I'm wondering how closely the ticket takers look at little ones to see if they should be paying to get into the park or not. Do they just take the parent's word for it that a child is under 3 years of age and doesn't require a ticket? (Yes, I'm trying to get one last free visit for my older toddler :eek: !) I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking of having their 3 yr old try to pass for a 2 yr old :D ? Yes, I'm cheap.

It's not likely that anyone will question you. However, the message you would be sending to your child is one to consider carefully. This topic has been discussed a few times. Here are the threads I found:

http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?threadid=18980&highlight=child+ticket

http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7197&highlight=child+ticket

If your child is 3, buy them a ticket. If you can't afford it, don't go.

Thanks for the links :) !

My favorite of all time came at the airport. The lap kid looked big for two so the gate agent leaned over and said to the kid "How old are you?" Kid reponds THREE while holding up three fingers!

I am not sure what happened, but Mom got on the plane without the child. (This was back in the days when everyone went to the gate and I do recall Dad was there also!)

Carol, too funny!

The opposite happened to us. Dh and I were traveling with our 16-month-old and the airline agent asked us for his birth certificate to identify his age. I didn't have it -- never dreamed he could pass for a 2-year-old. Fortunately, we were still all allowed on the plane. I felt awful being accused of cheating the system. Even though I did nothing wrong, the agent didn't believe me and I had no way to prove her wrong. So two months later when we took another trip, I made a trip into the city to get ds's birth certificate to take on the flight. Wouldn't ya know it, this time nobody asked for it. Figures!

Anyway, ds turns 3 on Sunday so next trip to DL we'll have to buy him a pass. I could probably "get away" with passing him off as under 3, but the guilt would be a dark shadow looming over my head the entire vacation. Who needs that?

Once I saw the ticket taker ask the parents if the two year old carried any type of identification on him, but the only thing the child had was a Costco card. The ticket taker didn't accept it, so they had to pay for the child. As they pushed the pram through the turn-style, the child looked back to them and said, "Well, we gave it a try."

Originally posted by Tref
Once I saw the ticket taker ask the parents if the two year old carried any type of identification on him, but the only thing the child had was a Costco card. The ticket taker didn't accept it, so they had to pay for the child. As they pushed the pram through the turn-style, the child looked back to them and said, "Well, we gave it a try."

That is so funny, but so sad. Why would anyone do something like that, let alone TELL the child? Also, why did the kid have a Costco card?

I think someone forgot to use his sarcasm tags.....

Oh. Just caught it. Ok. Oops.


That would be what I call a "Jessica (Simpson) Moment"

When we went to DL in August my son had just turned 3 and we got him his own ticket. He loved that he could hand it to them and go through the turn style. Some CM's even seemed surprised when he had a ticket, LOL, guess they see lots of parents sneeking in that "last visit".

I think it sends your child a message that it's okay to lie. So my two cents here is buy the ticket and put it in their scrapbook as their "first" WDW ticket. :D

Last year we saw a father telling the gate CM that his kid was <3. The gate CM called for a supervisior and the sup let them pass through. 20' from the gate the father and son were hi-fiving each other jumping and laughing away into the park.

For me, the integrity and my credibility to my sons is more expensive than the entrance fee - It's something you just can't buy back later.

I bought the pass on my son's third B-Day and we made a party out of the day. It's a hard, daily grind trying to make the choices you know are right (although I still take home pens from work).

Originally posted by Rangnar
20' from the gate the father and son were hi-fiving each other jumping and laughing away into the park.

Are you sure that is really why they were celebrating? My son is a little big for his age, and he won't be 3 for 5 months. However, we have a "tradition" that as soon as we get in the gate we yell "yay" and other stuff like "we made it", "finally", "we're going to have so much fun".

I'd hate for anyone to think we are sneaking him in.

I promise I did not make mine up. The whole thing was too funny! I think the 3 year old was actaully getting ready to turn 4. I have heard of big kids for their age, but.... this kid not only was big he had well developed speech and motor skills. We had been sitting there hoping that this LAP child was not in our row. (Plane was full!)

The part that amazed me was that the mom still got on. I thought that was strange (and she did not seem too upset on the plane.)

To me it was very obvious what they were celebrating as the kid looked about 5. However, as I did not ask them myself, I may have been reading more into the situation. The looks and body language were of peolpe getting away with something, not about the glee of being there IMO (my wife and I concured about this scene).

We go to WDW every year for our son's birthday, my birthday and our anniversary. When we went for his 3rd birthday he turned 3 part way thru the vacation. We did not pay for him for the 2 out of 7 days that he was actually 3. They gave him a birthday button and never said anything about him not having a pass for those days. We didn't feel guilty because we spent the money on food & souvineers anyway. We would have bought him a pass if they had said anything but for those couple days they didn't make a fuss. He knew it was his 3rd birthday and he told everyone. You do not want to teach your child to lie but if it's a matter of giving up a WDW vacation I would do it. It is so wonderful seeing our son when he is there and part of the magic. We're major Disney addicts and would do almost anything to go. :D

I think that madalex was a bit harsh. If your baby has just turned three, I wouldn't worry about it a bit. A three year old won't even remember being there when he's older. My daughter went at four and talked about her trip, mostly Thunder Mountain, alot. However, pretty soon she couldn't remember it at all, even looking at pictures.(Oh, and she's not stupid-she's been on the dean's list for two years) We waited until the other kids were old enough to enjoy it and remember before we started going back.

