Annual pass

[MinniMama]

Can someone explain this to me. We go every year and usually split a 5 day between two trips. We are now interested in the pass. What is included in it? How does it work? When will hotel AP discounts be released for late April if any will be? Cany you buy then at the Duisney store and how close to the trip can you get them? What parks or plus options are included? Thanks for your help I seem to be clueless. Also do most people buy 1 and get the srest hoppers or 1 for everyone? Thanks!!

 

[drusba]

There are two annual passes: the Annual Pass (AP), and Premium Annual Pass(PAP). The AP gives unlimited entry for a year to the theme parks only. The PAP also includes waterparks, Pleasure Island, Disney Quest and Wide World of Sports. The PAP is much more expensive than the AP and should be purchased only if you actually intend to do those other parks a lot. In fact having the AP gives you some single day discounts to those other parks.

Other than those differences the two are the same and also provide: (1) ability to get room discounts; (2) some restataurant (mainly DD) and merchandise discounts; (3) other various discounts on golf courses, boats, mini golf, Cirque and Hoop Dee Doo (only sometimes for either of those two as those discounts seem to come and go more often than others); (4) access to special lounges at AK (and sometimes Epcot); (5) sometimes preferred seating or viewing areas for parades, and sometimes other things. You also get a quarterly Disney Monitor, the newsletter for AP holders. You need to have only one adult AP per family to be able to get any of the discounts.

The room discounts can be announced for any particular resorts anywhere from a month to six months or longer in advance although very often it is 2 to 3 months in advance.

They are sold at the parks (guest services and ticket booths) or over the phone through Disney's main line. I do not know whether Disney Stores even sell them (the voucher) anymore (in past only some did and all may have ceased doing so). If you buy over the phone what you get is a voucher which you turn in for the pass when you arrive at WDW. In either event (whether buy there or in advance) the first official use day of the pass is when you get the official pass when you arrive for that first day at WDW. They are then renewable annually for a price less than original purchase price. Generally, if you will actually be in the theme parks 9 days or more in a year, the AP is definitely something to seriously consider. Also, possibly buying one to use for room discounts is done by a number of people.

 

[Terk-1]

Since I too go every year, usually for 7-10 days, I decided to buy an Annual Pass on my last trip. You can purchase these at any of the guest service windows at the 4 theme parks. It takes about 15 minutes for them to process everything and you are given your pass. The pass is a paper ticket, not plastic. Before you leave the window, make sure all of the information both on the ticket and in their system is correct, especially the date on the ticket. Once you purchase your pass, you can head for any of the turnstiles. You slip in your pass and then place your fingers in the scanner to read your prints. You do this everytime you enter a park. They also offer a Premium Annual Pass that includes the water parks, Pleasure Island & DisneyQuest. This pass does cost more $$. Since I don't go to these that often, it was not worth the extra $$ for me. Check out Deb Will's site (see link below) for much more detailed information.

http://wdwig.com/apass.htm

 

[patsal]

If you have a current DC membership your tickets are also discounted. They can be purchased at guest relations window, over the phone with a $3.00 service charge or through the Disney store (allow two to three weeks for deliveryto the DS--there is still a $3.00 service charge). To determine if the PAP or AP is a better deal for you try to decide how many "plus" options you would use during the time you will be using your passes. I believe you have to use a total of four plus options to break even.