Planning a vacation to Disneyland is a bucket-list adventure for many, but lets’ be honest – it can often be pretty hard on your wallet, even if you know some clever money saving hacks.
But don’t lose heart, there’s great news! There are specific seasons throughout the year when excellent deals are plentiful, making your Disneyland visit a lot more budget-friendly.
In this article, we’ll analyze the most cost-effective and affordable times to visit Disneyland. And by carefully planning around these prime times, you can strike a balance between having an unforgettable vacation and keeping your finances in check.
Everything You Need to Know
To save you some time, here are all of the key points you need to know:
- Cheapest Time to Visit Disneyland = early January to early March
- Cheapest Month for Park Tickets = January through February
- Cheapest Month to Stay at a Disneyland Resort = January and late-August
The Cheapest Time to Go to Disneyland
The cheapest time to go to Disneyland is from early January to early March.
There will also be low prices in in May through Summer, up until mid-September.
As fall approaches, Disneyland will gradually become more expensive through Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s.
Throughout these periods, you’ll likely find a variety of enticing offers and promotions by Disney, designed to lure guests visits during these specific parts of the year. Given that most folks are preoccupied with school or work commitments, the usual local and out-of-state demand to visit Disneyland tends to drop during these times.
Jump to:
- The Cheapest Time to Go to Disneyland
- What are the most expensive dates to go to Disneyland?
- Disneyland Ticket Prices by Time of the Year
- Cheapest Times to Stay at Disneyland Resort Hotels
- Disneyland Promotions and Special Offers
- When is Oogie Boogie Bash the Cheapest?
- When is Disneyland Restaurants the Cheapest?
- When’s the cheapest day to buy Genie+ at Disneyland?
- One Last Thing
What are the most expensive dates to go to Disneyland?
Regardless of the time of year you visit, Saturday will always be the most expensive day of the week at Disneyland.
Here are the most expensive days, weeks, and weekends to visit Disneyland in 2024:
- 1/1 = New Year’s Day
- 1/13 – 1/15 = Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend
- 2/17 – 2/24 = Presidents Day Week
- 3/29 – 4/7 = Easter and Spring Break Week
- 3/31 = Easter
- 5/24 – 5/27 = Memorial Day Weekend
- 7/1 – 7/7 = 4th of July Week
- 8/30 -9/3 = Labor Day Weekend
- 11/25 – 12/1 = Thanksgiving Week
- 12/16 -12/31 = Christmas Week and New Year’s Eve
Orange County Spring Break: Tickets will be expensive, all Disneyland Resort hotels will be pricey (or sold out completely), and the parks will be busier than normal.
Easter: The period around Easter is very busy and expensive at Disneyland. Even to the point that Genie+ may be sold out.
Mid to Late October: Room rates do most weekends in October are extremely high compared to the rest of the year.
Thanksgiving Week: As expected with any other major holiday, you should anticipate higher crowds during Thanksgiving Week, as well as tickets near the higher end of the pricing spectrum.
Christmas and New Years: Ticket prices will be at or near their highest and hotel room rates will be expensive.
Other Holidays and Notable Dates: Generally, if it’s a long weekend, park tickets are guaranteed to be pretty expensive, not to mention Disneyland Resort hotels will have high room rates. This is usually the case for Labor Day, Memorial Day, President’s Day, 4th of July Week, and MLK Jr. Day.
So if the goal is to visit Disneyland on a budget, I would avoid these dates/weeks at all cost. You can expect extremely high room rates (most Disneyland Resort hotels will be sold out), high Genie+ prices, and even some of the highest park ticket prices.
Disneyland Ticket Prices by Time of the Year
Here are the average ticket prices for a 1-Day Ticket with Park Hopper throughout the year. Disneyland uses variable pricing for their theme park tickets, which means that the prices will adjust based on the time of the year, anticipated crowds, holidays, day of the week, and time of the year.
Prices reflected below are from July 1 to October 15, 2023.
These prices are for Wednesdays.
As you can see, Disneyland ticket are the cheapest on Wednesdays from late August to late September.
And these prices below are for Saturdays.
