7 day hopper pass or annual pass??? help!

[jphillips_3]

I am new here and have been to WDW only once (five years ago). We (Me, DH, our 2 yr old TRIPLETS, and my mom) are going 10/19 to 10/29. That is 11 days, 10 nights. We have a wedding 10/26 at Disney and understand that we will not need passes for that day... and assume it will take the majority of the day. We plan on not doing the parks on arrival day and departure day due to lack of a full day.... (do downtown disney and hotels then).

That leaves us EIGHT days... a seven day pass is $310 and annual only $369, right? We don't pay for the kids since under 3 - yeah! Any opinions?? IF we go back in the next year the annual would be smart, just can't be sure that we will though.

How much does parking cost at the parks? (We need to drive due to triplet stroller not going on the shuttles very well). If you get free parking with an annual pass, would that help justify it??

My husband would like to do Universal one day also... seems to me that there will be plenty to do and this would be extra expense... thought on it? That would require less WDW days...

I'll have TONS more questions soon! Thanks in advance for opinions and advice on this!

Julie P.

 

[4greatboys]

If the dollar amounts are that close I would go with AP. You do get free parking but also lots of discounts for the resorts and other stuff. Check mousavers.com to see the resort rates listed for AP holders. If you take advantage of those rates it is well worth it.

 

[mark & sandra]

Hi jphillips_3- With the AP you might find that a few hours trip to the park might be enjoyable. Your arrival/ departure days don't cost anything extra and if you return early from the wedding then you might take in a parade or fireworks show. If you're not staying onsite, free parking @ 7.00 per day savings. I'm not sure if the discount is still available, I believe I just read that it is, by joining the Disney Club, you can save a few $$ on your AP. With the AP's you don't feel like you need to spend the whole day at the park to get your money's worth and it turns your arrival and departure days into more park days. It helps you to slow the pace abit.

 

[disneymom3]

the parking is $7 a day so that is $49 if you park on 7 different days. You also get a 10% discount on sit down lunches in Epcot's world showcase and at the World of Disney store in the Marketplace.

As the last poster mentioned you also get the resort discounts! And don't worry--you'll go back!! Once you have that AP in your hand, I swear it is almost impossible not too! Many of us here have discovered that maybe it doesn't save you money, if you hop on a plane every three or four months!!

The biggest thing for us is that we don't feel the daily pressure with the AP. With little ones--if you go in and everyone--or even one of them--is cranky, you can just leave. You don't have to worry about dropping $150 for two hours in the park. My DD, who is 6 and I went in June for a little "girl time" as she calls it. One of the days, she was a GROUCH and after an hour or two, I just said, "Do you want to go back to the hotel and swim?" She did, so we went back, swam for several hours, hung out went out for a pancake lunch--which was the highlight of the trip for her--and had a great day. Probably one of the best of our whole time there. If I had used up a hopper day on that hour and a half there is no way I could have enjoyed the rest of the day like we did.

What I have heard about Universal is there is not so much for little kids to do. Ours are 1, 2, and 6 and we are waiting on that.

Have fun!!! And check out the families board--lots of good advice over there!

 

[whozit]

Don’t underestimate how exhausting touring the parks can be. And I assume your 2 year olds are used to a daily nap (maybe two). You may find that you just can’t physically handle day after day at the parks. I went with my nine year old niece, it was just the two of us, and she was a real trouper. We had a blast, and wanted to see and do everything at the parks (rides, shows, street performers, parades, fireworks), so when we went to a park, we were there at the rope drop and stayed til the park closed.

We flew in on a Thursday (arriving at resort about 1pm) and out on a Thursday (leaving resort about 430pm). I had planned to spend our arrival day at Downtown Disney and the resort pool (and we did), but we didn’t spend much time at DD and she would have liked to spend even more time at the pool, but we had a big day at MK the next day, so we went to bed early. I had planned on three days of parks (MK, Epcot, MGM) then a day off at the resort pool, then AK for a day, then return to one or more parks on the next day, then water park in the morning on getaway day. Well, we were exhausted after the first two days so we adjusted the schedule and took a day off on day three (we really needed it). Being on your feet all day, crisscrossing parks, walking to Disney bus (or in your case to get back to your car) and just the excitement wears you out. Also, I’m sure your triplets are angels, but the two year olds I’ve been around can’t always be reasoned with and are prone to meltdowns when they get tired (and they will get tired!). Even on day one, as much as my niece enjoyed her day, she was torn between wanting to stay for the Spectromagic parade and wanting to go back to the resort to go to sleep. Spending a few days at a slower pace may really be enjoyable (splash In the fountains at DD, go to the pool, go ride the monorail…..you don’t need park admission for that and the kids will enjoy that ride).

