What is the Cheapest Time to Go to Disneyland in 2024?
A trip to Disneyland can be an expensive experience especially if you don't know the tricks to picking the cheapest time to visit Disneyland. It is possible to do Disneyland on a budget especially if you know what the cheapest Disney months are!
There are a few ways to do a cheap Disneyland trip if you plan ahead and focus on Disney budget strategies. Here are the considerations for picking the cheapest time of year to visit Disneyland.
Keep reading for everything you need to know about how to save money at Disneyland!
What is the Cheapest Month to Go to Disneyland in 2024?
Despite the discounts offered in the holiday season at Disneyland, the increase in airfare this time of year combines with higher hotel rates making it a more expensive choice. The Halloween through Christmas season is going to be a bit higher priced, depending on what date you pick, than other times of the year.
This leaves the beginning of the year through summer as another option. Disneyland won't likely be offering summer hotel discounts but you don't have to stay on-site! If you truly want a budget trip, looking to some of the nearby Disney hotels is the best choice. You can read our expansive guide to all the Disneyland hotels in the area to see which we ones we recommend. Even for the local hotels, you will see lower rates towards the beginning of the year before the Spring Break season begins which is why I recommend January and February as your cheapest months to go to Disneyland.
You will also find increasingly low airfares in January and February making those two months much more affordable than their busier spring/summer month counterparts. All these factors help add up to the cheapest time to go to Disneyland. You can see our when to visit Disneyland guide here.
Disneyland Hotel Discounts
One of the best strategies for saving money at Disneyland is to pick the right time to go. The cheapest time to visit Disneyland depends largely on the discounts Disney is offering (if you want to stay on-site) and seasonal events. Time of year will impact the cost of your airfare along with your hotel cost. The below historical discounts can inform what discounts we can expect in 2024.
Let's first look at historical Disneyland discounts to see what times of the year hotel sales take place. In previous years, Disneyland has offered hotel discounts during these months:
- January 15 – March 7, 2024
- March 12 – June 8, 2023
- August 1 – September 30, 2023
- October 22 – December 21, 2023
Keep in mind that these discounts usually apply to Sunday through Thursday nights and won't be applied to weekend nights. These discounts ranged from 10% to 30% with the higher range of discounts applied to the most costly hotel and premium rooms.
Disneyland has three on-site hotels including the luxurious Grand Californian Hotel & Spa which we cover extensively in our Grand Californian Hotel & Spa review. This hotel will always be the most expensive option surrounding the resort while the Paradise Pier (soon to be a Pixar themed hotel, read more in our Paradise Pier guide!) while the most affordable. The mid-range option is the Disneyland Hotel (read our full Disneyland Hotel review!) which is themed directly after the Disneyland Resort and its history plus has a pretty awesome hidden tiki bar.
Current Disneyland Hotels Discount
The most recent Disneyland discount offer runs from January 15 – March 7, 2024. The lowest hotel rates will fall on non-holiday weekends (avoid President's Day week, for example) and weekdays. This lines up with our later analysis that the cheapest time to go to Disneyland is often in January and February.
While these Disneyland hotel discounts are staggered throughout the year, you will see the most affordable rates at the beginning of the year before the Spring Break season.
When are Disneyland Tickets the Cheapest?
Disneyland uses tier-pricing for their 1-day tickets so when demand is higher you will see the 1-day ticket prices go up in price. A 1-day Disneyland ticket will cost more on weekend days and during peak times of the year. Disney recently made some changes in their ticket pricing as a response to guest feedback which will make the lowest price tier of 1-day tickets available more times of the year than before! Disney also occasionally offers Disneyland Southern California Resident discount tickets.
However, most guests are coming for more than one day on their visits which makes buying a multi-day ticket a much better choice. If you purchase tickets from our authorized Disney travel agent, Get Away Today, then you can get discounts on tickets plus the cost is less per day when purchasing a multi-day ticket. Get Away Today exclusively offers Mickey Visit readers lower prices on Disneyland 2-5 day tickets. With these discounts, these are the lowest prices on Disneyland tickets anywhere. This is a great way to make any time you visit Disneyland cheaper. Read all about how to get the best deals in our Disneyland discount tickets guide.
