Disneyland vs. Disney World: Which Is Cheaper?

If you're deciding on which park to visit on your summer vacation, you'll want to see this price breakdown first.

By Morgan Cutolo, Reader's Digest

Making memories while experiencing Disney magic comes at a price. On top of tickets to the park, you’ll have to shell out for flights, a hotel stay, food, and possibly transportation. After your vacation is over and you see the final bill, the magic starts to fade pretty quickly. The actual ticket to get in is slightly cheaper at one of the parks, but the breakdown isn’t cut and dry.

Disney World in Orlando Florida has four theme parks and two water parks. A  “1 Park Per Day” ticket will cost you $109. The more days you select, the cheaper it becomes. So, if you’re going to visit Disney World five days in a row, your tickets will come out to be $83 per day. If you’re visiting for just one day and want to have the option to hop between parks, that ticket will cost you $169. Similar to the “1 Park Per Day” tickets, they also go down in price the more days you purchase.

Disneyland’s one-day ticket prices vary depending on the day of the week, but on average, it will cost you $127.33 to visit for a day. A Park Hopper ticket will cost you $50 more. If you’re visiting Disneyland in Anaheim, California for five days, tickets will come out to $68 per day. If you don’t want to pay the extra price for the Fast Pass, here’s how you can skip the lines without it.

So, let’s break down the math for a family of four, two adults and two kids (under the age of nine) to visit both parks for five days with the “1 Park Per Day” ticket.

Disneyland

• Adult #1 = $340
• Adult #2 = $340
• Kid #1 = $320
• Kid #2 = $320
• Total = $1,320

Disney World

• Adult #1 = $413.82
• Adult #2 = $413.82
• Kid #1 = $395.67
• Kid #2 = $395.67
• Total = $1,618.98

At the end of the day, if you want to splurge on treats and souvenirs, heading to Disneyland is your best bet for staying on budget. But before you book, make sure you know these secrets that Disney employees won’t tell you.