Annual Pass Questions

[CJLove79]

First some background.......I've been going to Disney World for the last several years, I've gone mainly alone but I've gone with one or two friends or family members. And I try to go every year but lately I've been going every other year and my stay is always two full weeks. I'm always looking for ways to save some extra money or try something new for my next trip. That next trip is November into December 2018 and I'm seriously thinking about getting an Annual Pass, the standard one without the water parks. I've looked for an Annual Pass main thread on here & couldn't find one so I'm asking on here. So here are my questions......Should I get an Annual Pass? Would I be the perfect customer for one since I stay for two weeks typically? Should I buy it before or after my reservation? And more importantly, would I save more money with it than without it next year? Any info you guys can give me will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Marionnette]

First some background.......I've been going to Disney World for the last several years, I've gone mainly alone but I've gone with one or two friends or family members. And I try to go every year but lately I've been going every other year and my stay is always two full weeks. I'm always looking for ways to save some extra money or try something new for my next trip. That next trip is November into December 2018 and I'm seriously thinking about getting an Annual Pass, the standard one without the water parks. I've looked for an Annual Pass main thread on here & couldn't find one so I'm asking on here. So here are my questions......Should I get an Annual Pass? Would I be the perfect customer for one since I stay for two weeks typically? Should I buy it before or after my reservation? And more importantly, would I save more money with it than without it next year? Any info you guys can give me will be greatly appreciated.

An AP would probably cost you less money based on the number of days that you visit. Generally speaking, if you're visiting a park each day of those two weeks, you would need two tickets - a 10-day pass and a 4-day pass. A Platinum AP is currently $832 w/tax. If you do not expect to go into a park on each of those days, the math comes out closer to even money.

You cannot purchase an actual AP in advance but you can buy the voucher. Your AP's anniversary date would be 1year from the date that you activate the voucher at WDW. Some people will purchase a ticket from an online ticket seller for less than gate price and then upgrade the ticket to an AP at the parks. They end up paying the difference between the gate price of the ticket and the cost of the AP. You can shave quite a bit off of the price of the AP that way.

There are room, merchandise and dining discounts that are typically offered to AP holders. Don't buy an AP just to get them. They are not guaranteed but are a nice bonus. AP holders also get other benefits such as early reservations for F&W events and discounts on the holiday party tickets. Again, don't buy the AP for the benefits because they can change or disappear at any time.

 

[keamyable]

You will probably end up better off with the AP, I think. My family got them because we live out of state, but go for 2 weeks every fall. With APs we do one November trip and then one October trip, because then we get even more visits out of one AP purchase. We drive and usually stay off property, so it saves a ton on parking. We had never done Park Hopper before our APs and ended up loving that too!

 

[SoShiny]

I bought APs for my mom and myself in December. We both live very out of state. We were able to more than break even on our FIRST 6-night trip using the APs, accounting for special event discounts, dining discounts (20% at a lot of restaurants through September), room discount, and memory maker. BUT, as mentioned by Marionnette, those perks can change at any time.

 

[CJLove79]

An AP would probably cost you less money based on the number of days that you visit. Generally speaking, if you're visiting a park each day of those two weeks, you would need two tickets - a 10-day pass and a 4-day pass. A Platinum AP is currently $832 w/tax. If you do not expect to go into a park on each of those days, the math comes out closer to even money.

You cannot purchase an actual AP in advance but you can buy the voucher. Your AP's anniversary date would be 1year from the date that you activate the voucher at WDW. Some people will purchase a ticket from an online ticket seller for less than gate price and then upgrade the ticket to an AP at the parks. They end up paying the difference between the gate price of the ticket and the cost of the AP. You can shave quite a bit off of the price of the AP that way.

There are room, merchandise and dining discounts that are typically offered to AP holders. Don't buy an AP just to get them. They are not guaranteed but are a nice bonus. AP holders also get other benefits such as early reservations for F&W events and discounts on the holiday party tickets. Again, don't buy the AP for the benefits because they can change or disappear at any time.

