Hook a sistah up?

LizzyTish88

Okay fellow bargain shopping ladies, any ideas on where I can get discount passes to Disney? I tried AAA and they won't give a discount if you are there less then three days. Were going for two. Any and all suggestions would be appreciated, I really don't want to have to spend $230. TIA

calindi

Sadly, there's really no such thing as discount passes to Disney except if you're a Florida resident, in the military, or buying 3+ days at a time.  They tightly regulate that stuff.  Even AAA's discount (when they have it) is only $3-5 less expensive than Disney's regular rates.

PaigeMcC

I got nothin'.  Sorry girl:(

calindi

Oh, and not sure about the last time you went, but all tickets are finger-print encoded so don't try to buy someone's half-used 7 day ticket or something since it won't work.  They actually do scan your finger at the gates.

LizzyTish88

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_hook-sistah-up?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:136Discussion:080a3864-da2a-49ea-b75b-07c266376895Post:f34d8fbc-9e8d-421e-a84d-4ffe579fbf38">Re: Hook a sistah up?</a>:
[QUOTE]Oh, and not sure about the last time you went, but all tickets are finger-print encoded so don't try to buy someone's half-used 7 day ticket or something since it won't work.  They actually do scan your finger at the gates.
Posted by calindi[/QUOTE]

Holy crack-down Batman! Yeah last time I went I was going into 8th grade and last time BF went he was like 12ish? We are super excited but are going to go broke! (Not really) I look at it in a positive light because were only staying in a hotel for one night, other then that we're staying at my aunt's house for free. The one night at the hotel we're splitting between 4 people at the FL resident discount (because it's under my aunt's name) and it's only going to be $25. So all the other expenses we would have had, are all going towards the passes. There's a plus side to everything I guess.

calindi

Best advice is to bring in snacks - stop by a grocery store or something and pick up granola bars, bottles of water, apples, etc. so you can minimize eating in the park.  That's where it'll really kill you - those meals are SUPER expensive and not very good!

CWill16

I thought most hotels sold discount tickets to the parks?

I know my hotel did in CA when I went to Disney and my hotel in FL did for Universal. It wasn't a HUGE discount but it was a few dollars maybe? AND you got to skip the lines and go to this really fast kiosk.

motoLyn

I'm guessing you're talking about Disney world.  Cause if you were referring to Disneyland IN CA then I could get you employee discounted tickets.  Good luck I've never dealt with discounted Disney World tickets before. 

leia1979

I was gonna say Wild at Work (got Disneyland and Knott's through them) but I don't see anything for Disney World.

I didn't see anything through Costco either, but maybe Costcos in Florida?

Look through this site to see if anything will work for you. http://www.mousesavers.com/wdw.html

Blue & White

There's also the Universal/SeaWorld/Busch Gardens approach.  I think they're slightly cheaper than Disney.  All of Orlando is basically a rip-off if you're not a FL resident though (and sadly, we're not anymore)

deburnin

I'm pretty sure all deals you'll find are for 4+ days or for up to 25% off hotel rooms. Too bad the give a day, get a day program is over.

[Deleted User]

Do you belong to a credit union?  My parents have gotten discounted tickets to a lot of things over the years through their credit union.

LizzyTish88

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_hook-sistah-up?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:136Discussion:080a3864-da2a-49ea-b75b-07c266376895Post:0e13497d-ffd3-4e5b-9ee7-2c1e6b5bb6f4">Re: Hook a sistah up?</a>:
[QUOTE]Do you belong to a credit union?  My parents have gotten discounted tickets to a lot of things over the years through their credit union.
Posted by AngieD&JoeD[/QUOTE]

I do belong to a credit union.. hmm I'll have to check into that! Thanks for all the ideas ladies!

Starlight Kel

I don't know any that I would trust myself.  Have fun!  What Disney parks are you planning on going to?

LizzyTish88

We are going with my aunt and her three-year-old, so she, Ms. Olivia, wants to go "to the castle." So Magic Kingdom for her, MGM (yes I know it's "Hollywood Studios" now but it will always be MGM to me) for me, and Epcot. I really have no interest in Animal Kingdom, but maybe. We don't really have a plan, just going to play it by ear.

Starlight Kel

Good deal!  I always say MGM too, no worries.   Animal Kingdom is my least favorite park so I won't try to talk you into it. 

deburnin

I don't recommend Animal Kingdom for such a short trip, especially if you don't want to pay for the hopper option on your ticket. So much walking for so little. I'm sad that they had to scratch the Beastly Kingdom part of Animal Kingdom because that sounds like it would have been awesome.

calindi

Again, there are no discounted tickets for Disney.  Perhaps by $5-10 maximum, but nothing that's going to be worth the hassle and it's usually the companies (such as AAA) eating the difference in cost as a favor to their clients.  Or some timeshares will offer them to you if you stay at their place and hear a pitch or something.

