When is the Cheapest Time to Go to Disneyland?

If you’re looking for the CHEAPEST time to visit Disneyland (and possibly a time that it is less-busy) you’re in luck. Today I’m going to share what times are cheaper, and the park might even have less people in it (although, you never know).

Hi, I’m Hilary — and I’d call myself a Disneyland planning pro. I’m amazing at planning trips that are on budget, and at good quality hotels that suit your needs. Be sure to grab my Disneyland trip calculator right here — it’s going to be your first stop in saving some cash:

When is the Cheapest Time to Go to Disneyland

January, if I have to give an answer. People are ready to get back to real life and don’t think about going to Disneyland right after Christmas. But, there’s more to it than just that:

If you’re going strictly off tickets and hotel costs — these are some times to consider:

January after the holidays are done (in 2023 the holidays were done on January 8th) — skip Martin Luther King Weekend though, and it gets busier as Lunar New Year kicks into gear.

Early and Later February (but you tend to get more school groups coming at this point)

Early May (may still have school groups)

September after Labor Day before Halloween decor is up (so Labor-day to mid September)

While these are the cheapest times to visit, you’ll also see MUCH less going on at the parks. They likely won’t have fireworks, maybe no parades, and no “special events”, you’ll also likely see less characters in the parks. It is also a time that many “big” rides are refurbished — so don’t be surprised to see a favorite closed for your stay.

Fixed Costs vs Variable Costs

Some of the pricing at Disneyland is fairly fixed, meaning, no matter when you go the pricing for these items remains steady.

Fixed Disneyland Costs:

• Parking (although it increases once a year, it remains that for about a year)
• Souvenirs
• Food
• ART shuttle (shuttle to the parks for further-out hotels)
• Multi-Day Disneyland passes

This doesn’t mean you can’t still save on these items (I have some of my favorite Disneyland restaurants and ways to save right here).

I also have an exclusive link that gives you the lowest prices on tickets (way better than Disneyland tickets at the “gate”) but you have to use my link, it doesn’t work just shopping at Get Away Today.

However, some of the pricing in Disneyland and the area around it is variable (meaning it can change depending on how busy it is)

Variable Disneyland costs:

• One-day Disneyland tickets (there are several tiers based on how busy they think it will be)
• Hotel pricing
• Genie+ pricing can increase if the park is busy (but usually only $5-$10)
• Airline costs may be higher at busy times
• Uber/Lyft pricing can increase during busy times (and busy times of day)

And, of course there’s ways to save on this as well. You can use Get Away Today to book your hotel which will save you a lot (SERIOUSLY, I’m always SHOCKED how great their pricing is, even if you use the Peace of Mind plan).

Ok, now that we’ve defined areas where you can save money, let’s talk about those specific areas:

How to Save on a Disneyland Trip Based on Time of Year

I will share some of the best ways to save. BUT I would stress to you that you also want to plan your trip at a time that works for your family. You may not find the price change worth it for you guys!

Disneyland Tickets

Only 1-day tickets are pricier based on the time of year you go. Any ticket “packages” of 2 days or more are a solid price. However, there are add-ons that can cost a lot:

• Genie+ is about $25 more/day per person — which can obviously add to your trip. If you go at a less-busy time of year you can skip this and save the cash! Other options are to make SURE to arrive early for your day so you can ride those favorite rides first!
• Park Hopping adds around $60/person no matter how many days you have. So, if you have a 2 day ticket that is normally $279, it will be $337 if you add Park Hopper. That is clearly a bigger % increase vs a 5 day ticket that goes from $390 to $453

FYIL park hopping is when you can from the Disneyland resort to Disney’s California Adventure on one day — please remember that whatever ticket you purchase at the time of this article you do need to get a reservation to visit the parks before your visit.

Did you see that pricing? Yes, it is not all that much to add on more days to your trip to Disneyland — it is almost as much for a 2-day park hopper as it is for a 5-day one-park-per day!

So, what we’ve learned here:

• Buying a multi-day ticket eliminates the “tiered” ticket pricing based on how busy Disneyland is
• You may want to consider adding more days to your trip vs park hopping

Ok, here’s a super secret tip. There are some days in the park that are just $104/day, making that CHEAPER than a multi-day ticket.

At my first glance I found {the 1-day ticket pricing doesn’t extend too far out in advance, so I could only look through mid-May}

• Jan 17-19
• Jan 31- Feb 1
• Feb 7-8
• May 2-3 and 9-10
• I have also seen this pricing in September in the past.

(BTW if you’re also wondering about Disney World, for the most parts these times are also true for Walt Disney World as well).

You’ll notice that these particularly busy times are not in that list of days (these are the 3 busiest times of the year in general):

• March-April for spring breaks
• July-August for summer travel
• October-December for Halloween/Christmas holiday travel

SO, in several instances this price is less than the price for 2 or even 3-day tickets. Check out the price/day here:

• 2 day ticket price/day: $140
• 3-day ticket price/day: $113
• 4-day ticket price/day: $97.50
• 5-day ticket price/day: $78 (my ticket partner often has the 5-day pass for the same price as the 4-day pass).

Times this wouldn’t save you: If you plan to hop, it’s cheaper to add that $65 park hopper to a 2-day pass (adding just $33/day) vs adding it twice to one-day tickets. See that math:

• 1 ticket with Hopper X 2 days: $338
• 2-day Park Hopper: $337

*Oh wow, that doesn’t really save you that much, but for the convenience I think it’s worth it to just have one ticket, plus save a dollar/person — Plus, remember that those 1-day $104 tickets are only on a FEW days in the park.

If you really want a guide as to the cheapest times to go, the Disneyland ticket calendar is a good way to go. I know a lot of sites have “Crowd Calendars” but I prefer to use Disney’s guide that they already place in front of my face. The cheaper 1-day tickets are, the less-crowded Disneyland (and all their data) think the park will be.

