Annual pass or 6day park hopper

[Dj20411]

1st DVC trip to boardwalk in June. What is our best option for tickets for 6days? Thanks for the help.

 

[Mert]

Hi if this is your 1st trip to boardwalk as a dvc member my recomendation would be to buy the 10 day pass without expiration. Its the best vaule with several water park tickets include . I dont know your spending ability but if your a member you will be going back and the costs will keep going up. If you take the advice i would also recommend that you do not purchase the hopper feature to the pass. Its not needed because theres no need to rush and it will save you quite a bit of money. I have been a member of boardwalk for over 10 years and with three kids i've learned to watch the money. Hope this helps and good luck, have a great trip

 

[DizBub]

Undercover Tourist has 6 day park hoppers of $311 (plus tax)
Disney has them for $314 (before tax)

How many trips would you get in the next year w/ APs?
They are $519 (before tax)
Are you DVC? We get $100 discount on APs making them $419 (before tax)

If this is your only trip this year UT definately gives you the best value.
They don't charge you the tax apparently.

Good luck!!

 

[DVCismyhappyplace]

A six day adult park hopper (no water parks) would be $314 through WDW. An basic AP (no water parks) with DVC discount is $419. If you're planning on going again before next June, I'd go with the AP.

 

[Anal Annie]

I think it takes about 8 park days to get your money out of the AP's so if you think you can plan a 2nd trip within the year then definitely get the AP's. The other thing the AP gets you is the ability to purchase the TIW card (for dining discounts). You have to have an AP to buy that. So if you're planning on making a lot of ADR's at participating TS restaurants that can be a big help. If you already know that the 6 days is all you'll be able to do in the next year then just buy the park hoppers from Undercover Tourist.

 

[BrerNashville]

You really need a second trip to make the annual pass make sense -- if you are travelling once a year around the same time, you might be able to squeeze your "annual" trip into the same year.

If you have more than one trip planned (of at least three days each), with the DVC discount, the annual pass is a no-brainer.

 

[spiceycat]

just paid $253 for 6 day pass - (not hopper) and realized was better off with an ap since now going back in Dec = was not then. so for $178 more got one when there.

if you ever stay offsite - it makes that easier with the free parking - annual pass

 

[alyssa810]

The other thing to remember with APs are the discounts that we don't always get with just a DVC membership for dining and shopping, and if you do get an AP you can also get tables in wonderland card for even more discounts. The only trouble with APs is once you get them, you want to keep going back; it's starts with "we'll do 2 trips on our APs" and then there will be an airfare sale...and another one...and before you know it it's been a whole bunch of trips! But, IMO, it's money well spent, and you only have pay for your passes on the first trip (until the next year, and that's when they gotcha!)

***disclaimer- I've been an AP holder since 2002!

 

[moredisneyplease]

i dont know that i'd do an AP for a 6 day trip. you have to ask yourself a bunch of questions:

1) will we be back within 365 days of first use? if the answer is yes then maybe do look in to a pass. I've found that if I'm going to be spending more than 10 days between all of the different parks within a 365 day year then i'll get the pass. if not, then i dont

2) lets just say you arent doing an AP, now ask yourself which parks am i going to? if you plan on doing 3 days at major parks and 3 days at minor parks (water parks and disneyquest) then you might want to just consider a 3 day pass w/ the water parks and more option.

3) also, will you park hop? I used to park hop but now i have little kids so our hopping days are over for now. if you arent going to hop then no need to pay for the hopper part.


just a few questions i'd be asking myself. good luck!

 

[nickspace]

One good strategy is to buy the AP obviously using it on your first trip and then return right before the end of the AP year.

For example when we retire we want to live at a DVC resort for a month in the winter. In the first year we can go in February and buy a AP. In the second year we will go in January and still be able to use the AP for the whole month. It is like getting 2 years for the price of one.

 

[Juliet25]

Hi if this is your 1st trip to boardwalk as a dvc member my recomendation would be to buy the 10 day pass without expiration. Its the best vaule with several water park tickets include . I dont know your spending ability but if your a member you will be going back and the costs will keep going up. If you take the advice i would also recommend that you do not purchase the hopper feature to the pass. Its not needed because theres no need to rush and it will save you quite a bit of money. I have been a member of boardwalk for over 10 years and with three kids i've learned to watch the money. Hope this helps and good luck, have a great trip

This would be my recommendation as well. You can easily get 3+ trips out of a 10 day pass. I find that we usually go to MK, EP, and alternate HS and AK on our trips. Since we're DVC members who go there more often, there's less of a need to go, go, go all the time. We actually get to relax on vacation.

 

[Dj20411]

Thanks for all the great advice.
DJ

 

[vicki_c]

Just to clarify, UT DOES charge tax - they have to. It is just included in the price of the tickets that they post on their site.

 

[graueMaus]

Hi if this is your 1st trip to boardwalk as a dvc member my recomendation would be to buy the 10 day pass without expiration. Its the best vaule with several water park tickets include . I dont know your spending ability but if your a member you will be going back and the costs will keep going up. If you take the advice i would also recommend that you do not purchase the hopper feature to the pass. Its not needed because theres no need to rush and it will save you quite a bit of money. I have been a member of boardwalk for over 10 years and with three kids i've learned to watch the money. Hope this helps and good luck, have a great trip

As a family of 5 this is the exact same conclusion that we came to, including buying the tickets for the kids maxed out (10 theme, 10 MPM options, no expiration) before they hit 10.

