Annual Passports A Must For DVCers

[tjkraz]

Originally posted by Cora
The breakeven point for an AP is 7 days...

The 7-8 day figure has been floating around for a while, but it's really a bit deceptive. IIRC, that figure is based upon a comparison to the gate price. In reality, you can get a 7 day PHP for about $330. That gives you 7 park days and 4 plus visits for about $80-90 less than the AP.

 

[lsutigger2]

Dh and I got AP's for the first time in Oct. 2002 and used them until Oct. 2003. I really enjoy having them because:
1. it got Dh to take another trip, even though we hadn't "planned" on it - "we have the AP's, might as well use them!!" works for me!!
2. DH plays lots of golf at WDW and doesn't spend as much time in the parks as I do. Therefore, knowing we're not "wasting" a day on another type of pass just for him to go into a park for a few hours one day is good.
I'm with the "wish there were better discounts" group. I've already got the money aside for our park passes for our upcoming Oct. trip!!

 

[rinkwide]

Originally posted by tjkraz
...you can get a 7 day PHP for about $330. That gives you 7 park days and 4 plus visits for about $80-90 less than the AP.

Good point. The 7 day PHP is certainly a formidable rival to the AP.

Why don't we break it down even further. Let's assume the 7 day PHP will allow you 10 total days of use: 7 days of park hopping, two days of waterparking, and one day of Disney Quest followed by a night at PI. That works out to a per day value of about $33. So at that rate I'd estimate the break even point for the AP at around 12 days.

The negative factors working against the PHP are the restrictive use rules (only 7 theme park days allowed), the fact that, in the above example, we're counting a waterpark day as an equal to a theme park day and the annoying tendency to build-up a collection of old passes with an uncertain number of PLUS uses left on them.

Negatives of the AP are the extra $67 out of your pocket, a fixed expiration date, no waterparks included unless you spend an additional $130 on PAP and the horror of a less-than-sanitary biometric finger scaner.

Advantage?

Push.

 

[InstImpres]

Originally posted by rinkwide
and the annoying tendency to build-up a collection of old passes with an uncertain number of PLUS uses left on them.

FYI, I write in ballpoint pen on my passes when we return 2d, 3p - that means this ticket has 2 days left and 3 pluses. Disney has said it is fine and than I have later used those tickets, no problem. This helps me know what that misc, collection includes because for a while, I lost track.

Sandy

 

[idratherbeinwdw]

I really enjoy the convenience of an AP for me and for my daughters. We can stop by the park for an hour or two any day and not feel like we "wasted" a day on a hopper pass. We don't do the water parks or any of the other "plus" options, so we don't need premium APs.

Since we travel to WDW on the average of 3 times in one year and stay for 6 days each time I feel like it's the only way to go for us. Yep, laying out all that money at once is a killer, but once it's done it's done and we can come and go as we please any time we like, I love that flexibility.

And don't forget there are certain perks associated with AP's, such as deep discounts at WDW resorts (if you decide not to use your points for a trip, or if you choose to stay at a non DVC resort on weekends to save points).

Here's Deb Wills' from WDWIG thoughts on "breaking even":

http://allearsnet.com/pl/breakeven.php

 

[lenshanem]

The AP has been very bad for us!
It has caused us to go more than we normally would cause we already have passes! Great mentality! (Let's shove in as many trips as we can now! Uh, how much extra money have we spent this year?!?)

Really, we are burning ourselves out here. I've got the addiction and the AP is adding fuel to the fire. We are going to have to take a break once this AP runs out!

Afterwords I'm planning a VB, possibly HH trip, DCL and then finally a WDW DVC trip again, maybe SSR but with no WDW parks! Maybe use our leftover hopper options and go to the water parks and maybe even Universal!

Then about that time I will be having some serious withdrawal issues so an AP might be in store again, especially if DVC gives us a discount! HINT, HINT!!!

 

[las3888]

We have bought an AP before we owned DVC...we found it was worth it when able to use it to get discounts at Disney hotels, but only I would get one while DH used park hoppers. Now that we own DVC we find that park hoppers are still the way to go for us. We are able to extend our park hoppers for about a year and a half which is better than having to fork out the $ every year. We don't go to the parks every day, and we usually go to Universal about every other trip. I think everybody is different in their travel patterns and use of passes.

