Any 'annual pass holders' out there? I'm thinking of making the jump

[loves to dive]

I've had one for going on 3 years now (time to renew Sept. 20) and can't imagine not having one. When I first got mine I knew I was taking two trips that year and I always get Phs. At the time AAA and Disney were still speaking so I got a AAA discount on the AP. It worked out less than my ph's would have been, I think I was making two 5 night trips but I don't remember. The renewal is less than the pass so it just made sense to renew since, again I knew I'd be down twice the next year. I don't consider the discounts when making my decision since they are a moving target, especially the food ones. My upcoming trip is actually the first time I've used it for a room discount other than that first trip. Again, AAA and Disney were still speaking so I already had the trip booked with a AAA discount and when I got the AP turns out they were offering AP discounts which were better so I used it then. Every trip since then, it was better for me to use the general public discount and stack that with an Orbitz either 10% or 15% discount. My upcoming trip, I had booked a split stay with a general discount and Orbitz discount on top for 2 nights at CSR then 3 nights at Swan (I'm a Starwood member) but I used my AAA discount with Swan. That stuck until about 2 weeks ago when I decided to add a day to the beginning of the trip. No way I could keep Swan unless I changed that reservation to 4 nights, one of which was a CSR night already booked, then cancelled the CSR, which would give me a $25 cancellation fee with Orbitz and rebooked CSR. Turns out YC all of the sudden showed up for an AP discount that was less than what I was paying for Swan when I factored in parking since I drive. I could then cancel the Orbitz and book CSR through WDW with the same rate even with the Orbitz discount applied that I got through Orbitz and book YC. So adding a day only cost me what the CSR for that one day and the $25 cancellation fee, which was absorbed in the discount. I'm still playing around with changing it again to one night at CSR, one night at WL and keeping the 4 nights at YC. All with AP discounts.

 

[cutigerlady]

I just renewed our passes for the third year. We live in Atlanta and we can get cheap SW flights ($49) or manage the drive. We end up going about 6 times a year. What my family enjoys is that we don't rush to ride every ride because we know that there will be another opportunity. We enjoy that there is so much to do other than spend every minute in a park and even as the kids get older, there are plenty of new things to do with them. If you are planning at least two trips in the same year, it usually works out to be cheaper to buy the AP. We also have the TIW card, which works out better for us than the dining plan. The hotel discounts can be hit or miss depending on the time of year.

 

[osopecoso]

DW and I have APs. We live in north FL about 1.75 hours away. We have gone down for just the day and saved on the parking. However, when we stay on property, we take the bus.

Same with us. We are in S. Florida and it only takes us about 2.25 hrs to get from door to front gate. Sometimes we would just decide one morning to go since we are very early risers. Stay at a place not on property or something cheap on-site that night and drive back the next morning or brave it and drive back the same day. Does not cost us anything in Gas since wife drives a Tesla (we park at Epcot where they have charging stations). Most of the time those spots are empty.

 

[NH-to-FL]

We switched to AP's once we started doing two one week trips a year. Then when we got our villa those trips became two weeks long. Now we are snowbirds. As 'hakebp' says, be careful when you have an AP in your pocket.

Free parking is our biggest perk.

 

[JEAhrtWDW]

My family of 4 will be there this Friday-Monday and then we will be back for 9 days in November, staying off-site. I am planning on upgrading our 4 day base tickets to APs when we get there. Do you get anything special when you get the APs? Also, can this be done at the resort (we are staying at AoA), or should we go to guest services in the parks?

 

[Happyinwonerland]

we always get an AP and use it for at least 2 trips
The memory maker, parking, and discounts make it worth it for us.

 

[johnsgrl]

if you are already planning on going at least a couple of weeks in a 1 year period it is totally worth it. We now live about an 8.5 hour drive away and the first thing we did was buy AP's because we knew we were taking a family trip in October which I would have bought Memory Maker for anyway since its DGS first trip, and wanted to have an adult weekend on Memorial Day. Then I found out the work conference I have to attend every January is in Orlando in 2017. I will probably get at least 18 park days out of it. The discounts are ok, if you are planning on eating there/buying that anyway. We sometimes stay at Shades of Green so the free parking is huge for us.

 

[johnsgrl]

My family of 4 will be there this Friday-Monday and then we will be back for 9 days in November, staying off-site. I am planning on upgrading our 4 day base tickets to APs when we get there. Do you get anything special when you get the APs? Also, can this be done at the resort (we are staying at AoA), or should we go to guest services in the parks?

You will need to do it at Guest Services, we entered a park our fist day and went strait to Guest Services and did our upgrade with no wait. You will get the AP card to use for discounts immediately. Later, in the mail you will receive your AP magic bands if you opt in for them on MDE, in the same mailing I got the Annual Pass sliders for the bands and an AP magnet for my car.

