is undercover tourist legit reddit

• Search forums
• Media New media

• Disneyland (California)

Undercover Tourist

• Thread starter disny_luvr
• Start date Aug 20, 2023

DIS Veteran

• Aug 20, 2023

I’m thinking of purchasing Disneyland park tickets through Undercover Tourist . Before I do, I just want to make sure they are a legit business. Anything I should consider before I purchase with them?  

Kevin O'Brien

Mouseketeer.

disny_luvr said: I’m thinking of purchasing Disneyland park tickets through Undercover Tourist . Before I do, I just want to make sure they are a legit business. Anything I should consider before I purchase with them? Click to expand...

Starport Seven-Five

We have bought tickets from them multiple times. They are legit and always delivered quickly.  

Batuuwanderer

Same what others have stated. I’ve had no issues purchasing from them and easily linked the e-ticket barcodes to my Disney-app.  

Definitely legit, & use them often.  

Awesome, thank you everyone!  

We bought our park tickets for 6 for our July trip from UT. We have bought tickets from them before. No issues. Tickets were emailed immediately so I could upload to app and make park reservations. Literally no issues at all.  

crystal1313

Also bought Disneyland tickets multiple times without any issues. Bought Knotts tickets through them and had a huge issue at the park and the customer service for UT was AMAZING! They went above and beyond and I would buy from them again without hesitation.  

• Aug 21, 2023

OP here. One more UT question. We aren’t visiting Disneyland until June. Should I buy the tickets now or wait to see if a deal comes out? Does UT ever run any specials?  

disny_luvr said: OP here. One more UT question. We aren’t visiting Disneyland until June. Should I buy the tickets now or wait to see if a deal comes out? Does UT ever run any specials? Click to expand...

They do sometimes have specials, but Disney usually raises ticket prices once a year, so it might end up being the same in the end. We've bought tickets from Undercover Tourist , they're a great company.  

Im not sure you can buy tix that far out, can you?  

woodys_girl

Chili327 said: Im not sure you can buy tix that far out, can you? Click to expand...

NewbieMouse

disny_luvr said: I'm not sure! I haven't actually tried to purchase tickets yet so maybe I can't. If not, I guess I'll just have to hold tight a little longer. Click to expand...

NewbieMouse said: The tickets UT is currently selling seem to expire January 12, 2025, so yes, you can, You can't make reservations yet, but as long as you use the tickets before January 12, 2025, you can purchase them. Click to expand...

I plan on buying from UT for Disneyland as well! I'm going in November. Right now they're doing a $5 off deal on select tickets but I noticed if you buy park hopper + Genie plus from them, it doesn't come with a photo pass - just FYI.  

See the line where the sky meets the sea?

Chili327 said: Park reservations will be gone by the end of Jan 2024 so should be all good. Click to expand...

Share this page

Dis news & updates.

• Completing Your Character Autograph Book in the Disney Parks
• Magical Dining Offer at Swan Reserve's Amare Restaurant
• Disneyland Resort's Plaza de la Familia Has Officially Begun
• GREAT SCOTT! Fan Fest Nights Announced for Universal Hollywood
• Enchanted Tiki Room: The Magic Behind Walt Disney's Tropical Hideaway

New DISboards Threads

• Today at 8:49 AM
• Disney Dining Plan

• Today at 8:08 AM
• Budget Board

• Today at 7:56 AM
• DVC-Rent/Transfer

• Dreams&wishes
• Today at 7:55 AM
• Community Board

• krazyladybug
• Today at 12:03 AM
• Disney for Families

• DealVengers
• Yesterday at 11:56 PM

• Walt Disney World News
• Walt Disney World Articles
• Disney Cruise Line News
• Disneyland News
• General Disney News

Latest posts

• Latest: FairyGodmother00
• 1 minute ago
• Latest: jo-jo
• 2 minutes ago

• Latest: mickey916
• 3 minutes ago

• Latest: JoJoGirl
• 5 minutes ago

• Latest: DisneyTeacher

Undercover Tourist-Any Drawbacks?

Our family is taking our first trip to Disneyland this summer. We’ve been to WDW many times, but this will be our first trip out West. When going to WDW, we stay on property, so I wait for Disney to run a package special and buy our tickets directly from them. For this trip, we will be staying at a good neighbor hotel right across the street from the parks, so we only need to purchase our tickets. We want 4 day Hopper tickets with Genie+ added on-there will be 5 of us going. I priced tickets directly from Disney, but then decided to check out some discount sites to compare-I’ve never purchased from any of these sites before, so I have no experience with this. I can save over $260 if I buy from Undercover Tourist. I’ve read that this is a very reliable site–is there any drawback to getting tickets from here rather than ordering direct?? This is an awesome deal, but I just want to make sure I’m not missing something. I’d appreciate input from anyone who’s used them. Thanks!!

I’ve never used them, but know a lot who have & nobody has had any issues with them.

I have always purchased my WDW tickets from UCT. For as long as I can remember. Since I had dial up. I will be buying my DLR tickets from them this week before the sale is over. I have zero misgivings about them whatsoever.

I didn’t realize there was a sale going on-just went to the site and priced what I wanted. How long is the sale going on??

it says 2/13/24 when I look

I second what @QwertySC says about them. The adult for child price is the sale right now. I’ve even used the 365 day return in order to change my tickets to a cheaper price and while it wasn’t completely straight forward it did end up working perfectly.

