APs when you live flight distance away

[jrdgtr]

I live in New York and have had an annual pass for the past three years. You will break even with just about 10 days in the parks a year. Remember the passes are good for 365 days from the first use, so if you take an annual trip that can be planned a week or so earlier for the following year then it is worth it.

 

[mrbghd]

Once you have the AP, it's going to burn a hole in your pocket and your going to see some opening dates, long weekends, special events, ap events and reasons to come down. A big one is sudden cheap airfare when a great last minute ap room deal happens. It's easy to justify jumping down quick when your tickets are handled.. and yes there is always some sudden great airfare rates time to time if you can handle quickly coming down with no time to plan anything.

I wholeheartedly agree. We have landed some crazy cheap flights on Southwest and have made 3 trips on our AP this year. It's cool being able to make a last minute 3 day trip when the mood strikes.

 

[Josh_the_Eagle]

I live in Massachusetts. My 4 yo DD and I have AP's and go anywhere from 3-5 times per year. Flights are pretty cheap (usually less than $200) and the AP's with TiW save a ton of $$ over time. Even with a new 10 month old DD and another on the way, I plan to renew my AP - even if I use it twice in a year it will pay for itself. (But I hope to go more than that lol).

Exactly! I live in MA as well and I can get to Boston, Providence, or Manchester in just about the same amout of time (I prefer PVD). Between those three I can almost always get down to the Mouse for 200-250 round trip per person.

We had AP's last year and loved having it. Allowed us to do a first-time Marathon weekend trip which we never would have been able to afford if we hadn't had the AP's. We are going back again in January and will be upgrading our park passes to annual passes there. My wife will be at a conference in Orlando in June so she'll be able to use for AP then and the memory maker really does alter the math in our favor.

Also, TiW is the best!

 

[DCLbrideSept2009]

We live in TX. We currently have APs for DH and me but not the kids. We watch for cheap flights and park admission is already covered. I got an email for a super cheap flight last December on Spirit. So DH and I were able to go up for a couple nights and see the CP with NPH. We are going to F&W Festival next month. We got flights for $67 RT, room at POFQ for like $150/night (we have done it cheaper by doing value resort instead also). It's really easy to make a quick trip whenever we find cheap flights knowing that we have our APs.

 

[mikedoyleblogger]

We live in Chicago. We have WDW APs and live in Chicago. Previously, we've had DLR APs and one year had DLR/WDW Premiers. We need to do two four to five day trips during the valid AP year and make use of resort discounts (at WDW) and dining discounts (at DLR) for the APs to pay for themselves. They always have, though.

In terms of air travel, we avoid the major carriers like the plague. We always (always) fly Southwest, Wanna Get Away advance purchase, and it's always cheaper than the major carriers.

In addition, my partner and I both have Southwest Rapid Rewards credit cards and share a Chase Sapphire credit card, and put as many of our day-to-day purchases as possible on the cards to earn frequent flyer miles. While on property, we also charge everything back to our room, then use our Sapphire card to pay off our resort folio. We do that because Sapphire gives double points on travel purchases. Our Sapphire double points from our WDW trip in August nearly equaled the miles we used to fly to Orlando. The points bonuses for signing up for the cards were healthy, as well, so we can travel throughout the life of our current APs on points. Which is awesome!

 

[ktmo]

We got APs this year for the first time and we live in MD. We recently purchased DVC, so the price for an AP made sense. We had two trips planned this year, so we went with the AP. Since, we had the APs, I added a summer trip in, so it made it an even better deal.

I can usually find flights for $100 each way, so it isn't that expense to fly.

 

[isabellea]

We live in Canada (Montreal) and we always drive twice a year to Florida. It's a 24h drive and we do it straight-thru. If my DH was more into WDW I would get APs but I can barely convince hime to go once a year so no AP for us unfortunately.