If it were me, I’d get the 7 day hoppers instead of APs. If you find your family is up to seven park days, go for it, but remember that you don’t have to use all seven days on this trip. If you find that it is just too difficult, and you only use four or five days of your passes, you haven’t lost any money on the passes, just save your passes and use the remaining days the next time—they don’t expire. While if you bought APs, it wouldn’t cost much more than the 7 day hoppers, you would probably feel pressured to hit a park at least part of every day, and even if you don’t spend all that much time there, you may spend more time than you expect when you remember you have to drive or take a shuttle to and from the parks. You might take an “off” day to do a character meal, and just explore the non-park aspects of WDW the rest of the day. The character meals aren’t cheap (and I think you’ll have to pay for the children even though they are under three), but if you go to a meal at one of the resorts instead of one at the parks, you don’t have to use a park admission that day, and you’ll get to look around at the resort too.

One more thing, we all tired more easily when we are stressed and all the “good” excitement of the parks can cause the kids to be stressed. In addition, some of the kids get frightened of the characters, and be warned that Disney includes a lot of loud (and startling) noises even on the tamest rides, attractions and shows (that little ones like), if your kids are sensitive to loud noises, they may get upset.

 

[4greatboys]

If you decide to go wth the hoppers check the threads on here that discuss the cheapest ones. I saw a post (sorry I dont remember which one) that had a place to get the discounted hoppers and they came with a character breakfast. I wanna say I remember the 6 day hopper w/breakfast about $262. That might be what you are looking for.

 

[disneymom3]

Whozit has a good point--in fact, I was thinking that same thing after I left the boards last night. So, I've reconsidered my answer. Go with the 6 or 7 day hoppers. There is no way you want to take the kids to a park everyday. Our first trip when our DD was three we were there for a week and only did MGM for half a day, Epcot for an evening (the MGM day)and a day and MK for two days. Plus, the prices may be less if you check out the threads on deiscounted tickets. You're running a little short on time to get some of those, but at the least if you have AAA you can get a discount from there too.

 

[Belle5]

One of the regular posters to this board said that they always get a 7 day park hopper plus and divide it between two trips. They said that way you aren't locked into coming back within a year in case something comes up. (Like our lay off we had last year while we had AP's.) Having had AP's (for the 7 of us) I'm leaning toward that other poster's logic. We really spent an unbelievable amount of money going to WDW 3 times w/in a year because we wanted to get the "most value" out of our AP's.

 

[CTillberg]

I, too, would vote for the 7 day hopper plus passes. It appears the annual pass you quoted was not for a "Premium" so if you wanted to do a day at the water parks or go to Pleasure Island, you will have to pay extra, where there are 4 of these "Plus" options available with the 7 day passes. Also, the 7 day passes never expire, so like the others said, if you are too tired, you can just save the days on you pass for another trip - be it next year or many years later.

As for the parking, you didn't say where you are staying - but if you are staying at a Disney Resort, you get free parking.

Cathy

 

[travelitis]

Your triplets get into the parks free, and they eat for free at character meals. Two and under eat free.

I agree with the slow pace and that 7 days might be enough. You can get the slow pace by touring in the morning, taking a break at lunch, then returning in the late afternoon and still tour for 7 days. Taking days off is another way, but I think slowing the pace of each touring day is less draining. The parking does help justify the AP's as does a 10% discount at Epcot full service dining for lunch Mon- Fri. That means you can get your discount at a character meal at the Garden Grill. There are other AP discounts, too, like on-site accomodations. It's a hard call. When do the triplets turn 3, because that's when they start paying for admission and character meals? If you want a 2nd trip out of the AP's you really have until their 3rd b-day, not a full year, before the cost of that trip goes way up. If the AP's cost you very little more, and you think you might be able to fanagle a trip before the triplets turn 3, I'd go for the AP's.

I would skip Universal until the kids are a few years older. There's not much for small children there like there is at WDW. We went w/out the kids and are still waiting until our 4 yr. old gets a little older. She's almost to the point she'd like Universal, but Disney still has more to offer her.

 

[mike07801]

My best freind and I got annual premium annual passes and really took advantage of them. We went late October 2002 (reservations were way before Sept 11.) and got a great hotel discount: All