trips tour : Vote of the Week: Do You Buy the No-Expiration Option on Disney World Tickets?

By Robert Niles: We are approaching that time of year when the Walt Disney World theme parks raise their ticket prices. Last year, Disney raised the prices of a one-day ticket at the Magic Kingdom to $99 and the other parks to $94. Of course, few people buy one-day tickets to Disney World. Disney's ticket price structure lowers the per-day prices of its tickets the more days you buy, encouraging you to stay longer at the resort. (And, of course, making it relatively more expensive to leave property for a day or two to go visit Harry Potter and friends at Universal Orlando.) That's why almost all visitors to Walt Disney World buy multi-day tickets.

But you've got many more options beyond the number of days you buy when you purchase a Disney ticket. One way that people have gotten around the ever-increasing price of Disney World tickets is to buy the "no expiration" option on their tickets. By default, multi-day Disney World tickets expire 14 days from the ticket's first use. But if you buy the no-expiration option, your unused days are good forever, locking your future visits in at today's prices.

Of course, Disney charges plenty for this benefit, sharply reducing its value. Many years ago, when the no-expiration option didn't cost that much, going with the no-expire tickets was a good deal for fans who planned regular visits to the resort. Today, many fans have done the math and decided that paying $77.60 a day for a 10-day park-hopper with no-expiration versus $41.40 a day for the same ticket that does expire doesn't provide enough of a hedge against future price increases to make the option worth its price. (Some of those fans have decided instead to join the Disney Vacation Club, the company's time-share deal, which provides some discounts on park tickets as well as the potential to get a better room for your money when staying on-site.) Two years ago, Disney took the no-expiration option off its website and many ticket booth boards, making it an "off the menu" option you had to ask for in person or over the phone.

Ever since then, we've heard rumblings from within the company that Disney wants to eliminate the no-expiration option altogether. Disneyland doesn't sell a no-expiration on its tickets, and the elimination of the option in Orlando would bring the two resorts in line on this issue.

What do you think?

Would you miss the no-expiration option if it went away entirely? Would it change the way that you choose which Disney World ticket to buy? Please tell us in the comments what Disney World ticket you buy when you visit, and why.

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