Disney World is offering a new package that includes two extra days of park tickets when you buy a 4-night/3-day room and ticket package. Disney World has long avoided the practice of offering free tickets. However, these are not normal times.
These packages can be booked starting January 5th, 2021 and will offer dates through September 25, 2021, which is when the holiday season really starts to ramp up each year. That means you’ll get five days of park tickets instead of three, and eight total days to use the tickets. You can read more details about the upcoming packages on the Disney World website.
EPCOT Food & Garden Festival
Open Questions
This offer leads to a few open questions. First, how do you go to the parks for five days if you have a 4-night hotel stay? We’ll have to see how this works in practice when Disney puts the offer on sale. There are plenty of cheap lodging options near Disney World, but it could put a damper on your vacation to move on the last night or two just to get a bit more park time.
Second, there’s an open question about whether you should book a Disney World vacation right now. No, not just because of the risk from COVID-19. There’s also the potential complications with travel in general. For bookings within the next few months, there may be new travel restrictions. And, there are plenty of activities you can’t partake in right now at Disney World (though there are some upsides). Since this offer runs through the end of September, I think the right strategy is to shoot for a visit in May or, if really brave, try the sweltering Orlando summer. The added bonus of waiting a bit longer is that you might catch the opening of Ratatouille, one of the fabulous new attractions due to debut in theme parks in 2021.
EPCOT France Pavilion-image courtesy of Disney World
The Final Two Pennies
This a great opportunity for families to save hundreds of dollars on park tickets. While the 4th and 5th day of a multi-day ticket aren’t expensive as a one-day ticket, you’re still likely to save over $100 per person with an offer like this. I think this is also a clear indication that Disney World is seeing a drop-off in demand after this year’s holiday season concludes. As it stands, there already appears to be a bit of a break in the crowds. Low prices on flights, hotels and theme park tickets make it an ideal time to save money on a Disney World vacation…..if you’re comfortable enough to book travel.
