Advice: Annual Pass for Honeymoon?

[tedlehman]

Hi, everyone! My fiance and I are planning to honeymoon in Disney World next year (in June) and we're trying to figure out if we should each get Annual Passes for the next year.

Here are the details (I'll try to be as clear as I can):

- Our honeymoon will most likely be 7 nights/8 days;
- We would like to stay a lower-end deluxe resort, like the AKL, WL or Contemporary;
- We'll also be in Orlando for a few days next month, and we had planned to visit Disney for a day, but if we each have Annual Passes, we could go as many days as we like;
- I've heard that there are discounts on resort stays for Annual Pass Holders, but I don't know how common that is, or how much they are.

So basically, we have two options:

1. Just book a normal vacation package with room, park tickets and dining plan. And when we go next month, we can just buy tickets separately for that.
2. Buy Annual Passes to cover next month, as well as our honeymoon park tickets. Then we can simply get a room-only reservation (hoping that the AP gives us a discount) and a separate dining plan.

The math seems to work out fairly similar to me, but I was wondering if anyone with more experience might have some advice on what to do. I think it might all hinge on the possibility of getting a room discount if we have an AP.

Any help is GREATLY appreciated! Thanks so much!

 

[CharacterFan]

I'd suggest an AP. Since you have 2 trips planned. if you want to book the AP discount you can make it a package and add the dining plan.

in summer room discount are about 15-30% off but not always offered at all resorts. This year they were. It will depend on how the economy and room fill for next summer.

AP also gets you discounts on tours, and entry into special AP holder only events when they offer them.

 

[lurkyloo]

AllEars has a page about how often you must go to break even on an AP: http://allears.net/pl/breakeven.php

Some people say a 10-day non-expiring park hopper ticket is the better deal because you can wait more than a year to use the rest of the days on it.

Another idea to consider is just buying one AP and getting a park-hopper for the other person. You only need one AP to get all the benefits.

I just like the idea of having an Annual Pass! Sure, I live on the West Coast, but if I had one, I could go ANYtime I wanted!

As Character Fan said, the room discounts can be substantial, and there have been AP discounts every year as far back as I can remember - what varies is how much you save. The lower-end Deluxes usually get the best discounts, so there's another plus for you.

Plus AP holders qualify for the Tables In Wonderland card, which gives you 20% off food and drinks (including booze) at just about every table-service restaurant at Walt Disney World. Now they automatically add an 18% tip, but since most people tip at restaurants anyway, it's like getting the tip for free and saving an additional 2% on yer meal.

The cost is $75 for Annual Passholders, which means you'll break even if you spend $375 on sit-down meals while you're there. If you like Signature Restaurants, this is very easily accomplished.

 

[tedlehman]

Plus AP holders qualify for the Tables In Wonderland card, which gives you 20% off food and drinks (including booze) at just about every table-service restaurant at Walt Disney World.

Thanks for the advice!

On the TIW card, would that be a better deal than getting the Dining Plan? We were thinking about the Magic Your Way Plus Dining Plan for the honeymoon.

 

[lurkyloo]

It depends on how much and where you like to eat, and there are SCADS of opinions about it over on the Restaurants board.

Here's a recent thread on the subject of "Is it worth it?": http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2259079

It all comes down to personal preference: We like to eat at Signature (2-credit) restaurants, and we don't usually eat at counter-service restaurants, which means the Regular Dining Plan has too many counter-service credits for us and not enough table-service credits. And since we often split meals, the Deluxe Dining Plan costs more than we spend per day and offers too much food. The TIW card was a much better value for our honeymoon.

However, there are families who know how to wring every last drop of value from the Dining Plan and love it!