Annual pass or not?

[OJoyfulOne]

Hi,

Have a question here about tickets.

Friends of mine, a family of four, are planning a trip to Disney during the summer months sometime. My sister and I have booked a Disney cruise with the couple that are going to Disney in the summer and are planning to spend two days in the parks post cruise.

Both my sister and I have non-experation hopper tickets with a total of five days left, so we won't need to purchase tickets.

Would it be cheaper for the two adults to purchase an annual pass to the parks or to purchase separate tickets for the their trip to Disney in the summer and for the two days post cruise to WDW?

Thanks!

Joy

 

[aspen37]

I can't remember exactly but I think you need to spend 11 days in the parks to make an AP worth buying.

 

[wmharley]

are you doing a total of 4 days?

HEre is the breakdown..

4-day parkhopper tickets: $554 for both ($450 with no parkhopper)
Annual PAss: $978 for both ($489 each)

so obviously for 4 days, its not worth it.

If you got a 9 day, parkhopper, no expiration ticket, then it comes to $940.

So on the surface, cheaper to just get the tickets, unless they plan on coming alot.

I don't know about where you are staying, but add $14 parking each day if the cruise doesn't include any and you stay offsite

 

[OJoyfulOne]

wmharley,

Yeah, I think that would be the more expensive way to go. The couple that my sister and I are going with are planning on a five-day trip with their two children. And I think what the couple told me was they were planning on purchasing 10 basic tickets for each person and go to two parks a day? She said that it was cheaper to do that than to purchase a five-day hopper. I think that is what she said.

I just thought it might be less to purchase an annual pass than to purchase 10 basic tickets, but I see that it is not.


After their trip in the summer, we will all go for two days after the cruise in September with the possibility of going for three more days in 2011 since we will have three days left on our non-experation hoppers.

Thanks for your help!

Joy

 

[squirrel]

She won't be able to use the 10 day park passes to go to two parks in one day. They don't allow cross overs. That's why you have to pay the hopping fee if you want to go to more than one park.

 

[doconeill]

The point at which the standard tourist AP crosses to being more sense straight up is if you need to go with a 10-day NE PH (no WPFM). If you want to factor in discounts like parking, room, etc. you need to figure that in yourself based on the perceived worth to you.

 

[singnring]

I ran number on the Disney site and it appears, if I understand the situation correctly, that your friends' best bet is to purchase 7-day non-exp hoppers for themselves to get through both trips, and then purchase 5-day hoppers for the kids.

You didn't mention the ages of the kids, so I can't give you exact pricing, but whether they are adult age or child age, the 7-day and 5-day combo is the cheapest price.

Now, this only holds true if they are certain of the number of days they will spend @ the parks for both trips. If the number changes, prices change and they could be better off with another combo of tickets.

 

[wmharley]

wmharley,

Yeah, I think that would be the more expensive way to go. The couple that my sister and I are going with are planning on a five-day trip with their two children. And I think what the couple told me was they were planning on purchasing 10 basic tickets for each person and go to two parks a day? She said that it was cheaper to do that than to purchase a five-day hopper. I think that is what she said.

I just thought it might be less to purchase an annual pass than to purchase 10 basic tickets, but I see that it is not.


After their trip in the summer, we will all go for two days after the cruise in September with the possibility of going for three more days in 2011 since we will have three days left on our non-experation hoppers.

Thanks for your help!

Joy

10 basic tickets at $85 each are 850....

 

[seashoreCM]

She won't be able to use the 10 day park passes to go to two parks in one day. They don't allow cross overs. That's why you have to pay the hopping fee if you want to go to more than one park.

Nitpicking. She won't be able to use the 10 day park passes all on one card, without the hopping feature, to go to two parks in one day.

If she started using the ticket not more than 2 weeks ago, she could add the hopping feature (same $55. price) to the ticket as late as upon arrival at the second park.

10 basic tickets at $85 each are 850.

Nitpicking. 10 basic tickets as 10 separate cards ...

You can go to two parks in one day using two of these but ...

It is almost always unwise to use more than one ticket card for theme park admission during any one vacation. One notable exception is the Very Merry Christmas party where you must have a separate party ticket. When you arrive after 4, you get out and use only your party ticket and it does not matter where you have been with a regular ticket.

Disney hints: http://www.cockam.com/dispass.htm

You could get up to twelve days with hopping or 18 days without hopping under some conditions (conditions include no more than two vacations) without exceeding the cost of an annual pass.

 

[doconeill]

Yes, the previous posters pointed out a flaw in what you believe the other person said that I missed.

Buying individual one-day tickets never makes any sense if you KNOW you will be attending the park multiple days over time. A non-expiring ticket is definitely cheaper than that.

More than likely they believe they can buy a 10-day non-PH ticket, and then park hop with it for 5 days - which as already states is not allowed.

Buying two separate 5-day NE tickets per person would allow you to do that, but it is still insanely expensive ($602+tax) compared to just buying a 5-day NE park hopper, which only costs $353+tax.

 

[OJoyfulOne]

WHEW!

Okay........you guys have me going in circles now, BUT a lot of good stuff!

Thank you!

What I forgot to mention was that I am paying for the cruise for the four adults plus the two days in the park.

SOOOOO.......if it is cheaper for the two adults to purchase a seven-day NE ticket, then I can pay the difference from what they were planning on getting. Right now, I think I priced two adult park hopper tickets at close to $450. So, if the difference from what the couple traveling with me on the cruise will pay for two seven-day NE ticket is less than $450, then I'll just pay them the difference in their ticket price and ask if they might consider doing that.

Hope that makes sense???

Do you think that would work?

Thanks!

Joy

 

[doconeill]

OK, so if I am reading you correctly now, the couple will have 5-day PH tickets, and you want to pay to upgrade them to 7-day NE PH, correct? If so, then the difference would be $349 - 228 = $121+tax each.

 

[OJoyfulOne]

doconeill or anyone else,

Would it make a difference if they were purchasing a food package when they stayed in August (family of four, 2 adults, 2 children 3+ years)? Do all the people staying in the room have to purchase the same type of tickets?

Sorry, I forgot to mention that as well as I realize this may be an issue.

Thanks,

Joy

 

[doconeill]

If they are getting a package, then everyone has to have the same tickets to start with...in which case they should get the tickets that they would have gotten otherwise.

Once they have the tickets in hand (which will be on their KTTW card), they are free to upgrade them individually in any way they wish. They can add the days/features only to those tickets that need it.

It is recommended that they use the tickets at least once at a park before upgrading, just to lock in the value of the existing ticket at the gate price - that way you don't have to worry about any sort of discounts they may have gotten as part of the package.

Even though their tickets are on KTTW cards, those cards can be used at a later time to use up all the admission entitlements even though the stay in which they got them has ended. However, they can have the ticket entitlements moved to a separate card/ticket by the resort concierge to avoid confusion.

 

[OJoyfulOne]

Thanks doconeill!

And they are not getting a package as they are not planning on staying on site.

Joy

 

[snykymom]

If they are getting a package, then everyone has to have the same tickets to start with...in which case they should get the tickets that they would have gotten otherwise.

Except if one of the adults has an AP. Then you can buy the dining plan without buying tickets.