Hello, Miriam! Thank you for coming to planDisney with your Walt DIsney World Resort vacation planning question! A family trip to Walt Disney World is such a fun experience and one that your family will remember forever. On one of our recent visits, we were fortunate to have both sets of our children’s grandparents join us, and watching my children enjoy the parks and rides with them like I did when I was their age, is a memory I will never forget!
Choosing when to purchase tickets for your upcoming vacation depends on your planning style and comfortability. When theme park reservations were required, it was important to plan as early as possible, but since park reservations are no longer required for date-based tickets, this is less of a necessity. Please know that parks are still subject to capacity limits, so I suggest keeping an eye on the Theme Park Reservation Availability calendar (which is used by those with ticket types that need a reservation) to get a good idea of what parks may be busy and potentially reaching capacity, just for your awareness and expectations. Historically, the parks don’t reach capacity unless it’s a holiday/holiday weekend or the week leading up to Christmas and between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
I like to monitor the Special Offers, Deals & Discount page of the Walt Disney World website to see if any specials pertain to my visit, before purchasing my tickets. I also like to purchase my tickets as early as Disney allows so that I can check that off my planning list and prepare for the next planning stage, typically booking our dining reservations and Enchanting Extras. Another reason why I purchase my tickets well ahead of time is that it allows me time to link the tickets to each member of my party in the My Disney Experience app so that when we arrive, we can head straight to the Mickey tap-in at our favorite park.
Speaking of linking tickets to each family member in the My Disney Experience app, before buying your tickets, you should ensure all your family members are added to your Friends & Family List. When you are ready to purchase your tickets through the Walt Disney World website, you will be able to select the number of theme park days needed for each Guest and link it to the member on your Friends & Family List who will be using the ticket. Children under the age of three (3) do not require a theme park ticket, as they are special Guests of Mickey!
Miraim, you can find comfort in knowing that Disney understands that things can happen that are beyond your control, and while tickets can’t be transferred or reimbursed, completely unused tickets can have the dates changed for future use! So, if you or your family were to purchase tickets now and the plans change, there are two different ways to go about moving the dates of your tickets to a future visit, either through the My Disney Experience app or My Disney Experience on your computer. If this is the case and you need help walking through this process, please visit planDIsney again and you can submit your question to me directly, I will be happy to help.
I hope this answers your question Miriam, if you have any additional questions, please come back to visit us at planDisney! I hope that your upcoming visit to Walt Disney World with your family is truly memorable!
Brent