A whole bunch of rambling about disney tickets ha

[ilovecraigandcooper]

My great plans...

For Christmas this year my husband and I were wanting to do a group trip to Disney instead of doing presents for everyone. I have a niece who's never been to Disney (she's an adult now and has a little girl of her own) but she's talked about wanting to go for awhile now. The rest of us have been but are always ready to go back!

We're looking at possibly either early December or early March (seeing that both of those are relatively low on the crowd calendar).

I've priced all kinds of accommodations and every way imaginable to see what would work best. (values, moderates, suites, renting dvc points, etc). I think I've settled on 4 rooms at pop or music so everyone has their own space. (There's 8 adults, 2 kids and 1 baby). (I definitely want to be on site so we can use Disney transportation and come and go as we please to the parks). If they were to offer free dining in December when we could go I might go with a moderate so we'd have the table service meal plan.

ANYWAY, with our schedules and the drive from Georgia, what I've been pricing is 4 nights/2 day park hoppers. The first night is a wash because we'll be there late from driving. We usually like a day to do Disney springs/resort hop/enjoy the pool, etc. So that leaves us with 2 park days (which suck, I would love to have more time and more money BUT it is what it is, a little is better than nothing), lol. So as you know, with only two day tickets there's no discounts at all, anywhere. Since we'll be buying tickets for 10 people is there any discount with that? Does that qualify as a group, etc? Or should I skip the hoppers and DTD and do a 3 day ticket instead? ...I love hoppers...we always have them and we always use them BUT for this trip maybe it makes sense to add another day instead? Ugh, I don't know!!! What would you do??

 

[kymom99]

I would buy the 3 day hoppers but that's just me. With so little time, you will have greater flexibility

 

[LJSquishy]

I would definitely skip Disney Springs for 3-day tickets. For such a short trip, there's no need for a relaxing day by the pool/walking around Disney Springs. The toughest part will be deciding if you'll get park hoppers or not...it would be tough picking 2 or 3 parks to visit. If you get park hoppers and go during low crowds, you could do 1/2 day at Hollywood Studios and utilize the rest of the day for another park...or decide what the trip focus is and plan from that. Is the main focus on the little kids (character meet & greets, kiddie rides, etc) or more on the adults? With the slower pace of younger kkds, you may want 2 Magic Kingdom days and 1 day at either Animal Kingdom (my fav) or Epcot or Hollywood Studios. If the goal is to see and do as much as possible, you'll need 1 day at MK, 1 day at Epcot, and 1/2 day at AK and HSBC (even though AK is really a full day to 2 day park).

 

[wendow]

I would also go for 3-day tickets (if you can afford them) and skip DS and the pool. We went in early Dec in 2014 and it was way too cold to swim. I know that isn't always the case but it was that time and you just never know. I'd also rather have the park time for those who have not been before. We don't buy PH's so I can't really comment on the necessity of those. We have done just fine without them but we hit RD, head back to room at about 1 and then go back in the evening for dinner and nighttime activities at the same park.

I am not sure of a group discount. You could maybe contact group sales and ask but I am thinking it has to be a higher number for a discount

 

[halfpintpeggy]

Since your trip is short, I think you'll be perfectly fine with 3 day tickets no hopper!

 

[Marionnette]

My great plans...

For Christmas this year my husband and I were wanting to do a group trip to Disney instead of doing presents for everyone. I have a niece who's never been to Disney (she's an adult now and has a little girl of her own) but she's talked about wanting to go for awhile now. The rest of us have been but are always ready to go back!

We're looking at possibly either early December or early March (seeing that both of those are relatively low on the crowd calendar).

I've priced all kinds of accommodations and every way imaginable to see what would work best. (values, moderates, suites, renting dvc points, etc). I think I've settled on 4 rooms at pop or music so everyone has their own space. (There's 8 adults, 2 kids and 1 baby). (I definitely want to be on site so we can use Disney transportation and come and go as we please to the parks). If they were to offer free dining in December when we could go I might go with a moderate so we'd have the table service meal plan.

ANYWAY, with our schedules and the drive from Georgia, what I've been pricing is 4 nights/2 day park hoppers. The first night is a wash because we'll be there late from driving. We usually like a day to do Disney springs/resort hop/enjoy the pool, etc. So that leaves us with 2 park days (which suck, I would love to have more time and more money BUT it is what it is, a little is better than nothing), lol. So as you know, with only two day tickets there's no discounts at all, anywhere. Since we'll be buying tickets for 10 people is there any discount with that? Does that qualify as a group, etc? Or should I skip the hoppers and DTD and do a 3 day ticket instead? ...I love hoppers...we always have them and we always use them BUT for this trip maybe it makes sense to add another day instead? Ugh, I don't know!!! What would you do??

If you're hoping for *free* dining, then it's best to wait until the terms of the offer have been announced. *Free* dining packages must include tickets. If you purchase tickets now, you've pretty much excluded yourself from any possible package discount in the future.

Having said that, if I was planning a similar trip I would opt for 3-day base tickets instead of 2-day hoppers. While this would mean skipping one of the parks, it would allow you to concentrate a full day in each of the remaining parks.