Annual Pass question/ stategy

[lynz421]

I am the point person for a multi family (7A, 2C) trip to WDW in June 2016 staying at CBR and looking to hop for 7 days. Since AAA and Disney have parted ways I am searching for new ways to keep some of my money. Any help is appreciated, we never had an AP but the room discounts can be substantial so the $300 ish upgrade is worth it.

1. Can I book 3 Rooms with the 1 AP or does each room need 1 AP.
A. Everyone else can have standard tix?

2. Can I easily add DDP to AP? And does everyone need to have the DDP or can it be by room if I can book under 1AP?


Thanks

Dave

 

[Claire&TheBoys]

I am the point person for a multi family (7A, 2C) trip to WDW in June 2016 staying at CBR and looking to hop for 7 days. Since AAA and Disney have parted ways I am searching for new ways to keep some of my money. Any help is appreciated, we never had an AP but the room discounts can be substantial so the $300 ish upgrade is worth it.

1. Can I book 3 Rooms with the 1 AP or does each room need 1 AP.
A. Everyone else can have standard tix?

2. Can I easily add DDP to AP? And does everyone need to have the DDP or can it be by room if I can book under 1AP?


Thanks

Dave

1. One AP can book one room. So you'd have to have 3 people with APs to book 3 rooms, one per room. Everyone else in the room can have regular MYW tickets.

2. If you want the DDP, you can room a special AP package that is just room+dining (no ticket purchase required). So, yes, it could be by room, but as always applies, everyone in the same room has to get the DDP or not. You can't pick and choose. If you do get an AP, you are eligible to buy a Tables in Wonderland card, which might be a better deal than the DDP. You get 20% off the total bill for up to 10 people (all on one check). It is more flexible in that you could order appetizers and share entrees, and it's good on alcohol as well. There's a mandatory 18% gratuity, but you'll have that as a party of 9 anyway. The card costs $100 and is valid for a year. There are some restaurants that offer AP discounts at specific times. A lot of the Epcot resorts discount 10% at lunch with your AP.

AP discounts can be up to about 35% depending on the resort level and time of the year (deluxe resorts get a bigger discount than values, low seasons have better discounts). But, availability is always limited and not guaranteed, so you have to be flexible with regard to resort and room category (i.e., pirate rooms at CBR may not be included, or the only rooms available are preferred, etc.). Don't forget that you also can save 10% off most purchases.

The only way to know if an AP will save you money is to run the numbers. A fair warning, though: an AP has a way of burning a hole in your pocket, so to speak! By Christmas 2016, you'll be looking to book another trip to "get one more use out of this AP!" They seem to have homing beacons that cause their owners to book additional trips.

Hope this helps!

 

[lynz421]

Thank you Claire & the boys. very helpful. I'll go back to the group with options.
Dave

 

[Monykalyn]

Keep checking for Orbitz discounts-I combined a Disney spring discount offer(25%) with an orbitz 15% off code and got CBR for $125/night (~144/night after taxes) for our June trip. Orbitz has capped total discount at $150 dollars now though. But booking rooms separately will help with that

 

[lynz421]

Orbitz... I never thought looking there

 

[lynz421]

I guess I could have spelled Strategy properly

 

[manning]

mousesaver.com

 

[Alicenwonderment]

I was just wondering the same thing tonight. When I looked up the AP question it said that AP can book three rooms. This is taken from Mouse Savers

You may book up to three rooms per Annual Passholder at the special rates. The Annual Pass must be in the same name as the person whose name appears on the reservation, and the credit card used for the reservation must belong to the Passholder. You cannot use a child’s Annual Pass to reserve discounted rooms.

My understanding is three rooms per visit but it could mean you can only book rooms with AP for the year.

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

A fair warning, though: an AP has a way of burning a hole in your pocket, so to speak! By Christmas 2016, you'll be looking to book another trip to "get one more use out of this AP!" They seem to have homing beacons that cause their owners to book additional trips.

THIS!!
We upgraded DVC discount tickets to annual tickets for our trip in May. Then we scheduled a trip in December to see the Christmas decorations, then we got an AP discount on a room at All Start Sports so the room was only 80 a night so we booked for a 5 day trip in September and we've already started looking for our spring trip. So our family that has never been more than once in a year now has 3 trips booked this year and plans to get at least one more in on these APs and then renew them so we can do it all over again!!