My son and I are going to pop into The World as a one-day detour during some college touring. Since it’s a one-day thing, and I’m not 100% sure which park we are going to (or at least starting with), is there any down side to buying tickets at the entrance? I’ve always pre-purchased from a discounter so I’m fighting the urge to have tickets on hand but it seems unlikely that anyplace will sell out and there doesn’t appear to be such a thing as a discounted 1-day ticket. Even if I bought a park hopper we have to pick which park to tap into first and that will be a colossal waste of time if I guess wrong.
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Not that I can think of
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It can suck up some noticeable time if the lines are long.
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The only downside I could see of buying tickets when you arrive to the park is having to burn time waiting in the line to purchase them. I think once you decide where you are going, purchase them online and then you can link them to MDE. I believe the email typically gets sent within minutes of your purchase.
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You’d likely do park hopper then? Does one have to buy a 1-day park hopper for a specific park? Looking at Undercover Tourist, it seems their 1-day park hopper doesn’t require specifying a park (and shouldn’t need a Park reservation either since it’s a date based ticket)… am I seeing this right y’all?
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This doesn’t address the part where you don’t know what park you are starting at, but there is a possibility to save at least a few $ on 1-day tickets - or even a good amount of $ if you happen to be going on a high price tier day: convention tickets.
You can check my price savings analysis in the con tix thread.
Other downside: You still have to make APRs with con tix, so in your scenario it almost certainly isn’t the best option for you, but just wanted to throw it out there in case you do come up with a solid plan.
Other thing: Gate prices are a little bit higher than Disney online prices; I haven’t checked in awhile but believe it was something like $15 more per ticket. So, might be better to buy direct from Disney online that day if you can get that done on the road and link them in time.
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hmmm… I like this idea but the links I’m getting are giving me the same price. I wonder if the date is too close? (also likely user error on my end, I’ve never tried this technique before)
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I thought that was only for single park tickets.
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That’s what I was seeing too. In which case, could buy the ticket now and not have to worry about it day of!
Should be cheaper… but I’ll let JJT help you out with that 
I don’t know the system well enough either
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Convention tix are fixed price. Disney prices fluctuate. So it’s possible there are days where pricing (especially for 1 day Tix) are the same.
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I just randomly chose a day in the near future that was in the $159+ price tier on the regular ticket site calendar:
A 1-day PH total after tax was $258, while a 1-day con ticket PH was $196.
A 1-day Base was $190 for MK, but there was no convention option for 1-day base, which seems to be the case with them these days. (You can get base con tix on longer tickets.)
If getting PH, seems worth the $6 on con tix to me, even though you have to deal with an APR.
If you just want a base ticket on this tier day, I wouldn’t bother with con tix.
Also, remember you can use discounted Disney gift cards on the convention site, just like the regular site.
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This really seems to be a non issue except for during peak, peak times.
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Mystery solved and user error/newbie confusion was the cause: Because I’m traveling tomorrow I picked a link for an event that was in session but the tickets must be purchased prior to the start for the discount. I could see the other specialty tickets but the one-day ticket was full price. Not sure if they’re all like that or just for the group who’s currently meeting. When I looked at the next one out I could get the prices @JJT was finding.
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