Disneyland Resort FAQs with Mouse Brief
Does Disneyland Resort ever change the price of tickets to Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park?
Yes, Disneyland Resort does regularly raise the price for admission to Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park in Anaheim, California. These Disneyland ticket increases generally apply to both Magic Keys (annual passes) and general admission tickets and have historically occurred once and sometimes twice a year.
But I heard that the cost of a base ticket has not increased in years…
Yes, the cost for the lowest priced ticket for the parks at Disneyland Resort has not changed in the last few years. However, this applies only to the tier 0 ticket for one day in one park. These tickets may only be used on certain days. If you look at most any other kinds of tickets, Disney has raised the prices regularly over the years. You can read our article to understanding ticket tiers here, and we have an article dedicated to tier 0 tickets here.
So how do I save money on tickets now?
Knowing that the cost of tickets is likely to increase, here are a few ways you can save on tickets:
- Buy your tickets from a third-party seller. Some authorized ticket-sellers (like Get Away Today and Undercover Tourist) regularly offer multi-day tickets at a lower price than Disney. Additionally, while these sellers will eventually raise prices after Disney raises theirs, they usually keep the old prices for a bit longer than Disney does. If you act quickly after a price increase, you may still be able to get tickets at the old prices from these third-party sellers AND with get extra savings on top of that. Make sure you are working with an authorized seller: Disney ticket scams are not uncommon.
- Purchase tickets in advance. Disneyland has traditionally offered generous expiration dates for their tickets. If you are planning a trip for next year, you might be able to purchase your tickets today and avoid a future price increase (or two). If your tickets do expire, Disney will usually allow you to apply the cost of any wholly unused ticket towards another ticket purchase. Be sure to check the terms and conditions while you are purchasing your tickets, and remember that multi-day tickets expire thirteen days after their first use or by the overall expiration date, whichever occurs first.
- Look for special offers. While Disney does regular increase the overall price of tickets, they also regularly offer discounts for tickets to Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure Park. We recommend checking the Disneyland website or signing-up for Disneyland emails to catch special offers for tickets and for Disneyland Resort Hotels. Current and past offered include discounts for members of the U.S. military, special discount tickets for kids and seasonal savings on three-day tickets.
Other Disneyland Savings
If your vacation budget has been hit hard by a Disneyland ticket increase, there are also other ways to save.
Hotel accommodations can be expensive, but Disneyland Resort Hotels offer seasonal discounts and other area hotels vary their pricing based throughout the year. Remember, there are hotels on Harbor Boulevard that are closer to the parks than Disneyland Hotel itself and almost always cheaper.
If you choose the right hotel, you can even skip the rental car and parking fees. Plenty of hotels are within walking distance of Disneyland Resort, and you can also consider hotel shuttles or public transportation like ART.
We also like to save money by planning our meal budget with mobile ordering and bringing our own food and water bottles to the parks.
You can even have fun at Disneyland Resort without buying a ticket at all! We wrote all about it here.
Thanks for reading. We hope this has been helpful.
For a general guide to tickets at Disneyland Resort in California, look here. And for overall trip planning advice, we recommend our Step-by-Step Disneyland Prep guide. Thanks again for reading!