Purchase Disney Pass for 3 Year Old?

Updated on January 05, 2009
A. asks from Tampa, FL
17 answers

Hi all!
My husband and I recently purchased Disney passes for ourselves and have been taking our 2 year old. Money is pretty tight but we saw this as our treat for the year since there will be no real vacation any time soon. My question is do we buy one for our daughter when she turns 3? I think she is supposed to have a ticket?... When we go to the park they don't even give her a second glance and to spend another $200 right now if we don't have to would be crazy. What are your opinions out there?
Thanks!

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So What Happened?

Thank you all for your input. My daughter's birthday just passed and we decided to take her on her birthday and buy her pass that day. They gave us credit for her free day towards the purchase of the pass, so it saved us about $65. Now I feel better about not having to sneak her in on future trips, especially since she is big for her age. I am a little poorer but my conscience is clear. Thanks again!
By the way- her birthday was great! Everybody that worked there seemed to notice and wished her a happy birthday.

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D.H.

answers from Tampa on

When is her birthday? You can get in free on her actual birthday (register online) and then I think if you are a FL resident and you buy the 3 day pass on that same day it is SUPER SUPER cheap. That may be one way around it.

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M.H.

answers from Sarasota on

I went through this delema last year just before our son turned 3. I called and they said it is the honors sysetem and they depend on you to do it. There is no pro-rated charge for it. Don't let these other people make you feel bad. Your child is not going to lie because you do this, she won't even know! The only thing you have to ask yourself is how does she look? If she is still on the smaller side, don't worry about it. When we went, we did get questioned by 1 person in 2 days, but it was nothing serious, she couldn't have done anything about it. Luckily, it was really the day before my son's birthday, so we weren't lying! However, my son is very big and gets mistaken for much older all the time. If your daughter is average, don't worry about it. Your daughter is no more of a burden on Disney at 3.5 as opposed to 2.5, it is a ridiculous age limit. I think they should up it to 5. I would stick with what you have and just know the next time you buy passes a year from now, you will have to buy her one. You are no less of a parent by doing this.

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P.G.

answers from Tampa on

Your example as parents will determine what kind of adults your children grow up to be. If you teach them to lie, they will be liars. If you teach them to cheat, they will be cheaters. If you teach them to steal, they will be thieves.
You can justify it however you choose, but you already know what is right.

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C.S.

answers from Lakeland on

Hi A.,

We did buy one for our 3.5 year old, but there was no mistaking that she was over 2 yrs old.

If your daughter can still pass for a 2 year old and you don't have any qualms about having her lie about her age when they ask how old she is, you can probably get away with it for awhile. I have some acquaintances who did this, and they never had any problems. (BTW, I'm not judging you by any means. We, in fact, "cheat" to get our 3 year old on the big rides :) )

I guess the worst that can happen is that they make you buy her a ticket after all. Good luck and enjoy Disney!

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A.G.

answers from Punta Gorda on

In our house we usually buy the year pass for 1 adult and get the free parking benefits, this yeard we did BuschGardens, which was great because they were doing the pay for a day and come back allyear for free. However for Disney last year we bought 1 year pass and the rest 4 day park hopper passes. We used the park hopper passes which are good for 1 year from the day you bought the first one. Weigh your options.

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H.B.

answers from Tampa on

It all comes down to how YOU personally feel about going against the rules. Some people don't have any issue with it and somehow justify their actions while others feel it's wrong whether you can get away with it or not. If you are at all religious, you will know the right thing to do since everything you do is done before God. It is still stealing.

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S.C.

answers from Tampa on

A.,

I hate to say that I cheated the system, but I did. My son turned three during the middle of our passes and I did not purchase one for him. No one questioned me and I am sure that there are many others that do the same thing. It is hard to spend that kind of money on a 3 year old! Anyway - if it makes you feel better, you are not the only one that thinks this way nor has done this in the past. Unfortunately my oldest is now 5 and my youngest just turned 3. So, since we have Universal season passes, I will not be purchasing him one until ours are up for renewal in a few months.

Sam

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C.F.

answers from Tampa on

I agree with the others. It depends when your daughter turns 3, which option will work best for you financially. The FL resident 3 or 4 day are not park hoppers, unless you buy the priveledge, and they expire 6 months from first use. You could look into a seasonal pass, but that has most of the summer blacked out. Really take a look at how many times you are likely to go. Also AAA has the seasonal and annual passes cheaper. Let's see, the 3 day is $105, the 4 day is $131, and the Seasonal is $201. Also if you have the Annual pass for yourselves, then if you go on your birthday next year, you can exchange the free day you would have gotten for the equilavent of a one day ticket in the form of Disney Dollars, or you get a couple other choices. Information about this is on the Disney website.

Oh, and what no one mentioned is that if you take your child on their birthday, the small print on the Disney website is that you must bring their BIRTH CERTIFICATE with you to get the free day. What a lot of fun that would be to carry around all day!

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J.C.

answers from Fort Myers on

I would first do what Joyce suggested and call Disney -- they might have some kind of pro-rated option for this situation. I'm sure this isn't the first time they have encountered it. If they don't, then I would definitely do it on the up-and-up, since, like one of the other women put it, your children will emulate you. Then make sure you talk about it with your daughter, even if she may be too young to understand it fully at this time.

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B.R.

answers from Tampa on

I think it is age 3 that they require a ticket.

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M.R.

answers from Tampa on

When do your passes expire? I think that as long as she was 2 when you purchased them you are ok "sneaking" her in when she turns 3. Otherwise, you will have a pass that doesnt' expire when yours do. The other option could be a 4 day Fl resident or something like that a little cheaper and buy it the day you go after she turns 3, verses buying an annual pass. Have fun!

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S.L.

answers from Tampa on

Oh heck..we just told them our son was 2 after he turned 3. Your right...at that age its worthless to spend that kind of money. In fact he just turned 4 not to long ago and we went to disney last month for the xmas party and when we bought the tickets they never even asked his age and they didnt charge us for him. Of course we arent going to complain because we did say 2 adults and one toddler.

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J.C.

answers from Tampa on

call disney and lsten to their menue, or ask for an operator and ask them, have fun J.

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R.W.

answers from Tampa on

Honesty is always the best policy... But when did they go from five and under being free???????

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S.D.

answers from Lakeland on

Hi A.,
This is totally a moral decision! Some would see if they could get away wuth her not getting a ticket for another year and some would never dream of it. If you do I think that your should have the cost of a ticket on hand just in case.
My suggestion is that you find some less expensive special family treat that would appeal to the kids. I live in Florida and there are several attractions which would do the trick. I do not know what they cost or age limits are when tickets must be purchased but you could call. All of us are having tight $$ times and there are lots of specials ot there. Bush Gardens comes to mind. Cypress Gardens is trying to cater to the young crowd & have added a water world. Then there a carnival type rides there too. Call them & ask what they have.

S.

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S.R.

answers from Naples on

I know that it is hard to spend money you don't have but to let her in when you know you should be paying is theft. Best of luck with your decision.

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A.C.

answers from Orlando on

I was 8 yrs old at restaurants until I started developing breasts.

My daughter will be 2 until she is old enough to tell anyone otherwise. I don't see a point in spending $200 on a ticket when she's not big enough to get on half of the rides anyway.

It ultimately boils down to morality.

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