 

[AngiTN]

We live about 8, 9 hours away and have had AP for 2 years. We love it. We get down about once a month for short trips and at least once a year for a long trip

I was looking at the prices for annual passes and I was surprised that it wouldn't be that much more than a regular family vacation for a week (family of four). Has anyone made the 'jump' and bought an annual pass? I'm 7hrs away in 'Bama and am considering this. I'm interested in the perks such as discounts to disney resorts. Such as...how much of a discount would I expect for a Disney resort. This looks like it might pay for itself over the long haul.

You are posting on a board full of Disney nerds. There are probably a few AP holders here

 

[LindseyJo22]

We got APs last year - we were planning to come down and have a very short weekend with only one park day, and the AP was not that much more than just buying one day tickets on top of our already purchased park tickets, so we upgraded. We also got a week long trip this past May as well as a 4 day December trip out of those, so it definitely saved us on park admission. We currently live about 6 hours away, so the fact that it's a relatively short drive also makes a huge difference. The situation may be very different if we end up moving farther away.

The "let's just go because the tickets are covered" problem is real though! Even worse because the rooms feel like they are "covered" with our DVC points. We will renew our passes this year because we'll go again in May, we had an unexpected trip get planned in January, and I'm running the Princess Half in February, so even without the race weekend it made sense from an admission perspective. We enjoy the discounts but really only considered renewing if it would be less than the park admission.

I've loved having the AP though - it's very nice to be able to walk into a park just for a short while and not have to worry about using a day of your ticket, like when we have gone into Epcot just to get breakfast at Les Halles on our departure day.

 

[EastTNDisneyFan]

We are DVC members as well and we get the AP. We live near a small airport that Alegiant flies into so we get deals like 30 and 40 bucks each way. (Better than driving 11 hrs) However, we have to get transportation to and from Sanford which really isn't that bad and it's till cheaper than flying Delta through Hotlanta.

 

[adisneyaunt]

Live in Fla now ( yippee) 3.5 hrs away...and purchased AP's as I always said I would when we moved here. (They expire in a few weeks.) I think it was well worth the cost for us as we spent 22 days onsite since getting AP's. If we didn't have the pass we d likely not visit as much as we did ( and I'll likely squeeze another 3-4 days in before it expires).
The renewal offer is 15percent off and I actually thought I was Not going to renew... But this thread has me re-thinking that, Maybe....
The drawback is that the new pass costs are much more than what I paid..now with Blackout dates.
As a Fla resident there are discounted room offers and discounted tix promos too, I may just use those promos for the cost savings instead, just Not sure yet.

OP, I'd suggest getting an AP for more onsite stays/visits to get overall costs down... I guess figure out ur savings ahead of time. Is it Worth the cost?
Good luck. Whatever u decide, pixie dust ur way!

 

[smidgy]

if you normally do the park hoppers and do one trip a year.. if you time it right, it would be worth it. we try to take 2 tirps a year. and , timing it right, we get 3 trips out of one annual pass.
now I admit the we haven't found much savings in AP room discounts. theycome out kinda late, and arent' that much. about every other trip we rent DVC points. the thing we LOVE about it is, if we are at the boardwalk, we can take a day to sleep in,lie by the pool, and saunter ver to epcot to hear a band (garden rocks/eat to the beat/ sounds like summer) as well as the british revolution. have a sit down dinner or a counter service, illuminatons. and not feel like we wasted a whole days park ticket for a couple hours.
if you want to do the "free" dining promotion. save the required 2 day tickets. for the next year.
use the tickets to enter the park once (thereby "bridging" the value of the tickets.. from what you paid for them to wht they are currently worth, then go to Guest relations and pay the difference between the value of the 2 day tickets to your next AP>

 

[smidgy]

while you can get a good discount if you immediately renew the AP, unless you are local, we find this to be a waste of a bunch of months. (unless you can get dow there more often then twice a year.

 

[smidgy]

I asgree with lindsey... we have done the old.. "throw in an extra trip" thing.. cause.. heck,, the tickets are already purchased. lol

 

[Flamingeaux]

I wish we had APs again. We took three trips with our first AP and four with our second set. We live 10.5 hours away.

 

[toolmanjan]

In late 20012 the DVC offered AP's with a deep discount it was an no brainer. We visited for 10 days in January '13 then again for 10 days Christmas week. Whenever we have planed two extended stays within a year we have purchased AP's its a no brainer. With the price of admission constantly rising AP's are the only way to keep the cost down.

I have a seasonal business, in the winter my schedule is very flexible. My DW's is not. She has to fly. I drive down from NJ with all the luggage a couple of days before my Wife. My DS (23) has the option to fly or drive with me. I pick up my DD who goes to school in SC.

Costs me about $225 in gas. Two nights halfway hotels $140 total. DW's round trip for this December is $320 from AC. (no bag fees)

Unfortunately no AP's this year unless the DVC has a better year end deal in the works.