Thanks everybody for the info, I know that the discount changes depending on the season. I've been going to MouseSavers.com to check on Disney World's historical AP discount promos to get some insight on the types of discounts they typically over around my trip dates. And I know that you get the voucher & needs to go to Guest Services in the Parks or D. Springs to activate it and all that, so I got basic info. But to make sure I'm understanding you Marionnette, you're suggesting that I don't buy the Platinum Pass before purchasing my package? ShWhat I was planning on doing was buy the Platinum Pass, get it linked to my MDE acct then purchase my package right then & there early next year before Disney does their annual price increases. Just a heads up, I live out of state and I don't do Park Hopper, my park days are dedicated to one park of my choice with some non theme park & resort hopping days mixed in to decompress. My trips are always from Black Friday to the middle of December for MVMCP.

 

[Marionnette]

Thanks everybody for the info, I know that the discount changes depending on the season. I've been going to MouseSavers.com to check on Disney World's historical AP discount promos to get some insight on the types of discounts they typically over around my trip dates. And I know that you get the voucher & needs to go to Guest Services in the Parks or D. Springs to activate it and all that, so I got basic info. But to make sure I'm understanding you Marionnette, you're suggesting that I don't buy the Platinum Pass before purchasing my package? ShWhat I was planning on doing was buy the Platinum Pass, get it linked to my MDE acct then purchase my package right then & there early next year before Disney does their annual price increases. Just a heads up, I live out of state and I don't do Park Hopper, my park days are dedicated to one park of my choice with some non theme park & resort hopping days mixed in to decompress. My trips are always from Black Friday to the middle of December for MVMCP.

• If you are purchasing a package (room+tickets or room+tickets+dining), then you're defeating the purpose of having an AP since a package requires the purchase of additional tickets. So, are you talking about buying a package or are you actually referring to making a room-only reservation? It makes a difference.
  
• Disney does not do AP price increases on a set schedule. Many were surprised in Oct. 2015 when the prices were raised after having just seen a price increase in Feb. 2015. Then, instead of raising them again in Oct. 2016, Disney waited until Feb 2017 and raised AP prices the same time that they made the changes to MYW tickets. IOW, don't try to out-guess Disney on AP price increases. Buy your voucher as soon as you are positive that you will need one.
• If you're not hopping, your savings are not as significant because the AP includes hopping whether you use it or not.
• If you're not entering a theme park on each of the 14 days of your intended visit, your savings go down. IMO, if you are only going to enter a park on 10 days or less during that time period and will not be hopping, don't bother with an AP. The price of an AP is $829.64 w/tax. A 10-day base ticket is only $468.60 w/tax when purchased in advance from Disney but can be had for even less if purchased from one of the online ticket vendors (touringplan's ticket price calculator is showing a price as low as $438.25 from one vendor). It takes a considerable amount of dining, merchandise purchases and possible room discounts to make up the difference between the cost of an AP and the price of a 10-day base ticket. You should only count the difference between the AP discount and one that is available to the public, so if the AP discount is 25% and the general public is getting 20%, you're only seeing a benefit equal to an additional 5%.

 

[CJLove79]

• If you are purchasing a package (room+tickets or room+tickets+dining), then you're defeating the purpose of having an AP since a package requires the purchase of additional tickets. So, are you talking about buying a package or are you actually referring to making a room-only reservation? It makes a difference.
  
• Disney does not do AP price increases on a set schedule. Many were surprised in Oct. 2015 when the prices were raised after having just seen a price increase in Feb. 2015. Then, instead of raising them again in Oct. 2016, Disney waited until Feb 2017 and raised AP prices the same time that they made the changes to MYW tickets. IOW, don't try to out-guess Disney on AP price increases. Buy your voucher as soon as you are positive that you will need one.
• If you're not hopping, your savings are not as significant because the AP includes hopping whether you use it or not.
• If you're not entering a theme park on each of the 14 days of your intended visit, your savings go down. IMO, if you are only going to enter a park on 10 days or less during that time period and will not be hopping, don't bother with an AP. The price of an AP is $829.64 w/tax. A 10-day base ticket is only $468.60 w/tax when purchased in advance from Disney but can be had for even less if purchased from one of the online ticket vendors (touringplan's ticket price calculator is showing a price as low as $438.25 from one vendor). It takes a considerable amount of dining, merchandise purchases and possible room discounts to make up the difference between the cost of an AP and the price of a 10-day base ticket. You should only count the difference between the AP discount and one that is available to the public, so if the AP discount is 25% and the general public is getting 20%, you're only seeing a benefit equal to an additional 5%.

