Annual Pass Question...

[ErinsMommy]

What is the benefit of buying an annual pass if for argument sake we go for a long weekend stay in early 2017, and a longer 9 day stay later that same year??

We usually stay at deluxe resorts, always eat on the Deluxe Dining Plan and buy Park Hoppers.

 

[gatorlisa]

How long is your long weekend? Using all direct from Disney pricing...

Assuming you are not a FL resident, a Platinum Annual Pass is about $794 after tax.

A 9-day hopper is $488.84 after tax.

A 3-day hopper is $367.43 after tax.

A 2-day hopper is $273.71 after tax.

So if you were planning to do a 9-day trip and a 3-day trip in the same year, cost of tickets is $856.27, over $50 more than the cost of an AP. Clearly the AP would be the better choice here. The extra benefits of the AP are just icing on the cake at this point in my opinion.

If you were planning to do a 9-day trip and a 2-day trip in the same year, cost of tickets is $762.55, about $30 less than the cost of the AP. Here, you need to decide if the additional benefits of the AP are worth spending the extra $30. The AP does provide discounts on some dining and on some merchandise. The AP also does include Photo Pass, so you wouldn't need to pay extra to have Memory Maker for either of the trips. Is that a factor? The free parking doesn't save you anything if you are staying on site, so that's not a factor. There are also discounts offered on rooms for AP, but I'm not sure if there are discounts offered on the dining plans.

 

[Fangorn]

Cost savings on tickets. In the scenario you put forth, a 4 day hopper is $419.61, and a 9 day hopper is $488.84, for a total of $908.45 for tickets for those two trips. A platinum AP is $797.69. So there's a savings of over $100. In addition, there is currently a 20% discount on merchandise and food at some locations, 10% most everywhere else. There can also be discounts on resort rooms at times.

Currently, Disney is running a promotion that gives you 13 months instead of the normal 12 months, if you buy the AP before Jan 3, 2017. You don't have to activate it by then, just purchase it.

Steve

 

[loves to dive]

The two previous posters pretty much hit the nail on the head. It's just a matter of doing the math and if the AP is less than the tickets, go for it. I have an AP and every year before I renew it I do the math. I never factor in any discounts as they can be a moving target and sometimes the general public discount can be less for rooms than the AP. I don't use memory maker so that is a wash for me and I stay on site so parking doesn't matter. It's all about the tickets and the costs for them.

 

[ErinsMommy]

thank you so much everyone! makes sense now. so technically when we book for the 2nd and longer trip, we wouldn't need to add park tickets? we would just book the room and dining correct? does the Disney website allow you to do this though when they offer 'packages'?

 

[yocarol]

Just bought my first annual pass, and will pick it up monday at the park. Do I have to pay for parking, since I won't have the pass until I get to guest services?

 

[TinkLoverSam]

Just bought my first annual pass, and will pick it up monday at the park. Do I have to pay for parking, since I won't have the pass until I get to guest services?

Probably yes but bring your receipt to guest services and they'll give you credit for the parking

 

[only hope]

I'm not sure if the website will allow you to book a dining plan without tickets but you can over the phone. That being said, it is usually a waste of money; you end up paying more than you would if you just paid for everything out of pocket. If you buy passes before the trip, you wouldn't need tickets for either trip. The expiration date is based on when you activate the pass, not when you buy it. If you buy a pass between now and some date in January I forgot, you get a 13th month for free. I don't know if that will affect you since you're not local. Another thing to keep in mind is they have not raised ticket or pass prices for some time now, and will likely raise them sooner rather than later. My guess is they will raise pass prices shortly after the 13 month promotion is over.

 

[Accident]

Most annual passes have free parking, they also have unlimited photopass downloads (think memory maker on steroids) if that is something you normally buy you can remove that cost from the trips as well for how much the AP saved you. Also if your a merch person, some ap only merchandise for different events as well.

I wanted to add a note about dining plan. Most people would argue OOP(out of pocket) no discount vs dining plan is cheaper to not get the plan. With the AP and getting 10-20% off, it's really hard to see how dining plan would come out a better deal. don't forget to add in gratuity when you compare dining plan vs oop with ap discount prices to tell which is cheaper for you. Now if you enjoy alcoholic beverages, as a AP holder you can now purchase the tables in wonderland card. to be honest, with the ap discount right now it doesn't really get more savings and just adds more expense but if there is alcohol in the picture, TiW is the only discount available anywhere on disney property that includes alcohol discounts. www.tablesinwonderland.com is the website with more info on cost and what it is. There is occasional special events just for TiW members but they are semi rare and rather pricey most of the time.

 

[scrapquitler]

What is the benefit of buying an annual pass if for argument sake we go for a long weekend stay in early 2017, and a longer 9 day stay later that same year??

We usually stay at deluxe resorts, always eat on the Deluxe Dining Plan and buy Park Hoppers.

If you are talking about a platinum pass, you get Memory Maker included, food and merchandise discounts and possibly room discounts as well. Plus you get park hoppers, and free parking even if you are offsite.

 

[dsanner106]

What is the benefit of buying an annual pass if for argument sake we go for a long weekend stay in early 2017, and a longer 9 day stay later that same year??

We usually stay at deluxe resorts, always eat on the Deluxe Dining Plan and buy Park Hoppers.