If someone offers to sell you discounted tickets to Disney, be very wary.  There's a lot of fraud in the Orlando area to prey on tourists.  I wouldn't be surprised if you bought discounted tickets only to arrive to find out they won't work and you've wasted your money.

You can do Magic Kingdom one day, and spend the following morning at Hollywood Studios and the afternoon at Epcot.  That's my ideal itinerary with a little one - she'll probably crash halfway through Epcot and you and your BF can spend the afternoon having a few drinks!

LizzyTish88

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_hook-sistah-up?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:136Discussion:080a3864-da2a-49ea-b75b-07c266376895Post:dd9e2562-c4a2-4a2b-8aa1-9c8862ec2bba">Re: Hook a sistah up?</a>:
[QUOTE]Again, there are no discounted tickets for Disney.  Perhaps by $5-10 maximum, but nothing that's going to be worth the hassle and it's usually the companies (such as AAA) eating the difference in cost as a favor to their clients.  Or some timeshares will offer them to you if you stay at their place and hear a pitch or something. If someone offers to sell you discounted tickets to Disney, be very wary.  There's a lot of fraud in the Orlando area to prey on tourists.  I wouldn't be surprised if you bought discounted tickets only to arrive to find out they won't work and you've wasted your money. You can do Magic Kingdom one day, and spend the following morning at Hollywood Studios and the afternoon at Epcot.  <strong>That's my ideal itinerary with a little one - she'll probably crash halfway through Epcot and you and your BF can spend the afternoon having a few drinks</strong>!
Posted by calindi[/QUOTE]


This was our thoughts exactly. I really only want to go to MGM to ride the Rockin' Roller-coaster like 546514165 times, then I'll be set for there. There are a few other rides but nothing that I really HAVE to do. This is why we are going to be doing the park-hoppers, and thus raising the prices of the tickets. My Aunt also wants to do a park during the day and fireworks at another park at night. I am secretly hoping that we could make it down to Downtown Disney one day, but I don't know just how much time we are going to have.

calindi

I wasn't impressed by Downtown Disney, but that might just be me.

Make the most of the Fast Passes.  Pick out the rides you really want to go on, go and grab a Fast Pass as soon as you get to the park - depending on the return time, you can go and do another ride with a shorter line.  Immediately when the pass becomes activated (it gives you a time window when you can use it, like 10:15am-10:30am) so basically in this example at 10:15am, get another pass for the same or different ride so that the waiting time passes while you do the first ride.

If that's confusing, this is what I'd do:
Walk quickly to Rockin' Rollercoaster, get a Fast Pass.  Go to something else with a shorter line.  Go to Toy Story Mania! at the time when the pass becomes active and get a new pass for that one (it's incredible, and the passes actually run out - you might want to actually do this one first! It's an interactive videogame-style ride where you play games during the ride).  Then go ride Rockin' Rollercoaster.  As soon as the second pass becomes active, get a third pass before going on the ride with the second pass.  Get it?

It's the best way to make the most of your time.  We used the maps to scout out which rides had Fast Pass that we wanted to go on, and all the others were fit into the waiting time for Fast Pass.

MLekathLEEN

FI and I were going to do Disney last year but couldn't find any good deals on tickets. We ended up getting season passes to Universal Studios and just went to Downtown Disney, which worked for me. I still got my Disney fix but for $800+ less.

heyimbren

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_hook-sistah-up?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:136Discussion:080a3864-da2a-49ea-b75b-07c266376895Post:d7290ef9-1dc6-4343-9f4b-98136612c637">Re: Hook a sistah up?</a>:
[QUOTE]I wasn't impressed by Downtown Disney, but that might just be me. Make the most of the Fast Passes.  Pick out the rides you really want to go on, go and grab a Fast Pass as soon as you get to the park - depending on the return time, you can go and do another ride with a shorter line.  Immediately when the pass becomes activated (it gives you a time window when you can use it, like 10:15am-10:30am) so basically in this example at 10:15am, get another pass for the same or different ride so that the waiting time passes while you do the first ride. If that's confusing, this is what I'd do: Walk quickly to Rockin' Rollercoaster, get a Fast Pass.  Go to something else with a shorter line.  Go to Toy Story Mania! at the time when the pass becomes active and get a new pass for that one (it's incredible, and the passes actually run out - you might want to actually do this one first! It's an interactive videogame-style ride where you play games during the ride).  Then go ride Rockin' Rollercoaster.  As soon as the second pass becomes active, get a third pass before going on the ride with the second pass.  Get it? It's the best way to make the most of your time.  We used the maps to scout out which rides had Fast Pass that we wanted to go on, and all the others were fit into the waiting time for Fast Pass.
Posted by calindi[/QUOTE]

Definitely do this. Fast Passes are FANTASTIC. And get to the parks as early as you can, because the more popular rides fill up fast. Toy Story Mania! can actually be out of fast passes by noon. And then still have a 3 hour line up. But it's such a fun ride.

