“Magic Your Way” Tickets- True Savings or Just Hype?

Updated as of 01/01/06

What is “Magic Your Way”?

“Magic Your Way” is Disney’s new ticket pricing program that replaces the long-running Park Hopper Passes.  Under the old Park Hopper Program, guests were only permitted to buy multiple-day, multiple-park tickets in increments of 4, 5, 6, and 7 days.  Under the new system, guests can mix and match different options and will have the freedom to construct a customized ticket for their specific needs.  Magic Your Way, allows guests to buy a Base Ticket in increments of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 days.  Adding Park Hopper, Magic Plus, or No Expiration options are available for all tickets.

Base Ticket

The Base Tickets that come with the new system are just that- basic tickets.  The only thing that this ticket allows is admittance into one park for one day.  You cannot visit multiple parks within the same day, you cannot go to the water parks or Disney Quest, and by the way, they expire after 14 days of first use.  It is similar to the one-day ticket that Disney offered previously.  The only change is that you can buy multiple days and can receive discounts on additional days.  The more you buy the cheaper the days get.

Park Hopper Option

If you aren’t a one-park-a-day type of person, you might want to consider adding this option to your base ticket.  The cost of this option is a flat rate of $40 per ticket.  It is $40 if you buy a one-day ticket or if you buy a ten-day ticket.  The value of this option is the ability to go from park to park to park within the same day.  If you show up at Magic Kingdom and it is overly crowded, you can jump on the monorail and pop into Epcot and try your luck there.  You could go to Animal Kingdom for most of the day (which closes early at 5:00 on most days), and then go to Disney Studios and catch Fantasmic! in the evening with this option.

Magic Plus Option (Water Park Fun and More Option)

The Magic Plus option works just like the “Plus” options that came with the old 5, 6, and 7-day Hopper Plus Passes.  Extra passes are credited to your ticket and these allow admittance into the water parks, Pleasure Island, Disney’s Wild World of Sports, and Disney Quest.  This option is also a flat rate fee of $50 for all tickets per person regardless of how many days.  The addition of plus passes are as follows:

1, 2, 3-day ticket= 3 plus options                  4 or 5-day ticket= 4 plus options

6-day ticket= 5 plus options                          7 or 10-day ticket= 6 plus options

No Expiration Option

Gone are the days when a ticket was good for eternity.  Under the old system, any leftover, unused days on tickets would never expire.  Under the new system, every ticket expires 14 days after its first use.  You can, however, add the option of no expiration for a nominal fee.  Why would people want to consider this option?  If you only want to go for 5 days this trip, but think you might want to go back at some point in the future, it could be a good investment. The cost for the No Expiration option depends on how many days are purchased.  The addition of the No Expiration option is as follows:

2 or 3-day ticket= $10                                  4-day ticket= $20

5-day= $40                                                 6-day ticket= $50

7-day= $65                                                 8-day ticket=$110

9-day= $130                                               10-day ticket= $135

Benefits of the New System

Options

There are many economic benefits to the new ticket system.  Under the old system, Disney had a “take it or leave it” mentality that limited its guest from only buying what they needed.  If guests wanted to stay for more than 5-days, they were forced to buy a Plus Pass or an Ultimate Pass that included options that most guests would never want nor would they have the time to use them.  With the new ticket system, you only pay for what you need and nothing more.

Savings

If a guest only wants to go to the parks and doesn’t mind going to one park each day, they can go for 10 days for cheaper than an old 4-day Park Hopper would have cost.  With the new system, incremental days after 4 days only cost $1-$7 per day.  A family of four (2 adults and 2 children) could save around $500 a week under the new system (over a $1,000 for ten days).  This could easily pay for their hotel stay resulting in a cheaper vacation overall.

Downside to the New System

Extras Will Cost More

The biggest downside to the new system is that individuals that actually like to do all of the extra activities (water parks, Disney Quest, Pleasure Island, etc…) will have to pay more for these extra options.  We don’t feel that this will impact a lot of people since most guests are primarily interested in going to the main parks.  We speculate that most of the individuals that love to do everything Disney World has to offer, already are Annual Passholders or could easily go that route.

Overall Analysis

Overall this new system is a win-win for Disney and their guests.  Guests win because they can now get into the parks and stay longer for much less.  Disney wins because they can keep guests in their parks and in their resorts for longer time periods.  This will definitely help more people to come to Walt Disney World and these people will be there longer than before.  The amount of money a typical guest spends inside the parks will far outweigh the cheaper admission to get in.

New Ticket Prices-  Updated as of 01/01/06