 

[Terry S]

The AP's work out best for us because we relax a lot during our vacation and tend to go to the parks for only a few hours out of each day and I don't feel that I would do that with a PHP, I would feel too guilty "wasting" a day on a pass for a few hours. The only "bad" part of buying an AP was when we first bought them in 2000 we planned on doing the go in week 26 thing and go back in week 25 the following year thing and then we figured well we have these darn passes we might as well use them so now we go 2 - 3 times each year so we just renew the passes when the time comes up. Oh and we had to buy more points in order to go 2 - 3 times a year. DVC should really clue into that aspect and work hard at getting us the discount, because I think it might cause a few more people to buy extra points.

 

[rinkwide]

Originally posted by Terry S
...the discount...might cause a few more people to buy extra points.

More than a few, I'd say.

 

[CRobin]

Originally posted by rinkwide
Why don't we break it down even further. Let's assume the 7 day PHP will allow you 10 total days of use: 7 days of park hopping, two days of waterparking, and one day of Disney Quest followed by a night at PI.

A minor technicality, but you get no DQ with the PHP, only with the UPH.

Nonetheless, your logic is sound; for those who max out the use of the Plus Feature, the PHP is a good choice.

We use AP's, but are always bringing family and purchase PHPs for them. We have also accumulated a ton of unused "pluses" so I have to keep a spreadsheet to see what we have left. Hint - the resorts (though they don't like to sometimes), or Guest Relations can key in the number on your PHP to tell you exactly what is remaining.

PI was doing an experiment last year (don't know if it's still going on or has been adopted as a policy) where you could just wander through PI at night without a pass; you only needed a pass to get a wrist band to get into the clubs.

 

[SSRex]

Originally posted by CRobin
PI was doing an experiment last year (don't know if it's still going on or has been adopted as a policy) where you could just wander through PI at night without a pass; you only needed a pass to get a wrist band to get into the clubs.

That was the case while we were there in July and the WDWIG website is reporting that will be the case from now on. We took our kids over to PI to eat and watch the stage show, but did not go into any of the clubs, so no tickets were required. We would not have paid for the 6 of us to go in under the old system. In 2002, we did have UPH and did take the kids to see the comedy club show, but would not spend the money to do it without UHP.

 

[SoCalKDG]

The 7 + 4 park hopper is a great deal. I recently purchased them for $295(includes tax and shipping) from Hotwire savings club.

I then assign $20 for each day of the plusses(no scientific method for this, just what I see as a fair value). This means the park hoppers are worth $215 for 7 days, or $30.72 per day.

So I'd have to go to the parks approx. 13 days to break even. With a max of 2 trips in any one AP year, thats very, very difficult, and doesn't make for a fun vacation.

Now if I didn't have kids, and I didn't want to go to water parks, then each day would cost me 42$, thus 9.5 trips, thus an AP looks better.

 

[LIFERBABE]

I then assign $20 for each day of the plusses(no scientific method for this, just what I see as a fair value). This means the park hoppers are worth $215 for 7 days, or $30.72 per day.

I value my PH days the same way. About $30 a day for an adult, less for a child. We normally go to the WP's at least once per trip.

I used to look at it as wasting a day on the hopper if we didnt stay from open to close, but now I just make sure we get $30 worth of fun and then we go if we want. Spectro and Wishes alone is worth $30 to me so I dont sweat it.

My Dh and sons love DQ so we purchased DQ AP's for them last trip. I upgraded a Hopper to an AP for myself, since I had 4 trips planned this year. (should have upgraded my MH ticket!)

Our last trip was 10 nights, we did 2 days at Disney Theme Parks and 1 day at TL. They did DQ 4 evenings and the last day before we left for MCO. I went to MGM and watched B&B!

We all have $99 US/IOA AP's so we did 3 days there.

Our mish/mosh of passes really worked for us and gave us plenty of variety and things to do. Next year we are planning a 15 day trip and will use the same combo of WDW AP, PHP, US/IOA AP and DQ AP before the AP's expire. The Park Hoppers I have had for years and when I find a good deal like the 5 day + 4 Plus PHP day, I buy a couple to keep us rolling and lock in the lower price as they go up often.

Also US/IOA AP renewals start from the day of use so this is only our first renewal on a pass we purchased in 2003. I will renew again in 2005 after our trip, activate in 2006 and have another 2 years worth of trips covered.

I keep everything in my PassPorter and label the remaining days on my passes.

 

[kathyseb]

We just purchased our third AP in a row.
We used to go down once a year. Then I told DH that we had to go for our 10 year anniversary since we honeymooned at DW.
But, that also was the 25th anniversary celebration which meant two trips in one year. So we bought our first APs.

Since we had the APs we made three trips in one year instead of the two we had planned.

After that first expiration, we have renewed within the time frame to get the renewal discount.

We just renewed this one. With the renewal discount, the APs were $361.04 a piece.

