With more than 7,000 ticket options out there for Walt Disney World, there’s a lot to think about as you decide what you’re going to purchase. And if you plan to visit for the 50th anniversary, you’ll need to make some decisions before purchasing your Disney World tickets in 2022. Decisions like:
- How many days do you need tickets for?
- Will you use Park Hopper?
- Will you go to the Water Parks?
- Will you buy Genie +?
These decisions will help guide you in making your ticket purchase. However, so will this blog post! I’m going to give you the rundown on everything you need to know to purchase your Walt Disney World Tickets in 2022. And you also might want to check out my blog post: Beginner’s Guide to a Disney Vacation, so that you can make sure you’ve covered all your bases!
2022 Disney World Ticket Basics
A Walt Disney World base ticket in 2022 will admit one guest into one of WDW’s four main parks (Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, EPCOT) for one day. You can leave and re-enter the same park on the same day, but you cannot hop to another park on that same day (see Park Hopping below for more).
There are two types of base tickets: one for ages 3-9, and one for ages 10+. Anyone under 3 years old gets into the parks free, which is why I encourage parents NOT to wait until their kids are “old enough to remember” – because you can save some serious cash by getting them in earlier in life. (Plus, the wonder on a little one’s face … but this is a topic for a different time.)
Once you know how many tickets you need of each type, there are few other things you should know ….
Ticket Length
Currently you can buy tickets that allow park entry anywhere from one day to ten days. As you increase your days, the price per day decreases. Pro Tip: It’s often worth playing around with number of days to see if it’s worth it to have the availability to enter the parks on your travel days.
For example:
As I’m writing this post, a 5-day base ticket with a start on September 12 is $449.47 a ticket, but a 6 day base ticket with a start on September 12 is $461.74.
In this scenario, that extra $12.27 per ticket might be worth it to grab another couple of hours inside a park before heading home.
Seasonality
Not only does number of days affect the cost of your ticket, but so does seasonality. Ticket prices change throughout the entire year based on how busy the parks normally are.
That same 5-day base ticket that cost you $449.47 a ticket in September would cost you $490.65 a ticket in July. (Again, please note that prices are always changing and I do not guarantee that you’ll find a ticket at these prices.)
Ticket prices also vary based on your start date. That same 5 -base ticket with a September 12th (a Monday) start, would cost you $463.66 a ticket to start it on Saturday, September 10. A $14 dollar difference that can add up quickly, especially the larger your party is.
Expiration
Base tickets do have an expiration date, which is important to know if you plan to buy multiple days but not use them back-to-back. The expiration dates vary based on the number of days you purchased. For example, a 3-day ticket will expire 5 days from your chosen start date, but a 10-day ticket will expire 14 days from your chosen start date.
Ticket Add-Ons
Outside of the base tickets, Disney also offers a few different add-ons that you can chose to include in your ticket.
Park Hopper
This option allows guests to visit more than one park per day. So, if you’re hoping to start your day off at Animal Kingdom, but want to have dinner in EPCOT, you’ll need this add-on. This is also great if you’re wanting to visit all 4 parks in less than 4 days.
Currently, you are not allowed to hop to your second park of the day until 2:00 pm, but once 2:00 hits, there’s no limit to how many parks you can hop to. Before the 2:00 limit was implemented, some people enjoyed trying to hit all 4 parks in one day.
Availability is subject to capacity, and have the park hopper add on does not guarantee entry into every park. If the park you’re trying to hop to is full, it’s full.
Currently, the cost per day is anywhere from $69 – $91 on top of the base ticket price, but like the base ticket price, the more days, the lower the cost per day.
You cannot pick and choose how many days you want to park hop. If you’re adding the park hopper option, you must add it to all ticket days.
Water Park and Sports Option
Outside of Walt Disney World’s 4 main parks, there are also two water parks, the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, golf courses and two mini-golf courses.
At the time of writing this post, the Blizzard Beach Water Park and the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex are both closed indefinitely.
With this add-on, you’re able to gain entry to those extras based on your length of tickets. For example, a 4-day ticket allows for 4 visits, and a 5-day ticket allows for 5 visits.
This add-on is $75 at the time of writing this post.
Park Hopper Plus
If both of those add-ons intrigued you, the Park Hopper Plus add-on is the one for you. Pricing as of writing this post was anywhere from $91 – $112 on top of your base ticket price, and gives you everything in both of the above add-ons.
Genie+
The newest add-on is the oh so controversial Genie+. A full rundown of Genie+ and Lightning Lane would take an entire blog post in and of itself, so for now I’ll keep it short. Lightning Lane is what they now call the FastPass line, and Genie+ is the new FastPass.
You can add Genie+ to your tickets at checkout for an additional $15 per person, per day. Checking out this way requires that you add Genie+ to all the days of your tickets.
However, you can also purchase it at a later date, where you can purchase it for just the days of your choosing – still for that $15 per person, per day.
Annual Passes
If you plan to visit Disney World more than once in the coming year, it might be a good idea to consider an annual pass, although the tipping point for it being worth it varies by pass type. At the time of writing this post, Disney is has paused the selling of most new annual passes. You may renew a current pass, or if you’re a Florida resident, you can grab the Pixie Dust Pass.
Perks of having an annual pass include: free parking, dining and merchandise discounts, a separate entrance line to the parks, and occasionally special discounts on hotel rooms.
Base annual passes do also include the park hopper option.
There are 4 different base annual passes available, but of course there are also add-ons (such as water park access for an additional $105 and Photopass Downloads for an addition $99)
Once again, all following pricing and information is current as of Disney stopping selling annual passes at the end of 2021. When they begin to offer them again, it’s likely things will be different.
Pixie Dust Pass
Only available to Florida Residents.
$399 + tax with a monthly payment plan option available to Florida Residents.
Blockout dates: Weekends, Holidays, and Peak Periods
May make up to 3 park reservations at a time.
Pirate Pass
Only available to Florida residents.
$699 + tax with a monthly payment plan option available to Florida Residents.
Blockout dates: Holidays and Peak Periods
May make up to 4 park reservations at a time.
Sorcerer Pass
Only available to Florida Residents and Disney Vacation Club Members
$899 + tax with a monthly payment plan option available to Florida Residents
Blockout dates: Around Thanksgiving and Christmas/New Years
May make up to 5 park reservations at a time.
Incredi-Pass
Available to anyone.
$1,299 + tax with monthly payment plan option available to Florida Residents only
No Blockout Dates
May make up to 5 park reservations at a time,
Disney World Ticket Discounts in 2022
A quick note – if you are a Florida resident or a member of the military (active duty or retired), you are eligible for ticket discounts.
Park Reservations
Oh, and don’t forget that once you’ve purchased your tickets, you need to grab your park reservations! Tickets alone will no longer get you into the parks – you have to let Disney know ahead of time which park you’ll be visiting on which day.
I repeat: a ticket for a specific date does NOT guarantee you park entry.
Side note: if you’re park hopping, you don’t have to let them know every park you’re going to. Just which one you’re starting with.
I hope that this guide to Walt Disney World tickets 2022 helped give you a starting point for making your ticketing decisions, but if you still have questions, please feel free to leave a comment below!
And, if you’d like to see what information I suggest you make sure you know as you’re planning out each day in the parks, be sure to download my free Walt Disney World sample itinerary while you’re here!
For more guides to planning your next magical escape, be sure to check out the rest of the blog – particularly my Beginner’s Guide to a Disney Vacation.
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