Bonus Tip: While I almost ALWAYS recommend booking with Get Away Today, I’d get my 1-day tickets directly from the Disney theme park. The only perk is that with Get Away Today you can use their Peace of Mind plan to get a refund on them (but they do cost more + the peace of mind plan also costs — and I’m not sure how that works with their best price guarantee).

You’ll hear me mention Get Away Today frequently in here. I have literally used them since 1998 when I booked my graduation from college trip on a shoestring (honestly, maybe a dental floss) budget. I love them and I would encourage you to check pricing with them before you book elsewhere, either way. Use coupon code CURLS10 to save an extra $10 on your trip (online or over the phone), and I always appreciate it when you guys mention you found them through me since I’m a huge fangirl of them.

Disneyland Hotels

Ok, this is an area that you can save a LOT of money — although not so much based on the time you stay. I just ran some numbers for you guys:

BTW, this is from my Trip Calculator (which you can grab right here with just your email) — and I have more thoughts on each hotel on there as well.

Of course, whatever day you pull pricing it’s going to be different, but I picked some of my favorite hotels (and I have them ranked in how “nice” I think they are) — here are the links to the hotels in case you’re interested in checking your dates:

• Tropicana
• Hojo
• Homewood Suites
• Cambria
• Viv
• JW Marriot
• Grand Ca

A few things that interested in me in this graph:

• If you want to go “nicer” staying at a less-busy time is key to saving money
• Hojo was the same price whenever you go… And others were pretty close all year long.
• Many of the hotels were EXTRA cheap in January — probably because that was just a couple of weeks from when I was checking, and they are trying to get rid of excess inventory — so booking close to an “un-busy” time might be a good thing to try if that’s an option for you!
• Ultimately, for a lot of the hotels timing of your stay wasn’t a big difference when you’re booking far enough out.

If you have some flexibility to your life (and don’t need it planned months in advance) it may be worth it to think “maybe we’ll go in September” and in early August you check pricing to see if it fits your budget. If it does, book! However, if you want a specific property often those do book up (and their price rises a LOT as they get more full).

Genie+ Pricing

Last fall they announced “surge” pricing to Genie plus (along with raising the cost to $25). So far it’s only gone up to about $30 — so not HUGE, but I do know that every dollar counts, especially in bigger families who are going several days in a row.

One of my favorite ways to save is to use Genie+ to spend less days at the park and then also decrease how long we’re staying at a hotel.

Let’s look at the pricing for that:

• 2-day Park Hopper with Genie Plus: $393 (I know, insane, but stay with me here)
• 3-night hotel stay at an average property $700
• Food/stuff for 2 days: $200 (this is clearly the low end)
• Total: $1293

vs Pricing for 3 days without Genie or hopping:

• 3 day one park/day NO Genie+: $341
• 4-night hotel stay: $930
• Food/stuff for 3 days: $300
• Total: $1571 (save just about $200)

Of course, if you have multiple people in your party (vs just one person in a hotel room) your hotel costs would be spread out/person. But this gives you an idea:

A lot of people wonder if I find Genie+ helpful. In no uncertain terms, yes. I hate waiting in lines, and I’d probably get Genie either way — but I try to stay less days when we go and use Genie to my full advantage (see my Genie+ tips here).

Airline Costs

I am not an expert at this one, and honestly I just tend to check pricing frequently. I also use a Southwest Airlines credit card (I’d totally recommend it, you can get yours here — I WISH I’d gotten mine when I started going to California more frequently).

I tend to fly into LGB, SNA and some people fly into LAX (although I’ve always found good enough fares to the other airports to make up for the increased Uber cost from LAX).

But we all know that traveling at Christmas is pricier than in January.

The main way to mitigate this is to buy early (and if you’re flying with an airline that will refund/credit the difference keep checking).

Airport Transportation/Transportation in the Disneyland Area

My other tip would be that if you’re flying into the airport at a busy time, it might be worth it to check the price of a shuttle (especially if there are 2 or less of you). Surge pricing in LA is real, and your regularly $30 Uber can shoot to $100 if you get in around 5-7 pm (and at LAX it gets crazy).

I normally do NOT recommend those shuttles unless you need them for carseats. I always fly in and use an Uber and it is WAY cheaper. BUT if you have car seats it changes things. Remember if you rent a car many hotels have a parking fee (although booking through Get Away Today often waives the fee or reduces it).

Is there a cheapest time to go to Disneyland?

As I said there are some times that may be a bit cheaper — but let me remind you of the things we learned on this journey of Disneyland pricing:

• Booking close to your date (if it’s a less-busy time of year) may save you
• Book further out if you’re going at a busier time to save money
• The cheaper times will have more rides closed, and less “extras” in the parks
• Some costs are fixed and won’t change based on when you go.

But, all being said — let’s compare some dates with your totals:

Ok, wow — not that big of a change across these hotels. Interesting. I didn’t pick SPECIFIC dates that might be cheaper, just went mid-month across the hotels.

So, maybe the time of year doesn’t matter all that much when you book with Get Away Today (especially when looking further in advance — the prices on that were checked in early January).

Either way, it’s a valid question – and I hope I answered it. 🙂 And, I hope I convinced you to at least check Get Away Today and be sure to use coupon code CURLS10 on a hotel/ticket package. They also have a best price guarantee, if you ever see a price cheaper please call them and they will adjust your package, while you can keep the best in the business customer service. 🙂

What’s your favorite time to go to Disneyland? Tell us in the comments!

Don’t miss my list of Best Affordable Disneyland hotels — a list of 30+ of my favorite hotels (plus my own current top 10 hotel list).