Since we are there four weeks out of the year, and unlike others, we are at the park every day, it is the only way for us to go.

We would like to see where DW allows you one time to change our start day of the pass.

 

[offtheice]

Originally posted by tjkraz
The 7-8 day figure has been floating around for a while, but it's really a bit deceptive. IIRC, that figure is based upon a comparison to the gate price. In reality, you can get a 7 day PHP for about $330. That gives you 7 park days and 4 plus visits for about $80-90 less than the AP.

Agree . The PHP is better and cheaper. Besides the last two yrs, After my april trip i know i wont be back for atleast 1.5 .. Cant afford to go down any more then that.

 

[Snowgod]

I know it has been mention about the discounts for AP holders but it really can be quite a savings. You also can get special event viewing or seating for so many things at WDW that it can be worth a few dollars more. We buy passes for guests with the discounts and save them even more.

 

[Luckymommyx2]

We plan to get AP's for our trips next year. We have it planned to get four trips out of it so it'll definitely be worth it for us. I like being able to go to the park in the evening just for fireworks and maybe dinner without feeling I've wasted a full day on a regular ticket. It just makes things more relaxing. Plus, AP's get other discounts but I'm not sure if they are comparable to DVC discounts or not. I haven't checked into that yet!

 

[crisi]

We are "every other year for a single week" folks, so APs aren't doing it for us - at least not unless our travel schedule changes.

APs are really great if you do spend more than a week (or so, pluses etc, may change the value for you) a year in the parks. And the "51/53 week" program is a great way to take "annual" trips at a break - if your schedule has the flexibility (we always travel the same week in October, because our kids get 2 or 3 days off that week). But I suspect there are a lot of DVC members sharing contracts with other families, skipping years, using points outside WDW, only staying a week every year - and not having that flexible schedule, etc - which is one factor in keeping that AP rate down at 12%.

 

[garylpn]

we do pap now, used to get los for many trips, but less hours of use got on my nerves on travel days
so we got ap in april 03 while at cs for a convention, that was 3 days and we stayed extra 4, combined with already planned dec 03/7day we were at 14 so ap made sense
that was tge trip that started dvc acquisition mode, 2 add-ons at bcv, and 1 okw and 1 bwv resale later we are finally locked into 3 7 day trips a year, so pap even makes sense we feel
AND since our mo is to start out in the am at a park, then see where our desires and the day lead us, including wp for maybe a couple of hours in the afternoons, pap seems to make sense for us. we just budget weekly for airfares and passes so our wdw cookie jar always seems to have enough in it
we started this year in may and are doing same in oct trip of staying 2 days at portofino bay hotel and using the 2 year universal passes we bought in may at the special sale price of 2 years for the price of 1
imho if anything pushes disney into better dvc pass discounts this will, i've witnessed the 50% drop in mon-fri season ski passes, ever since the first area decided to do this and figured maybe they would make the $ up from increased weekday food sales

 

[JLS]

I tend to disagree that APs are usually the best value. That can be true, but only if you live close by and are guaranteed to be able to go a lot and you like to spend a lot of time in the major Disney parks. We live in California and take one trip to WDW per year, generally around the same time of year. I like the "go week 33 the first year, then week 32 the second year while the pass is still valid" theory, but, as other posters have pointed out, if anything happens to your plans the second year and you have to postpond, your AP will go right down the drain. We considered buying an AP in May of this year when we went, thinking that we would go next May the week earlier while our passes were still valid. But when we returned from WDW this year, I found out I am pregnant, due in March, so will be postponing 2005's trip until much later in the year. There is no way we will get to WDW before the baby is born, so I am so glad we didn't buy the APs.

We have found that the 7 day plus 4 PHP is the best. When we go for a 7-10 days per year, we usually spend 2 days at Universal, 2 days pool hopping or enjoying the general WDW grounds, and we always spend one day at Blizzard Beach and one day at DTD and Disney Quest. That leaves us only 2-3 days to do the major parks. We were able to "stretch" a 7 day Park Hopper plus pass through 3 years of trips, meaning that we spent only about $100 per year on our park admission. We were thrilled with that.

For Universal, every other year we buy a 2 or 3 day park hopper pass there (you can get them for about $90 discounted) and that will stretch for 2 trips and allow us to hop between Islands of Adventure and Universal Orlando.

For Pleasure Island, we always just pay for the tickets and for $5 we add on the "additional 5 nights" option, which means if you go 2-3 times, your cost is very low. If you use a "plus" feature for Pleasure Island admission, you cannot get that deal, FYI.