Thursday's Tip

Here's a tip for families who expect to make multiple trips to Walt Disney World over the years: buy 10-day non-expiring tickets, and consider adding the Water Parks & More option. Yes, they can be expensive--almost as expensive as an annual pass. But if you plan to return to WDW but not within the year, this is the best deal in most cases.

My brother's family is a perfect example. Each spring break their family of four visit the parks. Over the course of their week, they probably only use 3 or possibly 4 days of tickets. On their "off" days, they explore the resorts and visit the water parks and Disney Quest. (They purchase the Water Parks & More option. And they also purchase them ahead of time from an official Disney ticket outlet at a discount.) Those 10-day tickets will get them  through three years of vacations! Buying those tickets separately, without the non-expiration feature, would cost them somewhere in the range of $225 more per person--or $900 for the whole family!

While you won't be able to pair previously-purchased tickets with a full Magic Your Way Package that includes dining (those require a new ticket purchase), you can pair them with a room-only discount and see significant savings. For returning visitors to the Disney Parks, 10-day non-expiring tickets are almost always the way to go.