Walt Disney World: Tickets, opening hours and timing
Disney information: tel 407/824-4321;
One-day one-park tickets cost $48.76 (children aged 3-9 $39.22), and allow unlimited access to all shows and rides in one park only, for that day only. Park-Hopper Passes buy you entry to all four parks, in any combination, as many times as you like, over any four or five days. Four-day passes cost $186.56 ($150.52); five-day passes cost $218.36 ($177.02). A Park-Hopper Plus Pass, available for five ($250.16/$203.52), six ($281.96/$230.02) and seven ($313.76/$266.52) days, gives you the same options as the Park-Hopper Pass, but also features admission to the water parks, Pleasure Island or the Wide World of Sports complex, depending on the number of days on your ticket. Unused days and options never expire. If possible, buy tickets well in advance, over the phone, on the internet, or at a Disney store. If you must buy them at the gate, arrive at least an hour before opening time. The parking lots cost $6 a day, but are free if you're staying at a Walt Disney World resort. Also, keep your eyes open for discount vouchers that can be picked up from motels, tourist information centers and other businesses in the area.
Each park is open daily from 9am and closes between 6pm and midnight, depending on the time of year; pick up the current schedule when you arrive. However, all parks open earlier than the published hours, so turning up around 8am should ensure that you get to see the most popular rides before the hordes pour in. Upon arrival, the best tactic is either to rush to the far end of the park and work backwards, or to head straight for the big rides, getting them out of the way before the mid-afternoon crush.
At its worst, waiting time can be well over an hour, but the excitement in the line, the atmosphere and the cleverly devised entertainment usually make the time fly by. However, Disney has introduced Fastpass to alleviate the problem of long lines: Place your admission ticket into a machine at the entrance of the attraction; the machine returns it with another ticket that gives you a time to return to the attraction, usually about two hours later; you simply show up, hand your new ticket to the attendant and scoot to the front of the line.
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