SPECIAL TO THE ORACLE

USF students, faculty and staff can now get discounted tickets to Disney in Orlando through a deal worked out by Student Government (SG).

The discount will depend on which park they go to, what day they are going and how many days that ticket is valid, student body president Chris Griffin said. The discount does not apply to annual passes.

“For the general Magic Kingdom it’s not as large of a discount, but for the other parks, so Epcot … Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom we’re getting about a $30 discount on most days,” Griffin said. “So that’s where you really see a discount, as well as if you’re ordering more than a one-day ticket … If you’re purchasing a five day pass or something like that, you’re seeing a lot of savings.”

A Saturday ticket to Epcot, Hollywood Studios or Animal Kingdom is currently listed under the discount as $84.50. The same ticket without the discount is listed on the Disney website as for the same day is $97. Meanwhile a standard Saturday ticket to Magic Kingdom is $124 while the discounted ticket is $106.

Students, faculty and staff can order the tickets now. The link can be found on the SG Facebook page. Griffin said the link will also be available on BullSync in a few days and on the SG website once the renovations to the website are completed.

The discounts are part of a permanent partnership, Griffin said, and the discount will only change if and when Disney changes their ticket prices.

“The only thing that may change are the rates,” he said. “… They’re as long as USF is willing to buy them.”

To get the discounts, Griffin said SG contacted Disney College and went through different options. Originally, SG wanted to sell the tickets in person in order to get a bigger discount but SG didn’t have the staff to facilitate the operation. So, the online option was chosen, Griffin said.

USF is not the only university to have discounts for tickets set up through Disney College. The discount became available for USF just a couple days ago and Griffin said he has already heard that students have purchased tickets.

Since Busch Gardens stopped giving out the student season pass, Maliah Johnson, a sophomore majoring in psychology, the Disney discount is something she plans on looking into.

“I think it’s really cool because Disney is definitely important for a lot of students because Disney’s a good outlet and a lot of us grew up on it,” Johnson said.

Freshman Sara Martin, an English and psychology major, found out about the ticket discount via Twitter. She said she retweeted SG’s tweet during her class accompanied by the phrase “class field trip” and saw a lot of enthusiastic responses.

For students like Krystal Watters, a freshman majoring in health sciences, Disney was a want that was financially out of reach. She said she could never afford to go to Disney and hopes the discount will make a trip there possible for her.

“I love Disney,” she said. “I haven’t been in forever.”

This sentiment of a lack of funds is something Griffin also finds important.

“Every college student is struggling for money so having a discount for college students is always good for them,” he said.
Griffin said he is very excited for the discount and hopes students take advantage of it, especially with Spring Break coming up in March.

“I think we have a lot of USF students who do like to frequent the Disney parks,” he said. “I think you see a lot of students who will go on a relaxed day trip … People enjoy taking a day off a break and going over to the happiest place on Earth.