Annual Pass Question

[Isaiah4113]

I am planning my first trip to Disney. Next year I am going for four days in May and then seven days in December. Would it make sense for me to have an annual pass? I read some other threads about it but the price seems to increase quite often. Also, what is the current discount for shopping in the parks? I read one thread where it’s at 10% and the other said 20%

 

[randumb0]

20% discount on most merchandise and 10% off of a lot of table service dining. Will you be staying on or off property?

 

[greg9x]

You have to do the math... Add up the individual ticket cost.. Are you getting park hoppers ? Are you doing water parks ? Staying off site so that free parking matters ? Then the discounts and free photo pass come in to play. Also the chance a ticket price raise could happen before your second trip.
It most likely makes sense to get at least 1 AP for the freebies and discounts.. But you have to add up what you want.

Also there is only a little difference in price between 4 day and 7 day tickets...

 

[Robo]

Also there is only a little difference in price between 4 day and 7 day tickets...

I’m guessing that what you mean is that there is little difference in price between buying an AP vs buying a 4-day ticket plus a 7-day ticket.
Which is true, especially if you are buying Park Hoppers on either or both trips.

 

[bumbershoot]

I read some other threads about it but the price seems to increase quite often.

Prices in tickets and APs tend to rise at the same time, once a year.


How much will your ticket costs be together? Do they add up to an AP? If the second trip is a package then you have to change that to a ticketless package (call to do this).


4 day base ticket for an adult with tax is 405.70. 7 day base ticket for an adult with tax is 441.98.

(Hopper 4 days is 484.58 and the 7 day hopper is 521.85, both with tax.)

Looks like the platinum pass is 904.14 with tax.

So for plain old admission, if your trips do not include hoppers, it’s not worth it.

If you’re getting hoppers it’s an obvious answer looking at the math.

But these are the benefits, from the disneyworld site:


Disney Platinum Pass

• Admission for a year to all 4 theme parks (No blockout dates)
• Visit all 4 theme parks on the same day
• Includes Disney PhotoPass downloads*
• Up to 20% off on select dining
• Up to 20% off select merchandise in store or online at Shop Disney Parks
• Standard theme park parking

You can hop. You can get those downloads if that’s important to you. Etc. Those add value.

 

[stasijane]

For me the 20% merchandise discount, the photopass downloads and the free parking at the parks make the AP a better option. But as others gave said do the math and see what deal works better for you.

 

[Mome Rath]

IMO, It seems you would use the merch discount (since you asked about it), so I'd say go for the annual pass, just remember to ask if there is a discount anywhere you shop or eat. The main difference in plain math with 11 days total is if you like to park hop or not. If you want hoppers, buy the annual pass, if you don't want hoppers, buy the tickets separate.

 

[Isaiah4113]

What is the likelihood, with all the cutbacks I keep reading about, the 20% will last?

 

[loves to dive]

Do not buy an AP for the discounts, do the math and if the cost of the tickets is more than the cost of the AP, buy the AP. Factor in if you are going to buy memory maker because that is included in the AP. The discounts are very fluid. You will get a discount at Disney owed stores but not non-Disney owned. For example, I buy masks in Italy in Epcot, the mask portion of the store is not Disney owned so I get no discount. We always seem to eat somewhere that doesn't get the AP discount and in over 5 years of having an AP and going at least twice a year, I have gotten a room discount maybe twice.

 

[maramarrie]

For me, I have to figure how many days during the trip I plan to be in the park (often a 7 day trip means only 5-6 days in the park). Then I price the tickets for the 2+ trips I plan to DEFINITELY take. Usually, this is the main basis for my decision to buy an AP. This year, ticket cost alone led me to purchase them for the kids as well (usually it's just me making multiple trips with RunDisney). The AP room discounts, merch discounts, and memory maker are just bonus that make it even more worthwhile in my case.

 

[Mome Rath]

What is the likelihood, with all the cutbacks I keep reading about, the 20% will last?

I don't think anyone can really answer that question, but there is usually some kind of discount, it doesn't usually just disappear entirely. Some of this is so subjective because of differences in spending habits. If people tend to buy a lot of merch in the stores, then they should definitely factor in at least a 10% discount when deciding if an AP is right for them. Others don't buy anything, so the discount and amount doesn't even matter. Same with photos; I never downloaded pics I had to pay for but once we had free MM with the AP I do all the time. We also have used the discounts for AP holders almost every year, some never do.

 

[gharter]

As others have said, it really comes down to the math. The discounts may be there or may be changed/removed at any point in time. They are a nice perk and save us money at the stores.
For us, the surprise has been MM. We used to avoid the photographers as we were never going to buy any of the photos. Now with free downloads, its fun to get your picture taken at the amny different locations they have. Getting the onride photos and videos is also a nice perk.

