Annual pass - would it be worth it??

[mommyof2boys1girl]

This is gonna sound like a ridiculous question from someone who lives this far away from DL, but would it be worth it for us to upgrade to an AP towards the end of our trip if we decide we are coming back in a year's (give or take) time?

Here are my thoughts....this is our first trip ANYWHERE with the kids (except 12 hr drives to Grandma and Grandpa's), and our first time flying with them. We are unsure of how this holiday is really going to go - either it will be fantastic and I will want to turn around and come right back, or it will be a nightmare and I will never want to leave home with my brood again!

So, if it is "a turn around and come right back", would it pay for us to upgrade to an AP and then come back in, say Feb, before our AP's expire? (ds always has a week off school in Feb - inservice days or something, so we could probably go then without too much hassle.)


what other advantages are there to an AP? I've seen the AP hotel discounts mentioned, but I think I may still be too cheap to stay onsite - we really need a 2 room option, and suites at the onsite hotels would, I think, be more than we're willing to spend (someone please correct me if I am wrong!) So unless the AP discounts are really huge, we'd probably stay offsite again anyway.

And, how does one go about upgrading a Parkhopper to an AP - we are doing a MM and MTTMM, so would we wait for those to be used up before we would consider doing the upgrade? I assume those perks are not meant for those with AP's? Do I just walk up to the ticket booth, hand in my parkhoppers and ask to upgrade to an AP? Do they credit what value is left (ie how many days on the parkhopper that have not been used) towards the AP?

Help?? so many questions, so little brain....

 

[audrabolster]

If you want MM or MMTTM, get the hopper and then upgrade once you're at the park.

For the Deluxe you will get 10% off food, and you get 20% off tours. If you plan on coming back again, I think it would definitely be worth it.

 

[bumbershoot]

Hi! Bet you could never guess I'd be one to answer this.

You could wait until your last day in the parks to upgrade, if you wanted to. Everyone getting one will have to have their pictures taken, and you would upgrade in the "bank" in Disneyland. It's really easy, and yes, the amount you paid for your tickets will go towards the AP you buy.

MTTMM is only to be had when getting a package (or getting it from another guest), so you won't get that for your AP year (unless you get it from another guest). If you stay onsite you'd get MM days offered during your stay, but other than that you don't have access to MM when entering on your AP.

There are discounts, 10% off most food with the Deluxe AP, and 15% off most food and 10% off most merchandise with the Premium. If you wish to do any tours, you get 20% off with either of those APs. The Premium has NO blockout dates, but the Deluxe does have some, so you have to be careful when you go back.

If you do think that you will get back within the year of the first day of this trip, then monetarily it is absolutely worth it. Well, you'll want to look at the kids' tickets...I never did the math when upgrading DS's ticket. Since there is only ONE price for each level of AP (in other words, no kiddie prices) you have to figure out the cost of another set of tickets for the ticketed kids, vs upgrading them to APs.

You don't have to wait to use the MTTMM voucher, because that's just a slip of paper that you give the TT people. The MM, however, is on your parkhoppers so yes, wait until you've used that before upgrading.

Reiterating in direct response to the question :"Do they credit what value is left (ie how many days on the parkhopper that have not been used) towards the AP?"

They don't use what's left, they use the total of your hopper. So our adult 5 day hoppers that we got with our Costco Travel package had a value of something like 189 when we went in September, and that full 189 was put towards each of the APs. DS's hopper was worth a bit less since it's a 3-9 ticket, so we had to pay a bit more for him to be upgraded. So it's even better than you thought.

 

[silence]

we upgraded as we figured it only took 1 more trip to make it "worth" it for the passes to pay for themselves based on what we paid for our hoppers that trip (7 days).

for us, the food discounts are just a bonus.

now of course, the issue is that we have made 3 trips (getting ready for 4th) since we got our AP's. When we were only going 1-2 times a year, we are definately spending MORE at Disney!

 

[hlbtimes2]

If you think you'll be back, then yes upgrade. You'll want to do it after you use your MM (early entry). It will not matter if you've used your TTMM or not. That will actually come in the form of a voucher that you give at the gate of toon town. They will not care how you got into the park.

I recomend you upgrade after you have used MM, and after any blackout dates during your trip. That way you can get the dinning discount. There are also some discounts in downtown Disney with your ap. If you upgrade on a blackout day, you will still have access to the parks. Keep your receipt with you.

You will upgrade at the ap center (bank) on main street. You'll give them your hopper and they will take your pic and give you your ap. Make sure they activate it so you can get fast pass with it. They will give you full credit of what you paid for your hopper, and will back date your ap to the first day you used your hopper.

 

[annieb727]

Hi there!

We live near Seattle. We went to DL last September (we spent 10 days in the parks) and upgraded to the Deluxe AP. Worth it just for that trip since they don't sell 10 day hoppers. Our APs expire on Sept 16th. So this year we're planning to go to DL Sept 4-16th. That way we get a trip about once a year, but use one AP for both trips! It works out GREAT that way. Now, I'd LOVE LOVE LOVE to go more than once a year, but we just don't have the $$ for it (or the time off for dh).

 

[bonita_babe232]

I'm wondering the same thing. I will be going for about 8 days at dinsey which cost about $200... and the ap is around $260... I don't know if i will be back within a year or not but i figuare even if just one of use gets the pass the pass we would probley make the diffrence up in the discount of food (were having a group of 12 go)..... Do you guys think it would really be worth it? I would love to go back but i don't know if we would be able to as we live pretty far away... do you guys think it would be worth it more else for cheaper food?

