10 day no exp. a good idea?

[rockchick04]

We love them! We also use them to get into Disneyland in CA and have been for the past few years. Saves us a ton of money on that alone.

 

[cvjw]

We've purchased several of these tickets over the years. To keep up with the days that are left, I write the date we visit a park (with a W for Waterpark, and a P for regular park) on the back of one of our tickets. That way, we know how many days we have left, and exactly what day we used the ticket. That way, if there was ever a discrepancy, I would know what I was talking about with guest services.

We are AP holders now, but I purchased 2 sets of the 10 day non-expiring tickets with the water park admission for my family a few years ago. We will start using these when we no longer get AP's. They are perfect for shorter trips, or longer trips when you don't plan on visiting a park every day.

 

[Sweettears]

I'm not seeing the savings unless I'm missing something. On UT I see a 5 day PH for $320. A 10 day PH non-exp. for $627. Not much difference in my mind.

 

[kirstenb1]

I'm not seeing the savings unless I'm missing something. On UT I see a 5 day PH for $320. A 10 day PH non-exp. for $627. Not much difference in my mind.

I understand what you're saying. It sounds like you would go to the parks for 5 days on any given visit.

For our family, the 10 day passes make more sense. We purchase them, and combine WDW parks with our Busch Gardens platinum passes from back home. On our vacations, we might spend 2-3 days at WDW and 2-3 days at Sea World/Busch Gardens/Aquatica. So the 10 day passes last us 3 or 4 years. We never go more than once a year, so the annual pass doesn't make sense for us.

 

[jade1]

I'm not seeing the savings unless I'm missing something. On UT I see a 5 day PH for $320. A 10 day PH non-exp. for $627. Not much difference in my mind.

Well what's worse (or better) is the 365 day hopper with water for $399.

That said-my friend can only go for 3 days about once per year. If they do the hopper for 3 days each (plus they like water parks) time-it adds up fast. I think like $1,000 to $1300 if 4 trips. The $629 will get them 4 trips easy with water-maybe 5.

 

[westjones]

Looking at the WDW site at ticket prices, it looks like a 5 day expire ticket ends up costing per day the amount of 5 of the days from a 10 day non-expire. So I think the 10 day tickets are nice for people who go back year after year but only want to go to the park 1-3 days. If you want to go 4 or 5 or more days, then it may not be worth it.

You can look at the prices on their site:

http://tickets.disney.go.com/buy/TicketTrans

And just change from expire to non-expire and see the difference.

 

[Kathi OD]

I'm not seeing the savings unless I'm missing something. On UT I see a 5 day PH for $320. A 10 day PH non-exp. for $627. Not much difference in my mind.

You're right, there isn't much difference. People who are purchasing the 10-day non-exp. tix are doing so, not so much for the savings now, but to lock in today's ticket price for a future date.

If I'm going now for 5 days and have no thoughts to returning, then I'd buy the 5 day PH. But I KNOW I'm going back, and not in the current year. I might not be going back for 2 or 3 years. That's when the 10 day non-exp. ticket has value, because you're locking in today's ticket price for use 2 or 3 years down the road.

 

[Kathi OD]

Looking at the WDW site at ticket prices, it looks like a 5 day expire ticket ends up costing per day the amount of 5 of the days from a 10 day non-expire. So I think the 10 day tickets are nice for people who go back year after year but only want to go to the park 1-3 days. If you want to go 4 or 5 or more days, then it may not be worth it.

You can look at the prices on their site:

http://tickets.disney.go.com/buy/TicketTrans

And just change from expire to non-expire and see the difference.

What you're not taking into account is that ticket prices increase every. single. year. By purchasing a 10 day no exp ticket today, you save on ticket prices at a later date.

 

[westjones]

What you're not taking into account is that ticket prices increase every. single. year. By purchasing a 10 day no exp ticket today, you save on ticket prices at a later date.

Yes that is a good point.

 

[staceymay00]

When I worked it out, they were generally a good idea only if you are using them in short bursts (3-4 days or less). Once you get over the hump (changes depending on price increases) they don't make money sense for the main gates.