I never find Rockin Roller Coaster too bad. There was one day we were able to ride it 3 times in a row, in the span of about an hour, just because we were at the park early.

Tower of Terror's one of my favourite rides too. And if it gets really hot, the Little Mermaid show is really nice to sit down in a cool room, plus little kids (and me!) love it.

heyimbren

Oh, also Test Track tends to get pretty busy at Epcot (so does Soarin'. Soarin probably is worse actually) but both are pretty fun. They aren't worth standing in line for 2 hours, so if you can get a Fast Pass for Soarin FIRST, then run over to Test Track you should be good.

At MK, Peter Pan tends to get pretty busy as the day goes on (it's a little kid ride and really popular) and Space Mountain can too.

MLekathLEEN

andplusalso- Not sure if they do this at Disney but Universal has a "single riders" lane. For example. if you are riding a ride with 4 people and there is only 3 people in a party, they grab a person out of the sinlge rider lane. Every so often they will take an entire row of single riders so even outt the line a little bit. FI and I didn't really mind riding with other people so this is what we did the majority of our trip. We did the one rollar coaster about 3 times in a 15-20 minute span. The regular wait was 1.5 hrs. If the ride is a 3 person ride (like MIB) you get on it usually the first or second car through

calindi

Yeah, if you do Rockin' Rollercoaster in the singles line (can't be guaranteed to sit with the people you're with) then it usually only takes 5-10 minutes to wait.  Tower of Terror is also really fun, and the line can be really long .  It's not high season right now, so you probably won't have a hard time doing the rides a few times.

deburnin

Aw man, I was in the race for fast passes for Toy Story Mania when the gates opened during our trip in 2009. It was insane. They literally had cast members line up to hold people back from running. They ran out within the first few hours of the park being open so I recommended getting those first. It is the newest ride at that park and super fun!

For Epcot, BF and I go to get Soarin' FPs and then go on Nemo, which is in the next pavilion, = so that by the time we head over to Test Track we can get FPs for that and then head back to Soarin' since the FPs are usually good (if you get them as soon as the park opens).

I'm assuming that the crowds will still gravitate towards the same rides and in the summer that plan of attack for the most popular rides has always worked. That and when we didn't stay on property we tried to avoid the park that had the extra magic hours in the morning since the hotel guests will have flooded that park.

Marley90

Woah, weird you should ask! We just learned about this in my travel class.  Disney is stingy and gives no discounts for anything.  Except like what the others said, military, and 3 day pass. 

heyimbren

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_hook-sistah-up?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:136Discussion:080a3864-da2a-49ea-b75b-07c266376895Post:7b737d26-001f-434d-b8ba-925d522418fd">Re: Hook a sistah up?</a>:
[QUOTE]Woah, weird you should ask! We just learned about this in my travel class.  Disney is stingy and gives no discounts for anything.  Except like what the others said, military, and 3 day pass. 
Posted by Marley90[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I haven't heard of any third-party discounts. But I have always found great customer service.

deburnin

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_hook-sistah-up?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:136Discussion:080a3864-da2a-49ea-b75b-07c266376895Post:7b737d26-001f-434d-b8ba-925d522418fd">Re: Hook a sistah up?</a>:
[QUOTE]Woah, weird you should ask! We just learned about this in my travel class.  Disney is stingy and gives no discounts for anything.  Except like what the others said, military, and 3 day pass. 
Posted by Marley90[/QUOTE]

<div><div style="background-color:initial;background-image:none;background-attachment:initial;background-origin:initial;background-clip:initial;color:#1f1f1f;font:normal normal normal 11px/14px Arial, sans-serif;text-align:left;line-height:normal;"><font face="Arial" size="3" class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-size:12px;" class="Apple-style-span">You can also get really good group rates for 30+ people when performing there, not that it helps the OP. Our 5 day hoppers with water parks and Disney Quest when we go with my dance studio are usually around $180-$200, which is a steal. I for the life of me can't remember who we get our tickets through though and it's bugging me.</span></font></div></div>

LizzyTish88

Thanks ladies for all the advice! I will have to keep this all in mind when I venture down there. I have used the Fast Passes before for Rockin' Rollercoaster, we got the pass, then waited in line, and by the time we got off, we could go right back on because of our pass it was awesome! I am getting soo excited, thanks again for all the help!