If you're planning to visit the Happiest Place on Earth, "How long should I visit?" and "Which tickets should I get?" are probably your first questions ... well, right after "How do I get Disneyland discount tickets?" Lucky for you, we have answers!
We know the Disneyland Resort is a great value and the ultimate in family fun. There is so much hoppenin' at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure, and there are so many memories to be made. But still, there are so many decisions, especially around Disneyland tickets. Everyone wants to pick the best ticket and the right number of days for the best price. On top of that, you might wonder if you should get park hopper tickets and/or tickets loaded with Genie+. Today, we'll explore all of the options so you can decide which Disneyland discount tickets to purchase!
Before we hop into the specifics, we should note that as an authorized seller, we're able to offer authentic Disneyland tickets at a discount. These are the same tickets you would purchase at the gate for hoppin' good prices. We guarantee the lowest Disneyland prices on multi-day tickets. If you find a lower rate from another authorized seller, just give us a call and we'll price match. Plus, our Disneyland tickets are refundable for up to 365 days. If your plans might change, you can feel safe purchasing tickets through us. Disneyland tickets purchased directly through Disneyland are not refundable.
If you already know which tickets you want, jump straight to our Disneyland ticket page and buy them. For those of you who still aren't sure, read on!
How Many Days Do You Need at Disneyland?
Families routinely spend a week or longer at Disney World, enjoying its four parks, two water parks and two shopping/entertainment areas (spread out over land roughly the size of San Francisco!). On the other hand, Disneyland's size lends itself to shorter visits.
At Disneyland, the entrances to the two parks plus the Downtown Disney entertainment area are within a minute or two of each other. Many of the hotels are a few minutes walk or a short drive away. With less travel time and ground to cover at Disneyland, you can spend three to five days in the parks and experience it all. Plus Disneyland Park has so much to do that you'll need a few extra days to experience it all.
What are your interests? If you have small children, you can easily spend a few hours exploring and playing in the refurbished Mickey's Toontown. If you have Star Wars fans in your party, you could easily spend several hours in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge. You can drink in the Cantina, fly the Millennium Falcon, join the Rebellion and escape the First Order on Rise of the Resistance. You could also go bounty hunting with your MagicBand+ and the Play Disney Parks app. Or you can hack, scan, translate or tune into communication signals with the DataPad. You want to allow enough time to experience these lands without feeling rushed.
We offer 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5-day tickets to Disneyland Resort. The discounts are really evident if you purchase multi-day tickets. While our new 1-day ticket offerings are not less than Disneyland's prices, they come with our refund policy, so that might be of value to you if your plans are subject to change. We always display the final costs of our online tickets upfront so there are no surprises when you go to check out. (Psst ... sometimes we have sales, lowering our already low prices, so keep an eye out for those, especially around holidays. Jump on them when you see them!)
How much entertainment you want to experience can affect how much time you need. A family that is all about the rides can knock those out quickly in about two days, especially with our tools and tips to maximize time.
A family that also wants to see parades, shows, nighttime spectaculars, holiday or festival offerings, meet characters, visit Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and enjoy character dining or table-service restaurants will move at a slower pace and need to factor in waiting time (sometimes hours) for those experiences. Those travelers will want a few more days to experience everything.
Many families also plan visits to Universal Studios Hollywood, Six Flags Magic Mountain and other LA attractions or even make a trip to nearby San Diego to visit Legoland, SeaWorld or the San Diego Zoo. We recommend you also factor in what else you want to do during your visit. we have discount tickets for all those parks too (plus Sesame Place San Diego)!
For our visits to LA and San Diego, we always plan at least one fun beach day, and my wife, Flora, insists on at least one day of shopping. If you need a rental car to do some SoCal exploring, we have another money-saving hack for you. When you are purchasing your Disneyland tickets, put your car rental in the cart. You'll see the price drop by 50 percent when bundling your rental car with a hotel or theme park ticket purchase. (We also have discount hotel rates!)
