You might consider purchasing a 3- or 4-day park hopper with a Magic Morning included. Then some time on the day you use the Magic Morning, upgrade your ticket to an Annual Pass. So at least on the first visit to DLR you get early entry once. The full value of the ticket applies to the upgrade cost of the AP. The downside is that you don't get AP shopping and dining discounts until you upgrade. And if you are planning on using the SoCal resident option for a monthly payment plan, it might not be as good of a deal. Also, the expiration of an AP upgraded from a ticket is a year from the first day the original ticket was used, not the day of the upgrade. Still, if early entry is important for that one chance, this is a way to enjoy that benefit.