I have used UT before. They are reputable. I always do the math between UT, BWT (Boardwalk Ticketing), and Disney (subtracting 5% for using discounted Disney Giftcards). Just recently I bought convention tix for DH at a decent discount. I will buy with whomever of these choices offers the best price. There was some issues with 3rd party tickets with Covid closure but I can’t remember the exact details. That was an extraordinary time though. I would still buy from them if they offer a great discount

I almost always use Undercover Tourist, using the Mousesavers discount. They aren’t always the lowest price, but often are close. I trust them. They sell tickets as refundable (with a very small restocking fee) which some of the other sites don’t have…so if anything happens where you have to cancel your trip, you can get a refund. (I have never needed this.)

Just link the tickets in MDE and you are good to go.

I haven’t used them for DL, but have for UOR and WDW.

Thanks everyone! It’s always nice to have some reassurance before trying something new. I think we’ll give Undercover Tourist a try.

Purchased our tickets from Undercover Tourist-they were available immediately (the site said it could take up to 48 hours). I went straight to the Disney Site and linked them, as well as making our park reservations. Everything worked great! Again, thanks to everyone for the advice-we saved a bunch.

I usually buy my 3 day or more from UT. Gothicrosie on IG often posts a chart with where to get best ticket prices. She hasn’t for a while but usually 2 day best is from Disney with 5% off GC. 3 day & above is best from a company called ARes Travel, that I’m not familiar with. UT is usually no more than $.64 more.

I just purchased mine and within one minute I have my access codes.

I have never had a problem with Undercover Tourist & bought our tickets for an upcoming trip this May. When deciding to add the dining plan, I was kind of worried that a room only reservation with tickets not bought from Disney might be a problem. Called and spoke to a CM and was able to add the dining plan with zero problems. We didn’t even lose the discounted price on the room!

The dining plan is tied to the resort reservation. Adding dining plan doesn’t modify the actual room reservation like other discounts do. It’s like adding tickets.

I was told we might lose our discounted room if we added the dining plan and that because we had room only, we couldn’t add it. Glad I kept trying.

Was that a CM that told you that? I added it for a client 2 weeks ago via phone, no problem. I just paid the difference with their Disney Giftcards. The difference was only the actual cost of the plan.

This is the only part of the “package” that matters. It’s a room only package. And it’s required. Tickets are not.

I think the loss of room discount is for free dining plan. The free option requires rack rate for room. I think that’s why I’ve heard many people say it’s often not worth it. You pay it one way or another. I’ve never used the DP, so no personal experience. I’ve done the math, and it’s NEVER worked out for us. It’s worse now for non alcohol drinkers. You really have to order alcohol with every meal to make the numbers worth it. Anyone with a child between 9 & 21 is going to have a hard time making it worth it.

The Dining Plan was amazing when Disney first released it. I got it for your trip so that I don’t ahve to hear my husband complain about the prices, lol. I’ll pay for the tip.

Other TouringPlans Resources

Advertiser Disclosure

Many of the credit card offers that appear on this site are from credit card companies from which we receive financial compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). However, the credit card information that we publish has been written and evaluated by experts who know these products inside out. We only recommend products we either use ourselves or endorse. This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers that are on the market.  See our advertising policy here where we list advertisers that we work with, and how we make money. You can also review our  credit card rating methodology .

Undercover Tourist Review [Discounted Tickets, Hotels, and Car Rentals]

Katie Seemann

Senior Content Contributor and News Editor

370 Published Articles 66 Edited Articles

Countries Visited: 28 U.S. States Visited: 29

Keri Stooksbury

Editor-in-Chief

41 Published Articles 3364 Edited Articles

Countries Visited: 50 U.S. States Visited: 28

Director of Operations & Compliance

6 Published Articles 1200 Edited Articles

Countries Visited: 10 U.S. States Visited: 20

Table of Contents

What is undercover tourist, discount tickets, earning points on tickets, final thoughts.

We may be compensated when you click on product links, such as credit cards, from one or more of our advertising partners. Terms apply to the offers below. See our  Advertising Policy for more about our partners, how we make money, and our rating methodology. Opinions and recommendations are ours alone.

Undercover Tourist is a popular website for purchasing theme park tickets at a discount. If you’ve planned a trip to Walt Disney World , Universal Studios, or SeaWorld, you’ve probably come across Undercover Tourist. But did you also know you can use this website to book hotels and rental cars, too?

In this post, we’ll go over what you need to know to use Undercover Tourist to find the best prices on amusement park tickets, hotels, and rental cars. Plus, we’ll go over some of the popular features of the site like the Crowd Calendar.

Undercover Tourist is a website that that’s been around since 2000 and is known for offering discounted tickets to theme parks across the U.S. The site is an authorized seller of tickets for all the major theme parks you know and love:

• Walt Disney World Resort in Florida
• Disneyland in California
• Universal Orlando Resort
• Universal Studios Hollywood
• SeaWorld Orlando
• SeaWorld San Diego
• LEGOLAND Florida Resort
• LEGOLAND California Resort

Undercover Tourist also has discounted tickets to non-theme park attractions like Ripley’s Believe It or Not, ski resorts, zoos, movie theaters, and lots more! Plus, it acts as an online travel agency for hotels and car rentals.

While Undercover Tourist offers a ton of ticket, hotel, and car options, the site is limited in the number of destinations it covers. You’ll only find options in the following cities:

• Breckenridge, CO
• Chicago, IL
• Los Angeles, CA
• New York City, NY
• Orlando, FL
• Park City, Utah
• San Antonio, Texas
• San Diego, CA
• San Francisco, CA
• Washington, D.C.

Options in Seattle, London, and Paris are coming soon.

Bottom Line: Undercover Tourist is a resource for discounted tickets to theme parks and other attractions in select cities across the U.S. It’s best known for offering discounted tickets to Walt Disney World and Universal Studios theme parks.  The site also acts as an online travel agency for hotel reservations and car rentals in these select cities.

