Annual Pass - is it worth it???

[ema74]

Hiya,

We're going to DLRP for the third time in a year and can't wait. Have been talking to DH about getting AP because with the new Eurostar terminal from St Pancras it'll be even more convenient for us to go there (it's only one stop on the tube to Kings X so very very close )

Is it worth having AP? Will it be free for my DD1 (5) - I remember reading that if we get the pass by sept 2007 all under 7s get it for free...

So far we've been staying in Disney hotels out of convenience (we can't drive) but if we get AP I'm sure we can stay in a non Disney hotel for a lot less and go more often...

Can you please help me... Trying to decide if we'll make use of the passes or not - we'll definitely go back there!

Thanks,
Ema

 

[Mrs Stonfiesta]

I think the AP's are def worth it, we will be buying ours in Sept. You also get a discount when booking the hotel rooms for the disney hotels, we are staying at the santa fe for 4 nights for a cost of £203 in total, so about £50 a night. i do think you can get a free child one for every adult one that you buy although as we dont have children i havent really looked into this so cant confirm.

i worked out that the cost of the AP's (the dearest) and room only at the hotel (Santa Fe) will be £451 for the 2 of us for the sept trip and then i got a quote for hotel and passes and was quoted £370 so for an extra £70 for the sept trip every other trip will only be £203 instead of £370! so it def works out cheaper for us, i'd say if you do 2 or more trips a year than AP's are the cheaper option. Also we drive using the eurotunnel which is paid for using our tesco vouchers and about £60 of diesel gets us there and back . I also think you can chnage your tesco vouchers into eurostar vouchers so that's another way to make it a little cheaper, and as we all know the cheaper it is the more we can go!!!! i think for every £2.50 of vouchers you get £10.00 to pay off the eurostar/tunnel cost.

 

[Ware Bears]

I definitely think they're good value. Even if you decide to stay in a non-Disney hotel you will still have the discount off shopping and dining.

 

[davewasbaloo]

I think the AP's are totally worth it. Even if you cannot drive, the Kyriad, Dream Castle, Holiday Inn and Explorers, as well as Radisson, Marriott Vacation Club, Elysee and Pierre and Vacance are all cheaper, and the MArriott and Holiday Inn offer much better value than the Disney hotels IMHO.

The Fantasy AP is £1 cheaper than a 3 day hopper (plus you get 10% off retsaurants and shops). The Dream is an extra £40, but for that you get 20% off, free pushchair and wheelchair rental, sometimes 30% off Disney hotels, a free cocktail at table service restaurants, and access to EMH forif you are staying off site. Personally it's silly not to get an AP if you are going to spend more than 3 days a year in the parks.

 

[ema74]

Thank you so much for the feedback . DH thinks we should get our AP next time we go not right now because tickets were included in the package. I'm surprised by how much one can save if staying in a non-Disney hotel.

Definitely many many more trips to DLRP

Ema

 

[davewasbaloo]

Thank you so much for the feedback . DH thinks we should get our AP next time we go not right now because tickets were included in the package. I'm surprised by how much one can save if staying in a non-Disney hotel.

Definitely many many more trips to DLRP

Ema

If you are considering dining in table service restaurants and buying lot's of souvenirs, it may be worth it for at least one of you to upgrade. Especially if you are going to return within a year. They will apply a day ticket discount (about £32) against thepurchase of your APs, plus you still will get the shop and restaurant discounts.

If you are taking any kids, there is a special deal on until September, 1 under 7 AP free for every adult AP purchased.

 

[SandraVB79]

If you have tickets included in a Disney-package, you can't upgrade them.

 

[davewasbaloo]

If you have tickets included in a Disney-package, you can't upgrade them.

Are you sure because they credited one day towards the AP for us a couple of years ago.

 

[A Small World]

Are you sure because they credited one day towards the AP for us a couple of years ago.

Sandra is correct. We tried at Easter to upgrade having already got a package but were told we couldnt upgrade a package.

We looked into buying 1 AP to get discounts but worked out we would have to spend alot to get any real benefit so decided to leave buying APs til next trip.

What we did though was buy day tickets (undated) ready to give us immediate access when we go so we dont have to queue to buy tickets at the gate. We will enter the park with this then go to AP office to upgrade and get money back for day ticket - If you are going to get a free AP for under 7 I dont think you get your money back though so be careful about this.

 

[davewasbaloo]

Sandra is correct. We tried at Easter to upgrade having already got a package but were told we couldnt upgrade a package.

We looked into buying 1 AP to get discounts but worked out we would have to spend alot to get any real benefit so decided to leave buying APs til next trip.

What we did though was buy day tickets (undated) ready to give us immediate access when we go so we dont have to queue to buy tickets at the gate. We will enter the park with this then go to AP office to upgrade and get money back for day ticket - If you are going to get a free AP for under 7 I dont think you get your money back though so be careful about this.

That's a shame. What we did last year (and this year) was go to the guest relations window on the right hand side near the entrance to the DLH and paid for our APs right there. We showed a copy of the free under 7 pass to the cast member and paid for 2. We then went and had the 3 passes processed. No worries about swapping in any passes then! Much easier.

To be honest, we have stopped staying at Disney hotels in the main as we find not only do we save money staying at the Holiday Inn or Marriott, but we have a better time too!

 

[xtine]

We bought our APs at guest relations before we entered the park using the sponsorship forms we had, that way we didn't have to buy a day pass and worry about whether it would be refunded. We were given temporary passes that we then exchanged at the AP office inside.

Your daughter will get a free pass if 1 adult buys one. Any adults not being accompanied by an under-7 and any other kids should go seperately to the desk and buy their tickets with a sponsorship form to get an extra 10% off.

We worked out that as long as you spend 3 days in the park you are better off with annual passes especially if you go to the wild west show, we are using ours this year to do a 'quick' stopover en route to a camping holiday - something we would definitely not be doing if we didn't have passes.


Christine