advantages of annual pass

[gilby]

What are all the advantages of buying the annual pass?

 

[worm761]

You can justify more trips closer together to yourself.

Seriously though, you can get room discounts, discounts on shopping and some restaurants. You are also eligible for the TIW card. You can get a ticketless package and still get the dining plan if you like that.

I just notices that you like to take trips just about a year apart. You buy an AP for the first trip and your second becomes a heck of a lot cheaper when you don't have to buy tickets. See, justification to go back. LOL We went the first week in October last year and will be going back the last week in September this year. This years trip will only cost a total of 2500 as long as I keep souvenirs within my budget since I don't have to buy tickets. Not bad for a family of four with a teen and a toddler.

 

[shannon006]

We have been thinking about AP as well. I do have a question though. If we bought say 7 day tickets, and on the last day decided to upgrade to the
AP, does the AP start date start on the day we upgrade, or the first day of our 7 day ticket

 

[Kay1]

Free parking is great, too.

Have fun.

 

[wdwmom0f3]

Free parking is great, too.

Have fun.

This is why I am thinking about it. We may be staying off site for the first time, and by the time I pay to park all week, I can pay a little more and have one AP. That will help on the cost of our trip the following year.

 

[suevee]

starts the first day of use of the 7 day ticket so it does not matter when you upgrade to an AP

 

[gilby]

What is the TIW card?
So if we buy annual passes, what is the discount on food? we are trying to figure out if the dining plan would pay for itself or if we would be better off paying for our food. We have a 19 year old that doesn't eat much.

 

[girli565]

What is the TIW card?
So if we buy annual passes, what is the discount on food? we are trying to figure out if the dining plan would pay for itself or if we would be better off paying for our food. We have a 19 year old that doesn't eat much.

TIW is Tables in Wonderland. You get a 20% discount on your meals at participating restaurants. Even on adult beverages but it does trigger an 18% gratuity.

here's the link to the DIS's info page on TIW http://www.wdwinfo.com/disneydiningexperience.htm

We got it as AP holders for a year that included our WDW Wedding and it was a great help. We got discounts on group meals during our wedding week that really helped keep costs down.

We love our APs. It gets us free parking, hotel and dining discounts and even discounts on merchandise at stores on property. I bought a whole box of the Star Wars Vinylmations and got a 10% discount on them. It was a great deal!

 

[Goofy_Disney_Dad]

Between the additional trips you can take because tickets are no longer an issue as far as cost goes, free parking because we stay off site and the TIW card options I feel my and my wife's annual passes have paid for themselves multiple times now.

 

[clanmcculloch]

What are all the advantages of buying the annual pass?

The desperate desire to take "just one more trip" with the AP to really get your money's worth (it really is dangerous that way.

IMO, the only reason to buy an AP is if you will save money on admission. Do the math and figure out if you will. Yes there are possible room discounts which are slightly better than general public discounts but they're not guaranteed to continue to be there and they are very limitted in room categories so you have to be very flexible in your resort and category choices. Yes there's a shopping discount but if you have a Disney Reward Visa then you get the same 10% discount, at least on purchases of $50 or more. If you'll be staying offsite then the free parking is a big deal and should be included in the calculation of whether you'll save money or not but IMO the rest are just bonuses.

What is the TIW card?
So if we buy annual passes, what is the discount on food? we are trying to figure out if the dining plan would pay for itself or if we would be better off paying for our food. We have a 19 year old that doesn't eat much.

With the AP you get 10% off select TS lunches and that's it. What you do get though its the ability to purchase the TiW (Tables in Wonderland) card for $75. TiW gives you 20% off most TS restaurants as well as CS at value resorts and AK. You do get automatically charged 18% tip at the TS locations but chances are you'd be tipping anyway so it's not really any change other than it's already written in for you. The beauty of TiW over a dining plan is that it's good for everything you order including not only appetizers but also alcoholic beverages meaning you have a lot of freedom to order what you want unlike the dining plans which tell you how to order. TiW is a guaranteed savings of 20% while the dining plan may save you money or may lose you money depending on how you like to order. You have to spend $350 in TiW eligible restaurants in order to break even on the $75 purchase price but that doesn't take much at WDW. For my family, that's 3 TS lunches or 2 TS dinners. If we're actually ordering alcohol then it could be even less.