Let’s review the steps to using Undercover Tourist to purchase discounted tickets.

You can start your search for discounted tickets from many different places on the home page. Click on Discount Tickets in the top menu bar, click on a logo underneath the menu bar, or click on any of the featured tickets in the middle of your screen to start your search.

After choosing your destination, you’ll be able to see lots of information about your chosen theme park, including maps, hotels, tips, and more. Scroll down a bit to find the availability calendar and ticket options.

The tickets you buy through Undercover Tourist are exactly the same as if you purchased them directly from the park, except you’ll probably save some money.

After choosing the type and number of tickets you need, you’ll be able to see your final price and choose your travel dates. The price you see is what you’ll pay — taxes are included and shipping is free!

Hot Tip: Are you on a tight budget? Check out our full guide to using visiting Disney World for cheap using points and miles.

Paper Tickets vs. E-Tickets

You may be inclined to have your tickets emailed to you, but there are some risks. E-tickets are non-refundable, and you’ll need to stop at Will Call at the gate to pick up your physical tickets. For Disney tickets, if you have a MagicBand, you can add the e-tickets to your account and proceed directly to the gate, but they’ll still be non-refundable.

Instead, it may be a better idea to have the physical tickets mailed to you. This option is also free and the tickets will be eligible for a refund. Plus, you’ll be able to go straight to the gate at the park which can be a huge timesaver.

Refundable Tickets

Many tickets sold on Undercover Tourist are refundable within 90 days of purchase. To get a refundable ticket, you’ll need to have tickets mailed to you vs. opting for email delivery. Refundable tickets will be clearly marked. Be sure to confirm the return policy for your specific tickets before completing your purchase.

If you need to return tickets that you purchased, you’ll be charged a 5% fee to cover the return.

Hot Tip: E-tickets are non-refundable. To get a ticket that is eligible for a refund, you’ll need to select the Mailed To Your Door  option.

Travel Insurance

Before finalizing your purchase, you’ll be prompted to add travel insurance. Before choosing whether or not to add insurance to your purchase, you’ll want to learn about all of your options.

Undercover Tourist offers insurance through Allianz Global Assistance , a popular travel insurance company. However, the policy offered by Undercover Tourist covers lots of areas that may already be covered through your credit card including trip cancellation and interruption , lost or delayed baggage, and travel accident insurance, so it may not be needed.

If you purchase tickets that are eligible for a refund, insurance is probably not necessary. If you’re also booking a hotel or rental car, take a minute to determine if you have a credit card with rental car insurance  before purchasing a separate policy.

Undercover Tourist Crowd Calendar

The Undercover Tourist Crowd Calendar is a popular feature on the site that helps you identify the least and most crowded times to visit a specific park.

To access the Crowd Calendar, just click on Crowd Calendar in the top menu bar of the website.

You’ll be able to look at specifics for a handful of the most popular destinations:

• Discovery Cove
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Park
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios
• Magic Kingdom Park
• Universal’s Islands of Adventure
• Universal Studios Florida
• Universal’s Volcano Bay

Hot Tip: The Undercover Tourist Crowd Calendar is a color-coded chart that helps you predict which parks will be more or less crowded on a specific day.

If you’re headed to Orlando, be sure to download the Undercover Tourist Orlando Planning App, free for iOS . This handy app will take the stress out of trying to navigate the parks on your own with features like an interactive map, up-to-date park information, park plans, and estimated wait times.

The app covers Walt Disney World Resort, Universal Orlando, and SeaWorld Orlando.

The Frog Guarantee and Frog Family Promise

The Frog Guarantee and Frog Family Promise are not price guarantees, rather they’re guarantees of quality and customer service.

When purchasing amusement park tickets through Undercover Tourist you’ll always receive:

• Authentic tickets from an authorized seller
• Free standard shipping
• No hidden fees
• 90-day refund/return policy (not applicable to e-tickets)
• RFID enabled and Genie+ eligible Disney tickets
• Next-day pickup or delivery availability

Price Comparisons

So, let’s answer the question you really want to know, “Can Undercover Tourist save me money?”

To do this, we priced out some ticket options for 1 adult on Undercover Tourist and compared those to what we could get directly from the park’s website.

In every single example we priced out, Undercover Tourist was the cheapest option! If you’re looking for discounted tickets to Walt Disney World and other popular theme parks, you’ll probably save money by using Undercover Tourist.

Hot Tip: You can NOT use Disney gift cards to pay for tickets through Undercover Tourist. So, if you’ve been collecting gift cards from stores with high points bonuses (like grocery stores ), you’ll need to purchase your tickets directly through the park.

Purchasing tickets to an amusement park can be expensive. So, of course, you’ll want to make sure you’re earning as many points as possible on your purchase.

Amusement park tickets usually code as “entertainment,” so if you’re purchasing them directly, you’ll want to use a credit card that offers bonus categories on entertainment purchases . The Citi Strata Premier℠ Card  earns 2 points per dollar spent on entertainment purchases, including tickets to amusement parks.

However, purchases from Undercover Tourist code as “travel” which opens up the door to earn points on a variety of different credit cards. These credit cards all earn bonus points on the travel category, which will include amusement park tickets purchased from Undercover Tourist.

Earn 3x points on travel purchases with these credit cards:

• Ink Business Preferred ® Credit Card
• Chase Sapphire Reserve ®
• Citi Strata Premier card

Earn 2x points on travel purchases with these credit cards:

• Chase Sapphire Preferred ® card
• Capital One ® Venture ® Rewards card

Hot Tip: If you have an American Express card, check to see if Amex Offers has any current money-back offers from Undercover Tourist. 

