Any Annual Pass Holders?

[wdw-ocd]

DH and I are trying to figure out if purchasing an AP is worth the cost.

If you have an AP, we'd love to know if you thought the cost was worth it, how often you actually go/went to WDW, if your kids got WDW-overloaded, etc.

TIA

 

[dhluvsDisney]

We have had AP's for quite a while. We usually go 2 or 3 times a year and plan around our AP's. We seldom renew them, as that seems more of a waste of around 4 or 5 months. We have used them for everything from room discounts, to food discounts, to merchandise discounts. Adding everything up for us basically paid for the passes themselves. It would really depend on how often you plan to go. If you go 2 x's in a one year period, it is usually worth it.

 

[yxe dad]

I also have bought AP's in the past and I am a current AP holder. I try to get 2 trips in during the year I have the pass and buy a new AP on my next trip after it expires. Being from SK the biggest costs are flights then park tickets, so if I can squeeze two trips in on a AP the better it is for me. We usually go for between 9-16 days and I figure break even is 12 days. I also use the AP for great room discounts, and the DDE card. IMHO an AP is the only way to go.

 

[Cottager]

We went 4 times last year from Toronto and boy do I wish I had bought the passes at the beginning. To be fair, it was our first time and we immediately got hooked. This year, we're not taking any chances. If you take into consideration the savings on the Room Only bookings and the Disney Dining Experience, it will save you money. Disney World is now considered to be our cottage. As long as we keep getting cheap flights out of Buffalo, take advantage of the Room only discounts and buy affordable food, purchasing the pass makes a lot of sense.

 

[Charleyann]

This is our first. I purchased using airmiles. Bought the all inclusive ticket from airmiles. For $35, I upgraded to an annual pass. Last Christmas we stayed on Disney from Dec 8th -Jan 5th/08 . We had 18 days to come and go as we pleased and hop!

We knew we were planning a trip for this Christmas too. We will be in Florida earlier this year and will be at Disney World from Dec 5th- 19th. The day my pass expires we go offsite until Dec 29th and do non disney parks.

At Christmas I used my pass for discounts at downtown disney stores. This year will do the same and get a dining experience card, more discounted shopping, sea racyers discounted, disneyquest discount and another 14 days in the park. All together we will have used by end of vacation this year 32 days in all disney parks!

A big saving for us, considering a 10 day hopper X 3 =30 days @ $800 plus and then two more days. There are two of some we probably would have paid $1700 in tickets if we hadn't got the annual pass!

Well worth it for you if you are planning another trip to Disney within the year!

Charleyann

 

[TG4AKV]

We bought AP's for everyone in the family for our SpringBreak 08 trip because we new we would be going to Florida & WDW for 2 weeks during Christmas 08. We also get a bit of a discount on our AP because we a DVC members. When we did the math, it was worth the expense.

On another trip a few years ago I went to WDW with just my children, a girlfriend & her children. Dad had to work. We only purchased one AP to get a deep discount on a Cabin at Fort Wilderness. I think it was about $100 off a night. The savings on the Cabin alone for a week more than covered the cost of the AP and now one adult's ticket cost was covered. We also saved a bunch of money because we were able to have cheap & easy breakfast in the cabin rather than do a restaurant or counter service every morning. It also worked out great because we got the shopping/dining discounts at DTD too.

You really have to do the math to see if it is worth your while to purchase AP(s). It probably would be worth it if you are planning multiple trips or as even for a single trip IF you are able to get room discounts but AP room discounts are not offered year-round.

 

[ABCanada]

We have had APs off and own for over 10 years (DL or WDW). Even if we were only planning one trip a year we would time two year's trips to fit in one AP. Say April trip first year and March the next.
We have always gotten our moneys worth. Often might slip an extra trip in with an AP room rate. We do take advantage of other discounts which can add up and we like the DDE over the DDP. I believe other than Floridians, only AP holders may purchase the DDE.
With and AP I find the parks are much more relaxing. If it is busy or we are tired or hot we return to the hotel pool without feeling guilty that we used up a day.
Tired of Disney???? There are so many different activities that we do not tire of it. I see more people exhaused than bored. The key for us is moderation. Take everything at a leisurely pace and leave the parks before you burn out.
Within the last year - three trips to WDW totalling 27 days. At the right pace we find it the perfect vacation, something for everyone.

 

[mommylo]

The break even point is about 10 days. We are DVC members. Annual passes (with DVC discount) will cost me $483 and $426 for my kids. That's almost equal to a 10 day park hopper with water park, no expiration ticket. Since we are going for 10 days in July and 5 days for March Break and maybe a day or so during Christmas (in Orlando, but not at DVC), the annual pass option makes sense.

 

[wdw-ocd]

Hmmmm, after reading everyone's post, I'm ready to whip out my credit card and order APs!

Is it better/cheaper to buy them online or does it not make a difference?

 

[drag n' fly]

We bought AP's for everyone in the family for our SpringBreak 08 trip because we new we would be going to Florida & WDW for 2 weeks during Christmas 08. We also get a bit of a discount on our AP because we a DVC members. When we did the math, it was worth the expense.

On another trip a few years ago I went to WDW with just my children, a girlfriend & her children. Dad had to work. We only purchased one AP to get a deep discount on a Cabin at Fort Wilderness. I think it was about $100 off a night. The savings on the Cabin alone for a week more than covered the cost of the AP and now one adult's ticket cost was covered. We also saved a bunch of money because we were able to have cheap & easy breakfast in the cabin rather than do a restaurant or counter service every morning. It also worked out great because we got the shopping/dining discounts at DTD too.

You really have to do the math to see if it is worth your while to purchase AP(s). It probably would be worth it if you are planning multiple trips or as even for a single trip IF you are able to get room discounts but AP room discounts are not offered year-round.

