Benefits of annual pass

[andera42]

How many visits would it take to make the AP worth the cost? Considering the AP for a year. And what are other benefits ? Could I save any money?

 

[CMNJ]

How many visits would it take to make the AP worth the cost? Considering the AP for a year. And what are other benefits ? Could I save any money?

Depends-cost is almost $800 (assuming you aren't a DVC member/FL resident). Two long trips (7 days or more) without a park hopper or 2 short trips (4 days or more) with a park hopper will cost about the same or less. As for the other benefits you can see the list below.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/discounts/discounts-ap.htm

 

[Vernie822]

It depends. How many times do you plan on going? In some cases, 2 trips makes it worth it like the person above said. I know personally I had a 7 day trip in November and a 5 day trip planned for the spring, and it made it worth it.

There are also some discounts out there such as resort discounts (oftentimes a higher % off than the general public discounts), dining discounts (certain restaurants), merchandise discounts, etc.

 

[msmama]

I'm going to go with No it will not save you money (since this is the budget board).

I purchased one last May because I had the last May trip (8 nights) and this April (7 nights) so it would save me money on tickets.

BUT then I added 2 more trips during the year. Yeah, my tickets were paid for but I still had lodging and plane tickets to purchase (plus food in the parks though we do that rather in expensively at this point).

So from a strictly budget board point of view then an AP will cost you more, unless you have more discipline than me.

 

[loves to dive]

If you normally buy park hoppers and are planning on going for at least 10 days during the course of a year, they pay for themselves. Don't buy them with the thought of discounts in mind, yes you get some but they are not a guarantee and where you get the discounts tends to be fluid. Yes, there will be discounts for rooms but I've found they are rarely offered at the times I go and I can get better discounts either using the general ones or going through sites like Orbitz. You do get merchandise discounts and most disney stores and at some restaurants but that changes. You will also get a small discount when you renew them. You are tempted to go more often when you have them, after all your tickets are paid. I'm actually going to sneak in 3 trips on mine this year. I always go twice a year, F&G and F&W. I'm just lucky this year that my renewal day is Sept. 20 and F&W starts early this year so I'll get two F&W and one F&G on them this year.

 

[Marionnette]

How many visits would it take to make the AP worth the cost? Considering the AP for a year. And what are other benefits ? Could I save any money?

Am AP will cost almost $800 and is the same price for both adults and kids. The number of park days that make it worth your while is going to be dependent on a couple of factors.

Do you hop?
Hopping adds anywhere from $60-$70 to the cost of a base ticket, depending on the number of days. An AP will allow you to hop without adding more to the cost of the ticket.
How many times will you visit in a year?
One 10-day ticket with hopping runs about $500 for an adult, but 2 5-day hoppers would be approx. $870. So, if you're staying for a single, long visit then the regular pass would be much less money. Take a couple of shorter visits during the year and the AP is a better deal.​

FWIW, I wouldn't factor any discounts into your expected savings. Disney can change or eliminate any AP discounts without notice. Sure, they're nice to have but as the Mouse becomes hungrier, it becomes stingier with the cheese. There are no guarantees that the benefits that they are offering when you purchase your AP will be available when you visit.

 

[Judique]

There are two answers: yes and NO!

If you take multiple trips, yes, it will probably save you money.

If you weren't planning on multiple trips, now you WILL take multiple trips, so you will spend MORE money!

I like to stagger my trips just a couple of weeks less than a year apart when I have AP's. I'll be going in November 2016 for a week. Next year in 2017 it will be a week earlier. And of course since I have an AP, I'll be going in Jan- Feb 2017 and spending MORE money - happily!

 

[njpyro]

We were planning two 4 day hopper trips and a single day visit (with free parking during a cruise stop). We got the passes since it ended up being cheaper. The discount and memory maker are nice added bonuses, but we didn't factor it into our decision.
As a previous poster mentioned, it will end up costing much more, because since buying the passes (might as well get our money's worth!), we have added two more trips, which mean airfare and hotel.

 

[tvguy]

How big of an issue is it avoiding the blackout dates the AP have?

 

[parith1114]

How big of an issue is it avoiding the blackout dates the AP have?

A regular AP does not have blackout dates.

 

[tvguy]

A regular AP does not have blackout dates.

According to the Disney website only Signature Plus AP have no blackout dates. Signature and Deluxe do.
https://disneyland.disney.go.com/passes/

 

[parith1114]

According to the Disney website only Signature Plus AP have no blackout dates. Signature and Deluxe do.
https://disneyland.disney.go.com/passes/

Your link is for Disneyland...

 

[bearzabout]

With the new annual pass prices, it makes more sense to me to skip disney for a few years then get the annual passes and go frequently in one year. We went so often in the past that we are sick of the parks but are looking forward to going back once they open all of the new attractions in a few years.

We have annual passes of Aquatica, Seaworld and Busch Gardens and enjoy cycling through the parks returning to a different group every few years. We spend more time at the Disney resorts and their restaurants now than when we had Disney Park passes and spent so much time in the parks. It is a nice change for us.

 

[tvguy]

Your link is for Disneyland...

Yes. OP didn't specify which park. Do they not have blackout dates for DW?

 

[parith1114]

Yes. OP didn't specify which park. Do they not have blackout dates for DW?

There are no blackout dates for the basic annual pass I bought as a normal out of Florida visitor...blackout dates apply to Florida resident passes and maybe special ones for DVC members, just my understanding though

 

[minorthr]

I purchased an annual pass about 3 weeks ago. I travel to orlando 2 or 3 times a year for work and up to this point I was buying like 1 day tickets or tickets to the Halloween or xmas parties so I could go to disney. This year we are doing a cruise and trip to disney in Sept so I would have needed to buy a 5 day park hopper at $400 and since I was down there for a week of work and a one day would have cost me $100 I figured Id pull the trigger on an annual pass. I went to the parks the 6 days I was down there and "saved" $100 on gifts and food purchases using the annual pass. Ill also be down for work at least one more time this year. Had we not been doing the family trip in sept I probably wouldn't have done it but figured since I had to shell out the other $400 anyway might as well do it.

 

[jsgrant5]

My DD will be starting in August as a DCP. Planning on visiting last of October. Can she get me an annual pass with a Florida residence? They give them a card stating they are residents but we live in Oregon.

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

My DD will be starting in August as a DCP. Planning on visiting last of October. Can she get me an annual pass with a Florida residence? They give them a card stating they are residents but we live in Oregon.

No. She can get you a non-resident pass at a discount through Company D, but not a FL resident pass.