While Undercover Tourist is known as the place to buy theme park tickets, the site also acts as an online travel agency for booking hotels.

To get started, click on Hotels in the top menu bar. Then select your destination from the drop-down box and enter the number of travelers and your travel dates.

Your search results will be displayed in a format similar to other hotel booking websites that you may be familiar with (like Expedia , Priceline , Hotels.com , etc). Filtering options will be available on the left side of your screen and sorting options are located on the upper right-hand side, above the results.

Unlike with tickets on Undercover Tourist, the prices you see initially don’t include tax. You’ll have to click through to the payment page to see the full price with taxes and fees included.

Cancellation policies will vary by the hotel but will be clearly displayed once you add an item to your cart.

Hot Tip: If you’re traveling to Florida to enjoy the theme parks, check out these places to stay in Orlando for your Disney vacation!

Let’s take a look at a couple of examples to see if booking a hotel through Undercover Tourist can save you money. For both of these examples, we priced out a week-long stay for 2 adults and 1 child. Prices include taxes and fees and are for the hotel stay only (tickets are not included).

The results are typical of most price comparisons we do — they aren’t consistent! Undercover Tourist had the best price for the first option, but Trivago came out with the best price in the second example. The bottom line is that you can definitely save money by using Undercover Tourist for your hotel stay, but not always.

The car rental search functionality on the Undercover Tourist website is pretty limited. You’ll only be able to search for car rentals at Orlando International Airport (MCO) from only 5 car rental companies — Alamo, Avis , Budget , Enterprise , and National .

We did a couple of searches to find out if booking your Orlando car rental through Undercover Tourist could save you money. We searched for the cheapest price for a week-long rental on 2 different dates.

In both of these examples, Undercover Tourist came out as the second most expensive option. Interestingly, Momondo  had the lowest price and Priceline had the highest price in both examples.

Undercover Tourist may be a great place to purchase theme park tickets, but it’s not a great option when you’re searching for a rental car.

Undercover Tourist is a popular website for purchasing theme park tickets on the cheap. It also acts as an online travel agency for hotels and car rentals, but only in select cities.

It’s a great site to use to save some money on theme park tickets, but the savings on hotels and cars aren’t as consistent.

Before you head to Disney, check out some of our helpful guides including re-opening plans , packing lists , and even how to visit virtually .

The information regarding the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer. The information regarding the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.

Related Posts

UP's Bonus Valuation

This bonus value is an estimated valuation  calculated by UP after analyzing redemption options, transfer partners, award availability and how much UP would pay to buy these points.

Suggested companies

Orlandoattractions.com, attractiontickets.com, orlando attraction tickets.

Undercover Tourist   Reviews

Visit this website

Company activity See all

Write a review

Reviews 2.1.

Most relevant

Don’t buy concert tickets from them…

Don’t buy concert tickets from them unless you want to wait nearly two months to receive them !! They take your money fast enough but unless you call them you aren’t aware you have to wait until the ACTUAL TICKET SELLER makes contact with you . And you can’t have your money back either . Will NOT be buying anything else from them and will recommend my friends to do the same . The first guy I spoke to there was offhand with me and was very quick to tell me these tickets aren’t refundable. Plus they had a discount voucher that was on the checkout total but amazingly disappeared when I pressed pay !! As far as I’m concerned they are a rip off site . I payed with PayPal so I’m poised to open a dispute if I don’t see my tickets as I’ve been told . DO NOT USE THESE PEOPLE BE WARNED

Date of experience : March 08, 2024

Reply from Undercover Tourist

The customer bought Preferred Access tickets which are from trust sellers. There is an in-hand date, and the tickets are guaranteed to get to the customer. Per the seller, the average in-hand date is 2 days before the show and the customer's show is not until the end time of June. We will ask if the seller can send it sooner but that will be up to them and their inventory in terms of sending it out.

Undercover Tourist not much use if you live in the UK

Tried to book tickets for discovery cove online but it only offers the prices for florida residents. Not much good if you are based in the UK. Only went to the site because it had some decent reviews but will go elsewhere

Date of experience : June 05, 2023

We apologize but we did not make up the offer for Florida residents to get a discount. We strive to provide our guests the best possible deals but if the park runs a special for residents it will be on their terms on what we sell for them.

Deal with this lot at your peril!

Wish I hadn’t used these rip off thieving clowns! Ordered tickets which were promptly sent and then so promptly cancelled while they held on to my money! Id give them minus stars but best i can do is just the one and thats one star too many! Save yourself the aggro and hassle of dealing with second rate thieves like i have. Like many others, wish id read their reviews first, in essence, its a lesson learnt! DO NOT DEAL WITH THESE GUYS at your peril, id rather have paid more for my tickets than dealing with this total shower of poo! These see you next Tuesdays have effing ruined a trip I have been planning for 2 years!

Date of experience : April 08, 2024

We apologize your tickets bought were cancelled. Please provide us the order details and we will gladly look into this matter.

We have bought tickets from them…

We have bought tickets from them multiple times over the years. We have never had one issue with them. We even cancelled tickets once and got a refund almost immediately. We have never had an issue with being able to use our tickets at any of the parks. We will definitely continue to use them.

Date of experience : May 18, 2022

We strive to provide our guests the best customer service around and if you ever have any more questions, please let us know. Our service team has been providing our guests the best service in the industry and we are there for all of our guests in this 2024 season. We appreciate the awesome feedback from 2022 and hope you have an excellent summer booking through us this year.