 

[Tisha_PA]

We have been thinking about AP as well. I do have a question though. If we bought say 7 day tickets, and on the last day decided to upgrade to the
AP, does the AP start date start on the day we upgrade, or the first day of our 7 day ticket

Its suppose to start on the first day you used your tickets. However, last year when I upgraded my ticket at the end of our trip, the CM that did the upgrade dated my AP for the day I did the upgrade so I got an extra week out of it.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

The major problem with Annual Passes concerns when they are in a drawer more than 100 miles from Disney World and they whine a lot and scream:

Use Me!

 

[gilby]

we are debating between 10 day hoppers or staying 12 days, which would be better off buying the AP pass. We have always went during the time of free dining and this year my daughter returns back to college 8/27, so I am not sure we would fall under free dining. So we are really trying to decide if they offered free dining 8/14 to 8/24 if we would be better off w/10 day hopper or just by AP for 12 days and be able to use it next year when the expansion is all open. She is our disney girl and would go next year in a heartbeat.
Debating about buying dining plan or paying out of our pocket. We aren't really big eaters and have always had several snacks left the last day. But then we like the option all food is paid for before we leave. I already have a 10% pin for room. Can you get more then one pin? What happens if we get a free dining pin after we book? Can we still upgrade to AP passes or leave them at 10 day. Sorry so many questions. But if we are flying from Minn, we want to be able to stay as long as possible, with the prices of air.

 

[pigletto]

The major problem with Annual Passes concerns when they are in a drawer more than 100 miles from Disney World and they whine a lot and scream:

Use Me!

THIS!!
We are taking two trips this year so it makes sense for us to get AP's. As soon as I made that decision, I started to think about how to sneak in a third and we hadn't even bought them yet

 

[ZehnJahren]

The major problem with Annual Passes concerns when they are in a drawer more than 100 miles from Disney World and they whine a lot and scream:

Use Me!

Mine won't quit hollering at me. Is there anything I can do? I keep going back to WDW, but it's just as insistent as ever ... any ideas?

 

[TiggerStac]

We have been thinking about AP as well. I do have a question though. If we bought say 7 day tickets, and on the last day decided to upgrade to the
AP, does the AP start date start on the day we upgrade, or the first day of our 7 day ticket

FYI... you can not upgrade on the last day. This changed fairly recently. There needs to still be at least 1 day left on the pass to upgrade it. You could upgrade before you went thru the turnstiles, but once you went thru you can't.

We LOVE our annual passes! It makes those quick long weekend trips so much more budget friendly for hubby and I We tend to take 2 week plus trips a year, plus a weekend for me w/one of the kids and weekend or 2 for hubby and I.

I LOVE TIW card, the discount saves us a lot of $$. We tend to sit down 95% of our meals.

 

[roadtripper]

The major problem with Annual Passes concerns when they are in a drawer more than 100 miles from Disney World and they whine a lot and scream:

Use Me!

 

[kathie859]

The AP with a TIW card is always cheaper for us. I still can get a room only discount and don't have to bother with the DDP (which I detest---I am a appetizer person and not a dessert person). The TIW also gives 20% off alcoholic beverages. This is great when it's just DH and I.

Then when we travel with DD, DSIL and DGK's, we still use the TIW card and if we stay offsite--parking is free.

We bought our most recent AP's last December and are going again in March for the Flower and Garden Festival and again in October for a week before a cruise with the DD, et al. We'll definitely be getting our money's worth.

 

[starwood]

When you arrive at 4 pm and don't want to "waste" a day on your ticket - this makes the AP worthwhile.

 

[deserrai]

We live close (about 2 1/2 hours away) so even though we do a "vacation" there every year, we also make several day trips. Or if we happen to be in Orlando for something else, we can stop by.