 

[Mike_M]

I got an AP back in '06 during a trip for my birthday. I had plans on returning the following Fall/Winter to finally get to see the NMBC HM and just experience the holiday decorations. Other issues popped up unfourtunetly that prevented me from being able to make it down so I never got to use it other then that initial trip. The newsletter was pretty cool and had those other issues not come up, I'm certain I could have made it down but having experienced what I did, I won't be getting APs again unless I can better ensure that other issues won't interfere with vacation plans.

I've still never seen NMBC HM. One of these days I suppose....

 

[bumbershoot]

I'm wondering the same thing. I will be going for about 8 days at dinsey which cost about $200... and the ap is around $260... I don't know if i will be back within a year or not but i figuare even if just one of use gets the pass the pass we would probley make the diffrence up in the discount of food (were having a group of 12 go)..... Do you guys think it would really be worth it? I would love to go back but i don't know if we would be able to as we live pretty far away... do you guys think it would be worth it more else for cheaper food?

If you sit down and really look at the menus online...use allears.net or dlresortinfo dot com....and figure out what all you might want to eat, that gives you a starting place. Know that not all places take part in the discount, and some places require at least a $10 food purchase (although another trusted person says the opposite, I have NEVER been able to get the AP discount at Royal St Veranda, and the ice cream section of the "railroad cars" at DCA, around BrrrrBank Bakery, absolutely refused the discount as well...neither of those places are listed on the official discount list, but I try anyway, LOL).

Anyway, check out what food you might want to buy, and see what the discount would be on that food. If it hits the mark or goes over, then it's worth it; if not, it's not, for that one purpose.

Definitely make sure any future trips wouldn't be during a blocked out time, though.

And you can only upgrade to an AP at DLR while you are still there and your ticket is still good. I've read that at WDW you can upgrade up to 14 days after your first use, even if your ticket is used up, but that doesn't seem to be possible at DLR.


Since we got our APs, we have created trips. Since we only have one child, and since travel is our priority and DH's job is good about time off, that has been possible for us. But we've definitely spent more on Disneyland trips since we upgraded back in September! (we live in WA so we're not a hop skip and jump away)

 

[pixiewings71]

It was definitely worth it for my family to upgrade. In fact since we upgraded we've been 8 more times. We upgraded in July of last year. We actually upgraded at the ticket window because we didn't realize we were supposed to do it on or before the last day of use, we did it the day after our last day of use. The lady at the window was very kind and went ahead and did it for us. We then went into the bank and got our pictures done, we all have the silliest grins on our faces, we were sooooooooo excited to be able to get those passes! LOL The discounts on food and merchandise have more than paid for the passes for us, we've used the hotel discounts too. We have no need for a suite so I can't help there but we stayed at the GCH for half price with a DTD view. Something we would never have been able to do without the special AP rate.

Bottom line, if you will be back within a year then yes, upgrade, you get the full cost of your park hoppers towards the price of your upgrade.

If I were you I would see how the first part of the trip goes, use the MM and enjoy. After the first couple of days you should know if you will want to come back within that year or not. Oh and when you do upgrade they backdate your AP to the first day of use of the park hoppers, so even though we didn't get our AP's until the 21st of July, they expire on the 16th.

FYI, we live a 6 hour drive away. Just in case you were wondering.

 

[smilnjen]

Sooo....Heres another question....
I went earlier this month, but had NO clue I could upgrade after using the tickets. I want to go back later this year. Can I take my park hoppers (5days) from march and upgrade them when I go back????

I doubt it, but thought I'd ask!!!


EDITED:::::::
WHOOPs....I just re read bumbershoot's post....DARN, darn, darn!

 

[biolabetty]

The AP room discount is not something to base an AP purchase on, that's for sure. The discounts are few and far between, and they haven't been as good this year as last, in my opinion. If they don't have the special AP discount, then you can get 10% off your room, which is the same as AAA discount. You can also get an AP room discount at the Howard Johnson's across Harbor Blvd. from Disneyland. Their rooms are much cheaper than Disneyland's the majority of the time, and they are a clean, decent place to stay. I prefer the Disney view rooms there myself, after all, that's why I'm in Anaheim, isn't it?

 

[IndyBride]

I have had an AP for four years now and I love it! I originally got it as an upgrade as a "just in case". Once I had one I used it. One time I went four times in a year- I live in AZ so I have to pay for flight and hotel. I use the AP rates at the hotels and while not a huge discount it is nice. I also use the discount at restaurants regularly. I figured out if I went twice in one year it's worth the price. There are times when I don't have a current one but I always upgrade once there.

 

[mommyof2boys1girl]

Hey Molly - so shocked to hear from you on this one!

The reason I asked about the AP's, is dh came home from work the other day with a proposal to purchase a revenue property somewhere - of course, I said, very innocently, "How about Anaheim? Or anywhere in CA, for that matter...a winter vacation spot, a relatively short flight away, and a good excuse for us to go back to DL again and again and again!"
Not sure if he bought my 'all innocence' act!

Anyhow, we will kind of use this trip to 'feel out our Disney spirit', and we may be upgrading before we come home.

Another question for those with kids and AP's - do you just do the AP's for your kids as well, or just get them parkhoppers since there is no kids rate for AP's? How does that work if you want to spend more than 5 days at the park - are there parkhoppers for longer than 5 days?

 

[pixiewings71]

My girls have AP's too. For us we rarely visit without them so it's better for us to get them passes as well. AND the 11 y.o. is the same price we paid anyway so she didn't save us any money. lol

 

[ptlycloudy]

I love AP's and they are a great value to do 2 trips within a year. Although I have found that they can become "expensive" when suddenly you keep adding more trips through out the year that you wouldn't normally do because you already have the tickets right?! We live in No.Calif. and while it isn't close enough for spontaneous trips we do find that we add extra trips that we wouldn't do if we didn't have AP's . Ah well my kids adore DL as much as I do and they are only young once right? So we save extra money for "extra" trips to DL!