Buying a no expiration hopper...

[despina]

My family will be returning to Disney in Sept and since this is our second visit within a years time, we were thinking to buy a 10day hopper no expiration and use some in sept and the other half at a later date. Sounds like a good savings, but what if I dont return in over a year?? Is this really no expiration ?
Do you think its a good deal to buy?? thanks deb 3adults 2 children luv dis

 

[cvjw]

This will be our 3rd trip using our 10 day non-expiring hoppers. We have had them over a year, no problems using them yet! I think it's a good deal for us instead of buying 3 day hoppers at 3 different times.

 

[Eljay]

If it says, "no expiration", it truly means no expiration!

 

[TenThousandVolts]

We went last Oct. and still have 8 days left! (and 3 plusses- so technically 11 days of fun left on tix)
Last year we did a 5 day trip- day 1- MK hopped to MGM, Day 2 DQ and swimming at resort, Day 3 AK hopped to Epcot(EMH)- Day 4 slept in, swam at resort- went to MNSSHP. Day 5 TL. What a great trip and a bargain.

This year we will have 1 day non hoppers (from the free dining package) and 1 night at MNSSHP. Then we will hop another 2 days and do a water park- so we will still have 6 days and 2 plusses left after 2 trips! I love the no-exp. passes!!!

They do not expire- we plan on using them for several years.

 

[ccw]

My personal opinion is that anybody who even thinks they will return to Disney for a total of 10 days IN THEIR WHOLE LIFETIME and who can afford the cash outlay would be nuts NOT to buy the longest non-expiring pass they can (unless of course an AP makes more sense for folks who go for long stretches at a time...we just go three or four days here and there). The cost per day goes down the longer the pass is and it is great to be able to plan a future trip knowing you will have your park admission already taken care of. Just be sure to note how many days you have left on each pass when you get home and keep them in a very safe place!

 

[LorieR]

DH and I bought 10-day nonexpiring hoppers last year. We still have 5 days each left! We also have 1-day each left from 5-day hoppers we bought in 2004! Also, a few weeks ago when the word came out that ticket prices would be going up for the 2nd time this year - DH and I bought another round of 10-day nonexpiring hoppers from Undercover Tourist so we now have 16 days each to look forward to. We will probably use 5 or 6 days this November and we are now planning a possible trip in February 2007! I agree with a previous poster, if you plan on returning at some point in the future and can spare the additional outlay, it is a good idea to buy the longest nonexpiring pass you can.

 

[seashoreCM]

Note that expiring passes are often more cost effective for medium length vacations. Not counting price increases if your vacations are spaced years apart, a non-expiring pass together with another pass needed to complete the second vacation usually cost more than all expiring passes as of the end of the second vacation. You may or may not come out ahead by the end of the third vacation.

 

[Harambe]

Note that expiring passes are often more cost effective for medium length vacations. Not counting price increases if your vacations are spaced years apart, a non-expiring pass together with another pass needed to complete the second vacation usually cost more than all expiring passes as of the end of the second vacation. You may or may not come out ahead by the end of the third vacation.

Good point! We usually buy expiring, because we go for 9 or 10 days (and not more than once a year, so the AP doesn't make sense), and like to have the ability to go to a park each day. At present, I have a lot of leftover "option" tickets (water parks) that we don't use, but came with other tickets. I keep lugging them with me, but I don't think we'll ever use them. So now I buy the expiring without the water park option, and when there done, there done.

If we were a family that took short trips here and there to Disney, I'd probably go for the non-expiring longer pass.

 

[purpliequeen]

We just bought ten day non expiration park hoppers for the whole family this past week. Looking at the little chart it really showed how much you can save. I wish we had done it a long time ago. Someone actually told us about it when we were eating brunch two weeks before we left. Thanks to him we save a couple hundred!

And yes... as the above posters mentioned, it lasts "to infinity and beyond."

 

[iwynlea]

We're still using the old "plus" options from our honeymoon tickets from 2003. So, as others have said, non-expiring really does mean non-expiring! We actually just invested in 10-day non-expiring tickets because we go once a year, but not much more so an AP doesn't make sense for us. But, it's just too hard for us to only purchase length-of-stay tickets when we know we'll be back next year and prices will have gone up.

 

[CleveRocks]

My personal opinion is that anybody who even thinks they will return to Disney for a total of 10 days IN THEIR WHOLE LIFETIME and who can afford the cash outlay would be nuts NOT to buy the longest non-expiring pass they can

Mathematics and I would disagree.

