Buying Craigslist Disneyland Tickets
We’re going to be very straight forward about buying Craigslist Disneyland Tickets: It’s not a great idea! Why you ask? We’re here to dive into that. For several years Craigslist may have seemed like a great place to purchase your Disneyland Resort tickets. This was pre-picture taking at the turnstiles so guests could get away with more. Now they can’t and we’ll explain why.
CRAIGSLIST IN GENERAL
Most of us know about Craigslist and what happens there. It’s a mostly free online classifieds ads website where people from all over the world can post things for sale, things wanted, jobs and so much more. The website allows you to narrow your location down to county or even city in some cases so that you can find things that are close to you. For example, if you’re looking for a bike you can search your city for anyone who is selling a bike and contact them about purchasing it.
There are no online transactions with Craigslist like you would find with eBay. This means that the sell oro deal is done directly with the buyer and seller, Craigslist does not get involved in anyway nor do they guarantee anything. It’s completely up to the buyer to look over and confirm that what is being sold is authentic. Typically when you’re interested in something the buyer will contact the seller via email. Some ads do have phone numbers listed so that you can text or call the seller. This is what starts the purchase process. From here most people meet in person to complete the transaction. This gives the buyer the opportunity to see the product in persoon and make sure everything is okay.
CRAIGSLIST DISNEYLAND TICKETS
Keeping all that in mind, you can see how purchasing Disneyland tickets from someone no Craigslist can be a bit tricky. While you may be able to meet the person somewhere and see the tickets physically, there is no way of verifying that the tickets are valid or still have days left on them. There are several problems that you could run into when doing this:
- Let’s say you find an ad on Craigslist for Disneyland Tickets. You reach out to the seller and they agree to meet you at the McDonald’s located across the street from the parks. You get there and the guy or girl hands you the tickets and says they are valid for X amount of days. You pay them cash because that’s what they want and you head to the parks. Once you’re at the gate the Cast Member scans your first ticket and RED FLAG ALERT! All the days on the tickets have been used they explain and there is no way you’re getting entry into the parks. So you call the person you bought them from and…no answer. You go back to the McDonald’s but they aren’t there anymore. Not only did you lose a lot of money, now you have to buy brand new tickets! Not to mention all the time you lost!
- Let’s picture the same scenario but once you’re at the parks gates and the Cast Member has scanned your ticket and there are days left on the ticket…but oh no. Your face doesn’t match the face that’s associated with the ticket. Now comes the questions and the investigation. Security comes over and now everyone is staring at you wondering what’s going on.
These two examples are the most common issues you could run into by purchasing your tickets from a stranger on Craigslist. The first example is just straight fraud. The person has blank tickets with zero days left on them. You pay cash, he or she takes off, you get stopped at the gates with fraudulent tickets and just like that you’re out of a lot of money. The only way this scenario would ever make sense (and we still don’t recommend it) is if you made the person go with you to the gates and make sure everything worked.
Even if you did this however, you could have purchased a 3 day ticket from them but it only had 1 day on it. So while it may seem like everything worked out, it really hasn’t because the next day you’re going to be in trouble.
Our second example stems from the idea of sharing Disneyland tickets or splitting them. While this use to work several years ago, it does not anymore. There is no way you can share tickets with someone else. First off, this is against Disney’s Term of Use for the tickets. We like to think that most people in the world world want to be honest and if this is the case then you wouldn’t even try. Secondly, Cast Members take your picture upon first use of the ticket and that same picture comes up everytime your ticket is scanned at entry. This makes it impossible to give your ticket or use someone else’s ticket after you or they have.
Trust us when we say this: Don’t buy Craigslist Disneyland tickets. It’s never worth the risk. What may save you a few hundred dollars in the end can end up costing you thousands with fraudulent tickets.
WHERE ELSE SHOULD I LOOK?
Fantastic question and one we’re happy to answer for you! We’ve been researching discounted Disneyland tickets for over 10 years now and can truthfully tell you that the best place to purchase them is with our trusted partner Get Away Today. They have been partners with Disney for over 20 years and are an authorized seller. Their tickets work just like if you purchase directly from Disney except their prices are much better.
We guarantee that their prices will be less than gate pricing. Plus, if you somehow found a better ticket price, they would match it because they offer a Best Price Guarantee.
One thing to keep in mind is that no authorized seller is going to have half priced tickets. Disney is expensive and while it may seem lame or unfair, we personally believe the value you get for your ticket is priceless. Nobody can not look at a photo taken on Splash Mountain and not smile or laugh. Or remembering when your daughter met her hero Queen Elsa for the first time. These truly are priceless moments. That’s why we say take the best discount you can get and while it may still seem expensive, thing of the memories you’ll make that you can’t put a value on.
RECAP
To summarise what we’ve talked about:
- Yes you can find sellers on Craigslist selling Disneyland tickets.
- It’s very risky to purchase because there is no guarantee the tickets are valid or haven’t been used before.
- You can get into trouble at the gates if you’re caught with fraudulent tickets.
- The biggest risk is your money and your time. Overall, it’s not worth the risk.
- You can purchase authorized discounted tickets from Get Away Today, our most trusted partner.
- While ticket price may seem high, the memories you make on your vacation on priceless.
So there you have it! If you’re interested in learning more about Disneyland tickets you can read our 2019 Guide that’s full of valuable information. We also have a How To Do Disneyland Cheap which offers lots of creative ways to save money on your vacation. Plus don’t miss our 100% Free Disneyland Crowd Calendars to help you choose the perfect month for your visit!