Amazing customer service

I can not recommend undercover tourist enough. The customer service has been amazing and they were so helpful when we had to cancel our tickets after having to cancel our trip for the 2nd time this year. I bought the tickets a year ago and they still refunded the money due to our circumstances changing, meaning we couldn’t rebook again for next year. I will always use undercover tourist in the future for any theme park tickets that we need.

Date of experience : October 01, 2020

We strive to provide our guests the best customer service around and if you ever have any more questions, please let us know. Our service team has been providing our guests the best service in the industry and we are there for all of our guests in this 2024 season. Thank you for being an awesome customer. Enjoy!

Movie/Theater Tickets—-

Movie/Theater Tickets—- DO NOT PURCHASE through this platform for Cinemark or any other theater with reserve seating. You have to input each barcode and pin separately for each and every person. I would think that one code would satisfy the entire family/group but NO. In addition, you will end up paying the same amount due to redeeming tickets online with merchant (Cinemark). You will then be required to pay additional costs to select seats online. This is a scam and deceptive practice. If you don’t reserve online you won’t have a seat upon arrival. Just buy directly through merchants and not this platform. They will not refund you the money. Poor customer service and unprofessional staff. First time customer, very dissatisfied and terrible experience.

Date of experience : June 19, 2022

We strive to provide our guests the best customer service around and if you ever have any more questions, please let us know. Our service team has been providing our guests the best service in the industry and we are there for all of our guests in this 2024 season.

I came to write another negative review…

I came to write another negative review about their ‘verification policy’ but see many beat me to it. DO NOT SHOP using undercover tourist. They are a scam and a huge waste of time. They won’t honour the price they quote you and it’ll end up costing you more plus a huge headache. Never again.

Date of experience : July 26, 2022

We strive to provide our guests the best customer service around and if you ever have any more questions, please let us know. Our service team has been providing our guests the best service in the industry and we are there for all of our guests in this 2024 season. We try our best to provide the best prices on the internet and we work closely with all of our partners and clients.

I would give negative stars if I could

I would give negative stars if I could. I purchased Universal Studios VIP tour tickets from them and then wanted to change the time of the tour. They told me they couldn't do it and to call Universal. I called Universal and they told me that only Undercover Tourist could do it. I called UT again and they had me pay for new tickets for the time I wanted and then refunded me for the original purchase... It's now 2 days before my trip and the new tickets won't scan with the Universal app but the old ones will. Zero. Effs. Given. by UT support. They are insisting that the new tickets are valid - went through the same back-and-forth between them and Universal - and they won't do anything about it. I asked what to do if I get to Universal and my tickets don't work... they said to call them. Fingers crossed that I actually get into the park/onto my tour! I will NEVER use Undercover Tourist again.

Date of experience : February 21, 2024

I show we took care of your issue and advised you of the new tickets to the park. If you are still having an issue, please kindly reach out to us. We do not show any issues since we spoke to you back in February.

Waste of time!!!

They fail to tell you about a verification process. This is the headline in their email “ Due to recent events in the news, we are taking extra precautions to protect our customers from fraud.” What recent events? The pandemic, war in Ukraine? Ive entered the exact amounts as shown on my card statement, both in £ and $, none are accepted. Now I need to contact support. What a waste of time. I’ll pay the extra $4 and buy the tickets direct. Don’t waste your time.

Date of experience : September 03, 2022

I made a mistake in our hotel dates

I made a mistake in our hotel dates - needed to add a day - which I realized immediately and contacted them. They said they have to cancel the reservation. I’d make a new one, but not until I’m sure I’m getting my refund for the first one … I gave them 2 because the customer service is slow.

Date of experience : March 31, 2023

We apologize service was slow last year. We have improved our customer service team and hope things get better for you. If this issue was not taken care of, please provide us an order number and we will investigate this.

Just not worth the hassle for the…

Just not worth the hassle for the menial savings made. Book Disney tickets direct and don’t go through these jokers. Don’t think you’ve successfully made a purchase... you haven’t. You’ll have to wait for email after email asking you to jump through hoop after hoop - they even get you to call your bank to verify a a random pending transaction amount which they randomly pick and get you to translate that into dollars and then, if your conversion rate isn’t the same as yours they won’t accept your purchase. Yes - it is as crazy and confusing as it sounds. Bloody bonkers in this day and age.

Date of experience : October 06, 2019

Horrible. Processed my transaction without security clearance. I had decided to purchase elsewhere and never completed the purchase but an hour later I got an email confirming the purchase that I never completed. I called immediately and was told after some argument and them talking to their supervisor that the refund was approved. Then a week went by with no refund so I contacted them again. They said they had to put in the request again and this time it was denied. I told them it had already been approved and to go back and listen to the first call. They said they did and it was never approved (I 100% know it was) so I asked forna copy of the recording but of course they said they can't give that to me. Because they lied and it was approved. Regardless, allowing the charge to go through in the first place without security clearance is fraud!

Date of experience : January 02, 2024

We apologize you had issues with your order in the past. If this issue is not resolved, please contact us or provide us a proper order number to look into this.

Other than the website being a little…

Other than the website being a little slow, it was a very good experience. I got a “Gateway error” message but then also got the e-tickets in email at the same time, so I called and spoke to verify I didn’t get duped and everything was in order. I spoke to Elaine was very lovely and super helpful! I will write a review once we use the tickets too. Thank you!

Date of experience : March 01, 2023

We appreciate the awesome feedback and glad your issue was resolved properly last year. Thank you.