Most families opt for three days in the Disneyland parks, and two is the recommended minimum. First-time visitors should plan at least a three-day visit and maybe a four-day visit, depending on how busy the park is (see the best times to visit Disneyland for suggestions). We recommend adding a day if you are visiting during a celebration such as the Disney 100 anniversary celebration, Food & Wine Festival, Halloween Time or Holiday Time. There is so much entertainment and food to try, you'll want that extra day to do it all.
If it's a less busy time of year, it will be easier to experience the major attractions in less time. The amount of days you decide to visit the parks also depends on whether you'll be park hopping or not. Don't froget — Disneyland introduced date-based, tiered pricing for single-day tickets a couple of years ago! The adult 1-day tickets can vary from $104 to $179 or more for one-park-per-day base tickets. If you are looking for cheap Disneyland tickets, our multi-day tickets can cost as little as $79 per day.
Unless you're visiting during a non-peak time, the tiered 1-day ticket pricing adds an additional complexity (and potential cost) that you can avoid if you purchase multi-day tickets. Multi-day tickets are not subject to these tiers. Another great thing about all Disneyland Undercover Tourist tickets is that they are refundable up to 365 days after purchase. Other Disneyland tickets are not.
Depending on the time of year, some nighttime shows such as Fantasmic! and fireworks may be offered only on select days of the week, specifically weekends. A multi-day ticket can allow you to visit on a less busy weekday, but also catch great entertainment on the weekend. That way you get the best of both worlds.
Disneyland Ticket Types — Base or Park Hoppers
There are two ticket types available for Disneyland: the base ticket or park hopper (both of them come with Genie+ options, which we will talk about later). The base ticket gets you into one park per day. The park hopper allows you to hop between the two parks in the resort on the same day. With the park hopper, you can hop as many times as you like. Unfortunately, you cannot hop by using base tickets. Because of this, most families choose park hoppers. We'll share the reasons why (and whether we think Disneyland park hoppers are worth it) below.
Keep in mind that it is much cheaper to hop on a multi-day ticket vs. a 1-day ticket. It costs $65 to add park hopping to a 1-day ticket. It costs $60, in total, to add park hopping to a 2 through 5-day multi-day ticket. (Yes that is $5 less to hop more days!) It breaks down to $12 per day to hop on a 5-day ticket. We love being able to hop, especially when it comes to catching our must-see nighttime spectaculars, which might be in a different park from where we spent the day.
When you make your Disneyland reservations with a park hopper ticket, you choose the park you want to start your day in. Then, beginning at 11 a.m., you can hop back and forth between the parks. If you arrive after 11 a.m., you can go to either park.
Most multi-day tickets have a limited time period in which they can be used. After the first visit, you have 13 days to use the other days and complete your remaining visits. There are no blackout dates for multi-day tickets. The exception to this rule is the limited-time promotional SoCal or California resident tickets. These tickets may have different restrictions and blackouts and can be used on three different days over a several-month span. Look for SoCal tickets from January to May 25, and California resident tickets in the summer June 12 through Sept. 28, 2023. We sell those with a heftier discount too!
Is the Disneyland Park Hopper Worth It?
We think park hopping is worthwhile for longer trips, and not just because we frogs like hopping! The main reason is convenience. With Disneyland and Disney California Adventure so close, it's easy to hop between them. In fact, you could spend your day hopping back and forth between the parks if you wanted. That's what we tend to do when we visit. Some people even hop as part of their ride strategy, since you can make Genie+ reservations in either park. It also opens up a larger variety of dining options.
It doesn't cost that much to add on park hoppers at Disneyland, and that's another reason we think they're worth it. You want to maximize your time in the parks, and Disneyland often staggers park closing times. Typically, Disney California Adventure closes at 10 p.m. and Disneyland closes at 12 a.m. Our best time to visit Disneyland post has some exceptions to watch out for when it comes to park hours and more hopful information.
By purchasing park hoppers, you can hop to the park open later, catching World of Color at Disney California Adventure and then Fantasmic! at Disneyland on the nights that it is shown. The only reason not to purchase park hoppers is if your budget just doesn't allow it or you only have one day or just a couple of hours to spend at the parks. For example, if you were attending a nearby convention for a few days and could only spend evenings at Disneyland, then adding on park hoppers probably doesn't make sense. If you have small children, you can get by without hopping, as one park may be enough for them each day.
