The Top 6 Extras that are worth the money when visiting Disney Parks.
- angelae39
- Jul 10
- 6 min read
With over 20 park visits under my belt between Disneyland and DisneyWorld, here are my tips, tricks, and worthwhile purchases that can enhance your next Disney adventure. Spoiler alert: Disney trips are expensive.
1. Magic Bands
If you don’t already know, Magic Bands are customizable bracelets that may enhance your Disney park experience! You can use it to enter the parks or check in at the Lightning Lane entrances, and it glows and vibrates during different spectaculars to make your experience more immersive. $34.99 and up, but Disney has been known to send $10 off coupons!
The first time I bought Magic Bands was for my niece’s 16th birthday trip to Disney World. We stayed at the Disney Resort (stay tuned for more on that front). Did I buy them because they were cute? Yes. Did I buy them because they were convenient? Also yes! The Magic Bands offered more functionality than I expected! Do you hate digging in your pockets or bags for rooms keys, park tickets, cash, or credit cards? If so, Magic Bands could be perfect for you!
· Your Magic Band can open your hotel room if you stay at a Disney Resort.
· You can link your Magic Band to a credit or debit card on the Disney App, assign it a PIN, and use it to pay for everything while in the Parks. CAUTION: It can be easy to lose track of what you are spending this way.
· The Magic Band takes the place of needing a park ticket and stores all of your Genie/Lightning Lane options, so you can just scan and go!
· When you purchase the Disney PhotoPass (more on that later), the photographer can just scan your Magic Band and all of your photos will show up right in your Disney app. Just one less thing to keep track of as the alternative is a card that you hand to the photographer every time you take a picture.
I mean, are you sold on Magic Bands yet? (No, I’m not being sponsored by Disney)
2. Staying at a Walt Disney World Resort (Florida only)
There are over 25 resorts on the Disney grounds in Orlando, ranging from Value to Deluxe. I have stayed at 2 moderate resorts and 1 deluxe resort. Not only was this more convenient, but it actually made sense financially too. With 3 levels of hotels, there are options for every budget and not a huge difference in benefits between the levels. With the exception of the fact that there were literally zebras and giraffes outside of our balcony at the Animal Kingdom Lodge, I didn’t feel like I was missing anything by staying at a moderate resort. All level of resorts allow you 30 minutes early entry in the parks, as well as the following benefits:
· The transportation infrastructure is amazing! Each resort provides complimentary transportation to each park and Disney Springs. Parking at a Disney World Park ranges from $30-$55 per day, which will add up quickly if you’re staying off the grounds to save some money. While the buses are the most common form of transportation, staying at the Port Orleans French Quarter allowed us to take a boat to Disney Springs, and staying at the Caribbean Beach Resort allowed us to take the Sky Liner to two different parks. There is also a monorail that goes between some of the parks and some resorts.
· When staying at a Walt Disney Resort, you can book dinner and Lightning reservations for the entire length of your stay. For dinners, you may book your reservation up to 60 days out from your arrival date; for Lightning Lane, reservations 7 days out. This makes my type A heart so happy.
In California, the Disneyland hotels are all pretty expensive and don’t have a value option. I have found that a Good Neighbor hotel works well for Disneyland, which is why the above is a Florida only tip.
3. Adding the Park Hopper Option (California only)
In California, the parks are located next to each other, connected via a courtyard, which makes it very easy to walk back and forth between. Plus, Disneyland closes at midnight, 2 hours after California Adventure, so you can go back to Disneyland after California Adventure closes for the day.
Why is this a Calilfornia-only recommendation? Because I have paid for the Park Hopper option in Florida three separate times and didn’t use it once. The parks are too far apart that you can’t easily see one from the other and the parks don’t stay open late. With Animal Kingdom closing between 6pm-8pm and Magic Kingdon closing at 10pm, there just aren’t always enough hours in the day to park hop.
4. Genie/Lightning Lane Service
Many will collectively agree that the lines are hands down the worst part of Disney Parks. The thought of spending 2+ hours in line to get on a ride that takes 3-5 minutes is more than I can bear. With Genie (Disneyland) or Lightning Lane (Disney World), you can pay extra to skip the lines. The services only allow you to choose each ride once per day and some of the best rides are an additional fee, but as those lines tend to be even longer, I still think this service is worth it. Even splurging once on Genie/Lightning Lane Service will let you experience more rides in a shorter amount of time, and once you’re more acquainted with the rides, you’ll know exactly which ones are worth waiting in line for and which ones you might want to skip.
5. Disney PhotoPass Service (Disclaimer: this add-on service really depends on who you are traveling with.)
Spring ‘25, I went to Disney World with my brother, sister-in-law, and niece. We paid for the service and got some really great photos. I stepped aside to allow them get some family photos too with just the three of them. Contrarily, when I went to Disney World with a friend, I passed on the photo service.
There are photographers everywhere in the parks, especially in front of all of the big landmarks. Having the PhotoPass means you don’t have to ask a stranger to take your picture, which likely leads to you asking if you can take theirs, or maybe you attempt to do a selfie and fail when you arms are too short. If this sounds like you, consider PhotoPass. The photographers will take several photos, scan your Magic Band, and within minutes your pictures are all available on your Disney App. There were times when the photographer had us pose a certain way and when we looked on the app, they had added little things in, like a picture of Chip in my brother’s hand while we all looked on in surprise. Unfortunately, due to copyright infringement rules, I can’t share any of the photos here.
One additional cost that I thought was worth it was ordering a USB flash drive that had all of the photos on it. Without buying the flash drive, I would have had to download all of the photos onto my phone, one by one.
6. Special Events
I have attended 2 special events that I would happily do again! The first was After Hours at Disney Hollywood Studios in Florida. For $159 we were able to get into the park at 7pm and stay until midnight, despite the park closing at 9pm. There are a limited number of tickets available for these events so lines are much shorter and we never waited more than 15 minutes in any line. There were characters throughout the park, including some rarer ones you don’t get to see too often. You also get “free” snacks throughout the park which consisted of ice cream bars, popcorn, ice cream sandwiches, bottled water, and sodas. We were able to ride all the rides in the park, some up to 2-3 times each and have our fill of snacks. When we visited the park later in the week, we could enjoy all of the shows in the park and pick which rides we wanted to do again.
In October of 2024, I attended my first Oogie Boogie Bash at Disney’s California Adventure and had a blast. This is the only time that adults are allowed to wear costumes inside the Disney Parks and we took full advantage, dressing up as Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. We were able to get into the park at 3pm, with the park closing to the public at 6, but it stayed open until midnight for Oogie Boogie Bash attendees! Like the After Hours experience, there were shorter lines for the rides and characters that you don’t usually see. There were also treat trails that allowed you to go trick-or-treating throughout the park with various Disney Villains at the end of each trail. The Frightfully Fun Parade only goes through the park during the Oogie Boogie Bash. There’s an option to spend a little extra on the dessert party, but I don’t believe it was worth it. The desserts were obviously frozen prior to being served to us and it was much more than we could eat. If I am lucky enough to attend the Oogie Boogie Bash again, I plan to just make time to find a place to watch the parade, especially knowing it runs twice at night.
What are some things you think are worth the money at Disney Parks? Let me know in the comments.