Last week, Disney increased ticket prices for the remainder of 2024 and 2025 at Disneyland and California Adventure. With this 1-day, multi-day, Park Hopper, Annual Pass, and Lightning Lane Multi-Pass costs are now up almost across the board. That’s the bad news.
The good news is that Get Away Today, our recommended authorized third party ticket seller, still has tickets at the “old” prices. By purchasing your Disneyland park tickets via them, you can lock in the previous pricing and save significantly on multi-day tickets! As compared to post-price increase, you can save up to $125 per ticket. (Obviously, savings vary based on ticket type–the longer the duration, the more you save.)
The bottom line is that buying tickets via Get Away Today before Monday, October 21, 2024, you will get the best prices. We’ve received questions about whether to wait for Black Friday, Disneyland’s upcoming kids’ special, or the likely Winter 2025 deal. The answer to most questions is: don’t wait, buy now before the Oct. 21 deadline. With that said, there is a bit more to it than that–and we have advice for both prospective visitors who haven’t bought tickets as well as those who already purchased…
What if I already bought tickets–is there anything I can do?
If you’ve already paid in-full for your tickets, you’ve already locked-in the lowest price! No need to do anything else.
With that said, if you already bought tickets and now want to upgrade your tickets to include Lightning Lane Multi Pass at the “old” price of $30 per day, you can do that. And we’d recommend doing that! You will have to make new theme park reservations, so just make sure your dates are still available (every single date on the calendar currently is) before calling Get Away Today to make the change.
What if I don’t know the dates I’m doing Disneyland?
If you don’t know when you’re going, just enter a general date in order to purchase your tickets. The date you enter is not tied to a theme park reservation (which still needs to be made); the dates you choose are flexible. Just make sure that you actually do plan on visiting between now and the end of 2025!
Will ticket prices be cheaper during Black Friday or Cyber Monday sales?
Get Away Today has advised us that they will have a Black Friday sale but the prices during that will not be better than locking in the current “old” prices. That’s entirely consistent with past precedent across all authorized ticket sellers–their deals are always best during this window, surpassing even the Black Friday and Cyber Monday specials.
Kids are potentially a different story. Disneyland announced that there’s going to be a special kids’ ticket offer beginning October 22, 2024. During that, guests can purchase a child’s ticket to Disneyland Resort theme parks for as low as $50 per child, per day valid for use from January 7 through March 20, 2025.
For the most part, families traveling during those dates should buy their tickets for anyone ages 10+ now and then purchase their child tickets for travel those dates on October 22, 2024. However, there’s one big exception for the gamblers out there, as discussed below…
What about the likely Winter and Spring 2025 ticket deal?
This ticket deal will almost certainly be offered again. There’s no reason to believe otherwise, especially as pent-up demand continues exhausting itself. The real question is whether this offer will be exclusively for Californians or available to the general public.
For the last few years, the cadence of California resident ticket deals has been SoCal savings for early January through early June travel dates. This ticket deal has been released every year for the last decade-plus, and there’s no reason to believe it’ll materially differ in 2025. At least, in terms of the date range, which was January 2 through June 2 this year. Here were this year’s prices:
- 3-Day, 1-Park Per Day Ticket for admission Monday through Thursday only – $225
- 3-Day, 1-Park Per Day Ticket for admission any day – $275
Again, the big question mark is who will be eligible? In the past, this has never been for anyone except Southern California residents. However, pent-up demand has now been fully exhausted and Disneyland took the unprecedented step of expanding the Californian ticket deal that’s offered annually in the summer to the general public.
Personally, I think it’s unlikely that Disney will go from a SoCal ticket deal to a general public offer. This is especially true with the Disneyland 70th Anniversary Celebration and return of Paint the Night Parade on the horizon. These offerings will likely be more than enough to offset the declining pent-up demand.
The intermediate step, and one that makes more sense, is expanding from Southern Californians to all Californians. But you never know. It all depends upon how much of a slowdown they’re anticipating in 2025, how much of an impact this kids’ ticket deal is expected to make, and whether there are any other levers they can pull. It wouldn’t be the first time for Disneyland to bring back a parade and get overly aggressive with ticket deals–exactly the same thing happened in Winter 2017!
Waiting for this ticket deal if you don’t live in Southern California is a huge gamble, especially since there’s zero precedent for it to be extended to the general public and it probably won’t be announced until a few days after Cyber Monday. With that said, it is possible–more so than ever given the summer/fall ticket deal–so if you’re a huge gambler, it’s some intriguing food for thought.
What about Walt Disney World tickets?
Thus far in 2024, Walt Disney World ticket prices have not increased, nor did they go up last October for regular tickets. Prices for current tickets haven’t increased since December 2022, which is the first time in the 15 years we’ve been tracking prices when there was not an annual increase.
Walt Disney World has already increased ticket prices for 2025. This did not apply to tickets for 2024, which was unexpected and unprecedented–ticket price increases normally take effect immediately. Given this, we are not expecting an increase on 2024 park tickets at any point. We do still expect tickets for October through December 2025 to be released very, very soon–and to cost more than 2024 tickets for comparable dates. But there’s nothing you can do at this point to safeguard against that, sorry.
As a general rule, it’s always a good idea to buy tickets early to lock-in current pricing. In this case, you’re not up against a deadline–there’s no “old” pricing on Walt Disney World tickets to take advantage of now. Our best guess is that Walt Disney World will not increase current ticket prices until October 2025, but even that’s not a given. Epic Universe really throws a monkey wrench into things.
When is the next Disneyland price increase most likely?
