AP vs 10-day park ticket. Are the discounts worth the difference in price?

[Caseheidi]

We are planning a WDW trip for two weeks in May 2014. It will be DH, DD (who will be 5 at the time) and myself. We will be splitting our stay using our time shares, so will most likely be off property and renting a car.

We are debating getting my DH an Annual Pass, and the 10-day base tickets for DD and myself (we don't typically park hop and prefer to save the price!) With the discounts and free parking, will this save us more then getting three base tickets?

I have been looking, and having a difficult time finding what restaurants have discounts. We tend to eat breakfast in the room, with one or two character breakfasts during the stay. We also prefer one sit down meal, and one CS meal a day. And with a 5 yr old, there will be souvenirs!

I should add that there is a slight possibility that we will be able to rent a DVC using our time share points for at least one of the weeks. If we stay on property, we will use Disney transportation for that time instead of a car rental.

 

[Marionnette]

We are planning a WDW trip for two weeks in May 2014. It will be DH, DD (who will be 5 at the time) and myself. We will be splitting our stay using our time shares, so will most likely be off property and renting a car.

We are debating getting my DH an Annual Pass, and the 10-day base tickets for DD and myself (we don't typically park hop and prefer to save the price!) With the discounts and free parking, will this save us more then getting three base tickets?

I have been looking, and having a difficult time finding what restaurants have discounts. We tend to eat breakfast in the room, with one or two character breakfasts during the stay. We also prefer one sit down meal, and one CS meal a day. And with a 5 yr old, there will be souvenirs!

I should add that there is a slight possibility that we will be able to rent a DVC using our time share points for at least one of the weeks. If we stay on property, we will use Disney transportation for that time instead of a car rental.

Check the ticket price increase that is set to go into effect tomorrow (6/2/13).
http://blog.touringplans.com/2013/0...icket-prices-to-increase-june-2-2/#more-40784

An AP will be $648.59 w/tax. 10-day base adult tickets will be $361.04 w/tax. That means that you would need to "save" $287.55 in order to break even.

Parking will be $15/day. Over 10 visits, it will cost you $150. If you have an AP, it will be free. However, if you stay onsite, you also get free parking. So, you cannot even count on the savings from free parking if it's a perk that you're also entitled to as an onsite guest.

There are shopping discounts and restaurant discounts for AP holders. The biggest discount is really the room discounts, which it appear you will not need. You can find an outline of the current AP discounts here:
http://allears.net/pl/apass.htm#bene2013
As with all things Disney, these benefits are subject to change with little to no notice.

It looks like you need to firm up your plans before you decide on that AP. I could envision saving enough on shopping and dining over a 2-week period to come out ahead but only if you are using the free parking benefit for 10 visits, too.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I always preferred a 10 day no-exp ticket vs. an AP. Sometimes we don't feel like doing a lot of parks so those days that we don't use can be applied to a future trip. Also if you get the water park option, you get 10 WP visits too, making your ticket 20 days of fun.

We have old non-exp tickets with nothing left but 7 WP days so we're looking into doing a WP long weekend in Sept. Eventually they'll be used but at least there's no clock counting down on them.