Annual passes

[AJisit]

Im going for three weeks is it worth getting an annual pass as i think with the savings i make on parking and discounts for food and merchandise i will save money. this is for disney AND universal cheers

 

[Guest-expert]

almost positive....but price it out.

 

[nytimez]

Depends on how many days of those three weeks will be spent in the parks -- but generally, for a longer trip like that, the annual pass will almost always be worthwhile. An easy way to test: Go online and price the cost of a regular ticket for your trip, and compare it to the cost of the pass (for Disney and Universal). A couple of other sites have calculators to check, but I'm not sure if I can link to them so I won't -- but Google will help.

 

[AJisit]

Well my 21 day pass would be £270 while the anual pass is £370 however with parking fees and discounts on merchandise and food im thinking i will save some money? also i could surprise my girlfriend with a weekend break to disney land paris and not worry about park entry?

 

[lajspeech]

I could be wrong but I am 99% certain that an annual pass is only vaild for one location... i.e.- a WDW pass cannot be used at Disneyland or Disneyland Paris or Tokyo Disney.

 

[AJisit]

i still think it would work out cheaper even without other locations
what do people think?

 

[ajjollie23]

It is cheaper for you to get the annual pass if you plan on spending a minimum of 10 days in the parks. Once you hit 11 days it is well worth it, especially if you plan on getting a 10 day or more park hopper. We plan on getting an 8 day park hopper from undercover tourist, using it one day and then upgrading to the annual pass. We are going to be at disney for 10 days in Oct and then again in Jan so for us this saves the most $ and makes the most sense

 

[cvallee]

Question for AJisit: Why would you buy a pass, use it for a day, and then upgrade? Is there a value to that? Never heard of it.

Thanks

 

[goofy4tink]

Are you staying onsite?? If so, there is no charge for parking at the parks. I have also found that the discounts on dining just aren't all that great. They are for around 10% at lunchtime meals...seldom at dinnertime, and not everywhere in any case.
Shopping offers a discount if at the big World of Disney store in DTD, and sometimes in other places, but not all the time.
I get an AP in order to access the parks for more than a total of 10 days. I don't get it for any other reason. Sit down and figure out your actual costs. But..if you have an AP, you will be able to buy the Tables in Wonderland card, which is a good meal discount card. Saves you 20% at most table service spots in WDW. BUT..it does cost about $75..so you'll have to eat a fair amount of food in order to recoup your costs.

The AP is going to be good only for WDW..no other locations. But, if you are planning on being in the Disney parks for more than 10 days, it will be a good deal.

 

[2DisPrincesses]

Do you have a discounted room? If you buy an AP, you might be able to get an AP room rate which might help justify the cost.

 

[addicted2dizney]

biggest discounts are for room rates, the others won't add up to much they are not at every location, etc.. If you can get the 21 day pass that's a great deal. Unless you know for sure you will be returning next year. You might just stay with the 21 day pass. I don't think you get a parking discount, there is a premium pass I believe that has the parking included though. Not sure if your deal includes that.

 

[AJisit]

I did not say about upgrading an 8 day pass that was ajjollie23

Also i will be staying off site

also im there for 3 weeks so 21 days i should be there for 10 days? it might be close i cant predict what we do as we are not going with a concrete routine its just me and my DGF

Also you get free parking with both the annual passes and discounted valet parking with the premium anual pass i just checked

 

[danceintherain]

The general rule of thumb is that an Annual Pass is only a good idea if you will break even or better for park entry alone. The additional perks are nice, but the only one that makes a huge difference is the room discount, and those are not guaranteed. In order to take advantage of this greatest discount, you would have to stay on property, so you won't have to pay for parking anyways

I'm guessing you live in the UK, since you mentioned a 21-day ticket. This option isn't available to anyone outside the UK.
I suppose if you are staying off property, then you will be able to make up for the difference in parking fees.
I estimate the fee to be about 10 GBP/day, so if you park at the parks every day during your trip, (21*10= 210) you'll make up the difference between 2-21 day passes and 2-Annual Passes.

Something else you might consider is that most of the AP discounts only require one Annual Pass in a party.
Parking is per car, so if you're all riding together you only need on AP
Discounts on Water Park, DisneyQuest and hard ticket events require 1 Annual Pass for 4 people.
Mini Golf - 50% off for passholder and 3 guests
World Showcase lunch discounts - passholder & 3 guests

Some of the discounts are only valid for the passholder, so you should read through all the available discounts before making your decision. For the most part, with a difference of 100 GBP/person, even with the few things (i.e tours and experiences) that require passes for all participants you'll still probably come out on top with just one Annual Pass per 4 people in the group.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/discounts/discounts-ap.htm#general

 

[bumbershoot]

also i could surprise my girlfriend with a weekend break to disney land paris and not worry about park entry?

No, that's not possible.

While there is a new Disneyland/Disneyworld AP that's over $700, there is no Annual Passport that includes the parks in other countries.


If you're not even sure you're going for even 10 days, and since you aren't going to get an AP discounted on-site room...would the other discounts really add up enough to justify the extra cost? I guess that's what you have to figure out! Good luck!



cvallee, when you buy a WDW ticket from a discount place like Undercover Tourist, you can upgrade that ticket (after using it), and "keep the discount". So if you bought a ticket for $90 that is worth $100, when you use it to enter the park and then upgrade it, you get the credit for the $100. So if you're upgrading it to something that costs $150, you will only have to pay $50 (150-100) instead of $60 (150-90).

 

[Marshel]

Parking is up to $14/day. One other thing to consider is that you can drop into a park on an off day just before close to catch fireworks or a nighttime show (or drop into a park to eat at restaurant) and not have to worry about burning a day off a hopper.