It is fine to cost out the tickets and prove the AP to be cheaper, but I will add that the AP saved us over 400 on a room for the first trip we had AP's for. You also get a discount at Disney stores and we saved 20% on a 450.00 painting at the art store in Epcot that same trip, so essentially one of our passes was just about free.

 

[tobikaye]

It is fine to cost out the tickets and prove the AP to be cheaper, but I will add that the AP saved us over 400 on a room for the first trip we had AP's for. You also get a discount at Disney stores and we saved 20% on a 450.00 painting at the art store in Epcot that same trip, so essentially one of our passes was just about free.

This was one of the reasons I purchased an AP in 2011. My cousin lived in Tampa and I knew on visits we might do 1 day visits that would add up, plus I was thinking about taking my sister later that year. In the end, the AP probably only saved me about $100 on park tickets. I did save probably about $400 between resort stays, merchandise, parking (non resort stays). I also purchased the TiW card and saved about $200 after the break even point and since half of the days I visited I was solo, that was a decent savings.

 

[Tardisblue]

If you are talking about a platinum pass, you get Memory Maker included, food and merchandise discounts and possibly room discounts as well. Plus you get park hoppers, and free parking even if you are offsite.

I think I understand this, but want to be absolutely clear: I'm running the Goofy Challenge in January and then taking a longer family trip in May. I plan on buying an Annual Pass to cover both trips. The MDE website states "Disney PhotoPass® benefit for Gold, Platinum, Platinum Plus Annual Pass and Premier Annual Passport includes Disney PhotoPass® photos and other digital content linked to the guest’s Disney account and captured while the annual pass is valid for admission to a Disney Parks theme park."

Are they using PhotoPass interchangeably with Memory Maker here? Ideally I'd like to have photos from the race as well as the pictures from our family vacation in May available to download and/or possibly purchase.

 

[erionm]

I think I understand this, but want to be absolutely clear: I'm running the Goofy Challenge in January and then taking a longer family trip in May. I plan on buying an Annual Pass to cover both trips. The MDE website states "Disney PhotoPass® benefit for Gold, Platinum, Platinum Plus Annual Pass and Premier Annual Passport includes Disney PhotoPass® photos and other digital content linked to the guest’s Disney account and captured while the annual pass is valid for admission to a Disney Parks theme park."

Are they using PhotoPass interchangeably with Memory Maker here? Ideally I'd like to have photos from the race as well as the pictures from our family vacation in May available to download and/or possibly purchase.

PhotoPass is the name of Disney's picture taking service.
Memory Maker is a PhotoPass product that allows you to download your pictures & ride videos for a limited time. The download window is 30 days from date of first download. The photos & videos expire 45 days from date taken.
The AP PhotoPass Download entitlement is similar to Memory Maker, but the download window & expiration of your photos is extended to 1 year.

 

[TinkLoverSam]

I think I understand this, but want to be absolutely clear: I'm running the Goofy Challenge in January and then taking a longer family trip in May. I plan on buying an Annual Pass to cover both trips. The MDE website states "Disney PhotoPass® benefit for Gold, Platinum, Platinum Plus Annual Pass and Premier Annual Passport includes Disney PhotoPass® photos and other digital content linked to the guest’s Disney account and captured while the annual pass is valid for admission to a Disney Parks theme park."

Are they using PhotoPass interchangeably with Memory Maker here? Ideally I'd like to have photos from the race as well as the pictures from our family vacation in May available to download and/or possibly purchase.

Any photos that link to your MDE (any member of your friends and family list who is set to "can view and share my photos" can scan their card or band) those photos will link so yes you basically get free memory maker for the length of your pass but instead of only having 45 days to view photos you can see them for 365 days

 

[Tardisblue]

PhotoPass is the name of Disney's picture taking service.
Memory Maker is a PhotoPass product that allows you to download your pictures & ride videos for a limited time. The download window is 30 days from date of first download. The photos & videos expire 45 days from date taken.
The AP PhotoPass Download entitlement is similar to Memory Maker, but the download window & expiration of your photos is extended to 1 year.

This helps clarify things. So, final question which I believe you've answered: If I purchase an AP and it includes PhotoPass Downloads then there is no additional need to purchase Memory Maker, correct?

 

[Tardisblue]

Any photos that link to your MDE (any member of your friends and family list who is set to "can view and share my photos" can scan their card or band) those photos will link so yes you basically get free memory maker for the length of your pass but instead of only having 45 days to view photos you can see them for 365 days

Thank you - I was typing this exact question as you answered. I think I'm all good now, just need to go ahead and purchase the AP now.

Thanks for the quick responses @erionm and @TinkLoverSam.

 

[erionm]

If I purchase an AP and it includes PhotoPass Downloads then there is no additional need to purchase Memory Maker, correct?

No need to spend money on MM.

 

[Catvondita]

There are discounts on hotels if you have an annual pass right? Can someone tell me what the discounts are and for which hotels?

thanks!

 

[Wood Nymph]

There are discounts on hotels if you have an annual pass right? Can someone tell me what the discounts are and for which hotels?

thanks!

We were able to get 35% AP discount on our reservation at Wilderness Lodge at the end of March. The passholder discounts are like the general public discount in that they are released at certain times of the year and cover only certain dates and room types. But the AP discount is usually the same or better than the gp discounts.