After reading your info, it looks like I'm not getting an Annual Pass cause it looks like it wouldn't be much of a value for me. I'm not doing a Room Only, I'm planning on getting the Lion King Suite package at AOA with 10 day park tickets. And I never do park hopper and don't plan to ever, it's just not my thing. I wanted to look for ways to save a little chump change while I'm there, if not, before that. But it looks like I'll be sticking to the regular package promos that Disney typically gives out. It's too bad I don't have money to go this year cause Disney is offering 10% off AOA Suite packages for this year's Holiday season. But it's all good, I'm confident they'll do something similar or hopefully better next year for my trip. LOL. Anyway, thanks for your help Marionnette, I consider myself thoroughly enlightened on the value of an AP.

 

[DisneyChick04]

I also have a couple questions about Annual Passes. I have a girl's trip package with a 7 day Park Hopper coming up in December. My husband's family just decided that they would like to do a trip in March which would have me getting a 6 day park hopper. If my math is correct, then I would probably come out ahead by upgrading my ticket in December to an Annual Pass, correct? Now here are my questions....Logistically, if I upgrade my ticket, does it matter what day I do it, first day versus last day? Where do I do the actual upgrade at? Ticket gate, resort or guest services? Will the upgrade mess up any existing fastpass reservations that I had made for the 7 day park hopper? If I upgrade on the first day, how quickly does the Memory Maker downloads kick in, would I be able to take photos and utilize the free downloads on my current trip, or is there a waiting period? Then for my second trip in March, would I need to do a room only reservation, and then buy the park hopper ticket separately for my husband and link it to MDE? Thank you!

 

[Marionnette]

I also have a couple questions about Annual Passes. I have a girl's trip package with a 7 day Park Hopper coming up in December. My husband's family just decided that they would like to do a trip in March which would have me getting a 6 day park hopper. If my math is correct, then I would probably come out ahead by upgrading my ticket in December to an Annual Pass, correct? Now here are my questions....Logistically, if I upgrade my ticket, does it matter what day I do it, first day versus last day? Where do I do the actual upgrade at? Ticket gate, resort or guest services? Will the upgrade mess up any existing fastpass reservations that I had made for the 7 day park hopper? If I upgrade on the first day, how quickly does the Memory Maker downloads kick in, would I be able to take photos and utilize the free downloads on my current trip, or is there a waiting period? Then for my second trip in March, would I need to do a room only reservation, and then buy the park hopper ticket separately for my husband and link it to MDE? Thank you!

Logistically, if I upgrade my ticket, does it matter what day I do it, first day versus last day?
It does not matter. Your anniversary date will be one year from the first day that the MYW ticket was used and the full value of the ticket will be applied to the upgrade (IOW, no $ will be deducted for days that were used.
Where do I do the actual upgrade at? Ticket gate, resort or guest services?
You cannot do it at the resort. Guest services at any park or in DS.
Will the upgrade mess up any existing fastpass reservations that I had made for the 7 day park hopper?
No.
If I upgrade on the first day, how quickly does the Memory Maker downloads kick in, would I be able to take photos and utilize the free downloads on my current trip, or is there a waiting period?
MM is retroactive to the first day that the MYW ticket was used.
Then for my second trip in March, would I need to do a room only reservation, and then buy the park hopper ticket separately for my husband and link it to MDE?
Since you will already have an AP, it makes no sense to book a package because you would have to purchase a ticket for yourself as a part of the package.

 

[DisneyChick04]

Thank you so much Marionnette! I appreciate the responses! I think the math comes out to saving about $185 plus the Memory Maker for both trips assuming they don't change it next year, so definitely looks like it would be a good deal!