APs when you live flight distance away

[JennaDeeDooDah]

We live at least 16 hours away and, since I absolutely hate driving anywhere that takes more than 4 hours, we have only ever flown. We have had annual passes before and they have always been a good deal. Other things to take into consideration when deciding if they make sense or not is that you will be able to get an AP discount on merchandise and some food as well as be eligible to purchase Tables in Wonderland. For us, whenever we knew we were going to be taking more than 1 trip, the math always came out to an annual pass being worth it. And, as others have pointed out, it's also nice to just be able to decide to take a last minute trip with your tickets already taken care of.

 

[alliecat523]

We live in IN and have passes. I watch SW for cheap fares, use the AP discount for rooms and go for quick visits.

 

[Hopefully]

We live in MA & have AP's. We plan at least 2 week long trips in the AP year. Last time we also snuck in a third visit.

 

[DelrayDave]

Hi all. I am really close to deciding that 2017 will be year of Disney. But unless we stay a full week, it doesn't make sense to drive (Charlotte, NC).

My fear is spending $8k a year in flights to justify a $3k annual pass expense.

Anyone out there that still got value while living flight distance away?

I live in Charlotte also and have APs. My wife, 2 yo, and myself go for long (4 days) weekends all the time. About 8 hour drive isn't that bad.

 

[Lisa R]

We live 10 hours away in Louisiana - and as long we go for at least 10 days a year - the AP works for us. We drive when we go for a week during Mardi Gras - but i'm flying in tomorrow on Southwest for a short 4 night girls trip for the Food and Wine Festival. The Tables in Wonderland card is what makes it work for us. If I lived where you are - I would go more often I'm sure your flights are cheaper, too if you want to fly.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Well..it is going to depend on how often you need park admission in a year.

It would take me 13 hours to drive, so I fly. And I've had an AP since 2000. And yes it is worth it. Flights are not terribly expensive for here, and I'm only paying for one. YMMV. I'm running down for a weekend at food and wine this evening.

 

[WalleandEve]

How long you're willing to drive is a very personal thing. Before we moved to Lake Placid (NY), I would drive six hours each way, once a month, to come climb these mountains for the weekend. We've also driven to WDW, and that is at least a twenty hour trip. We often have APs, and that means a two hour drive to Albany to catch a three hour flight to Orlando (if we can get it direct). As long as we go twice a year, it is well worth the cost.

Walking into the Magic Kingdom just to get a dole whip if we want one, and then leaving right away, is pretty cool. Since we have a ton of Southwest points, the free flight, Magical Express, AP, and staying DVC can make for an inexpensive trip. We have done five nights, bought food at Publix, and spent less than $100 at Disney. You can spend that at a bar after work on Friday for two of you.

If we lived less than eight hours away, we would drive more often than not. Then again, if we lived eight hours away, we'd live in the South, anmd that aint ever gonna happen. The 95 degree temperature last week melted us. We like late October until maybe early June.

If you get a pass, and use it, it is well worth the cost. It makes the quick four night trips more more logical. Have fun, and see you in the parks!

 

[beesly]

I live 15-ish hours away by car and I have an AP because we planned for two week-long trips within one year. Because the Memory Maker cost is built into the AP and my DD is still young enough for child tickets, the better deal for us was to buy one adult AP and two separate child tickets for the two trips. With my AP and Tables in Wonderland we'll save several hundred dollars, so that makes it worth it for us.

I'm wishing I had purchased an AP for my DD, too, now. I gave into the AP temptation mentioned by PPs and booked a long weekend trip for MNSSHP, which meant purchasing a 2-day ticket for my DD (I didn't want to fly all the way down JUST for the party - we want some other park time while we're there). Adding that cost to the two week-long park tickets - even buying the longer tickets from ParkSavers - the better deal would have been to buy her an AP back in April. Hindsight!

 

[JPKnapp]

All those stories seem awesome. We are a family of 5, so quick flights down add up quick. But the ability to just grab a kid and spend a nice 1:1 vacation with them probably puts this over the top.

Not sure why I thought someone would say "stay away" on the DisBoards, my subconscious at work I guess.

 

[socababy]

We are DVC members and for the first time have the DVC AP. We have a 7 night and a 9 night vacation planned with this current AP. Coming from CA, flights are the biggest expense for sure. Not sure if we'll renew or not in a year. We'll probably use our DVC pts for Aulani in 2018 so I'm thinking we'll alternate years getting the AP. WDW is always a better deal though. Flights to Hawaii are way more expensive!

 

[wsssup]

Live in Melbourne Australia , 25 hours away.
We went the Annual passes as it worked out cheaper by a few thousand dollars rather than spending for 3 lots of 10 day passes.

Our december trip will be 46 days and the Annual pass was a no brainer for us.

If we were living in your lovely country id be annual passing every single theme park you have , as the best we can do is Movie world and Dreamworld which are pretty average at best.

 

[TxWriterMama]

We live in Texas and try to run away once a quarter. We do two long trips of 10-15 days and two short trips of 4-5 days. I use CC points and air miles for airfare whenever possible. We also homeschool so we're much more flexible in terms of what we can do.

 

[johnsgrl]

We are in Fayetteville NC and were thrilled to move here because we are in such easy driving distance to Disney! First thing we did once we settled in was buy our AP's. Used them for a long weekend in May, a quick one night stay earlier this month, a coming week-long trip next month and planning a week in late April or early May. I also have to attend an annual conference/meetings in January and this year they are being held in Orlando. We find the drive easy and switch around our sleep schedules so we drive during the overnight hours and arrive in time for park opening, I don't necessarily recommend that for everyone, but it works really well for us!

 

[Darcy03231]

If I lived that close I would drive. You really won't be saving that much time by flying by the time you drive to the airport to be there 1.5 to 2 hours before your flight, flight time (assuming no delays or cacellations), get off the plane, get luggage (if you checked any), wait for ME, and get dropped off at your resort. You'd also have your car if you wanted to make a grocery stop or bring stuff with you, or if you wanted to eat off property.

 

[kmb584]

We're 1,100 miles away and have had APs for years now. We're in the parks at least 18 days per year and, even with airfare factored in, it's cheaper for us to buy APs than regular park hopper tickets. It also helps that I fly a lot, as does my family, and often times all I pay for airfare is the taxes because I'm able to use my miles.

 

[loves to dive]

I live 7 1/2 hours away and drive down twice a year and have an AP. I've driven down for short 3 night 4 days trips and for trips as long as 6 nights 7 days. It's not really that far to drive, I can leave home around 6 or 6:30 in the morning and be there by 1:30 or 2:00.

 

[cutigerlady]

We live in Atlanta and this is our third year with APs. We find $49 flights on SW or we drive. We like to leave early in the morning and arrive before dinner. For us, more than 2 trips a year makes it worth it. We went 9 times last year, will go 7 times this year. We got lucky with two work paid trips this year.

 

[Raeven]

We live in NY flights really aren't bad, and since we're going 2 times this year and 2 times next year we got an AP. All our dates fall into when we have them, and we like the freedom of just going to the parks when we want and not feeling like we wasted a whole days ticket if we only want to go for 2-2 hours. The AP discounts on the hotels are really nice too got some good last minute deals.

 

[peteykirch]

How many people are you flying to get 8K in airfare?

My GF and I flew from Newark to Orlando for 225 roundtrip...TOTAL not per person.

 

[Missyrose]

We live in the Washington DC area and are AP holders at Disney and Universal. We've had Disney APs for five years now and Universal APs for three. We do two long trips and a long weekend each year (flying each time).