Vacation Planning Tips

(try saying that title five times fast!)

You came to Orlando to go to the parks. You thought you and your party might just arrive at the gate and buy a ticket for the day, and then see what mood grabs you tomorrow?

Well, that's one way of doing it. However, as we've mentioned elsewhere, tickets will be one of your big costs for your trip. If you can save some money here, it might be well worth your time. So how do you save money on tickets?

1. Plan Ahead Ok, ok. True confession? I do make a spreadsheet and plan our activities day-by-day. It's color coded. It has our restaurant picks. It has the parade schedules and fireworks times. (No, it does not plan out a walking path thru the parks, thank you very much! =)

   We post that spreadsheet on the refrigerator door (What? Your hotel doesn't have a fridge? tsk...tsk) and then ... we mostly don't follow it. Consider that plan the "soft" plan. Yes, we have reservations, but we can cancel. Yes, we've planning on hitting EPCOT on Tues, but we can switch.

   The point is, we know ROUGHLY how many days we'll be at the parks, so we can buy tickets that minimize the cost. Why? Because per day costs go down for every day you add to your ticket.

2. Plan Ahead, Pt. 2 If you know you'll be coming back to Disney (and I'm smiling as I write this -- you may not think you'll be back, but truly, it's that much fun!), you might consider this: Disney raises their prices every year. So?

   You can buy tickets that don't expire.

   That means you can buy a 5 day ticket, and if you use four days, the fifth will be good next month, next quarter, next year, next decade (ok, you get the point). Is that good? It's $64/day for a 5 day ticket, but $48/day for a 10 day ticket.

3. Plan Ahead, Pt. 3 If you decide you may be back this year, you may consider whether an Annual Pass may work for you. Annual Passes allow entrance to the parks year round. They're more expensive up front, but depending on the number of days you'll be at the parks, it may be cost-effective (plus annual passholders receive other benefits, such as free parking).

   Ok, are you ready for some options?

4. Options Now that you know how many days you'll be spending at the parks, consider which of the following options you want to attach to your ticket:

   * Park Hopper® option
   * Water Park Fun, & More option
   * Park Hopper® AND Water Park, Fun & More option
   * No Expiration option

5. Park Hopping Confused yet? Hang on, there are a few more options! If your plans call for moving between one park and another in the same day, you'll need to buy tickets with the Park Hopper option ($52 plus tax per ticket). That's nice, if you want to see a fireworks show or have dinner reservations in another park. If you can avoid park hopping, however, you don't need to buy that option.

6. More Fun Than ... Disney has other attractions too, and rather than pay at the gate, you can add a number of these admissions to your ticket. This ticket will still be used for the number of days on the ticket to enter the 4 major Disney parks, but you will also receive EXTRA ADMISSIONS, which can be used at the following attractions;

   • Disney's Typhoon Lagoon Water Park
   • Disney's Blizzard Beach Water Park
   • Disney's Wide World of Sports® Complex
   • DisneyQuest® Indoor Interactive Theme Park
   • Disney's Oak Trail Golf Course (a relaxed nine-hole walking course)

   The number of extra admissions differs depending on the number of days your ticket is good for. Here's a breakdown;

   • 3 Day ticket – 3 EXTRA ADMISSIONS
   • 4 Day ticket – 4 EXTRA ADMISSIONS
   • 5 Day ticket – 5 EXTRA ADMISSIONS
   • 6 Day ticket – 6 EXTRA ADMISSIONS
   • 7 Day ticket – 7 EXTRA ADMISSIONS
   • 10 Day ticket – 10 EXTRA ADMISSIONS

   The "Water Park Fun & More" extra admissions DO NOT have to be used on the same day you visit the 4 major Disney parks. For example, if you purchase a 4 day ticket with the "Water Park Fun & More" option, you will have 4 days to visit the 4 major Disney parks, plus 4 extra admissions that can be used on separate days, resulting in a total of 8 DAYS of fun. However, unless you purchase the "No Expiration" option, the ticket will expire 14 days after the first day of use.

Confused? Fear not - our intrepid reservations staff is here to help. Call them now at (800) 571-2410.