It’s no secret that tickets to Disneyland (DL) and Walt Disney World (WDW) are EXPENSIVE. As in “near, if not over $100 per day” expensive if you buy tickets for just a few days. Granted, there are a few ways to try possibly get them a little cheaper:
- You may be able to get discount tickets through your employer.
- There are some small, legitimate discounts you can get here and there.
- There are some places where you should NEVER try to get cheap Disney tickets.
The above being said, Florida and California residents are eligible for specially priced park tickets at, respectfully, Walt Disney World and Disneyland. But what proves residency? And what if you live out of state but have a friend or relative who lives in the state? Can they get you tickets or passes? What about your kids? Read on, travel friends…
Proof of residency for WDW tickets
From WDW’s website:
Q: What proof of residence will I need to provide in order to purchase a Florida Resident park ticket or annual pass?
A.: You’ll need to provide proof of a Florida residential address in order to purchase a Florida Resident park ticket or annual pass. For each ticket or pass purchased for an adult, you may provide any of the following:
- Valid Florida driver’s license (must have a Florida address)
- Valid Florida state-issued ID card (must have a Florida address)
- Valid Florida-based military ID
*For your convenience, Florida residents with any of the above listed identification can now verify their residency online, which means you can bypass Guest Relations and go straight to the parks! Simply fill out the “Your Florida Resident Information” form upon check-out when you purchase tickets through Disneyworld.com or complete the “Customize Your Tickets” step when you purchase through the My Disney Experience app.
If you do not have one of the IDs indicated above, then you must provide one of the following—dated within the past 2 months—evidencing a Florida residential address, along with a corresponding picture ID (passport, driver’s license, state identification card):
Proof of Current Mortgage
You may use a monthly mortgage statement from within the past 2 months; it may not be more than 2 months old. Deeds, mortgage contracts, mortgage payment booklets and leases are not accepted.Bills, Policies or Registration
- Current homeowner’s insurance policy or bill
- Current automobile registration, insurance policy or bill
- Current Utility bill (power / phone / cable / water)
- Bills can be no more than 2 months old (P.O. Boxes are not accepted as proof of residency)
- Mail from financial institutions, including checking, savings or investment account statements
- Mail from federal, state, county or city government agencies
- Mail can be no more than 2 months old (P.O. Boxes are not accepted as proof of residency)
Additional members of the same household must only provide proof of same residential address.
Current statements and bills printed from electronic versions are accepted, along with electronic bills provided via smart phones and tablet devices.
For more information, please call (407) WDW-PASS or (407) 939-7277—or use the Annual Passholder Help Form to email our dedicated Help Team with any questions you may have about your annual pass. Guests under age 18 must have parent or guardian permission to call.
What about Disneyland?
Disneyland’s rules are pretty much the same – you have to show proof of being a California resident to use a park pass intended for California residents.
In a nutshell, you need to show Florida or California residency in order to purchase a Florida or California resident ticket. Guests age 18 and over may also need to show proof of residency when they use that ticket media for the very first time (Note: Children under age 18 do not need to show proof of residency). So even if your friend or relative could conceivably buy the CA/FL Resident ticket for you by somehow proving that you live with him/her, you would still have to show that you’re an FL resident by providing the above proof before you use it.
In other words, if you are age 18 or over, Disney will need to ensure that you are a Florida or California resident before you can purchase and/or use a California or Florida Resident ticket.
Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary, or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.
Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
19 comments
Fairly easy to change one’s cell phone bill to a Florida address – heck, you could even use a hotel, or one of the extended stay hotels. Many younger people (and older) today receive e-bills – so it’s easy to do and present the current bill along with a passport – and you’re all set.
However, for the most part, the suggestion above and the details of this from the WDW website offer a reasonable workaround – it’s not ethical if you don’t live in Florida. I could do this with one of my newly acquired buildings in the Orlando area – and just quickly change the cell phone bill to that address (and also pay whatever local taxes apply to that address) – but I wouldn’t do that for the simple sake that as you pointed out – there are a few alternatives for non-Florida residents to purchase tickets.
It works the same in reverse here in southern California for local and Baja California, Mexico residents – local discounts are great, the out-of-towners pay the higher rate.
Like your blog says…Your Mileage May Vary.
SO_CAL_RETAIL_SLUT
We used our cable bill. Easy to change the address. Also just a heads up. You mention the annual pass a few times but those aren’t available to buy right now. We have heard they might be back next year.