We have AP vouchers sitting in the cupboard as part of our DVC incentive purchase. We won't be using them for a very long time. We never go more than once a year and plan to use our DVC points every other year so it makes no sense for us to have them. We bought 10 day non expiring park hopper water park and more passes. They will last us 2-3 trips.

 

[CrazyDisneyMommy1]

We leave on June 28 and will be buying AP's this year for the first time. We should of last year as we went in May 07 and Dec 07. But the xmas was a spur of the moment thing and we LOVED IT!!! So now we are planning on going June 08, Xmas 08 and Spring 09. Hopefully we can still get not to bad of a deal on Flights, as this is where alot of the budget goes. We said hey lets try it for one year. If we don't like it or get burnt out we won't buy it again....but I am sure that won't happen We would really like to be snowbirds in the distant future there!!!!

 

[wdwmike59]

Even if you only go once a year or every other year, having at least one AP in your group will save you a pile of money if you can get a real good room only discount. Add in the other discounts you can get on the Disney Dining Experience Card (not to be confused with the Disney Dining Plan), merchandise discounts at World of Disney store, etc. and it makes plain sense to have at least one in your group. Then you also have an excuse to try and squeeze another trip in before it expires.

 

[drag n' fly]

Even if you only go once a year or every other year, having at least one AP in your group will save you a pile of money if you can get a real good room only discount. Add in the other discounts you can get on the Disney Dining Experience Card (not to be confused with the Disney Dining Plan), merchandise discounts at World of Disney store, etc. and it makes plain sense to have at least one in your group. Then you also have an excuse to try and squeeze another trip in before it expires.

That in there lies one of many reasons we bought DVC and the passes are 100 off to boot

 

[wenabre]

Also if you are staying off site the AP pays for your parking which is up to $11/day!!

 

[dvcdisney]

We have had an annual pass for a long time now. A few years ago, we went only once a year, but for 2 weeks and it was worth the cost. We would not be able to buy any passes over 10 days, so we would have to purchase two tickets or spend some days not going to the park. So we decided to get the annual pass and with our DVC discount, we are doing much better now. We go twice a year for 2 weeks each and it's well worth the cost.

 

[BitsnBearsMom]

We bought an AP last year and used it 3 times - a 14 day trip, a 8 day trip and a 5 day trip. Paid for itself plus with being a DVC member it was $100 off.
We plan to use our DVC points only every other year at the most which will get us a few trips in that one year so it pays for us to get an AP.
We did find that we were 'disney'd out' by the end of that year though. But it's been 10 months and we're all ready to go back again! Next AP we have a free day ticket to apply to the cost of it b/c of our complaints of our room at the GF on our last trip so will really be worth it!!

 

[tiggerrr]

Hmmmm, after reading everyone's post, I'm ready to whip out my credit card and order APs!

Is it better/cheaper to buy them online or does it not make a difference?

It generally makes no difference in cost to buy online. AP's can only be bought from Disney (no discount ticket broker) and they do not offer any discounts for buying online or in advance? Also, if you do buy online you will only receive a voucher for the AP, you will still have to go to a Guest Relations at a park or Downtown Disney to exchange the AP voucher for an activated AP. Since you can buy an AP at any Guest Relations, there isn't a real need to buy in advance.

That having been said, there are three possible advantages (my list, you might find more reasons) to buying a voucher online:

You are protected from price increases - if you buy now at today's price, it doesn't matter if Disney increases AP prices later. You just exchange your voucher when you go on your trip.

You are paying for your vacation as you go - instead of saving the money for your trip into a savings account, you use the savings to buy items for your trip like your AP voucher. For some people, it can take the sting out of the Disney trip.

You will have access to the Annual Passholder site with the current benefits, including the ability to book rooms at the AP rate if there is a current promotion. The codes on the back of the AP allow you access. Of course, you can always phone CRO and make the bookings, but I always like the ability to browse the options online.

 

[dsneygirl]

We had APs last year and will buy again for our upcoming trip. We are DVC members as well so as others have mentioned that's $100 off. We managed 5 trips and something like 30days on our last APs. That's pretty good value.

 

[tiggerrulz]

I also have bought AP's in the past and I am a current AP holder. I try to get 2 trips in during the year I have the pass and buy a new AP on my next trip after it expires. Being from SK the biggest costs are flights then park tickets, so if I can squeeze two trips in on a AP the better it is for me. We usually go for between 9-16 days and I figure break even is 12 days. I also use the AP for great room discounts, and the DDE card. IMHO an AP is the only way to go.

That is what we do as well. Two trips on an annual pass makes it very worthwhile.

 

[Tiger926]

The break even point is about 10 days. We are DVC members. Annual passes (with DVC discount) will cost me $483 and $426 for my kids. That's almost equal to a 10 day park hopper with water park, no expiration ticket. Since we are going for 10 days in July and 5 days for March Break and maybe a day or so during Christmas (in Orlando, but not at DVC), the annual pass option makes sense.

We found that 10 days is not the break even point any longer due to the price increases of the last few years. We just came back from a 15 day trip (it was originally going to be shorter), and for the 1st time we priced out regular tickets as we always have APs. We found that for 10 days, park hopping, expiring tickets, they were cheaper than the DVC AP. We were originally only going for 10 days, and so regular, park hopping tickets were cheaper than APs for 10 days or under.

Once you go over 10 days though, you have no choice but to purchase an AP as the UK 14 day tickets aren't available over here, but on a per day cost, the regular tickets would be cheaper if they were available for days 11 and 12. Once you get into 12+ park days, we found the daily cost with the AP to be cheaper.

We always get 2 trips on our APs, so we have at least 15-20 park days per year, and that makes it very worthwhile for us to have APs.

After reading my post, it now looks confusing, sorry about that! Tiger