Annual Pass Break Even Point

[johnnyr]

My annual passes do not expire until mid summer. I am considering renewing but with the price increase I am a bit hesitant. Looking at the Platinum Pass Annual Pass Renewal. How many park days would I need before I break even?

 

[Day-Day]

Do you consider park hoppers a must? How many visits? There is a difference if you are looking at one long visit versus multiple not-so-long visits. for me, I would be comparing 2 week long visits so it would be one annual pass vs. 2 Magic-Your-Way tickets with park hoppers or maybe even 3 visits.

There are some discounts that come into play with the Annual Pass and the photo pass has some value.

 

[johnnyr]

Yes, park hoppers are a must. I am probably looking at two trips. One 7 day and the other 10 days. Not all 17 days would be park days. Maybe more like 14 or 15 days in the parks.

 

[Day-Day]

6 day park hopper for adult from Disney is $414; 8-day hopper at $436 gives a total of $850. (5-day is $403.) Platinum Pass is $797. Break-even would pretty much be two 5-day hoppers if just looking at cost to visit parks.

There are other values to the annual pass as mentioned previously.

If you feel certain that you will make two visits within a year, then there is savings with the Annual Pass but it also depends on how certain you are with getting in at least one more visit.

 

[soniam]

Touring Plans did a good analysis of this in their blog. However, their website is down right now.

 

[Boopuff]

I remember reading 11 days is the break even point.

 

[soniam]

It's back up. Here's the link.

http://blog.touringplans.com/2015/10/08/breakeven-wdw-annual-passes/

 

[smidgy]

one of the things I like about an AP is I can go to the park for just a bit. spend the day by the pool and just go in to epcot to see the british band, a concert rocks band and illuminations, and not feel like I wasted a whole day ticket for a couple hours.

 

[NH-to-FL]

You didn't say if you were planning to stay on or off site. If off site remember to add parking at $20 per day to your calculation. The various discounts can also add up if you typically spend a lot of money in the parks.

Day-Day did the basic math above. It replicates the math we did a few years ago. We were staying on site with park hoppers and two one week visits per year made APs the right choice.

I also agree with smidgy that having AP's can change your park visit strategy. We ended up with the same attitude once we got our APs.

A bit of a warning. Having an APs card sitting in your pocket can cause increased travel expenses.

 

[hsmamato2]

It's back up. Here's the link.

http://blog.touringplans.com/2015/10/08/breakeven-wdw-annual-passes/

awesome.....

 

[Boopuff]

one of the things I like about an AP is I can go to the park for just a bit. spend the day by the pool and just go in to epcot to see the british band, a concert rocks band and illuminations, and not feel like I wasted a whole day ticket for a couple hours.

We've also slowed down a lot since getting our AP. We come and go at leisure and it's been great.