Poor and unexpected online purchasing process

Undercover tourist cancelled our tickets on a sunday afternoon because we hadn't 'verified' (who in the year 2021 needs verification for an online purchase of $300???) they sent a single email the day before, and did not answer calls that I made frantically 10 minutes before they were supposed to close, but i guess even their employees aren't paying attention to things on the weekend, because they had knocked off early and never answered. When they returned my message, it was too late and i would have to go back and start the whole process over again. Not worth the $10 in savings.

Date of experience : November 08, 2021

Never Again

This site is great to use for savings. However, that is if everything goes right. When Disney was closed last year due to a hurricane, it was a nightmare. Disney will not refund you since tickets were purchased through this site. Only Undercover Tourist can refund you the money. Well, they kept telling us Disney had to issue the refund. They knowingly lied. Yes, we did eventually get our money back but it took months. And only after a dozen emails and phone calls. I will never purchase Disney tickets from anyone but Disney after that mess.

Date of experience : October 01, 2022

We apologize you had issues with a refund last year due to the hurricane. Please provide us the order details and we can always investigate this matter.

Fine until you need help

The problem with undercovertourist is their inability to help when there's a problem. I wanted to change the date of a Universal ticket. Universal customer service was like, "sure, no problem, we do that all the time" until they found out that we had purchased through a travel agent (Undercover Tourist), and then they said we needed to talk to the travel agent. So I called Undercover Tourist. That person was no help: He said he could issue us new tickets for the date we wanted, and then try to cancel the existing ones, but he wasn't sure if the cancellation would succeed. I'm like I need to know that before we buy the new tickets, and he was like, no, you need to buy first and find out in about 24 hours if you paid double. I asked to talk to a supervisor. He said someone would call me in a couple hours. Nobody did. If I had bought direct through Universal, they could have helped no problem.

Date of experience : November 20, 2023

As a 3rd party, these tickets come directly from the park. They are considered a final sale and as the 3rd party, we can see if they can be canceled from the system. I they are not able to be refunded we would have to reach out to the park to see if they which is not always a guarantee depending on terms of sale and dates of cancellation. We are checking on the status of this matter to see what happened.

Like others, under $3.00 game

Like others, I purchased tix, waited, next day got the text to check you cc acct for a small charge and text that amt back to them. I check 5x in 24 hrs w/ no pending transaction. I even called my cc company and they saw nothing. My cc company said they have never heard of this before for any legit purchase. I was actually made contact w/ a rep from Undercovertourist via email with in 15 mins. I cancelled! What year is it? I have purchased thousands of things online from probably 100 merchants and never had this issue. I will be monitoring my cc acct closely in the near future. Something smells!!!!

Date of experience : July 31, 2022

No reply from customer service, but cancellation

Booked Disney tickets on Friday, all went well. No issues during the booking process. Monday, in the middle of the night, I‘ve got a call (which I did not answer - middle of the night!) and an email saying that they have a problem with our credit card and they immediately want to speak to the cardholder. I emailed them back that they should email me the details and that I will happily discuss all issues via email. I wrote that it is, in my opinion, very unusual to discuss alleged problems with a credit card payment on the phone without any details. Until now (Tuesday) I have received no answer but the cancellation of my order. As stated by other users - very poor customer service. We will never book with them again.

Date of experience : March 01, 2022

beware credit card fee

So far ok. Bought universal and Disney tickets. They responded to my query very quickly. However!!!! I bought using a UK credit cards and was charged a huge transaction fee- this offset the savings on the tickets . For that reason - not worth it for me

Date of experience : July 06, 2023

We apologize you were charge international fees. This is something you would need to speak to your banking institution or card company about as those fees are not implied by us.

Recieved wrong ticket lack of customer service

Recieved wrong ticket, immediately requested new more expensive ticket and was denied by Undercover tourist's customer service. After contacting theme park directly, the theme park could not locate ticket and advised they would gladly upgrade my ticket if it could be located. Never thought Undercover Tourist would have an issue with an upgrade and extra money, especially when theme park did not have an issue. The ticket number used by Undercover Tourist did not match the one used by the theme park and because of this they (theme park) could not do an upgrade. Spoke with Undercover tourist multiple times day of purchase. They stated no refunds (I was not asking for one), modifications, or changes even though the theme park had no problem allowing an upgrade to this ticket. Undercover Tourist stated the theme park had denied any changes, that was not true. Seems UCT just did not want to lift a finger to help. Terrible experience with Undercover Tourist. Purchase directly from theme park and not a third party ( under cover tourist ) with a lack of customer service. Update: Sent email as requested (below) by Undercover tourist with no responce! Guess they really do not want to resolve this issue. AVOID undercover tourist.

Date of experience : May 27, 2024

We apologize you bought the wrong ticket. Please provide us an order number and we will gladly investigate this further with the supplier or partner.

Don't Get Scammed -- How to Avoid Buying Fake Tickets to Walt Disney World

Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here .

We all love a great deal but, as the saying goes, some deals are too good to be true. When talking about discounts at Walt Disney World, this saying holds as true as ever as fake Disney World tickets trick some would-be visitors each year.

Given that one-day Disney World tickets cost over $100 , people naturally look for ways to save money on their visits to the House of Mouse. While there are some legitimate ticket discounts to Disney World available, they're often small discounts. When you see a big discount on Disney tickets, you should be very cautious.

Fake Disney Tickets Are a Real Problem

Pretty recently, a Florida woman was arrested for selling fake Disney World tickets on a site called Offer Up. Where a single-day ticket to Disney World costs more than $100, this woman was selling tickets for $30 each. I've been taking my kids to Disney World for almost a decade now and have never seen a price even close to that low. Typically, you'll save a few percent if you buy tickets through places like Undercover Tourist or hunt around on sites like MouseSavers . And, for shorter one- and two-day tickets, authorized sellers are even less likely to offer discounts. A 70% discount on single-day Disney tickets should be a big red flag that something is likely amiss.

