Hi there, David!
What a thoughtful surprise you're planning for your cousin and her parents - there's nothing quite like gifting a Disneyland day together! Visiting in early December is such a magical time to be in the parks. Every corner has a little extra sparkle and pixie dust with the holidays in full swing. I'm happy to point you in the right direction so you can wrap up this magical surprise!
You'll want to start on the
Disneyland website, where you can see all of the options for theme park tickets. There are a few decisions you will need to make in the process that will determine the price for the tickets. Head to the website and hover over the "Tickets & Parks" tab along the top navigation bar. Select "
Buy Tickets" from the drop-down menu to begin the process. You can always go back and edit decisions before confirming your purchase.
First, you'll need to select the number of days for each ticket, which sounds like 1 in your case, for December 8th, followed by the number of tickets, which would be 3 to cover your cousin and her parents. If your cousin is 9 and under, she would qualify for a child's ticket, so you would select 2 tickets Ages 10+ and 1 ticket Ages 3 - 9. If she is 10 or older, you would select 3 adult tickets.
The next step will be to decide if you are buying One-Park-Per-Day tickets or Park Hopper tickets. One-Park-Per-Day would allow them to explore every corner of either Disneyland or California Adventure. The Park Hopper would allow them access to both parks during the day - you would choose a park for them to start their day with hopping available after 11:00 AM. You'll note that there is an upgrade fee for the Park Hopper, which will impact your pricing.
As we move through the checkout process, you will make a
theme park reservation for them by selecting their park day - December 8th. If you are booking One-Park-Per-Day tickets, you will see that pricing varies by day, and the current rate for December 8th will be visible on this calendar. Next, you will select the park they would like to attend - either Disneyland Park or California Adventure. As mentioned, if you are purchasing Park Hoppers, you would make a selection, and then they will be able to park hop after 11:00 AM.
The final step of the process will ask you if you'd like to include
Lightning Lane Multi Pass with the tickets and a parking voucher. If you choose not to include these, both are available to Guests upon arrival and entry into the parks. They can always decide to upgrade to a Multi Pass once they've scanned in with just a few taps in their Disneyland App. Both of these decisions will impact your pricing. As you go through the checkout, there will be a current tally along the top so you can see where you are if you'd like to add additional benefits like the Multi Pass or not.
Finally, you will confirm your purchase and pay. One thing to note is that theme park reservations are not confirmed until the tickets are purchased.
Alternatively, you could gift them a
Disney Gift Card that they can use to buy the tickets themselves. This is a great option if there is a certain amount that you are comfortable spending, and it would give them the flexibility to make some of the upgrade decisions on their end.
David, I hope this has been helpful! You are paying the magic forward with this gift, so I hope you get to enjoy it soon as well!
If you have any more questions, we are always here for you at
planDisney!
Tara