Fake Disneyland tickets can cost a lot of money and ruin your Disney vacation! If you’re hoping to save money on your Disney vacation, then you may be tempted by some of the common Disneyland ticket scams. After all, they only work because they look like deals you can’t afford to miss!
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Here’s how to avoid fake Disneyland tickets.
Here are a few techniques that can help you avoid buying fake Disneyland tickets.
Only buy Disney tickets from reputable sellers.
There are thousands (if not millions) of scam sites out there, so it is extremely important to purchase your tickets from reputable sellers.
Beware of sites that use “Disney” in their name or URL. Like most affiliate and resell programs, Disney does not allow re-sellers to use the word “Disney” in their site names or URLs. If the site has Disney in the name, it’s a scam.
If you see discounted one-day passes, run away! Disney does not allow re-sellers to discount one-day passes. It is almost impossible for anyone to profit from discounting a one or even a two-day pass, so it’s probably a scam if you’re seeing incredible prices on short-term tickets.
For similar reasons, you should never purchase your Disney tickets from Craigslist, eBay or Facebook. These marketplaces allow anyone to sell tickets. You could be buying fake Disneyland tickets, stolen Disneyland tickets or real-but-completely-used tickets.
If you cannot verify a seller’s legitimacy, do not consider buying their tickets.
Never purchase partially used tickets.
Buying a half-used four day pass may seem like a wise choice. You can get two days for a fraction of the cost of real tickets, right? WRONG.
It turns out, the most deceptive fake Disneyland tickets are real tickets that you can’t use.
Our pictures were taken at the Disneyland admission gate when we redeemed our Military Salute vouchers for actual Disney tickets. These photos were permanently linked to our tickets. Every time we entered a park, our tickets were scanned and our faces were compared to the original picture.
Also, tickets expire within 14 days of their first use. If someone is selling the remainder of their days, those days may not even be valid any more!
If you purchase a half-used ticket, you will not be able to use it. You will arrive at the gate and be turned away when your face doesn’t match your ticket image. It will be immediately obvious that you bought fake Disneyland tickets.
There are some websites that try to sell tickets that must be returned after use. This is a clear indicator that someone is trying to sell individual days from a multi-day pass. It’s against Disney rules and very clearly fraudulent!
Always read the fine print for the tickets!
You absolutely must pay attention to the fine print, especially if you’re buying specialty tickets!
For example, Military Salute tickets are often available for an unbeatable price. You may find one for sale from a veteran or military service-member (although they aren’t supposed to resell them). Although you may be able to purchase one, you won’t be able to redeem it at the gate unless the person who bought them at the base is with you. The original buyer must present their Military ID at the gate in order to redeem those tickets. No military ID, no park access! This can be a very costly mistake.
There are other specialty tickets available from the park, also. Be sure you know what kind of ticket you’re buying and what the terms are before you complete the purchase!
Only purchase tickets with a credit card or PayPal account.
When you do buy your tickets, it’s always a good idea to pay with a credit card or PayPal account. This provides extra protection in case you do accidentally purchase fake Disneyland tickets.
Usually, scammers will ask you to pay in cash or with a cash-equivalent, like a money order or cashier’s check. This is because they don’t want you to be able to recover your money when you realize you’ve been scammed.
If you pay with a protected payment method, you can still get your money back if it turns out you’ve fallen for a scam. PayPal’s customer service has never failed to resolve an issue for me, so I highly recommend them. I use a PayPal Debit Card for most of my purchases.
Call the park to verify a ticket’s validity.
You can always call Disney World or Disneyland customer service if you are concerned about the validity of a ticket. Of course, you should always do this before you purchase the tickets!
In some cases, a representative may ask you to email images of both sides of the ticket in order to verify its legitimacy.
Now you know how to avoid fake Disneyland tickets!
Once again, you can usually avoid Disneyland ticket scams if you:
- Only buy from reputable websites.
- Never purchase partially used tickets.
- Always understand what type of ticket you’re buying and what the terms are.
- Only purchase tickets with a credit card or PayPal account.
- When in doubt, call the park to verify a ticket’s validity.
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Nicole Thelin
Nicole is the founder and lead researcher of Low Income Relief. After a personal experience with poverty and homelessness following her husband's sudden medical discharge from the U.S. Army, Nicole discovered the life-changing impact of community resources. This experience ignited her passion for empowering others to navigate similar crises. Nicole launched her writing career at age 16, working for various newspapers and publications. Her commitment to in-depth research and accessible content has been recognized by Google for Publishers and other industry leaders. For over 20 years, she has applied her investigative skills to uncover the most helpful, up-to-date information on benefits programs and community resources, ensuring Low Income Relief maintains the most extensive resource databases available.