APs and PAPs for DVCers....

[jimmytammy]

OK, DW and I are at crossroads here. This will be our 1st full yr. as DVCers and we are trying to decide whether APs or PAPs will be best choice for our family this year. We will definitely be going to the World twice, once in Dec. this year for 7 days and looking at a trip for Oct. 04. Hoping to sneak a week in Mar. 04 if things work out.
Kids swim now but we have never done waterparks or Disneyquest before. Looks like dollar wise you need to go to waterparks and DQ at least 3 times to justify difference in price.
Please give me your thoughts on this subject. DVCers are bound to use these type passes, and I can see the advantages of this over PHPs or UPHPs.

 

[emacman]

IT really comes down to how much can you do in a day for my family. Time has taught us to focus on one thing a day. Whether it is a park, waterpark, or DQ. You can have a full funfilled day at all of them but we found we get stressed, tired, fussy (kids) or whatever when we start jumping around.

My thinking is to get the passes before you leave at the Disney Store. Those passes never expire. If something comes up and you decide not to go to the park you have lost nothing. As DVC'ers you'll be back and can use that "day" another time on the next trip. The UPHP is a length of stay only pass. You leave, its over whether you used it or not.

In June there was a great example. We intended to go to AK. The previous day we got sunburned and felt we needed to rest a bit. We went to breakfast and found it would rain most of the day. No problem, we relaxed and later went to downtown Disney and shopped. great time had by all, rejuvenated us for the rest of the trip, and we didn't loose a dime on park tickets we didn't use.
For what it is worth, hope that helps.

 

[disneycrazed139]

I would say that it might depend on how old your kids are. If you have kids 8 and under, I would say to wait a year or two for Disney Quest. If you have older kids, I'd say definitely take them to Disney Quest. It might just become their favorite "park." That said, the only ticket that has DQ on it is the UPH, but I wouldn't buy the UPH just for that reason.

I don't know about water parks in October. I'd say definitely try one in the summer months, but it might be a little chilly for the water park past spring and summer. That's just me. I like it to be very warm if I am going to be wet.

If you think you will go to the water parks and want pleasure island admission, go with the PHP.

If you have older kids, they will love DQ and the UPH might just be worth it. (Mine went almost every night, so it made sense for us) We also went to the water park, so we did go with the UPH. However, the UPH isn't really the best deal unless you really do all these things.

I'd probably just go with the AP pass or regular park hopper unless any of the above apply.

 

[RobDoc]

Since there are no DVC discounts for any type of AP's, the TPAS Board is a better place to help with analysis of the AP/PAP.

I'll move it over there for you.

 

[DeeP]

I have been buying APs for years and to me they are definitely worth every penny spent--I average about 45-60 days of park admission per year for my AP. Can't beat that!
I have been buying APs for years, way before DVC was even a twinkle in a DVC developer's eye! For someone that will spend at least 12+ days in a WDW park within a year, it is a definite savings and as your park admission days increase per yr, the AP becomes even more of a deal!!!
I have bought the PAPs when the kids were younger and really enjoyed the water parks but now I go with the APs and an annual PI pass, which are the parks where we spend our time. For the few times we now go to a water park or DQ it is much cheaper to just pay for a one day's admission.
YMMV

 

[JimC]

APs make sense after eight days and PAPs after 11 days. That is only considering the cost of the main parks. They offer room discounts (AP codes) that have been 30-40%. But they may be harder to obtain as Disney appears to be moving away from room only discounts to package discounts. There are other discounts that APs offer that are different and/or better than DVC.

We buy APs. Don't do the water parks often and will use discount to buy a day ticket if we want to go. I hear some buy separate water park APs and park APs.

Used room codes this past June for a special trip to Poly. We like the miniature golf discounts with the AP.

If you only go once a year, plan your trips carefully and you can get two years of trips on one pass.

 

[Nanajo1]

We buy AP's and supplement visits to DQ, PI and waterparks with the DVC discount.