Even today, I see another website has Disney tickets listed for less than $20 apiece. Here's hoping nobody takes a chance on those offers!

How to Avoid Fake Tickets to Disney World

To avoid being scammed in your pursuit to take your family on a more affordable trip to Disney World, common sense is your best weapon -- followed closely by your credit card's charge dispute feature. When buying tickets to Disney World, we recommend sticking to major company names you have heard of and that will still be around if you have problems with your tickets. Buying from a random seller on the internet or person standing outside of a store in Florida isn't nearly as good of an idea as buying via a site with years (or decades) of experience selling Disney tickets.

In addition to authorized Disney ticket sellers (such as Undercover Tourist ), there are Orlando-area Walmarts, AAA clubs and even very nice military discounts legitimately available, but again, those are largely household names. If MickeysBestFriend99 is offering you $25 Disney World tickets on Craigslist or eBay, they are likely as real as the Givenchy bag and Ray-Ban aviator sunglasses being sold off a towel on a Manhattan sidewalk.

However, if you have done your homework and decide to spend a chunk of change on discounted Disney tickets from a site you trust is (most likely) legitimate, let your credit card be your insurance policy . There's no guarantee that your card will 100% have your back if things go wrong, but it is a potential layer of protection. If the discount ticket seller is running a "cash only" sort of operation, we recommend running -- not walking -- in the other direction.

Helpful Hints to Save Money on Disney World Tickets

Thankfully, there are legitimate ways to save money on Disney World tickets. Again, you won't generally save a fortune. But, given the price of a Disney World trip, every penny counts. Along with Undercover Tourist, here's a few ideas to consider:

• Purchase discounted Disney gift cards to use on tickets. Sam's Club carries discounted Disney gift cards all year long in denominations of up to $500. You'll generally save 4% on the purchase of the gift cards, though you can sometimes stack that savings with Amex Offers and apps like Dosh. If you use a credit card that awards a bonus/cash back at warehouse stores, you're in an even better position.
• Save on Disney gift cards at Target . Target has very few sales nowadays that can be stacked to take advantage of discounted Disney gift cards. But, if you have a Target Red Card you can save 5% on your Target purchases (including Disney gift cards) every day.
• Buy Disney gift cards at your grocery store . You probably won't find discounted Disney gift cards at your grocery store. But, you can buy them at full price and use a card like the American Express® Gold Card to earn 4 points per dollar at US supermarkets (up to $25,000 per calendar year; then 1x). When buying gift cards at the grocery store, sometimes you can also rack up fuel points or similar, too .
• Use points for your Disney tickets. Yes, it is possible to legitimately use your points for Disney tickets -- here's how .
• Buy a Disney World annual pass. This might seem counterintuitive if you aren't a super regular visitor to Disney World. But, purchasing Disney annual passes can be a great way to save money -- not only on tickets, but on many other Disney World expenses. As we detailed recently, even having one Disney World annual pass in the family makes it possible for savings on parking, meals, buy-up experiences (like Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween and before/after hours special access ) and souvenirs: four big expenses for most families bound for Disney World.

Bottom Line

Disney World doesn't discount its tickets very often, and certainly not to the tune of 50% or more. If you find a way to shave 10% off your ticket price, you're doing a great job. If an available discount is much bigger than that, it should make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Play it safe, buy Disney World tickets from a reputable source and look for other areas of your trip to save big.

Planning a Walt Disney World vacation? Here are some more resources:

• Buy Discounted Disney 4-Park Tickets in 2019
• TPG's Ultimate Guide to Walt Disney World Resort
• 16 Reasons to Stay at a Walt Disney World Resort Property
• The Top 5 Tips for Disney World First-Timers
• How to Save Money on Disney World Ticket Purchases
• 5 Ways to Save on a Disney World Vacation
• Best Points Hotels Near Disney World
• How to Use Points to Buy Disney Tickets
• Best Restaurants at Disney World
• Disney's Contemporary Resort Review
• Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort Review
• Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge Review
• Disney's Pop Century Resort Review
• Disney's Art of Animation Review

Featured image by Summer Hull / The Points Guy

• Walt Disney World® Resort
• Disneyland® Resort
• Universal Resorts™
• SeaWorld™ Parks
• Other Destinations
• Monthly Giveaway

Is Undercover Tourist Legit?

Most summers, around 48 percent of all Americans opt to skip out on summer vacations because they can’t afford it. In summer 2021, that number may climb even higher, thanks to the layoffs and other side effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For most families, taking a summer vacation, and particularly a dream Disney World or Universal Studios Orlando vacation takes a lot of careful planning, hard work, and often months or even years of saving.

Finding great deals on hotels, food, and even tickets can go a long way towards making that next dream vacation more affordable. Unfortunately, there are lots of ticket scams lurking on the web, promising cheap tickets that either don’t exist or that come with lengthy timeshare presentations.

That’s where Undercover Tourist comes in.

Is this site legit, or are their ticket savings too good to be true? Keep reading to find out.

Beware of Ticket Deals That Seem Too Good to be True

A quick web search for discount tickets to Walt Disney World or Universal Studios Orlando will turn up hundreds of reviews and horror stories about ticket scams.

Some individuals buy tickets online from unreputable sellers, only to receive nothing in return. Others receive tickets that seem legit, but won’t get them in the gate once they arrive in Orlando.

Either way, these scams can cost buyers hundreds of dollars or more. For families planning a vacation on a tight budget, this can bring a quick end to that dream vacation.

