Hiya Michael,
Welcome to planDisney! We are so happy that you are here and have brought your question to us! As someone who has visited Walt Disney World Resort at least twice a year, I understand the value of budgeting for a Walt Disney World Resort vacation. Having the vacation of your dreams can get pricey when you add in dining, merchandise, and extras such as After Hours Events. I like to think that my family and I have gotten pretty good at Disney on a budget, so I’m happy to share any tips or tricks I’ve developed over the years.
To answer your question, when you purchase
Theme Park tickets, full payment is due at the time of purchase. You can only “split” payments on
Walt Disney World Resort Vacation Packages (a stay at a Walt Disney World Resort Collection Hotels that is booked with Theme Park Tickets). If you are only booking Theme Park tickets or are not planning to book a Vacation Package, you will not be able to take advantage of this.
Since your visit is coming up so soon and you are still asking about Theme Park tickets, I have a tip to share. I always leverage
Disney Gift Cards for budgeting my trip. Disney Gift Cards are available in increments as low as $25 all the way up to $500 and can be a great way to split up your payments. I start by purchasing a gift card in the amount that makes me feel the most comfortable, and then every time I have a little extra money set aside, I go and pick up another one. Once I have enough to cover my Theme Park tickets, I go to the Disney Gift Card website and combine all of the different Disney Gift Cards onto one card and use that to pay for my tickets online. It is much more manageable for me than paying for everything on my credit card. I want to caution you, though, that the summer tends to be a busy time at Walt Disney World Resort, which means that
Disney Park Pass Reservations tend to go quickly. If you choose the Disney Gift Card route, please keep an eye out on the
Disney Park Pass availability calendar. It always breaks my heart when Guests purchase their Theme Park tickets for a specific date and then find that there is no park pass available for them and they cannot enter the Theme Parks. If you see that the calendar is starting to have more “yellow” days, then it may be a good idea to go ahead and purchase your Theme Park tickets using your Disney Gift Card and your debit/credit card to cover what is remaining. This will allow you to lock in Disney Park Pass Reservations for your vacation and not miss out on the dates that you are dreaming of.
If there is anything else we can do to help, please come back and see us. We want you to have a magical vacation, so we are always here.
Happy Planning,
Ashley F.