Annual Pass worth it?

[excited4dis]

We have a 10 day vacation package booked at Pop Century for August, 2018. I'm thinking of going back the following summer (2019) with other family members and hopefully to see the new Star Wars land. I've been researching getting annual passes for us, but I'm a little confused on some stuff.

If I upgrade to the annual pass at the beginning of our 2018 trip, do I get reimbursed for any discounts that would apply, like a room discount? I know I will get reimbursed for the memory maker.

I do like the idea of going back the following year and only having to book a room. Are the room discounts given on most moderate and value hotels? I'm thinking of staying at POR in 2019.

 

[Shellyred8]

I've gotten some pretty decent AP room discounts over the past few years. But I think those vary from year to year and season to season with what is available. Also, the AP room discounts might not be listed as far in advance as what you might want to plan. So, you might have to make a non-discounted room reservation and then keep an eye open for the AP room discount and switch it if you find something.

 

[excited4dis]

I've gotten some pretty decent AP room discounts over the past few years. But I think those vary from year to year and season to season with what is available. Also, the AP room discounts might not be listed as far in advance as what you might want to plan. So, you might have to make a non-discounted room reservation and then keep an eye open for the AP room discount and switch it if you find something.

Thank you for your response. Here is the other thing I'm confused about. If I buy annual passes beforehand so I can get a discount on a room for 2018, when does the effective date start? The day I purchase, or the first day I use our tickets? I don't want to have to buy say in April 2018 when a deal comes out and then they expire the following April. I'm thinking of going back late July 2019 for our second trip.

If they don't take effect until the first day of use, I'm thinking of just keeping my current package to keep the room and then maybe switching once I see an annual pass room deal come up.

 

[Shellyred8]

The count down for the AP doesn't start until you first use it to enter a park. So, you could buy it now and not use it until next year. And the count down for it wouldn't start until your first use next year (buy it in 2017, first use is in August 2018, it expires in Aug 2019). You have to have an AP tied to your MDE account in order to see the AP room discounts. You don't have to have activated/used the AP yet, but it does have to be tied to your account in order to see the room discounts.

One other thing to consider: Disney usually raises it's ticket prices towards the beginning of the year. So you might want to buy your AP towards the end of the year to make sure you get in on this year's pricing. There's no guarantee that the prices will go up, but they have for the past several years, so there's a good chance that they will continue to go up.

 

[excited4dis]

The count down for the AP doesn't start until you first use it to enter a park. So, you could buy it now and not use it until next year. And the count down for it wouldn't start until your first use next year (buy it in 2017, first use is in August 2018, it expires in Aug 2019). You have to have an AP tied to your MDE account in order to see the AP room discounts. You don't have to have activated/used the AP yet, but it does have to be tied to your account in order to see the room discounts.

One other thing to consider: Disney usually raises it's ticket prices towards the beginning of the year. So you might want to buy your AP towards the end of the year to make sure you get in on this year's pricing. There's no guarantee that the prices will go up, but they have for the past several years, so there's a good chance that they will continue to go up.

OMG, thank you so much for your help! This is the best explanation I have gotten so far.

Ok, so this is great news that I can buy it by the end of the year for the better price and it won't take effect until the day I actually use it. This also gives me time to make a definite decision on whether or not we will go in 2019. Also, now I know why I can't seem to find AP discount rates online. Makes sense now! Thanks again!

 

[loves to dive]

I always tell people to only take into account the price of the AP vs the price of a park hopper + memory maker if you always buy that when considering if you want one. It's simple math of dollars to dollars. Don't factor in any room discounts, they aren't a given or any food discounts, they are a moving target or merch discounts. Just ticket price + memory maker. If the AP is less, go for it, if not you might want to reconsider. I've had an AP for the last 4 or 5 years and go at least twice a year and have only gotten a better deal with the AP discount twice. Lately it really hasn't been that better than the general discount. If you book through someone like Orbitz when they have the general discount, they will give you that discount plus they almost always have some 10% discount running which you can get on top of the Disney discount, I've gotten as much as a 40% discount then applied my Orbitz bucks on top of that. I always used to buy park hoppers but if you don't and have no interest in hopping you have to take that into account. I never buy memory maker and even though it's included in the AP, we still don't use it. We don't use the parking discount either since we use Disney transportation and even if we didn't you get free parking if you are staying on site so it's a wash.

 

[excited4dis]

I always tell people to only take into account the price of the AP vs the price of a park hopper + memory maker if you always buy that when considering if you want one. It's simple math of dollars to dollars. Don't factor in any room discounts, they aren't a given or any food discounts, they are a moving target or merch discounts. Just ticket price + memory maker. If the AP is less, go for it, if not you might want to reconsider. I've had an AP for the last 4 or 5 years and go at least twice a year and have only gotten a better deal with the AP discount twice. Lately it really hasn't been that better than the general discount. If you book through someone like Orbitz when they have the general discount, they will give you that discount plus they almost always have some 10% discount running which you can get on top of the Disney discount, I've gotten as much as a 40% discount then applied my Orbitz bucks on top of that. I always used to buy park hoppers but if you don't and have no interest in hopping you have to take that into account. I never buy memory maker and even though it's included in the AP, we still don't use it. We don't use the parking discount either since we use Disney transportation and even if we didn't you get free parking if you are staying on site so it's a wash.

I plan on doing the park hopper and water park tickets, as we always use them. I also already bought the memory maker and know we will put it to good use. We are going for 10 days in 2018 and maybe like 7 in 2019, so I was thinking we would save money by getting the AP. Am I wrong? I don't want to blindly buy the AP because it's a lot of money (about $2,600 for the 3 of us), so I wish I knew for sure I was getting my money's worth.

 

[loves to dive]

I plan on doing the park hopper and water park tickets, as we always use them. I also already bought the memory maker and know we will put it to good use. We are going for 10 days in 2018 and maybe like 7 in 2019, so I was thinking we would save money by getting the AP. Am I wrong? I don't want to blindly buy the AP because it's a lot of money (about $2,600 for the 3 of us), so I wish I knew for sure I was getting my money's worth.

General rule used to be if you were buying tickets for at least 10 days, you would break even so it sounds like it would work for you.

 

[Kt75]

I thought you only would need 1 AP for "possible" resort discounts, and memory maker if everyone is on the same MDE profile. We are also thinking of getting 1 AP for our party of 5, and link everyone on the same account. We don't plan on splitting our time up at the parks, so works in our favor that way and the 4 others will get park hoppers.

 

[excited4dis]

General rule used to be if you were buying tickets for at least 10 days, you would break even so it sounds like it would work for you.

Thank you, that is what I thought. I have really sit and think about all of this, but thankfully I have time.