Finding out that your tickets weren’t legit once you’re already on vacation is even worse. You’ll be faced with a big decision; disappoint little ones who were expecting to see the Mickey Mouse or experience Hogwarts in person, or shell out even more money on last-minute tickets.

Right now, Walt Disney World is requiring all guests to make a reservation for the day and park that they plan to visit. While capacity numbers are being increased as local health regulations allow, reservations are still limited, especially on popular days of the week and holidays.

If you’ve purchased tickets that are not legit, you won’t be able to make those crucial reservations. Fail to purchase real tickets right away, and you might miss the window on making a reservation, and will have to adjust your plans.

Even legitimate hacks for getting discounted park tickets aren’t always reliable. For instance, while Costco was once a great way to save a few dollars on Disney World tickets, many locations now no longer carry these tickets.

Common Theme Park Ticket Scams

There are a number of common ticket scams out there.

Fake Ticket Websites

Perhaps the easiest to fall for are websites that look legitimate, but that are selling fake tickets. If you fail to notice major warning signs, like the site not being an authorized ticket seller for common theme parks, you might wind up with tickets that look real, but won’t allow you to make a park reservation or get through the gate.

Ticket Resales From Individuals

Another common ticket scam is individuals peddling tickets on websites like Craigslist and eBay. Some may advertise unused tickets. Occasionally sellers will claim to be offering up leftover tickets that they didn’t use on their own vacation packages.

The latter is impossible to do. When you buy and use a ticket, that ticket is registered to your name. You can’t transfer these tickets, even to members of your only family. So buying these tickets from someone on the web is always a scam.

Never, ever buy tickets from an individual on any resale site or through social media.

Timeshare Presentations

A final popular ticket scam that will actually get you legitimate tickets is a timeshare presentation. While this will land you real tickets to get into theme parks like Universal Studios Orlando, Legoland, and Disney World, there’s a big catch.

In order to get your hands on your tickets, you’ll first have to sit through a timeshare presentation. These can last anywhere from an hour to several hours. During this time, you’ll be bombarded by a salesman trying to get you to sign the dotted line on a multi-thousand dollar timeshare.

Besides taking time out of your vacation, this can also put a damper on a good day. In most cases, you won’t receive your ticket until after you sit through the presentation during your vacation. This can make it impossible to make a park reservation if necessary, which may limit which parks or days you can visit.

What is Undercover Tourist?

Now that you know a few common ticket scams, it’s time to find out why Undercover Tourist is different.

Unlike a resale on Craigslist or a fake website, Undercover Tourist is an authorized seller of tickets from popular theme parks across the country.

This means that companies like Walt Disney World, Universal Studios Orlando, Legoland, and more have chosen to trust Undercover Tourist. These companies allow the site to sell real tickets at a discount.

Because Undercover Tourist is an authorized seller of theme park tickets, you might be wondering whether it’s worth booking your tickets from them. After all, if you get the same benefits, why not book directly through the park instead?

So is Undercover Tourist legit? The answer is yes, it’s a legitimate site offering discount tickets to popular destinations.

While Undercover Tourist sells real tickets, they’re actually selling wholesale tickets.

That means that the website has purchased large batches of tickets from the theme parks that they partner with. By doing so, they are able to score a discount on these tickets.

These discounts are then passed on to their customers. Depending on the parks that you choose and the number of days on your ticket, you can save anywhere from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars on your vacation. All by simply switching from the theme park’s website to Undercover Tourist.

When you buy these tickets, you’ll receive most of the same benefits as buying directly from the theme park that you’re planning to visit.

For instance, when you buy a Disney World ticket from Undercover Tourist, you can still add your ticket to the My Disney app. This allows you to make advance park reservations, add dining reservations, and more. You can also purchase Genie + to get to the front of the lines on most rides.

If you’re staying at an on-site Walt Disney World resort, you can still purchase your park tickets through Undercover Tourist. You’ll be able to book Genie + the same day that you visit the park, so no need to worry about purchasing the Genie + feature in advance.

What Tickets Can You Purchase Through Undercover Tourist?

Undercover Tourist offers tickets to the most popular theme parks and other destinations in Orlando, Florida. Some of the most popular parks that you can purchase tickets for include:

• Walt Disney World
• Universal Orlando
• SeaWorld Orlando
• Fun Spot America Theme Park
• LEGOLAND Florida

But Undercover Tourist offers tickets to destinations outside of Orlando, and for far more attractions than just theme parks.

You can also purchase Undercover Tourist Disneyland tickets for the parks in California, book shows and tours in cities like New York and Chicago, and make hotel reservations in cities across the country.  You can even get discount tickets to ski resorts !

Besides ticket sales, hotel reservations, and car rentals, Undercover Tourist also offers a variety of features to help you plan your next vacation. The Undercover Tourist crowd calendar makes it easy to find the best dates for your next visit.

Planning Your Next Visit to Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, Legoland, and More

Planning a family vacation to Disney World, Universal Studios, or LEGOLAND can be expensive. But sifting through the many ticket scams on the web can make saving money feel impossible.

Luckily, Undercover Tourist offers a great alternative. Whether you’re looking for discounted Undercover Tourist Disney tickets or want to save on your hotel stay, the website offers real, legitimate savings that can help your family enjoy more vacation fun for less money.

Another great way to save on your next vacation is by working with a travel agent.

While this method often gets a bad rep, working with an agent won’t actually cost you any money. Instead, your agent can help you plan the perfect trip for your family while also saving you big bucks on your Walt Disney World or Universal Studios Orlando vacation.

Check out this link next to learn how to find the best Disney travel agent and why you should use one to plan your next vacation.

Related posts