I'd check on seeing that they had rooms availble for the AP rate at the hotel you want to stay in first. I'm an AP holder and I live about 40 minutes away. But I know that AP rooms go pretty fast and some dates aren't even available. As far as the price, $179 for the AP or $129 for the hoppers. So I guess it really comes down to if they have the room rate availble for when you want to travel.
In order to buy the Southern California APs, you have to have a driver's license with the zipcode in the southern California area. But those have blackout dates.
All APs qualify for room discounts when availble.