If you have a longer trip, get the hopper. If you have a 1-day trip or maybe a 2-day trip, we say you can skip the hopper to save money. You can just fully explore one park a day. But if you only have one day to see it all, you should get the park hopper. It comes down to your budget and what attractions are most important to you. If you are going to hop with a 1-day ticket, get the Genie+ service. We recommend starting in Disney California Adventure and then hopping to Disneyland. You'll have to identify your top few attractions in each park to do it all in one day.
Hop When Staying at a Nearby Hotel
If you are staying at a nearby hotel or one of the three Disneyland Resort properties, you may want to hop. You can visit one park in the morning. Take a break midday to swim or nap. Then hop to the other park for the evening. Guests of one of the Disneyland Resort hotels can also take advantage of Early Entry. Early Entry allows guests admission 30 minutes before park opening during every day of a hotel stay at either Disneyland Park or Disney California Adventure Park (with ticket and reservation). Read more about the benefits of staying at a Disneyland Resort hotel.
A Fifth Day Free?
If you are debating between a 4-day and a 5-day ticket, it costs under $18 to add on the fifth day through Undercover Tourist. So, if you had a half day on arrival or checkout day of your trip, you might want to add that fifth day. If you compared an Undercover Tourist 5-day ticket with a 4-day ticket through Disneyland, you'll see that our 5-day base ticket is actually cheaper than Disneyland's 4-day base ticket. It's like getting that fifth day free and having money left over for a churro.
Genie+ Tickets
One more thing to consider is if you want to purchase a Genie+ ticket. You can purchase single, multi-day and hopper tickets pre-loaded with Genie+. At Disneyland (as opposed to Disney World) you can purchase cheap Disneyland tickets loaded with Genie+ in advance. We have several posts about this optional service that allows you to skip the lines for certain attractions. These might help you decide whether to get a Genie+ ticket or wait until you enter the park each day:
- Answering Your Disneyland Genie Plus Frequently Asked Questions
- Our Complete Guide to Disney Genie and Disney Genie+ Services at Disneyland
- The Disney Genie+ Guru's Take: Using Genie Plus With a Group at Disneyland
Genie+ is offered with tickets for the lowest rate. In fact, our discount Disneyland tickets with Genie+ are the cheapest way to get Genie+ — and they come with extra savings. If you do not purchase Genie+ tickets, you can purchase the service in the theme park through the Disneyland app. Keep in mind, the price of the service can vary per day. That means, if you decide to get Genie+ every day, then you could end up paying a few dollars more for it by waiting until you enter the park. We like to buy Genie+ park hoppers because hopping makes Genie+ a better value. You can access up to 20 rides across both parks using Genie+. In addition, Genie+ can be used across parks, allowing you to enter the other park and head straight to the ride you selected ahead of time. We love skipping lines!
When should you get Genie+ tickets:
- If you plan to use Genie+ every day of your trip
- You use PhotoPass photographers (images are included with Genie+)
- When you want to lock in the lowest price
- You want to be ready to go and start reserving rides as soon as you enter a theme park.
- When park hopping
- When you have some people who want to ride thrills and others who don't. That way the riders can get through the lines and back to the group faster. (In that case, purchase Genie+ tickets in advance for some party members but not for others.)
When you might want to wait to purchase Genie+:
- If you do not plan to use Genie+ every day of your trip
- If you do not plan to ride thrill rides or most of the attractions on Genie+
- When you are visiting with toddlers who do not meet the height requirements for most Genie+ rides.
- If you're not sure if you want it and want to see how lines are the day you visit
So there you have it, the full scoop on Disneyland ticket discounts, cheap Disneyland tickets and our recommendations on which to get as you plan your trip!
Have questions about which discount Disneyland ticket is right for you? Drop us a line! Once you decide on tickets, check out our hopful Disneyland and Disney California Adventure park plans. Don't froget, we're now selling Disneyland discount tickets.
Related: Best Time to Visit Disneyland
Related: How to Save Money on Disneyland Tickets
Keep hopping!