Here’s a quick breakdown of both pricing graphs:
- one-day tickets with Park Hopper are significantly cheaper from late August to late September (probably because school started back up)
- Saturdays are the most expensive days to visit
- Even during the slower periods of year, tickets on Saturday don’t fluctuate to the same degrees as the ticket on a Wednesday (a minor $10 swing)
Regardless of the time of year that you choose to visit, you’ll find the cheapest park tickets on Monday through Thursday (excluding holidays).
Thursday is the best day of the week to visit Disneyland for shorter wait times, while Friday is the best day of the week to visit California Adventure.
Cheapest Times to Stay at Disneyland Resort Hotels
If you plan on staying at a Disneyland Resort Hotel such as the Grand Californian, Paradise Pier Hotel, or Disneyland Hotel, then the graph below will help you determine the cheapest times of the year to stay on-property.
These hotels are significantly more expensive than all of the nearby off-property options, but you can find some great room rates sprinkled throughout the year.
Here’s a chart of the average room rate for the rest of the year at all three Disneyland Resort hotels:
As you can see, the cheapest times to stay at a Disneyland Resort hotel are from late-August to early-September.
The Paradise Pier’s lowest room rate can actually be found during the first week of December.
That said, every resort is different so the average night rate as well as room availability can significantly affect these prices.
All Dates for the Cheapest Disneyland Resort Hotel Room Rates
Here are all of the dates in 2023 where you can find the cheapest room rate at all three on-property hotels.
- 8/23 -9/6
- 11/1 – 11/8
- 12/4 – 12/7
Just always be sure to book as soon as possible just in case a certain room type is sold out. From personal experience, the Standard View rooms are ALWAYS the first to go.
Disneyland Promotions and Special Offers
Disneyland is pretty shy when it comes to releasing new promotion and discounts, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist.
During the year, you’ll find sporadic deals on room rates for Magic Key holders as well as ticket deals for California residents.
The one deal that you’ll find all year long (with a few blackout dates) are the military discounts. Eligible active duty or retired U.S. Military Member will get access to specially priced theme park tickets as well as some nice Disneyland Resort hotel discounts.
One thing I’ve noticed for Disneyland (and even Disney World) is that if an offer is too good to be true and involves a pretty steep discount, chances are that the parks may be a little bit emptier and more affordable than normal. It’s not always the case, but if I’m seeing 30% discounts on hotel rooms in January, there’s a good chance that a trip to Disneyland will be on the cheaper side.
I recommend that you keep an eye on the Disneyland Offers and Discount page to see if anything got announced.
When is Oogie Boogie Bash the Cheapest?
The cheapest tickets for Oogie Boogie Bash are $134 on Tuesday, September 5, 12, and 19.
Oogie Boogie Bash tickets gradually become more and more expensive as it gets closer to Halloween.
Therefore, you’ll find the cheapest prices in September and the most expensive tickets in mid-to-late October.
Technically, Tuesdays in September have the lowest even prices.
Tuesday has the cheapest tickets, followed by Thursday.
Sunday will always be the most expensive day of the week to go to Oogie Boogie Bash.
When is Disneyland Restaurants the Cheapest?
The one thing that always remains constant in Disneyland regardless of the time of year or holidays, are the food and restaurant prices.
Thankfully, Disneyland doesn’t use a crowd-based pricing model for the snacks and meal price. It would be insanely disappointing if they did.
So regardless of when you decide to visit Disneyland, just know that the food prices will not be more expensive (or cheaper) on a certain day compared to another.
When’s the cheapest day to buy Genie+ at Disneyland?
The cheapest day to buy Genie+ at Disneyland is Friday with an average price of $25.60.
The most expensive day to buy it is Saturday, as expected.
But generally, if you are visiting during a slower period of the year, you can easily conquer both parks without buying Genie+.
One Last Thing
Navigating the numbers, it’s clear that with a bit of planning and savvy timing, you can make your magical trip to Disneyland more budget-friendly.
While the allure of Disneyland is constant, prices certainly aren’t. So why not choose a cheaper period of the year to enjoy shorter lines and let your wallet breathe a sigh of relief?
After all, the happiest place on Earth is even happier when it doesn’t break the bank.
So, keep these insights in your back pocket, and here’s to an awesome, budget-friendly Disneyland adventure ahead!
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