Annual Pass discounts

[PixieT78]

What are the annual pass discounts like on the Disney Hotels? Are there always discounts or do they only run at certain times?

I may try to convince DH that we should buy Annual Passes and go again in the spring so I need all the ammunition I can get to convince him

**note we haven't even been yet but I am guessing we are going to have lots of fun as we love WDW!

 

[Spyral]

Don't want to hijack the thread, but we are contemplating getting AP's as well, so if anyone can chime in on what discounts are like, would appreciate.

We are a family of 5, but live in AZ. So we wouldn't be able to come all the time, but would be able to make it out 4-5 times a year (hopefully). We are ok with the black out dates of the Deluxe AP, and thinking just 5 of those. However also contemplating 4 Deluxe, and 1 Signature. Use the signature for the extra discount/parking/photopass. Would it be worth spending the extra on 1 signature, if only visiting 4-5 times a year/primarily on non-blackout weekends (2-4 nights per trip)?

Loved the photopass from before the change, so maybe worth it just for that...

 

[SMD]

If the signature holder will always be there and always paying, you get parking, you get 10% more on your merch discount and 5% more on food. If you'll use parking, and figure that the add on (even though it's grandfathered at this point) the difference between deluxe and signature is negligible. You'd have to park 10-11 times to make up the difference. You'd also have to buy about 5 days of PP to make up the difference. It might not save you that much, but having the parking option (you can get a hotel further away, or do a day trip), so in that sense getting 1 signature still has value.

AP hotel discounts for on site tend to be 10-15%. They occasionally do promotions, maybe 1-2 times per year at this point, and then they'll be 25%. It's not unlimited, there have to be discounted rooms available. You can't stack the discount with other promotions. There are also some offsite hotels that offer AP discounts, but it's not any better than you could get with AAA.

 

[mich311e]

To reply to Spyral - We are a family of 3 from AZ. My husband and son have Deluxe and I have signature. We initially bought in November and I bought a PhotoPass+ that trip. Then when we went back in January they had discontinued PP+ so I upgraded. It's really nice to have the 20% discount on merch and the higher discount on food. I haven't used parking since we usually stay across the street on Harbor. My main reason for upgrading was PP+ though. As the person with the camera all the time I so appreciate having PhotoPass Photographers take our photos. And ride photos!

 

[travelgirl06]

DD and DH have Deluxe and I have a Signature. We just got them a week and a half ago, but as we drive there, I think the parking should pay for the upcharge to signature pretty quick. I'm also doing the DL half in September so I'm excited to have the photo pass included . I also think the additional food/merchandise discount will start to add up - my daughter wants to do a character meal for her birthday next month and we'll probably do some nicer meals throughout the year.

That said, a fair number of Saturday's are blocked on Deluxe, so if you are planning on visiting for the weekend make sure the blackout dates work for you. (We've just been going on Sundays so far)

 

[Winnowill]

We're also from AZ, and just bought APs two weeks ago. We got two Deluxe and one Signature, because we had a lot of ride photos from our five-day trip that we wanted. Plus, we'll definitely use parking, and the additional discount will be terrific, as well. I wish we'd upgraded before the last day of our trip, though - it just took some convincing my DH. We're planning an evening visit on our way to San Diego Labor Day weekend to see the fireworks, plus a visit in October, early December, and sometime in the spring. It'll be so nice not to feel that our visits have to be so jam-packed in order to get the value out of regular tickets!

 

[Spyral]

Thank you everyone for the responses! Hopefully the op got the answers needed too

After all the comments, I think we will go with 1 Signature, and then Deluxe for the rest of the family.

We were originally planning on going to DW with the family for my wife's and mine 20th anniversary (we had our honeymoon there). But after thinking about it the past couple days, we decided to go with APs to DL instead We last visited DL this past Sept/Oct for 5 days (MHP). Wish we would have thought about APs then, but we were already thinking of DW as our next Disney vacation.