Unfortunately, only you can decide if it's worth it for you or not. Have you checked other airports for flights? Sometimes driving 1-2h will make you save a few hundred dollars.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[butterfly71076]

We live in Chicago and have AP's. Love our passes! If you plan on going more than 10 days throughout the year, AP's are your best option. Merchandise, food, resort discounts, and special AP only merchandise, love it! Although, we may not be renewing this year, but only because there is a really strong chance we will be moving to central Florida over the summer and will wait to get the FL resident pass.

 

[SaintsManiac]

We live in Baton Rouge, LA and plan to get APs when my daughter is a little bit older. We do surveys for Southwest points. I want to be able to book a last minute cheap flight for my daughter and I to zip down when we want to. DH is not as into it, but I bet he wants one when he sees us having fun without him!

 

[scrapquitler]

So glad it was worth it, but that's what worries me a bit. I want to make sure I know what I am signing up for. Do you have an estimate of what you spent in total that year on Disney travel?

When I say that we spent more than we should have, it wasn't more than we could easily afford, it was just more than we have ever spent on vacations before and more than we anticipated. Now that we know, we will anticipate it for the next time our current plan is to do APs and visit numerous times that year about every other year or every third year, and we won't really vacation at all the in between years.

I would say that we probably spent a total of 15K on our 5 trips, which totaled something like 28 days in the parks. One was just DH and I, one included both of our kids (including our college student) , and the other three were DH, myself and our teenager. One trip was partially paid for by DH's employer because he was attending a conference at WDW. We stayed at values for each of the trips except a coupled days at BW (paid by DH company) and two days at AKL, and one trip we stayed on site at US. We can do a trip fairly inexpensively because we stay in values, we don't rent a car, we eat counter service, we share some meals, we don't buy souveniers, etc. Airfare and hotel are the biggest costs once you've got those APs in your pocket.

 

[MichelleWDWfan]

If you are still on the fence about buying that AP...the deal just got ALOT sweeter for the 45th MK anniversary!

Starting tomorrow 13 months for the price of 12 month AP. Passes must be purchased between Oct. 2, 2016 and Jan. 3, 2017
20 % merchandise discount at all Disney owned & operated Merchandise locations (was 10%)
For the 45th anniversary Disney has expanded the dining discounts for AP holders 20% off dining thru Sept 2017 at 45 participating theme park and resort hotel restaurants including the following quick service locations: Flame Tree Barbecue, Peco's Bill, Electric Umbrella, ABC Commissary, Backlot express, The Food trucks and D-luxe burger at Disney springs, Quick service at Resorts: Boardwalk Bakery, Capt. Cook's, Contempo Café, Gasparilla Island Grill, Roaring Fork, and the Mara.

I just bought Tables in Wonderland in July...now kinda wishing I hadn't with all these new discounts!

 

[megveg]

If I lived 8 hours away, id probably go once a month lol i drive 24 hrs from MA and im planning it at least twice next yr with my AP

 

[JPKnapp]

If you are still on the fence about buying that AP...the deal just got ALOT sweeter for the 45th MK anniversary!

Starting tomorrow 13 months for the price of 12 month AP. Passes must be purchased between Oct. 2, 2016 and Jan. 3, 2017
20 % merchandise discount at all Disney owned & operated Merchandise locations (was 10%)
For the 45th anniversary Disney has expanded the dining discounts for AP holders 20% off dining thru Sept 2017 at 45 participating theme park and resort hotel restaurants including the following quick service locations: Flame Tree Barbecue, Peco's Bill, Electric Umbrella, ABC Commissary, Backlot express, The Food trucks and D-luxe burger at Disney springs, Quick service at Resorts: Boardwalk Bakery, Capt. Cook's, Contempo Café, Gasparilla Island Grill, Roaring Fork, and the Mara.

I just bought Tables in Wonderland in July...now kinda wishing I hadn't with all these new discounts!

This puts me over the edge. Gonna be sweet.