October 8, 2025. That’s a very specific date, but it’s more or less when prices went up in each of the last three years. It’s usually around the first week in October, on either Tuesday or Wednesday. That’s been the past precedent for the last few years (October 11, 11, 8) and it’s more likely than not that history will repeat itself within a few days of that mark.
The odds are high of an increase in Fall 2025. It could occur anytime between the end of September and mid-October, right around the time Disney’s new fiscal year starts. October is also now one of the most popular months of the year at Disneyland, so the company could opt to move the price increase forward and capitalize on that.
We always recommend purchasing tickets sooner rather than later if you know you’re going to be visiting Disneyland. Purchasing now will “future proof” against additional price increases in the next year-plus. Prices have gone up at least once annually every year of the last decade. That was true even for the year-plus when the parks were closed–they managed to sneak in price increases shortly before closing and after reopening.
With that said, pent-up demand is fizzling out and Disneyland is experiencing a slowdown as compared to the last two years. So it’s possible that Disney will hit pause on price increases in 2025. But they didn’t this year, and the 70th Anniversary plus Paint the Night will likely be enough to drive strong attendance.
Are there discounts on single-day tickets?
No.
Authorized ticket sellers don’t offer any savings on 1-day tickets. You might as well buy directly from Disney.
If prices go up again between now and my travel dates, do I have to pay the difference?
No.
The beauty of buying now to lock-in prices is that you safeguard against future price increases. Even at today’s higher interest rates, putting your money to use by purchasing park tickets to take advantage of savings will “outperform” a high-yield savings account (based on the historical percentages of past price increases). You might be able to do better with U.S. Treasuries depending upon the duration and tickets you’d buy.
Are discounted Disneyland tickets available anywhere else?
Yes.
We recommend Get Away Today in this post due to their customer service, price adjustment policy, and by virtue of offering the lowest prices to DTB readers. However, the other authorized ticket brokers mentioned in our Money-Saving Guide to Disneyland Tickets should likewise have “old” inventory left for a limited time.
Is it worth buying the Lightning Lane Multi-Pass (LLMP) ticket add-on?
Maybe.
For us, it really comes down to how long you’re visiting and how important rides are to your visit. The shorter the trip, the more likely we are to recommend the Lightning Lane Multi-Pass add-on. If you’re doing a longer trip and you don’t care as much about repeating rides, we’re less inclined to recommend it.
If you’ll want LLMP every day, it’s a no brainer. The advance purchase length-of-ticket add-on, especially at the old prices, will save you more money and be more convenient than purchasing it each day. You’ll pay $30 per day instead of no less than $35, which is has been the new baseline since price increases. (We’re fully expecting it to hit $40 to $50 during the peak season around Thanksgiving, Christmas, and NYE.)
Lightning Lane Multi-Pass works incredibly well at Disneyland Resort, which is both an argument for and against buying it length of stay. Most days, you will be able to secure Lightning Lane selections for most popular attractions, saving several hours as compared to waiting in the standby lines. The last time we tested LLMP at Disneyland and DCA, we were easily able to make ride reservations for over one-dozen attractions, saving roughly over 6 hours in line.
Lightning Lane Multi-Pass is really easy to use at Disneyland Resort, and gives you a huge advantage. Accordingly, it offers great value and strategic advantage. Conversely, LLMP makes it easy to have 1-2 days when you “go hard” on rides, followed by more relaxed days where LLMP is no longer necessary.
Moreover, you can still accomplish a lot without it and with savvy strategy, such as using our Disney Theme Park Itineraries or Early Entry at Disneyland. Lightning Lanes enable you to ride many more attractions and get a lot more bang for your buck. In the end, we recommend using a variety of strategies to experience headliners via the Lightning Lanes and standby lines when wait times are lower! We also cover everything you need to know in our Guide to Lightning Lane Multi-Pass at Disneyland and Disney California Adventure.
What about the Park Hopper option?
If your budget allows, we are huge fans of Park Hopper tickets and think it’s worth the added cost. The reason for this is simple: Disneyland and Disney California Adventure are literally less than a football field apart. It’s easy to jump from one to the other, and we do on every single visit.
This allows you to hit Radiator Springs Racers first thing every morning of our trip, and then either continue the day at Disney California Adventure, or head over to Disneyland. It also enables you to use Lightning Lane Multi-Pass at both parks in a single day, instead of just at one.
If you do continue the day at Disney California Adventure, having the hopper allows you to go to Disneyland late at night for the fireworks, or to head over to Disneyland to end the day, because it’s usually open later. You can also bounce back and forth between the parks, making for more efficient touring without wasting time given the proximity of the parks to one another.
With that said, if you have small children who won’t stay up late or aren’t concerned about having the most efficient day possible, opting for Park Hopper might be a waste of your money. As always, there’s really no one size fits all answer. We love the Park Hopper option and can’t imagine not doing both parks in the same day, but others might take a more laid back approach. Moreover, each park has more than enough to fill an entire day.
Planning a Southern California vacation? For park admission deals, read Tips for Saving Money on Disneyland Tickets. Learn about on-site and off-site hotels in our Anaheim Hotel Reviews & Rankings. For where to eat, check out our Disneyland Restaurant Reviews. For unique ideas of things that’ll improve your trip, check out What to Pack for Disney. For comprehensive advice, consult our Disneyland Vacation Planning Guide. Finally, for guides beyond Disney, check out our Southern California Itineraries for day trips to Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, and tons of other places!
YOUR THOUGHTS
Are you purchasing park tickets for Disneyland in late 2024 or 2025 by October 21 in order to lock-in the “old” prices? What do you think of these price increases to Disneyland tickets? Thoughts on buying the Park Hopper add-on or Lightning Lane Multi-Pass at Disneyland Resort? Will you still be visiting the parks this year, or are you priced out? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
