Passholder use the discounts and parking privileges for everyone’s benefit. (Most restaurant discounts are good for the entire party — a few have limits.)

How to Buy an Annual Passport

You can buy your pass in person at any Disneyland ticket booth. If you have never had an Annual Passport before, you’ll have to get a photo taken by a PhotoPass photographer, which will be associated with the pass.

You can also buy a Disneyland Annual Passport in advance by phone at (714) 781-INFO (4636) or online. If you buy in advance, you can order a voucher for an actual Annual Pass. The voucher must be “activated” (exchanged for the actual Annual Pass) at the park. To activate the voucher, you’ll have to show photo ID (for adults).

Many supermarkets in Southern California sell “gift card” style vouchers for Disneyland Annual Passports at full price.

Generally I don’t see much point in buying an annual pass voucher in advance, except in the following situations:

1. The prices are about to go up and you want to lock in the current price. Even if the price goes up after you purchase it, your voucher is valid until the end of the calendar year without paying any extra. After that time the voucher still retains its value (what you paid) but you have to pay the difference in price if annual pass prices have gone up. The Annual Passport is valid for one year from the date you redeem the voucher.
2. You are a member of AAA and plan to go to an Automobile Club of Southern California office and buy the Annual Passport, which will save you a little money.

You can renew an Annual Passport up to 40 days prior to its expiration date. Renewals are automatically activated immediately after the current pass expires. If you will not use a new Annual Passport within the 60 days after your old one expires, it’s better not to renew. Just buy a new pass when you actually need it.

If you are purchasing an Annual Passport that has blackout dates, be sure to read the hint above so that you can maximize your use of the pass at the time of purchase.

Annual Passport Deals

• Southern California Annual Passport – Southern California residents within zip codes 90000-93599 qualify for a choice of two different reduced-price Annual Passports. See the Disneyland Ticket Prices page for details.
• Automobile Club of Southern California offices now sell Disneyland annual passes at a slight discount. Be sure to call your local AAA office in advance to make sure they have the passes you want in stock. You must purchase your passes at your local Auto Club branch. Thanks to pho lishus for info.
• DVC members qualify for $20 off a Disneyland Annual Passport. This is good on the first purchase — not on renewals. The discount is valid for members of the DVC member’s immediate household only.

Southern California Resident Discounts

Most promotions for Southern California residents are available for Southern Californians residing within zip codes 90000-93599 and Northern Baja California residents within zip codes 21000-22999. Photo ID is required at the time of purchase and may be required at the time of admission as well.

Current So Cal Disneyland Ticket Offers

No current offers.

Southern California Annual Passport

Southern California residents qualify for reduced-price Annual Passes. See the Disneyland Ticket Prices page for details.

DVC Member Discount

The Disney Vacation Club (DVC) is a Disney-operated timeshare program.

• DVC members qualify for $20 off Disneyland Annual Passes. This is good on the first purchase — not on renewals. The discount is valid for members of the DVC member’s immediate household only.

Teacher Discounts

If you are a teacher in the US or Canada, be sure to check with your teachers’ union for possible Disneyland ticket discounts.

• Members of the California Teachers Association sometimes qualify for a great price on Disneyland tickets. To check on what’s available right now, either visit the benefits website or call TSA/First Financial Credit Union at (800) 537-8491. Thanks to Diane E for info.
• MouseSavers.com reader Barbara W reports, “First Financial Credit Union may extend this discount to members of other Teachers Associations through their toll-free phone line. (The rep I spoke to had no problem with my parents’ membership in a Canadian association.) These tickets must be shipped to a residential address in the US only.” Another reader reports that they would not allow a teacher from outside California to order. So “your mileage may vary.”
• MouseSavers.com reader Heather O reports, “the PSEA (Pennsylvania State Education Association) also offers a significant discount on Disneyland tickets…. I found that I could save $25-30 on most multi-day passes!”

