Walt Disney World offers several different ticket options.. There are single-day tickets, multi-day vacation packages, and various levels of annual passes. However, there’s one type of ticket that the resort no longer sells… despite continued demand for it: Half Day Tickets.
Cinderella Castle
Now, the initial reaction there may be: Why would anyone want a half-day ticket? However, if you think about it, there are honestly several reasons. For example, if you’re flying in that morning and won’t be in the parks until 1:00 PM, or you’re flying/driving out that afternoon and won’t be in the parks past 1:oo PM, or you just prefer to arrive at the park halfway through the day and stay as late as you can. However, right now, there’s no way to purchase a half-day ticket, so you’ll need to pay for a whole day even if you’re not using it. But did you know there USED to be a half-day ticket option that we, along with many Disney fans, deeply miss?
Back in 2019, there was an offering called Mid-Day Magic Tickets that allowed guests access into the parks after 12PM. They could be used at any time in any of the four parks, and was available from mid-August through right around the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Since then, we haven’t seen them return.
Expedition Everest
We asked our readers on Facebook what they thought about these tickets, and many of them said that while they didn’t use them themselves because they weren’t traveling to Disney at that time, they would absolutely love to have the option now. Many readers shared that they’re locals who would take advantage of them, or are a family that hates getting up early, so they often don’t get into the parks until later anyway. Others told us they used them a lot and DO miss them!
Hollywood Studios
Not to mention that these tickets came at quite a discount. At the time of their debut (August 2019), they cost:
- Two-day ticket from $88 a day, plus tax (from $176 total, plus tax)
- Three-day ticket from $84 a day, plus tax (from $252 total, plus tax)
- Four-day ticket from $79 a day, plus tax (from $316 total, plus tax)
Millennium Falcon
While these tickets would obviously cost more now, they would still be more cost effective than purchasing a full day’s ticket for a half day at one of Disney World’s theme parks.
Plus, these tickets would have the benefit of allowing guests to arrive in the parks for an evening out, where they can grab dinner and see one of Disney’s nighttime spectaculars. Currently, these include:
Happily Ever After at the Magic Kingdom
Happily Ever After
Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away at the Magic Kingdom
Disney Starlight
Luminous: The Symphony of Us at EPCOT
Luminous: The Symphony of US
Fantasmic at Hollywood Studios
Fantasmic!
Wonderful World of Animation at Hollywood Studios
Wonderful World of Animation
And on top of that, wait times generally drop at night, even for Disney World’s busiest rides.
Switching colors
So, will Disney World ever bring these back? Well, we don’t know for sure! However, if you’re visiting Disney World as part of a convention (and there are many that happen throughout the year), these conventions often have special ticket deals that allow their participants to get into the park halfway through the day, usually around 1PM.
Disney World
We hope to see Disney bring back these half-day tickets soon, since there are so many uses for them, and we’ll keep you updated, so stay tuned to DFB!
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I wish they still had the Epcot after 4 tickets. Those made it easier to go to some of the restaurants in Epcot without needing to blow $150.
Interesting! It would be a great option for those rest days where we’d love to just go to the park and pick up something we regret not buying at the time (or didn’t want to carry around the park or take to the car), or like another poster said, go to a must-do restaurant and just really enjoy it, and not have to do it on a park day. It would be a great option for those restaurants with a higher dress code. Even if the ticket started at a later time (like the after 4:00 ticket at Epcot), we’d love to see it offered. Of course, that begs the question of were the tickets offered/would the tickets be offered in advance, or can you only get them day-of?
Well they now offer after hour events which are kinda like half day…evening hours only.