Complimentary Tickets
What are free tickets? What do they do?
During the course of your program, you will earn a number of tickets. Each ticket is loaded onto its own card, card design pictured at the top of this article. Each ticket, each card, is good for one person to get into the parks (as many as they want) for one day. You can use them all on the same person or all on different people, all on the same day or all on different days, or any combination of people and days. I used four to take my sister with me to the parks for 4 days during spring break and 3 to take my best friend with me to the parks in May.
Who can use them?
Anyone can use your tickets. Officially Disney says you need to be with the guests using your tickets if they aren't immediate family. You are responsible for the actions of park guests using your tickets, so don't just give them away to people you don't know. Also, sometimes cast members try to sell their tickets, which is strictly prohibited, and grounds for termination, so don't do that! Use them to take your family and friends to the parks! If none of your family and friends can visit, just post on Facebook that you have extra tickets and people will be banging on your door to get them, remember only pick people you trust!
Where can I use the tickets?
You can use the tickets at Walt Disney World or Disneyland Resort. Some people think you can only use them at the park you work at (WDW or DLR) but no matter which park you work at, you can use them at both! Also, they do not all need to be used at the same park, you can use some at WDW and some at DLR if you wish! The tickets work at Disneyland Park and California Adventure Park in California; and Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom in Florida. These tickets do not work at Disney's Water Parks in Florida, however you do get a significant discount there, look for a post on discounts soon!
When can I use my tickets?
You can use your tickets during your program. You must use your tickets with your self admission pass, which expires when your program ends, so you can only use them during your program, you can't save the to use after your program ends. Also, there are some blockout dates for the tickets, but check frequently because the blockouts are lifted often. You can check the blockout dates here, make sure you select "One Day Park Hopper Guest Ticket" as your pass type.
How can I use the tickets?
To use the tickets, you must be with your guests the first time you enter the parks each day. You need to enter the park using your self admission pass before your guest scans and uses their pass for the day. After you have used the ticket for the first time that day, activated it, your guest does not need to be with you when reentering the park or going to a different park with the ticket.
How do I earn these tickets?
Last year I was sent one guest ticket with my self admission pass, it arrived about a week after my traditions class. Besides this one ticket, the rest of tickets are earned based on the number of hours you work. You will earn three tickets after working 150 hours in total. You will earn 3 more tickets after working a total of 300 hours (this includes the 150 hours before you earned the first set of tickets). You will earn a final 3 tickets after working a total of 600 hours. You cannot earn more than 9 tickets, but you get the first one complimentary for a total of 10 tickets and if you're there for the Christmas season, you might also earn another complimentary ticket as part of the Christmas thank you perks!
During the course of your program, you will earn a number of tickets. Each ticket is loaded onto its own card, card design pictured at the top of this article. Each ticket, each card, is good for one person to get into the parks (as many as they want) for one day. You can use them all on the same person or all on different people, all on the same day or all on different days, or any combination of people and days. I used four to take my sister with me to the parks for 4 days during spring break and 3 to take my best friend with me to the parks in May.
Who can use them?
Anyone can use your tickets. Officially Disney says you need to be with the guests using your tickets if they aren't immediate family. You are responsible for the actions of park guests using your tickets, so don't just give them away to people you don't know. Also, sometimes cast members try to sell their tickets, which is strictly prohibited, and grounds for termination, so don't do that! Use them to take your family and friends to the parks! If none of your family and friends can visit, just post on Facebook that you have extra tickets and people will be banging on your door to get them, remember only pick people you trust!
Where can I use the tickets?
You can use the tickets at Walt Disney World or Disneyland Resort. Some people think you can only use them at the park you work at (WDW or DLR) but no matter which park you work at, you can use them at both! Also, they do not all need to be used at the same park, you can use some at WDW and some at DLR if you wish! The tickets work at Disneyland Park and California Adventure Park in California; and Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom in Florida. These tickets do not work at Disney's Water Parks in Florida, however you do get a significant discount there, look for a post on discounts soon!
When can I use my tickets?
You can use your tickets during your program. You must use your tickets with your self admission pass, which expires when your program ends, so you can only use them during your program, you can't save the to use after your program ends. Also, there are some blockout dates for the tickets, but check frequently because the blockouts are lifted often. You can check the blockout dates here, make sure you select "One Day Park Hopper Guest Ticket" as your pass type.
How can I use the tickets?
To use the tickets, you must be with your guests the first time you enter the parks each day. You need to enter the park using your self admission pass before your guest scans and uses their pass for the day. After you have used the ticket for the first time that day, activated it, your guest does not need to be with you when reentering the park or going to a different park with the ticket.
How do I earn these tickets?
Last year I was sent one guest ticket with my self admission pass, it arrived about a week after my traditions class. Besides this one ticket, the rest of tickets are earned based on the number of hours you work. You will earn three tickets after working 150 hours in total. You will earn 3 more tickets after working a total of 300 hours (this includes the 150 hours before you earned the first set of tickets). You will earn a final 3 tickets after working a total of 600 hours. You cannot earn more than 9 tickets, but you get the first one complimentary for a total of 10 tickets and if you're there for the Christmas season, you might also earn another complimentary ticket as part of the Christmas thank you perks!
Food Discounts
You can find discounts on food if you know where to look. You receive cast member discounts from many local restaurants, always ask when you go out to eat. My favorite outside vendor discounts are 20% off at Ghirardeli, $2 Wetzel's Pretzels, and $4.99 buffet at Cici's pizza. Most dining locations in Disney springs offer cast member discounts. You can also find discounts at some Disney operated dining locations. Read the full post for a detailed list of those locations.
Merchandise
There is a 40% merchandise discount until mid-February, and 20% off after that. This applies to most merchandise, but not all, like DVDs and Music. Another option is to shop at the Discount stores (explained below) for a heavier discount on discontinued and overstocked merchandise.
Resort Rooms
You can book resort rooms on the Hub or via a cast member reservation line. Sometimes resorts fill up and you won't be able to book with your discount once they reach a certain capacity. (Book as soon as you know when/where you want to stay!) You can save 40% if you're not staying in the room and 50% if you are. This applies to all Disney resorts and many local resorts offer a similar discount.
Discount Stores
One of my favorite perks was access to discount stores! There are three discount stores available to cast members. Company D is a cast member exclusive store that sells cast member exclusive merchandise and discounted tickets (10% off day tickets, multi-day tickets, and annual passes) as well as tickets to local sporting teams. Cast Connection is a cast members only discount store behind Animal Kingdom, it has 3 parts: Cast Connection which sells overstock and out of date merch at 20-50% off (and you get another 10% off on top of that), Mickey's Treasures which sells damaged merch for 75-90% off, and Property Control which sells used items from the resorts and parks such as decorations and furniture at very low prices (they sold iHomes for $1 last year!). Finally, Character Warehouse is a discount store carrying many of the same items as Cast Connection, but it's open to everyone instead of just cast members, the prices are the same and you still get the 10% discount, I like to shop here because it's much easier to get to from CP housing.
Other Discounts
There are lots of discounts available to cast members, the best way to find them is to pick up an Incredible Discounts booklet at your cast services center or to download a copy of it from the Hub (you'll have access to both a few days after traditions). There are just a few more discounts you should know about. After being with the company for 90 days you'll have the opportunity to book cruises for a discounted price, the discount varies each time, and you'll have to book shortly before the trip, family and friends can join you on the trip, but you must be on the trip as well. You can add a dining plan to your resort reservation by calling the employee reservation line, the amount and availability of the discount depends on the season capacity.