Is there any benefit to buying a 1 day ticket in advance?

[todzwife]

I'm still REALLY hoping we can save up enough for one magical day at Disneyland when we come to Anaheim in October. With 4 kids, one day one park tickets will run us $648. There doesn't seem to be any discounts that are for 1 day tickets. We don't get Magic Morning...is there any benefit to buying them before we get down there?

 

[PatMcDuck]

I think you might be able to buy them up to the day you are going to the park right on the DL phone app, to save you waiting on the ticket lines the day you attend.

 

[wdwfan22]

Not financially, but for that price, you want to buy the tickets in advance so you don't have to waste any time at the ticket book. I would plan on getting to the GATE (not the parking lot or security) 30 - 45 mins prior to opening to be in the front of the line and get in and get to having a magical day!

 

[ParkHopper1]

Avoiding possible lines at the ticket booth and being able to walk right to the gates is worth doing it for alone.

 

[anonymousegirl]

lines can be very line first thing in the morning. That golden first hour of park opening is much less crowded, even though it seems like half of SoCal is there. Get through security one hour early and then you will be near the front of the turnstiles. Have a plan and hustle for the first couple of hours, then relax with an early off-peak time lunch (to avoid those crowds) Sit down meals are nice, especially the character ones, but they take a lot of time. Consider quick-service instead. Now, on the other hand, if you kids are really into meet characters, a character meal is a great place to have lunch and have the characters come to you.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Make sure you choose a day that doesn't have a Halloween party or you will be kicked out of the park early. I think in October those are on Tuesdays and Fridays. I always like visiting the parks on Wednesdays because they tend to be less crowded (not always though). For food, there are lots of large meals and snacks you can easily split up between several people. I think there are even some threads you can search to find the more shareable foods.

 

[todzwife]

Make sure you choose a day that doesn't have a Halloween party or you will be kicked out of the park early. I think in October those are on Tuesdays and Fridays. I always like visiting the parks on Wednesdays because they tend to be less crowded (not always though). For food, there are lots of large meals and snacks you can easily split up between several people. I think there are even some threads you can search to find the more shareable foods.

Yup, we're going on a Thursday. No party

 

[az4boys]

I think there are even some threads you can search to find the more shareable foods.

Any ideas what to search for to find these threads? Our favorite light meal is the sourdough bread at DCA.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Any ideas what to search for to find these threads? Our favorite light meal is the sourdough bread at DCA.

Here is a recent one:

https://www.disboards.com/threads/favorite-meals-to-share-please.3606640/

 

[disneymum58]

Thursday will have a Magic Morning so there will be a lot of people in the park ahead of you. If you can manage Friday that might be better?

 

[todzwife]

Thursday will have a Magic Morning so there will be a lot of people in the park ahead of you. If you can manage Friday that might be better?

We're going to the Aquabats concert Friday night, so Thursday really is the only day we can go...plus Friday is a Halloween Party and we'd get booted early anyway. Magic Morning starts at 7 AM so HOPEFULLY that will mean the 8 AM opening won't be terrible, but it is what it is. When we went in February, Everything was still closed, including Pirates. My kids would be thrilled just to go ride Pirates, HMH, the train and Ghost Galaxy.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

We're going to the Aquabats concert Friday night, so Thursday really is the only day we can go...plus Friday is a Halloween Party and we'd get booted early anyway. Magic Morning starts at 7 AM so HOPEFULLY that will mean the 8 AM opening won't be terrible, but it is what it is. When we went in February, Everything was still closed, including Pirates. My kids would be thrilled just to go ride Pirates, HMH, the train and Ghost Galaxy.

I have gone many times on all different weekdays. If you had a choice it would be better to choose a day without MM, but in my experience lately the crowds are still totally fine as long as you are there before rope drop.

 

[cmpeter]

The main benefit is avoiding the lines at the ticket booths. I would download the app or go online and buy them a couple days before your trip.