Buy Park Hopper passes now or Magic your way tickets?

[MUFFYCAT]

Should I buy my 7 day park hopper plus passes now or wait for the new Magic your way tickets?
We are going for 9 days in August. I'll be buying an AP for the hotel discount but need 3 adult passes for the family.
We are going to the water parks and like to go park hopping during the day. :confused3

[aka-mad4themouse]

The best price that I know of for a 7-day PHP would be $302.90 at Hotwire Savings Club. The cost of a 7-day Premium MYW pass (base+hopper+pluses) and no expiration will be $268 when purchased in advance. If you prefer to add the "no expiration" option to those MYW passes, you'll have to add another $55 to each.

So, without an expiration, the PHPs will be your less expensive option. But with a 14-day expiration after first use, the MYW pass will be cheaper. That's about as clear as mud, right?

[dcmbshafe]

Okay, you said you want the "pluses" and the hopping feature. The biggest question you need to ask yourself is whether you think you'll be using all 7 days for park admission. If the answer to this is "yes", then you will be better off buying 7-day premium MYW passes. The advance purchase rate on these is $285/246 for adult/child (these prices include tax), which is lower than you will find any 7-day PHPs. In addition, you will get an extra "plus" and you will have the option of using your pluses for admission to Disney Quest.

The decision gets a little stickier if you decide you will not be using all of your days and/or your pluses since the prices I listed above are for passes that will expire shortly after the end of your trip. To add the no expiration option will cost you an extra $55 a ticket ($58.58 with tax). This amounts to roughly $30 more than the lowest price we've ever gotten on PHPs (I'm not sure whether aka-mad4themouse is quoting the price with or without taxes, the best we've done on an adult 7-day PHP with taxes is $317). This extra cost may or may not be worth it to you to get the extra "plus" and have the ability to go to DQ.

If you are unconstrained cost-wise, the other consideration would be to purchase 10-day premium MYW passes with no expiration. The advance purchase price on these is $402 for adults & $360 for kids. With these, you would end up achieving the lowest "average" cost per day.

Good luck with your decision!

[pyrxtc]

I know, for myself, after looking at all options and this being my first trip to WDW so who knows what I will and won't be doing, I will be buying my PH today for everyone going. It would cost over $400 more for all the same options later and I can get it all now for cheaper so why not. I'm not taking any chances!