Most Expensive Time to Go to Disneyland
It is rare that Disneyland will release an on-site hotel discount for the summer months so that's not often the best time for the cheapest time to go to Disneyland. You can expect most hotel discounts to end the first week of June and not start up again until beginning of August.
You might also notice too that a chunk of October is not available for hotel discounts which is usually the case! October has slowly grown into one of the most busiest months at Disneyland due to the increased popularity of the Halloween season and the rise in Fall breaks at K-12 schools. Because of that, Disney is not likely to offer any on-site hotel discounts.
Most of the year, with the exception of summer and part of October, offers a variety of Disneyland hotel discounts. But prices will be higher to stay on-site during popular times of the year and despite that discount offered, it might not be as much of a budget opportunity if hotel prices are already at their peak.
You can expect peak hotel prices during the middle of March for Spring Break season, late June through July, October, and Thanksgiving through Christmas. Any holidays during the year will also increase prices even if it's just a one day holiday like President's Day and this also will impact airfare.
Cheapest Time to Fly
If you aren't picky about airlines, budget airlines offer discounts throughout the year combined with lower prices for slow travel times helping you pick the cheapest time to go to Disneyland. January and February (see the pattern here?) will offer low airfare rates but you can also get similar low prices by just avoiding any travel during a holiday week or Spring Break.
In my experience, I have found Tuesdays and Wednesdays to be the cheapest days of the week to fly to Disneyland. Your airport you pick will also impact your price. Flights into LAX will often be less expensive than the smaller airports like Orange County or Long Beach. This is also a situation where you might want to weigh your time/convenience vs. cost though. I'm always willing to pay a little more to fly into a closer airport and avoid the hustle in Los Angeles. But it's worth your time to compare rates amongst the three since they're all within reasonable driving distance to the Disneyland Resort.
When is Disney Off Season?
Disney usually has seasonal celebrations all year long which keep visitors at the resort pretty consistent making it trickier to pick a cheapest time to go to Disneyland. There is no true “off season” for Disneyland but there are times when it is less crowded in comparison to other times of the year. Less crowds also tends to align with more discounts, lower airfare, and cheaper prices all around.
January and February would be considered Disneyland's off season months with the exception of any three day weekends and holidays during that time frame. There are also some other parts of the year where crowds can be less like the beginning months of May, August, and November. You will see more discounts during these times of the year and lower hotel rates.
What is the Cheapest Disneyland Hotel?
If you are looking for the most affordable hotel stay then picking a local Anaheim hotel will be the best bet. There are some great options to pick from but the most budget concious option year after year remains the Clarion Hotel. Read our full review of multiple stays at the Clarion Hotel. The Clarion hotel is a budget hotel with no frills but it still offers a restaurant, pool, and clean hotel rooms.
Another newer and popular budget option is the Cambria Hotel & Suites which offers a huge variety of amenities including a swimming pool with waterslides, a basketball court, mini golf, and brand new hotel rooms. Plus free breakfast! We stayed here recently and found it a great choice for families. Read my full review of the Cambria Hotel & Suites to see why this can be a great choice for Disneyland.
These are just two options out of so many for picking the cheapest time to go to Disneyland. One of the best ways to do Disneyland on a budget is to pick a local area hotel and avoid staying on-site. You can read all about these local neighborhood hotels in our Disneyland hotel guide.
Overall, you can see there a few things to keep in mind when picking the cheapest time to go to Disneyland. I always recommend doing your research on the time of year you pick so you can be aware of any potential three day weekends, holidays, or refurbishments that might impact your stay.
Plan Your Disneyland Trip Today!
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- Best Times to Visit Disneyland
- Best Disneyland Souvenirs
- Disneyland Restaurant Reviews and Tips
- Booking Disneyland Packages
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