A 10-day non-expiring hopper costs $416. Let's say a family goes to WDW 6 days at a time each year. For their second 6 day trip, they will have 4 days left over and then have to buy 2-day hoppers. So they paid $416 plus $177 = $593. For two separate 6-day expiring hoppers it's $506 ($253 x 2).

A 7 day a year family would have only three days left over and would have to buy 4-day hoppers for their second trip. That would cost $416 for the original 10-day non-exp. plus $247 for the 4-day hoppers = $663. For two separate 7-day expiring hoppers it's $510 ($255 x 2).

I think part of Disney offering the non-expiry option is guests engaging in fuzzy math.

Of course, there are many scenarios where it DOES make financial sense to use the non-expiry option, such as several short trips, or a 6 or 7 day trip and then a quick long-weekender.

 

[steve_rob]

Mathematics and I would disagree.

A 10-day non-expiring hopper costs $416. Let's say a family goes to WDW 6 days at a time each year. For their second 6 day trip, they will have 4 days left over and then have to buy 2-day hoppers. So they paid $416 plus $177 = $593. For two separate 6-day expiring hoppers it's $506 ($253 x 2).

But if this is a family who goes for six days a year EVERY year, then why would they buy a two day hopper? Surely they'd buy ANOTHER 10 day hopper and have eight days left for their next trip (when they wouldn't have to buy any new tickets at all).

 

[allyn]

A 10-day non-expiring hopper costs $416. Let's say a family goes to WDW 6 days at a time each year. For their second 6 day trip, they will have 4 days left over and then have to buy 2-day hoppers. So they paid $416 plus $177 = $593. For two separate 6-day expiring hoppers it's $506 ($253 x 2).

why are you assuming this hypothetical family that was smart enough to buy 10-day non-expiring hoppers for their first vacation would be foolish enough to buy 2-day hoppers for their second vacation? why wouldn't they buy another round of 10-day non-expiring hoppers? this would cover their third 6-day vacation and 2 days of the fourth.

 

[CleveRocks]

I guess it all depends how often someone goes. If my hypothetical 6 and 7 day families go EVERY year, then it's a matter for accountants and financial planners to argue, is it better to perpetually "float" money to Disney or to pay less up front and invest the float or have it liquid for other means? I concede that this is an arguable point, with no obvious right or wrong.

So the way I worded it, it could go either way depending on how one views cash allocation.

However, if I had worded the scenario the way ccw did, then I would totally stand by my assertion. ccw stated that anyone who will go to WDW "for a total of 10 days IN THEIR WHOLE LIFETIME and who can afford the cash outlay would be nuts NOT to buy the longest non-expiring pass they can."

So let's look at my exact situation (using this year's prices because that's all I have easy access to) as an example. We went for 7 park days in 2005, will be going for 6 park days this coming November, and may not go back after that for another 3 or 4 years or so, and then maybe not again for another 3-4 years or more.

If I bought 10-day non-expiration for $416 last year, and used up 7 of the 10 days, I would have had 3 days left over for November's trip. My choice come November would have been to buy 3-day hoppers for $237 for a total outlay of $653, or buy another 10-day non-expiration this November for a total outlay of $832. If I did the latter, I'd have 7 days left over, so my next trip in 3-4 years would cost me nothing as far as park admissions. BUT, Disney holds onto my extra $179 for the next 3 or 4 years.

Now, realize that that is $179 for ONE PERSON'S ADMISSION. For four people, Disney is hanging onto $716 for the next 3 or 4 years. That's a wonderful interest-free loan for them.

In this example, I'll gladly shell out more money 3 or 4 years down the road rather than shell it out now and not have it in my bank account or invested or used to pay the electric bill.

 

[despina]

thanks everyone for you input....

 

[seashoreCM]

anybody who even thinks they will return to Disney for a total of 10 days IN THEIR WHOLE LIFETIME ...would be nuts NOT to buy the longest non-expiring pass they can (unless of course an annual pass makes more sense ...)

The devil's advocate asks, what if all ten of those days were done in one sitting?

 

[karenbaco]

soooo Despina,
What did you decide on???
Karen

 

[despina]

well mouseketeer, I think Im gonna get the non expiration 10day hopper since I know I will be returning in the future, its makes sense price wise, and we know prices will increase again in the future.......deb

 

[Mickey1Fan]

Good idea despina. This past May I used 5 days of hopper tickets from 1991 that my Mom had been hanging onto.

No problem at all using the tickets and think of what we must have saved!!!!

 

[Lisa0503]

The devil's advocate asks, what if all ten of those days were done in one sitting?

Well, I would think if someone were going to use all 10 days at once, then the would not pay the premium to have the NON EXPIRING option on the tickets in the first place....