What are Disney Convention Tickets?
Disney World Convention tickets are partial or full-day tickets that you can purchase as an attendee to a conference that is registered with Disney World. If you’re lucky enough to attend a conference for work at Disney World (or better, to a be a guest of someone who is) you can get discount tickets to the park because of the group rate.
These tickets are also the only tickets I know of that allow you to purchase a partial day at the parks. More on that below.
What exactly is a Disney Convention Ticket?
A Disney convention ticket is a ticket available to a guest of a convention. You have to book through a special link that the conference offers that will connect you to the My Disney website. It’s a unique ticket to Disney World because it usually is a partial day (not always, more on that below), and it can be significantly less expensive than the tickets sold by Disney or even third parties.
This best part of these convention tickets is that they’re for the conference attendee and any guest they bring with them. Therefore, if your husband/wife/traveling partner is stuck at the conference, you can experience Disney without them.
Right now, the rule is that the tickets are valid for 7 days before the conference, during the conference, and 7 days after the conference. Therefore, you can get your CE requirements at the conference and tack on a Disney vacation before or after. It’s between you and your accountant whether all of this counts as a business expense.
Some people in forums claim that despite the 7/7 window I mentioned above, the tickets can actually be used any time in the calendar year. I have no idea if that’s true, and it’s not what Disney states, so I wouldn’t try it.
After 1PM Convention Tickets
The after 1PM tickets are exactly as they claim. You can go to a Disney World park after 1PM for a discounted rate. At the time of writing, it appears that 1PM tickets are about $30 per person cheaper than a regular park ticket for a one-day ticket. They idea here is that you finish your seminars or continuing education lectures in the morning and then enjoy the parks in the afternoon.
Twilight Convention Tickets (after 5PM)
A twilight ticket gets you into the park after 5PM (or whatever is listed on the conference website). The discount is even more significant than the 1PM tickets. At the time of writing, you can save about $50 off the normal ticket prices per person.
This type of ticket is great idea if your conference lasts most of the day, but you still want to enjoy some Disney World.
A word of caution: Make sure you check the hours of the park you wish to attend. Some of the parks, especially Animal Kingdom, can close early. In the winter time, Animal Kingdom can close as early as 6PM, so the ticket is not worth the money you paid for it.
However, if the park is open until midnight, this might be a great discount that allows you to experience the magic of Disney World. We love going late to see the fireworks and other shows, and all of the outdoor roller coasters are better at night, especially Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Tron, and Slinky Dog Dash (and Pandora is a must see at night as well).
Multi-Day Convention Tickets
The multi-day convention tickets are for all-day Disney World tickets, just like you would buy from Disney. Currently, buying a one-day, all-day ticket is expensive because it’s only a park hopper option. However, if you buy more than one day, you get discounted one park tickets. And if you book more than two day, sometimes they’ll throw in bonus experiences like par-3 golf, mini-golf, and water parks for free (on a day you’re not going to the parks). Of course, this all depends on the arrangement that your conference has worked out with Disney.
Second Dad to the Right Tip: Each day you add to your tickets significantly reduces the price of the tickets per day. Going one day costs a fortune, but going five days costs significantly less per day (and adds bonuses). Take your family, finish your conference, and then have the ultimate family vacation.
How Do You Purchase a Convention Ticket to Disney World?
To purchase conference tickets, you need to go to the website of the conference you are attending. Disney doesn’t list the conferences, so you’ll have to find the conferences that are right for you through Google or referrals from professional associations.
As a pastor, I’ve found that there are regular pastor and worship leader conferences at Disney. There are also lots of continuing education conferences for medical, dental, real estate companies, among other professions.
Also, there are Disney convention tickets available for conferences located near all parks, not just Disney World. Imagine going to a conference in Paris, going to Disneyland Paris, and getting to write off the whole thing (or get your company to pay for it).
How Do you Host an Event at Disney World?
Do you own a business? Do you want to be the best boss ever? You can book your own conference, team building experience, or even family reunion or wedding at Disney and get these event tickets for all the people you invite.
Go to https://www.disneymeetingsandevents.com/ to book your event and make sure employees (or friends and family) don’t join the great resignation.
Conclusion and Further Reading
If you’re reading this because you’re looking for a cheap way to go to Disney World, find a conference in your profession and come on down to Lake Buena Vista. If not, I don’t recommend attempting to get discounts through a conference. It might be possible, but if too many people attempt it, it might ruin the discount for everyone, or they may catch you and stop you from entering.
If you want Disney cheap, check out my article about saving money before and during your trip to Disney World.
Have you ever used a convention ticket? Did I miss any details? Let me know in the comments.
