Another AP question - trying to plan ahead

[disfanforlife]

My DH and I just bought AP's during our visit to the World (for 6 park days) last week. We had 5 day tix from UT which I upgraded. This is our first time buying AP's and going to the world twice in a 12 month period. We have our next trip planned for March 2014 with our two daughters. So, my DH and I are all set with our AP's. I have two more 5 day tix I plan to use for my DD's and then upgrade them to AP's also while there in March. We only plan to be there for 5 days in March - but I had read somewhere that if you are there more than 10 days it is worthwhile to get AP's. Now, my question comes in - the next trip will be January 2015. So, my DD's AP's (that we buy in March) will cover that trip for them. But, my DH and my AP's will expire mid November. Is it better to renew them? Or just buy new AP's again in January 2015? I am planning the next trip to be December 2015 so that I can make use of them for two trips again.

 

[MouseMomx2]

If you renew your AP it will be good from November 2014 - November 2015. That means you would not be able to use it for the December 2015 trip.

Unless you can move that Dec. 2015 trip to dates in November that would fall within your AP year I would just buy a new one. If you renew you will only get to use it for the January trip and then you'll have to renew again for the Dec. trip.

 

[disfanforlife]

If you renew your AP it will be good from November 2014 - November 2015. That means you would not be able to use it for the December 2015 trip.

Unless you can move that Dec. 2015 trip to dates in November that would fall within your AP year I would just buy a new one. If you renew you will only get to use it for the January trip and then you'll have to renew again for the Dec. trip.

That makes sense. I would love to continue our tradition of going in November, but our two daughters are in college and don't have vacation then. This year we did two trips, but I would prefer taking one trip with all three of our kids instead of going separately. Although, now that I am home for less than a week - I am already looking forward to our next trip in March!

 

[bluenosemickey]

This might not apply in this instance. But we have not ever renewed our APs. Even though you get a $50 discount, we have found that over the years, we save more by spreading out the AP purchase to coordinate with trips.

We get greedy and want to get three trips from each AP. Have actually managed to do it consistently by purchasing when we know that we can go again in 11.5 months. Essentially shifting one of our usual vacations by a week or so earlier or later to accommodate the expiry.

I find now that my kids are older, we can't pull them out anymore to shift the vacations as easily. So we buy in the late summer and get march break and two summer vacays in one AP. Go somewhere else next march and start again in the summer with a new AP.

One year we got 5 trips included because of an extension to the AP offered. I don't know who was smarter with that one, us or DISNEY, with the $$ we spend on each trip??? Something tells me it wasn't us. But I felt pretty smug anyway.

 

[disfanforlife]

This might not apply in this instance. But we have not ever renewed our APs. Even though you get a $50 discount, we have found that over the years, we save more by spreading out the AP purchase to coordinate with trips.

We get greedy and want to get three trips from each AP. Have actually managed to do it consistently by purchasing when we know that we can go again in 11.5 months. Essentially shifting one of our usual vacations by a week or so earlier or later to accommodate the expiry.

I find now that my kids are older, we can't pull them out anymore to shift the vacations as easily. So we buy in the late summer and get march break and two summer vacays in one AP. Go somewhere else next march and start again in the summer with a new AP.

One year we got 5 trips included because of an extension to the AP offered. I don't know who was smarter with that one, us or DISNEY, with the $$ we spend on each trip??? Something tells me it wasn't us. But I felt pretty smug anyway.

That is great! I wasn't sure what the renewal discount was. Now, I see its not worth it. I wouldn't buy the pass if I couldn't get two trips out of it. But I don't realistically see us getting more than that out of it - at least not in the near future. Maybe later - depending on the kids. For years we always took them out of school, but now that the girls are in college that is impossible. Our son missed three days to go with us last week and that was ok. It is hard to coordinate with everyone having different schedules. Including DH and I. We can not take any vacation time in the summer at all.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

We've also never paid the renewal price. It never works out perfectly, but we try to time our passes and trips so we only have to buy a pass every other year.

We'll actually have to re-think our strategy, because the teacher in the household retired, last year, so we're no longer restricted to travel during school breaks. That said, what we've done in the past is to typically buy our pass during a two-week early August trip. We'll then try to get back for another short trip either at Spring Break, Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas that year. These trips might be as long as a week, but are sometimes just a long weekend. The next year, we'll plan our two-week summer vacation in July. That way, we get two-years worth of trips (typically about 5 weeks) off a single pass.

I do have to admit that it's difficult to avoid the temptation on the off year of wanting to do a Fall or Spring trip. One year, we just gave in and bought our passes in December instead of waiting. Another year, we decided to give Disneyland a visit instead of WDW.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Look at the difference in prices between new and renewal passes.

Be aware that if you renew the expiration date of the new pass will be one year from the expiration date of the current pass, no matter when the renewal is processed. If you pay the price for a new pass the expiration date will be one year from the date of actual live pass issuance.

If you go to the locked sticky Everything About WDW Tickets in the TPA&S Forum. In Post #15-G you can get a lot more information about renewals and in Post #18-A you can see all current prices. An easy way to get to the sticky is by clicking on the link in my signature. The ticket sticky is your friend!

 

[disfanforlife]

Look at the difference in prices between new and renewal passes.

Be aware that if you renew the expiration date of the new pass will be one year from the expiration date of the current pass, no matter when the renewal is processed. If you pay the price for a new pass the expiration date will be one year from the date of actual live pass issuance.

If you go to the locked sticky Everything About WDW Tickets in the TPA&S Forum. In Post #15-G you can get a lot more information about renewals and in Post #18-A you can see all current prices. An easy way to get to the sticky is by clicking on the link in my signature. The ticket sticky is your friend!

Thank you! I was happy with what we got for this trip since I did link our tickets to MDE I wasn't sure if we would get the "bridged" price or not. This does take some detailed planning not sure if it will work for us every year because I don't even know if I will like going in January or not. I really love going to Disney in November but I also really lovd having all of my kids with me too!