Hey Howdy Hey Celia and welcome back to planDisney!
There has been a whole lot that has changed when it comes to information and marketing with
Walt Disney World Resort from pre-COVID-19 times until now. There is also a lot of information online that has not been updated and may be hard to sort through what is still available and the benefits of one versus the other. Thank you for your question regarding Disney May Way. Let's see if we can figure this out.
Before COVID-19, Disney did refer mainly to
theme park tickets as Disney Magic Your Way Tickets. This just referred to the way you can add tickets to your vacation package to include the things you wanted and not have to pay for the rest. So you would get the Magic the way you wanted to. While Disney no longer refers to tickets this way, you still do have all of the options available, but is also something you may come across frequently with many online planning sites.
When it comes to theme park tickets, you can purchase them as a stand-alone option or you can purchase them as part of a vacation package that includes
Disney Resorts Collection hotel accommodations. The options for the tickets remain the same as Magic Your Way tickets which you have the option to purchase as 1-day park passes, Water Park and Sports Options,
Park Hopper Option or Park Hopper Plus Option. You can add any of these options to your park tickets or to your vacation package for the length of your stay or any amount you would like. They do come with special access you would get with your tickets such as the Park Hopper Option allows you to start in one park and then hop to any other park after 2:00 p.m. EST, as currently noted and pending availability in the park you want to hop to. You can also add the Water Park Option if you wanted to experience the theme parks and water parks and the final Park Hopper Plus gives you the most access to all the options if you wanted to take advantage of everything on your trip.
My big tip when it comes to making decisions for first-time Disney goers is to keep it simple and do just one park per day. There is so much at each park and if it is your first time, take your time and enjoy all that one park has to offer. Don't worry about the pressure to hop to another park to maximize the options of your tickets and enjoy each park for a full day. Mornings and evenings in the parks have a completely different feel and the experience is so different that I would encourage anyone to spend this time in each park for this reason alone!
I hope this information helped try to interpret some prior lingo for your options. If you have any other questions, please feel free to reach out and let us know, we would be happy to help!
Have a Magical Day,
Nick