AP vs 10 Day Ticket

[lchuck]

My family is looking to go back to WDW next year and after doing some math on this year's trip, I realized I probably could have gone with an AP for my ticket once I figured in the cost of the Memory Maker we purchased and the cost of parking. What I'm wondering...is there a downside to going the AP route vs the normal ticket route? I would only do the AP for myself, the rest of the family would have regular tickets, so will this work? Also, I won't be making any additional trips down there, so this would just purely be looking for some additional benefits to be gained from the AP vs just buying the regular tickets. Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer!

 

[Robo]

s there a downside to going the AP route vs the normal ticket route?

Nope.

You will be limited to making only 7 days worth of advance FP+ with the AP.
UNLESS you are booked at a WDW Resort for more than 7 days.
You can pre-book as many days of FP+ as you are staying at a WDW resort, if you have an AP.

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

If you're staying offsite (since you mentioned parking), an AP can only hold a rolling 7 days of FP+ reservations at 30 days out.

Other than that, if the math works, there's not a lot of downsides.

 

[Klayfish]

Robo has it exactly right. If you're not going back for the year, then frankly I probably wouldn't bother. The limitation on FP+ is a bit of a bummer.

The one advantage to doing an AP is to give you an excuse to go back in the next 12 months. That's exactly what we did. In June 2015, we bought a 10 day pass. Halfway into it, we did the math and figured out the AP wouldn't cost a heck of a lot more than what we already paid. We "rationalized" that we could use it for more trips. So we bit the bullet and bought APs for the entire family. That AP just expired 3 weeks ago. We got 6 total trips and 50 total WDW days out of it. Money well spent. Can't wait to start it all again next summer!!

 

[lchuck]

We'll be offsite, so would I be able to buy myself a regular ticket, then convert that to an AP once we arrive? If I do that, will I lose my already booked FP+'s? Thanks for the quick responses!

 

[smiths02]

The downside is that you plan more trips and spend too much money!

With Memory Maker, free parking, a long trip, merchandise discount, and TiW...I could see how one person having an AP would be an advantage.

 

[lchuck]

Robo has it exactly right. If you're not going back for the year, then frankly I probably wouldn't bother. The limitation on FP+ is a bit of a bummer.

The one advantage to doing an AP is to give you an excuse to go back in the next 12 months. That's exactly what we did. In June 2015, we bought a 10 day pass. Halfway into it, we did the math and figured out the AP wouldn't cost a heck of a lot more than what we already paid. We "rationalized" that we could use it for more trips. So we bit the bullet and bought APs for the entire family. That AP just expired 3 weeks ago. We got 6 total trips and 50 total WDW days out of it. Money well spent. Can't wait to start it all again next summer!!

We definitely wouldn't be able to do more than 1 trip per year, but you have got me thinking about going a bit later next year and then looking forward to another trip in 2018, early enough to slide in at the end of the AP.

 

[Klayfish]

No you won't loose your FP+. If you convert to AP while you're there, the cast member will be able to make sure your exist FP+ transfer. But again, remember that when you're an AP holder, you are limited to 7 days of FP+ in a rolling 30 day period. That's a bit of a downer, but we just spent 17 total days at WDW, and we didn't really find it to be as big of a problem as we thought. Sure, we couldn't get FP+ for FEA or 7DMT, but we still got on them.

The parking perks are another benefit smiths02 mentioned that is definitely worth it. $20/day parking. Like I said, we spent 50 days at WDW, so that would have been $1000 in parking alone. Plus the discounts on merchandise. Yes, the downside is you spend more money on all the additional trips. But to us, it was a good ROI (return on investment). If we average it all out, the money spent per day at WDW was significantly less than it would have been if we had done trips without the AP or gone somewhere else. Plus, we got to make new memories that will last a lifetime...such as Thanksgiving and Christmas Day in Magic Kingdom.

 

[erinch]

We did the one AP for parking and discounts, and then I realized about the 7 day fp thing. I booked our headliner hard to get FPs for the first seven park days, and fps for the other 3 days for 3 of us on ones that tend to have fps available. As soon as one day is used we can add another to the latter 3 days. I will report on how it goes!

 

[ELSA711]

How much is the AP merchandise discount? more than the Disney visa?
We are trying to figure out FP+ as well. We are going this fall and again for 2.5 weeks in June. Looking at 7days onsite followed by 9 days offsite.
I guess we can make our initial 7days for the onsite stay at 60days out and the other off site stay at 30 days out, is that right?

 

[smiths02]

How much is the AP merchandise discount? more than the Disney visa?
We are trying to figure out FP+ as well. We are going this fall and again for 2.5 weeks in June. Looking at 7days onsite followed by 9 days offsite.
I guess we can make our initial 7days for the onsite stay at 60days out and the other off site stay at 30 days out, is that right?

I don't think the merchandise discount is better...I think they are both 10%. However, with the Disney Visa, there is a minimum purchase ($50-I think) AND you have to carry the Disney Visa around