Magic Your Way. Park Hopper. No expiration option. Water Park Fun & More Option. With all these terms and extras, it’s hard for a first time Disney guest to figure out just what they need. Well, hopefully after this breakdown, you’ll no longer have to flounder when you begin to purchase your tickets.
Magic Your Way Base Ticket
The easiest way to understand the Walt Disney World ticketing system is to understand that every ticket starts out as a base ticket. What is a base ticket? A base ticket is a ticket which allows you to get into one theme park daily for however many days your ticket specifies. For instance, if you bought a four day base ticket, you could go to Magic Kingdom one day, Animal Kingdom the next, Epcot the day after, and finally MGM on the fourth day (not necessarily in that order). With a base ticket, you cannot hop from park to park, which is why many people add the next feature:
Park Hopper Option
The Park Hopper option allows you to hop easily around the four theme parks situated in the Walt Disney World Resort. Of all the options you can add to your ticket, this is a must have.
Let’s say you’ve just had an exhausting day at Magic Kingdom. The kids are tired, but hungry and you’d like to settle in somewhere more relaxing for dinner. With the Park Hopper option, you can jet over to Epcot by monorail, present your ticket and enjoy a nice dinner at World Showcase and catch Illuminations, an amazing fireworks and water show, just before the park closes.
This also prevents you from staying in one place all day. If you find you’ve done everything that Animal Kingdom has to offer, you aren’t stuck there and you don’t simply have to return to your hotel. Instead, you can hop over to the Magic Kingdom by bus and enjoy the nightly parade and fireworks show.
Water Park Fun & More Option
The Walt Disney World Resort is not limited to the four theme parks. WDW Resort also houses two water parks (Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon), an interactive playground (DisneyQuest), nightlife (Pleasure Island), and a sports fan’s dream (Disney’s Wide World of Sports). With the Water Park Fun & More option, you can also enjoy these attractions along with your theme park admission.
No Expiration Option
This is probably the easiest one to explain. In the past, all Disney tickets came with a no expiration option. Of course, they were also hand-stamped cards, as well. Ah, those were the days. However, those days are over and you can now choose whether to use all of your days at once or buy the no expiration option. Why would you want the no-expiration option? Some guests like to use it as a security net just in case something cuts their vacation short and they have to conclude early. Other guests like to break up their vacation by venturing down South to the Keys and back North again. However, if you’re a frequent visitor to the parks, I would actually suggest buying an Annual Pass which comes with its own set of added perks.
Of course, guests who stay on property have the option of adding extra perks such as the Dining Plan option which includes all your meals at the Resort during your stay. However, if you’re simply interested in seeing the parks during your stay, my recommendation would be to purchase the Magic Your Way Plus Park Hopper ticket for the selected number of days of your stay. This ensures that you will get the most out of the theme parks during your time at the Resort.
To purchase your tickets online, simply go to the Walt Disney World homepage and click the tickets button. You can also purchase tickets at any Disney Store or at the gate.