Originally posted by thevandusens
We go to WDW every year for our son's birthday, my birthday and our anniversary. When we went for his 3rd birthday he turned 3 part way thru the vacation. We did not pay for him for the 2 out of 7 days that he was actually 3.

From what I've read I don't think you were required to purchase a pass for him for those 2 days. They don't require a 9 yearold to upgrade to an adult ticket if they become 10 during the trip, so I would assume it's the same for the 2 years to 3 years set. I would assume Disneyland would have the same policy.

Originally posted by mzloolue
I think that madalex was a bit harsh. If your baby has just turned three, I wouldn't worry about it a bit. A three year old won't even remember being there when he's older.

Two things:

1- I never underestimate the things my son remembers. He's five now but every now and then he remembers very specific and/or odd details of events when he was much younger.

2- The OP doesn't mention having any older children or not. My younger child may not remember that I snuck him into DL/WDW, but I don't need my older child to see that it's ok to lie if it's convenient.

Child's ticket to Disneyland: $37.
Teaching my child a lesson about honesty and values: Priceless.

Adrienne

Well I knew I wouldn't get anyone to post that they had gotten their 3 yr old in for free pretty quick after posting this thread :rolleyes: (although I did get some pms from supportive people) . I would have deleted it if I had the power to. For what it's worth, I know for a fact my 3 yr old could not care less whether she gets to hand her own ticket over to anyone, she just wants to get in the park and see Cinderella! Her 18 month old sister will not realize that we tried to put one over on Disney, nor would my 3 yr old, it's not like we'd mention it to her! And yes, Disney will make tons of money off us from character meals and souvenirs, as well as Mom & Dad's tickets. So no, I don't feel that it's a big deal for us to try to get our 3 yr old in for free. We'll be back plenty of times in the future and they'll get the $42 entrance price for her and her sister (It's not $37, according to their website?). I'm not decided if we're going to "sneak" her in or not, but thanks for all the input and opinions.

Originally posted by kjsmom
I'm wondering how closely the ticket takers look at little ones to see if they should be paying to get into the park or not. Do they just take the parent's word for it that a child is under 3 years of age and doesn't require a ticket? (Yes, I'm trying to get one last free visit for my older toddler :eek: !) I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking of having their 3 yr old try to pass for a 2 yr old :D ? Yes, I'm cheap.

First, I don't think you are cheap. The cost of going to Disney is staggering (as is the commericalism). I just took my two-year old to Disneyland and it cost us over $2000, not including airfare. We stayed in the DL hotel and that made up most of the cost, which, thankfully, my family can afford.

If you are like us, you'll spend over $100 in character breakfasts, about a $100 for pictures (we were lucky enough to get one of the whole family with both Mickey and Minnie!), and plenty on not so good to lousy food, and even more on little gifts for your child - because you can only say "no" so many times.

Honestly, if your child is small - I don't think anyone will say anything. I really think Disney goes out of its way to make everyone's experience magical (even those who sneak in 3 year olds). I cannot imagine anyone asking a child's age if it isn't completely obvious that the child is older.

Personally, for me, I could not lie to the gate CM IF they asked the age of my 3 year old.

We went to disneyland when Ashley was a few months past 3yrs and I bought her a park hopper ticket. We then upgraded that to an Annual Pass and I never thought twice about paying for her ticket. She enjoyed Disney more than I did.

Next year I will have to buy a pass for my youngest daughter and if that makes the trip cost prohibitive, then we will save longer or pick someplace else. The fact that Disney will be getting money from me in other ways (character breakfast, photo, trinkets) does not make up for cheating the admission gate.

Well, I still think madalex was harsh. I consider myself to be a moral person. I pay my taxes, don't litter, treat people with respect, am kind to animals, and recycle. But I still think if you have a stroller baby who has just turned three I wouldn't worry about a ticket. Pushing a kid in who looks like they are ready to start kindergarten is another story. Oh, and arriennek--wait another ten years and see what he remembers. I don't understand what people find enjoyable about character meals. I guess because my own kids really didn't like them(kinda like clowns), but they weren't too fond of store Santas either. I really wouldn't want to have to try to get a young child to eat a meal that I had paid dearly for with the distractions of characters.

Originally posted by mzloolue
I consider myself to be a moral person. I pay my taxes, don't litter, treat people with respect, am kind to animals, and recycle. But I still think if you have a stroller baby who has just turned three I wouldn't worry about a ticket.

So if I'm a moral person, pay my taxes, don't litter, treat people with respect, am kind to animals and recyle, then it's perfectly ok for me to walk into a grocery store and take some of their candy without paying for it, especially if I have a small child with me who won't remember or understand that I've done that?

Well, you all raise some interesting points. But I truly wonder why it's such a low age. My daughter couldn't do a single thing more when she was 3 and 2 weeks than when she was 2 and 6 months. No, I did not buy a ticket for her when she was 3 and 2 weeks. No one asked. It didn't even occur to me that she was "over-age" until we were leaving and I saw "Child ticket - 3-9" on the ticket booths.

I can't defend dishonesty - and even have problems with my own ignorance. But - I also feel thoughts and criticizms chould be done with kindness and understanding.

kjsmom - you know your family and your situation, you just do what's best for you and your family.

But, to answer your question, in my experience, they don't look too closely at ages in DL.