Hi! We know. We were looking at the longer term in terms of people reading it. WDW isn’t selling APs right now and although they haven’t said when they’re coming back, they haven’t said, similar to DL, that they’re not. So we decided to include it. That way when they’re back, the post will still be up to date :-). Thank you though.
So, I as FL resident, can’t buy resident tickets for my out of state friends who will be visiting and coming to Disney WITH me? Each ticket requires Florida residents validation, not just a single resident in the group?
Yes. Florida resident passes, which cost less, are only intended to be used by Florida residents. Disney is smart and is well aware that Florida residents might try to break the rules and buy those cheaper tickets for their friends & family who live out of state. So every adult who is using a Florida resident pass to enter the park will be asked for their proof of Florida residency.
Ok, so I’m a disabled veteran and FL resident. I was able to use the base ticket office to get discounted Disney tickets for a large group of friends and myself to go to Disney next month. The clerk also pointed out that as a FL resident, they could sell them to me with the resident discount, which was awesome. However, 2 of our 8 people group aren’t residents themselves. Can they not use the tickets even though a Florida resident bought them and will be accompanying them? And did that mean we need to buy two more tickets?
From the small print on the bottom of https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/special-offers/florida-resident-summer-fun-ticket-offer/: “For Florida resident tickets, all adults will need to show proof of Florida residency at park entrance.”
My wife and I are FL residents but we are taking my sister and her family. Are we able to get her kids tickets as FL resident (all 12 or under) since they wouldn’t have to verify ID?
According to Disney’s “Plan Disney” page, from 2018:
“The official Walt Disney World Resort theme park rule states that children under the age of 18 are not required to provide proof of Florida residency if they are accompanied by an adult with valid proof of Florida residency.”
https://plandisney.disney.go.com/question/show-proof-florida-residence-year-old-child-370467/
I don’t know if anything has changed between 2018 and now.
We still have Illinois ID and have home and cars there. We own our home in florida, pay taxes here, and all the other necessary bills, insurance, power, cable, water etc. our home is not a rental but our home and we are here for most all months. Without the photo ID, can we still use the florida residence discount for ourselves?
I would suggest you ask Disney directly, just to make sure.
Having been to Disney over several years, before and during Covid, and watching cues when entering the parks, I find it VERY hard to swallow that Disney employees are bothering to actually vet EVERY person or family group who comes through with Florida Resident tickets.
It seems like there would be much more holding up the line and making people pull out IDs at the turnstiles.
To get your Florida resident pass, you have to go to Guest Services (or perhaps a ticket booth – we’ve never done it that way) and show your Florida ID. Once you have FL Res pass in hand, you don’t have to show it at the turnstiles (unless, of course, there’s a problem)
So I read that they sell FL resident tickets with verification online. they say if you verify every adult online then you skip the guest services at the park and go right in? What if I bought a ticket online using my FL verification and my wifes, but use my wifes ticket for a friend? If it lets us go straight to the park then I assume ID verification is not needed right?
It’s my understanding they check your Florida residency at the gate and/or Guest Services, once you arrive at the park.
Thanks for your response. This si what I pulled from their site.
*For your convenience, Florida residents with any of the above listed identification can now verify their residency online, which means you can bypass Guest Relations and go straight to the parks! Simply fill out the “Your Florida Resident Information” form upon check-out when you purchase tickets through Disneyworld.com or complete the “Customize Your Tickets” step when you purchase through the My Disney Experience app.
I would still strongly suspect that for FL Resident tickets, they check ID the first time the person uses the ticket. Otherwise what’s to stop everyone from asking their FL Resident friends/family from proving residency, buying cheaper tickets and selling/giving them away? Disney is far smarter than that.
I would also assume so but that online information came from Disneys site. So i assumed if you verified online when you bought the ticket and they say on their site that you by pass guest services where would they make you show id. Confusing.
Agreed. But frankly, they always reserve the right to check ID. They do it every time a guest has “bad fingers” and the fingerprint doesn’t match up (happens to be all the time) – they want to make sure the name on the pass matches the name on the ID. So I’m sure they do it to ensure Mx. “I have a FL Resident ticket” actually is a FL resident, when they get to the gate. And I’m sure “we reserve the right to check ID” is somewhere in small print somewhere. Because Disney. LOLOL