 

[Remy is Up]

Yes it is certainly a "math" equation to figuring it out. And agreed with another response..do not take into account the parking, discounts, etc. Use the daily per park price you would pay. So in this case An Annual pass is about 900 with tax. Id suggest bridging if you decide to go that route. Right now, buy the 5 day hopper with one extra day for 464 from one of the broker sites like Undercover. A 6 day hopper is 511. When you arrive , upgrade your 6 day to an AP. Youll get credit for 511 from Disney and have only paid 464 so in essence the AP would be 850. Now look at what a 4 day hopper and a 7 day hopper would cost with one of the brokers. 4 day is 452, 7 day is 480..That totals 932. Buying the AP using the bridge saves you 82 BUcks and then you also get Photopass, Free parking at parks, merchandise and food Discounts ec. Also, you could buy TIW if you will eat at a lot of sit down restaurants and you have adults who drink alcohol. 20 percent off everything at the restaurants on the very comprehensive list is worth it for some people.

 

[KittyKitty]

I am planning my first trip to Disney. Next year I am going for four days in May and then seven days in December.

One option
I would buy the 4 days pass for your May trip. Then if you think you might go again after the Dec. trip, check on price of upgrading your 4 day tkt to AP, Upgrade must be done on the last day of your tkt.
Disney World has a way of wanting to go back!

Upside: AP are park hoppers. Free parking at parks.
Downside: Price could change by next May for Dec. tkt, or AP tkt.

 

[kiford]

We're doing the opposite: 7 days in December this year (booked) and definitely 4 next year in May. For us, it makes more sense for us to buy AP than park hopper tickets. I consider the discounts and photopass a bonus. We never buy photopass but it will be nice to have. We will eat where we want to and buy what we want to regardless of discounts so when we get them, that's great. What it allows us to do is only spend 1-2 hours in a park and bail if we feel it's too crowded, too hot or we're too tired without worrying that we "wasted" our ticket for the day. Our May trip is intended to be an extra long weekend trip. Rather than flying down early morning on a Friday and getting there mid-day which is what we usually do (and use a full day park ticket for that) we may fly down later on Thursday night. We won't get to the resort until after 6 pm so I would never normally consider entering a park but if we have AP, we won't care. If we feel like going to Epcot for dinner, we'll do that. It gives us freedom. We hope to go another 2-3 times after that for 4 days or so each time and that's just pure bonus.

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

I usually say if the price is the AP is cheaper, do that. If it's about the same then free parking at the parks (if you're staying off property) will save you $25/day. If you're on property it's going to cost extra now since they charge for parking at the resorts, which effectively does away with the "perk" of parking for free at the theme parks. Merch discount is nice if you're buying something big (like a Dooney purse) but sometimes people buy MORE when they get a discount, and that discount & the dining discount don't apply everywhere. I really like getting the Memory Maker with the AP, which was something I never bothered with before but I love it now. Never count on a resort discount so I wouldn't factor that into how much you'd save. Hope that gave you some things to consider!

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

What it allows us to do is only spend 1-2 hours in a park and bail if we feel it's too crowded, too hot or we're too tired without worrying that we "wasted" our ticket for the day. Our May trip is intended to be an extra long weekend trip. Rather than flying down early morning on a Friday and getting there mid-day which is what we usually do (and use a full day park ticket for that) we may fly down later on Thursday night. We won't get to the resort until after 6 pm so I would never normally consider entering a park but if we have AP, we won't care. If we feel like going to Epcot for dinner, we'll do that. It gives us freedom. We hope to go another 2-3 times after that for 4 days or so each time and that's just pure bonus.

This is a big thing for me, as someone who does weekend trips down. Instead of killing half of the day you arrive & leave because you don't want to spend $150 to go into a park for 4 hours, you can come & go as you please. We're going in September and one day we're doing MNSSHP. My husband has a 3 day hopper and I have the AP, so we won't be going into the parks that day before the party. However, we're staying at YC and I fully plan on popping into Epcot to bring us back pastries to have for breakfast on our balcony!

 

[margot31]

I love my AP. Granted I live here in FL so I have a different one....but on just purchases alone made it worth on my last trip. There was a wallet I saw and wanted but it was a D&B and I couldn't handle swallowing the price at first. But I remembered my discount and it made it much nicer.

 

[zobow02]

I would, not only do you get a discount on merchandise, you also get a discount on dining and disney resorts. And free parking
If you live near FL too then it makes even more sense.

 

[bumbershoot]

What is the likelihood, with all the cutbacks I keep reading about, the 20% will last?

No one knows.

But especially if the tickets you’re already buying are hoppers, you would save money with the AP even before getting into discounts.