College Student Discounts

Many universities in Southern California offer Disneyland and Disney California Adventure tickets at a small discount for their students. If you are a college student, check with your Student Union. You’ll typically only save around $1 on 1-day tickets and $6 on 2-day tickets.

Y.E.S. (Youth Education Series) Program

Disney Y.E.S. programs are special educational programs offered in the Disneyland Resort theme parks on selected dates to students in 1st through 12th grade. Y.E.S. is a wonderful educational program, but it also has an added benefit: discounted tickets. You can get 1-Day/1-Park and 2-Day/1-Park Tickets, or 1-Day to 5-Day Park Hopper Tickets in conjunction with the program.

Normally the Y.E.S. programs are available only to groups of 15 kids or more, but at times Disney offers “individual enrollment” that does not require you to be part of a group. However, if the “individual enrollment” events don’t fill up, they may be cancelled. To learn more about individual enrollment, click here.

Youth Group Discounts

If you will be taking a group of 10 or more kids (between ages 3 and 18) to Disneyland, be sure to call the Youth Group Sales department at (800) 232-7980 to see what discounts may apply, or visit disneyyouth.com for more info.

Qualifying Southern California youth groups can buy significantly discounted tickets through the site above, by fax or by phone.

Thanks to Don R and Charles F for info.

Corporate and Government Agency Discounts

Many large corporations (typically those with 200-plus employees) and certain government agencies in Southern California offer Disneyland and Disney California Adventure tickets at discounted rates for their employees. Tickets are offered through private websites operated by various ticket suppliers such as Wild at Work, which exclusively service corporate employees. A password is required to access those sites. Ask your Human Resources department whether your company participates and how to get the password.

Credit Union Discounts

Some California credit unions may offer Disneyland discounts to their members. If you belong to a credit union in California, be sure to inquire about this.

• MouseSavers.com reader Rebekah M reports that members of Golden 1 Credit Union (which anyone living in certain California counties can join by opening an account – see the Golden 1 site for details) offers very good Disneyland ticket discounts: “Members can order them online. A member only needs to access their online account. Once on that account they select the ‘self services’ tab. Under the ‘special offers’ box is a link to member discounts with Disneyland’s logo right on the top. The link below the logo directs them to a secure Disneyland website with great discounts.”

Military Discounts

In addition to the special offer below, there are ongoing military discounts on Disneyland admission, so if you need more tickets than you are able to get through the special offer, check with your base MWR/ITT for info.

Hilton HHonors

You can exchange Hilton HHonors points for select Disneyland passes. Click here to read about this award (choose country, then Gift Cards & Certificates/Entertainment). Click here to read more about HHonors.

Canadian Disneyland Tickets

• Select Disneyland tickets are sold at Flight Centre locations in Canada, in Canadian dollars. Frequently you’ll find lower prices here than direct from Disney.
• BCAA sells Disneyland Park Hopper tickets at regular prices, but offers FREE parking at Disneyland as an added benefit for members. You must purchase by phone. Valid through 12/31/13. Thanks to birches for info.
• Select Disneyland tickets are sold at Canadian Disney Stores and at some CAA offices. The price of Disney tickets purchased in Canada is adjusted periodically to conform to the current exchange rate, so at times it may be possible to time a purchase to benefit from a sudden change in the exchange rate. (Tickets purchased in Canada may be intended only for Canadians and there is a slight chance you might be asked for ID, so US citizens who live near the border should keep this in mind.)
• Canadians can redeem Air Miles for select Disneyland tickets. See the Air Miles site for details. Thanks to Dawn N for info.

Australia/New Zealand Disneyland Tickets

Aussies and Kiwis can purchase a Disneyland ticket that is not sold at the parks: a 10-Day Disney Vacation Pass, which is basically a 10-Day Disneyland Park Hopper ticket, including one Magic Morning admission. This ticket is only sold in Australia and New Zealand, through travel agents. Retail price in New Zealand is approximately NZ$380 for adults (ages 10+) and NZ$355 for kids (ages 3-9). Thanks to Paula S for info.