[\QUOTE]

It has been a while since I ran numbers, but that is consistent with what I found. The no exp tickets save money for short trips of 1-3 park days. They might also work if you know you'll have a 4, maybe even 5 park day trip along with a couple 1-2 day trips. Lately we have been taking advantage of the DVC discount on APs, but we may switch to the no exp option if our trips get shorter and we do not go as often, The most difficult part about that switch will be losing the ability to visit a park for just a few hours. We don't take advantage of the PH privileges that comes with APs all that much, but many times we have entered a park for just a few hours, and we would not do that with no exp passes.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[2binak]

What you're not taking into account is that ticket prices increase every. single. year. By purchasing a 10 day no exp ticket today, you save on ticket prices at a later date.

This is part of the reason we buy the 10-day no expires. We still have days left on tickets that we bought in 2007 & 2010. We bought more this year, before the June price increase, and won't start to use them until 2015 because we took advantage of the DVC AP offer this year to use in 2013 & 2014.

Another reason why we buy 10-day no expires is that we don't know until we're actually at WDW, if we're going to go to the parks for 4 or 5 days. Having the 10-day no expires gives us flexibility without the worry of wasting a day or not having enough days.

 

[traceyg]

We bought Ten day-PH-No exp-WP&M tickets back in 2008 for about $800 a piece. Quite an investment at the time but we've been able to use them over and over again. We even went to DL and used them. (you can buy WDW and go to DL but not the other way around).
Then I did the Princess marathon in 2009 and they were having the buy 5 days get 2 days free promo. I paid for a 5 day PH and added the no exp. I only stayed for a long weekend to run the race so I still have days left over. (it was actually cheaper to book the seven night package than a four- albeit painful to leave a perfectly good room that I didn't HAVE to check out of)
It's been a good investment overall.
At the beginning of planning when I start looking at the prices of airfare or US tickets or MNSSHP tickets and food and souveniers and and and... I am truly thankful that my DVC and park hoppers are a "done deal" and that's one less expense that I have to pony up.
After Christmas and this trip, I plan on buying gift cards every month at Target for when all of my unused tickets are finally used up. Then when we go back I can cough up another couple of thousand dollars and it not hurt so bad.

 

[CaptDadSparrow]

don't suppose DVC members get a discount on ticket purchases (non AP's)?

 

[bumbershoot]

don't suppose DVC members get a discount on ticket purchases (non AP's)?

Nope.

 

[disneybirds]

We have bought these in the past with the water park/park hopper option. We were able to use them for 3 trips. We did a 4 day park trip, 3 day park trip and 3 day park trip. We added in a few water park days each trip and had a great time. My kids love the water parks and then we love the more relaxed day. We usually go out to dinner on the water park days like O'hana or Boma where it takes awhile to eat.

 

[gracelrm]

We bought five 10 day, Park Hopper, non-expiring tickets for our family. It seems like we got some type of tax incentive several years back and decided to use it this way. We used a few days off it early on, then had an AP for a year or two, then used it again for a short trip. I think we have three or four days left of regular park admissions and are getting a PAP for our next few visits. We've been able to use the water park & disney quest options on visits when we didn't use them for park entrance and it has worked out well for us. They've been like a supplemental ticket for us for several years and it has been nice to have it. I suppose we'll have the water park portion for many years after we've used all the park admissions. It was a good choice for us.

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

We did this, and it lasted for 3 trips. One trip, we made it a relaxation trip and didn't go to the parks everyday. With our upcoming cruise, we will go to Disney after and use the remaining 2 days on our 10 day no expiration (We bought in Aug. 2011). I really like to have my tickets "pre-paid" for future trips even though it is a large up front cost.

 

[fitnessmouse]

I buy one 10 day ph+fun per year. we go eoy and use 5 parkdays and 3 waterpark days. we might try disney quest and or minigolf to round it out.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

Didn't I read just recently that the non-expiring passes are going away? I don't remember the details.

 

[WebmasterDoc]

The value will depend on how you will use the pass. If you are going to the parks 5 days each for two trips, there is no cost savings over just buying a 5-day hopper for each trip. If you are getting 3 trips out of the pass using 3 or 4 days each time, there is a savings.

Be sure to do the math based on how you will use the pass. There might not be enough of a savings to justify letting Disney have your money too early.