 

[graueMaus]

This would be my recommendation as well. You can easily get 3+ trips out of a 10 day pass. I find that we usually go to MK, EP, and alternate HS and AK on our trips. Since we're DVC members who go there more often, there's less of a need to go, go, go all the time. We actually get to relax on vacation.

Looks like many have come to the same conclusions. We do this as we usually go Sun to Fri (sometimes Sat). Our trip comprises of either 2 or 3 theme parks and 3 or 2 Water Parks and more activites. As far as theme parks go the tickets will last as you say. When we run out of the unexpiring park tix several years from now ( we have 3 each) , the kids will be teenagers and we will switch to AP's for hopping and more flexibility, but still have WPM activities left on the old tix to enjoy.

 

[Anal Annie]

See, I've never understood how some people can look at the 10 day non-expiring tix with water parks as still not needing the ability to park hop. We go to the water parks sometimes but not usually for a whole entire day. ONE time we went and we paid OOP with the DVC discount because we just had reg. APs not the Premium ones so we DID stay until like maybe 4:00 that time. But then we went back to the room, showered & went out to a different park for dinner and the rest of the evening. I still don't get how the water park thing saves anything unless you simply don't go out at all in the evenings. Normally tho, if we have passes that include the water parks we go early, stay thru lunch then leave once the lines are unbearable and we go somewhere else in the evening. I just don't think I could stand being tied to only 1 park for a whole entire day AND evening. Guess maybe we're spoiled.

 

[peabody58]

DW and I are AP converts who plan at least two trips in a 365 day period using our DVC points. In fact today I purchased our AP's for our 2 - 9N/10D trips in Oct '12 and Sept '13. We will have 20 days at WDW working out to $22.32 a day per person. If we can swing another mid-year trip at WBC, the cost lowers to $15.95/day. Our reasons for going the AP route: DVC $100 discount, TIW availability, Park Hopping, various AP discounts, and the overall cost savings; not to forget the overall cool feeling you get having an AP.

So now I'm thinking about investing some of my year end bonus into another set of AP vouchers for our 2014/2015 trips. With projected price increases, this would be a lot better return on my money than any bank can offer.

 

[PMDR59]

That was my dilemma also when we 1st joined. We went with Annual Pass and never looked back. We will normally get 2-3 trips out of our annual pass. I see you are much closer to the world than we are, I would be going twice as much if I was closer. I LOVE the flexibility of the AP......If we go to the parks for an hour or two and leave its NO BIG DEAL. I dont feel like since I have xx amt of days that I need to spend ALL DAY in a park. Sometime we start out in MK and its too crowded so we hop over to epcot that will be empty, Heck we have done all 4 parks in 1 day on a few occasions.

 

[graueMaus]

See, I've never understood how some people can look at the 10 day non-expiring tix with water parks as still not needing the ability to park hop. We go to the water parks sometimes but not usually for a whole entire day. ONE time we went and we paid OOP with the DVC discount because we just had reg. APs not the Premium ones so we DID stay until like maybe 4:00 that time. But then we went back to the room, showered & went out to a different park for dinner and the rest of the evening. I still don't get how the water park thing saves anything unless you simply don't go out at all in the evenings. Normally tho, if we have passes that include the water parks we go early, stay thru lunch then leave once the lines are unbearable and we go somewhere else in the evening. I just don't think I could stand being tied to only 1 park for a whole entire day AND evening. Guess maybe we're spoiled.

Two words:

Young children



We spend the ENTIRE day in one park and enjoy as much as we can of it, usually open to close. Our travel time is also typically in Jan or October when the parks are only open to 7 or 8 (which is also the kids bedtime). When we go to the water parks we also spend the ENTIRE day at that event. We use each ticket/option as a one day event to enjoy the day together and go as fast or as slow as we like. When we bought our tickets each year the cost per entry (ticket/option) averaged around $25 a person. When our theme park tickets run out in about 6 years, the children will be teenagers(over 15) and we will probably all get AP's but we will still have plenty of WPM options left to allow us to enjoy those activities as well.

We also enjoy all aspects of DVC membership, including offerings for the children and family at the resort(s) which have plenty to offer and could be a vacation unto itself.

 

[Anal Annie]

Two words:

Young children



We spend the ENTIRE day in one park and enjoy as much as we can of it, usually open to close. Our travel time is also typically in Jan or October when the parks are only open to 7 or 8 (which is also the kids bedtime). When we go to the water parks we also spend the ENTIRE day at that event. We use each ticket/option as a one day event to enjoy the day together and go as fast or as slow as we like. When we bought our tickets each year the cost per entry (ticket/option) averaged around $25 a person. When our theme park tickets run out in about 6 years, the children will be teenagers(over 15) and we will probably all get AP's but we will still have plenty of WPM options left to allow us to enjoy those activities as well.

We also enjoy all aspects of DVC membership, including offerings for the children and family at the resort(s) which have plenty to offer and could be a vacation unto itself.

I don't think we've ever used the words bedtime and vacation in the same sentence. There is no such thing for us when we're at WDW even when DS was little. We tend to burn the candle at both ends and stay out until 2:00 am for evening EMH's and get up at 6:00 to make morning EMH's. The tough part for us is finding time for a shower! The only time we ever spent a day at a resort and didn't go out to the parks until evening was the 1 time we stayed at BCV - we had 1 day that we slept in & hung around SAB all day. There was actually enough there to hold DS's interest for most of the day. But we still went out for the evening. I guess different strokes 'eh?!