by Pixie Dusted Diva
When traveling to Walt Disney World you may not always purchase a package, which includes a resort reservation and theme park tickets. Personally, we are annual passholders and Disney Vacation Club members therefore we rarely purchase a Disney vacation package. In this article, I will walk you through how to purchase your theme park tickets online and link them to your My Disney Experience account online. Remember, your My Disney Experience account is your key to everything when planning your Walt Disney World vacation and the My Disney Experience app will also assist in planning and be your best friend while on vacation!
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f you have not booked a package through Disney, you can purchase your tickets online, over the phone, through your travel agent (we recommend Vacation Planner Patricia of All for Dreams Travel), at your local Disney Store or at the parks. I highly recommend having your tickets in advance to take advantage of booking your FastPass+ reservations either 60 days in advance for those staying on property or 30 days in advance if you do not have a resort reservation.
When purchasing tickets online, you’ll want to sign into your My Disney Experience account. You’ll want to make sure that you have a profile set up for everyone in your party already, or if members in your party have their own My Disney Experience account, you’ll want to make sure those are linked together, as it will make the process smoother. You will need to decide in advance how many days of your vacation will be spent in the theme parks, if you will want to park hop (more than one park in one day) and if you will want to visit the water parks. If you answer these questions ahead of time, it will make knowing what kind of tickets to buy a rather simple process.
Also, just fyi, children aged 3-9 will need a ticket to enter the parks and those aged 10 and older are considered adults in Disney’s eyes. If you are bringing a child under the age of two with you, s/he can get in for free! When buying online, a drop down menu will appear where you will choose the member of your party the ticket is for. You will then proceed with buying tickets for the remainder of your party. Should a person not be listed in your account, there is an add new guest option where you may buy additional tickets.
Next you will choose a delivery method and enter your shipping address. Your choices are U.S. Domestic Standard, which is free and takes a few weeks as it is delivered by the US Postal Service. You may pay a fee of $15 for the tickets to be delivered by Fed Ex for US Domestic Express for approximately delivery in a week, or you can choose International Express delivery for $25. If you would like to pick up your tickets when you arrive, you can choose the email option. The website states your confirmation email will have a bar code. Simply show your email when you enter the park, along with the original card used during this purchase. Disney Diva Tip: Now, from my experience if you went to the park entrance with an email and credit card that is not going to get you anywhere as far as obtaining a park ticket at the actual park entrance. You could need to go to Guest Relations outside the park to pick up a hard ticket if you chose this option.
However, if you have Magic Bands regardless of staying on or off-property, you really do not need the physical ticket. Since the very first option is free, and I have plenty of time before my trip I don’t think it hurts to have the hard ticket mailed to my house before my trip. Then the RFID enable ticket becomes a backup method to the magic band. For some reason should the person the ticket is for lose their magic band (yes, it has happened) we do not have to stop everything and go to Guest Relations to report it lost and obtain a new one! We can report the magic band lost easily on the app and pick up a new one when convenient for us. When purchasing a ticket on the My Disney Experience app I was not asked which delivery method I would like.
I was having some trouble on the computer using multiple payment methods such as a gift card and a credit card or my Disney Visa rewards redemption card and my credit card so I decided to try to purchase tickets on the app. However, the My Disney Experience app would only allow me to use a credit card to purchase tickets so that didn’t help me either. I ended up calling to purchase the tickets and then had to manually link my tickets to My Disney Experience with the confirmation number I was given over the phone to my Disney Experience. I’ve listed the instruction below on how to do that.
If you purchased tickets over the phone or at your local Disney Store and need to link to your My Disney Experience account follow these steps:
My Reservations
Tickets and Passes
Manage Tickets and Passes
Link Tickets and Passes
Enter Confirmation Number (the app has the ability to scan the ticket if you have the hard ticket)
The tickets you purchased will show up on the screen and you will have the ability to link to the correct person in your friends and family list.
Once you have successfully linked your theme park tickets to your My Disney Experience account you are ready to start planning your FastPass+ experiences. Those guest staying on property will be able to book their FastPass+ reservations at the 60 day mark prior to their check in for their entire trip. Those guests who do not have a resort reservation will be able to book each day individually 30 day prior to the date.
Happy Planning!
Remember, our Military Diva, is always available to help you plan your next Disney vacation. Feel free to Patricia with All for Dreams Travel for assistance planning.
All for Dreams Travel is an Independent Agency with Gateway to Magic Travel, an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner.
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