Thanks for the info! I'd already decided to take the passports. Better safe than sorry!!Suggestion: For safety, you should check with the Ticket Booth to see if you need to exchange your voucher at the ticket booth for tickets. Do not assume that you can get in by presenting vouchers at the gate regardless of what you are told.
What Happened to Us (just returned from July visit): We went down the night BEFORE our 1st park day and asked the CM at the entrance gate if all we needed to do was to present our Canadian Voucher and passport in the morning for entry. The CM confirmed yes.
The next day we were at the gates by 6:30 am for the 7:00 am magic morning entry. We were the 2nd family from the turnstile but when we tried to enter, we were told to go to the ticket booth and exchange our vouchers for park tickets. We wasted 30 precious magic morning minutes at the ticket booth because the CM had trouble finding our tickets. Needless to say, we were very upset especially since we dragged our kids out of bed at 5:00 am to get to the parks by 6:30 am for our 1st park day! Not a good start to our trip ... and we were so excited to be at the gates by 6:30 am before the park opened ... that was the one and only time we managed to get to the parks early ... the kids were too tired on the other days. :-(
As for the passports, the passports are checked once (on the 1st park day) and from that point onwards you do NOT need to present your passport on the remaining days to gain entry to the parks.
This is what happens on subsequent park days (after 1st park day): When you present your park tickets for entry on subsequent park days, the CM will confirm "yes" on their "large" screens when they are prompted to confirm Canadian Passport. On their hand held scanners, your photo will pop up.
Good luck and have fun!
Edited to Add: We had to present our passports at the ticket booth to get our park tickets. We again had to present our passports at the entrance gate (1st day only) when we entered the parks.
I really suggest that you bring your passports on your 1st park day for "just in case" purposes. Although I understand your desire to keep your passports safe (I too would have preferred to not bring our passports to the park), you risk wasting precious time going back to your hotel to get your passports IF the CM does not allow you into the parks based on your driver's license ID. Every CM is different. Just my 2 cents as I regret not going the extra step of checking at the ticket booth IN ADDITION to checking at the entrance gate the night before our 1st park day. I assumed what the entrance gate CM told me was correct so I did not bother checking with the ticket booth CM.
Good observation! My email confirmation from Disney says they're Canadian resident tickets but the actual tickets linked in my app don't. Do you actually have your paper tickets already or just the vouchers?
On a different note, if you wish to purchase alcohol, Disney requires a passport and does not accept Canadian licenses as proof of age under 35.
Hi ... thanks for your sympathies! Yes ... it did ruin our excitement about getting to the gates at 6:30 am for the 7:00 am early entry. We are always late for everything and we were so excited and proud of ourselves for making it to the gates at 6:30 am (recall we never made it early again the rest of our trip because the kids were too tired). I wanted to cry when everyone counted down and rushed in through the gates and I had get out of line and head towards the ticket booth.
I "think" they will allow you to trade in your Canadian voucher ahead of time so you don't need to do it the morning of your 1st park day.
However, for safety, if you have the time, I would just go the day before your 1st park day and check at the ticket booth and see what the CM says. If this is your 1st trip, it would be a good idea to map out your plan for getting to the parks and do a "trial run" of getting to the parks. We had initially thought to take the trams in the morning but decided to walk to the parks after our "trial run" to the parks the night before our 1st park day.
Also, remember, it took the CM (and the supervisor) a very long time to find our tickets for some reason so you probably don't want to be trying to get your tickets the morning of your 1st park day as you don't know how long it will take (I got worried that they would never find our tickets).
As for the passports, I would BRING your passports on your 1st park day REGARDLESS of whether or not you have actual park tickets OR vouchers in your hand. This is "just in case" as you do not want to be running back to your hotel to get your passports if you are denied entry for not having your passports.
Please note that we had to show our passports at the ticket booth to trade our vouchers for tickets AND that we had to show our passports at the entrance gate when we 1st used our park tickets. Those who were able to trade their vouchers at the entrance gate for park tickets also reported needing to show their passports.
Therefore, I strongly suggest you bring your passports with you on your 1st park day. To enter your chosen park on your 1st day, you will need to show it at the entrance gate and then you may store your passports safely away in your purse/bag as you will not need to show passports again to park hop that same day. On subsequent park days, you may store your passports safely at your hotel as they will not ask to see your passports again. Consequently, carrying your passports will be inconvenient but only for the 1st park day and will be considered a minor inconvenience compared to being forced to return to your hotel to get your passports if you are denied entry.
Please excuse my preaching ... I'm just trying to help another family avoid the heartache of being turned away at the gates on their 1st park morning!
Good luck and have fun!
Good point and great reminder! DH purchased a beer in DCA but no one mistakes him for under 35 lol
We had Airmiles tickets from the Canadian Resident offer. They were hard tickets with no indication of where they came from or a dollar value. However, when we upgraded to AP's, the CM that scanned them knew they were the discounted tickets and applied that value accordingly.
No. For alcohol, Servers at Disneyland card anyone who appears to be under the age of 35. Sometimes they will card an entire group, regardless of age. My kids (27-31) are always carded by new servers (most older servers know them.) If you are a young looking 40, expect to be carded. If you do not carry a US driver's license, you will need your passport. California does not recognize foreign licenses as valid ID for purchasing alcohol or identification.
