Buying an Annual Pass?

[Jellylorum]

How do you decide if this is a good idea or not? We will be going to WDW twice within a calendar year.

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Are you staying on site? Sometimes it is the 14 dollar a day parking fee that tips the scale in favor of an AP. If you could do a third visit, it would be a slam dunk. Finally, the AP is a "hopper"

 

[Havana]

Are both of your trips combined 10-12 days? I think that is around the break even point.

 

[DisneyAndRedSox]

It ended up costing me lots in the long-run... I planned on a March 2010 trip and a Feb 2011 trip - ended up booking Labor Day and December in between! DH started to loose track of the all the trips I planned! LOL

Even if I only went for 2 weeks it was worth it... I do love haing the park hopper, merchandise discount and free parking.

 

[Jellylorum]

Are you staying on site? Sometimes it is the 14 dollar a day parking fee that tips the scale in favor of an AP. If you could do a third visit, it would be a slam dunk. Finally, the AP is a "hopper"

We are staying at Shades of Green and there is a promotion for 4 day park hopper for $138 per person. When we return, the promotion will be over and the price will be $282 for a park hopper. Of course they could extend that but you never know. Both trips will be less than a week so I am fine with 4 days each trip which is $320. An annual pass is $489 excluding the water parks but I have separate tickets for that which I have saved, so I don't need that add on.

 

[stitch34]

To me it seemed like if do two trips both with park hopper, then is worth it. It was the cost of park hopper for 2 trips that ended up making the AP more worth it. And then can look at it as trip number 3, or more, are free.

If doing two trips with good promotions... let's say two trips with free dining and that ends up being a big savings for you, then may be worth it to just get tickets for those two trips in order to get the deal you want. I'd love to do free dining, but have AP, and in order to book that need to add tickets, which I don't need.

 

[stich1fan]

We buy the AP every year. We go twice a year and it is def worth it. Plus you get discounts on alot of things with an AP.

 

[fairyprincess1]

WIth the AP you can also purchase the Tables in Wonderland for a discount... That alone was worth it for us... It gives you a discount at many of the table service restaurants throughout WDW, plus the food courts at the Values & includes adult beverages...

 

[karice2]

Once I factored in parking and all the discounts it was a slam dunk for me. I went 4 times last year. I used the discount for a deluxe stay at Animal Kingdom for my Mom's birthday and got Tables in Wonderland.

I am planning on going another two times before my May expiration date.

 

[Good Morning Dewdrop]

As a PP mentioned beware the call of Disney is strong once you buy an AP!

This is our first year with one we bought it because we knew we were doing a 10 day trip in mid/ late Sept 2010 and a 10 day trip in early Sept 2011 and a special 5 day triip in Nov/ Dec 2010 for our 20th anniversary.

Now we've "magically" used it for a 7 day trip in February (previously unplanned) and have just booked a 5 day trip for May for F/G festival and the D23 Scavenger Hunt....also a previously unplanned trip. I think we're safe until September after this - nobody wants to go during the summer chaos.

Dh already wants to get APs again for next year - I'm thinking I should sit down and add up the 'damage' from this year ....but I don't really want to know!!

 

[BridgetBordeaux]

Oh yeah...................once you get an AP, you can hear WDW calling you (in your mind) to return soon.

We live in Atlanta and here are our trips for a now "typical" year.

MLK weekend, Spring Break, June trip, Labor Day weekend, Fall trip, T-giving, the week before Christmas..........wow that is a lot.

We often stay off site for cheap in order to balance out the cost of the frequent trips.

This addiction won't last forever, but for us right now we are able to take advantage of it.

 

[swilshire]

I much prefer having the AP because it's a more leisurely way to vacation. If I'm using a "day" ticket, I feel obligated to spend all day there, even if the family gets tired. With an AP, we can go for a couple of hours and then leave if the weather or temperaments sour.

Sheila

 

[Cheshire Figment]

The major problem with Annual Passes concerns when they are in a drawer more than 100 miles from Disney World and they whine a lot and scream:

Use Me!

 

[Kat&Dom]

I am planning to get a AP in November when we go. We are staying 2 nights at Pop Century then moving off-site for 7 days. We have a second trip planned for July 2012 staying off-site. So if I didn't have the AP, I would have to pay $198 in parking costs plus park hopper for 2 trips would be another $108. So $306 in costs that I would have to incur on top of 2 seven days tickets makes the AP worth it to me.

Of course, now that I plan on getting the AP, I am trying to figure out if I can throw a 3rd trip in February 2012. The call of the AP is very strong.

 

[ancestry]

I agree with the others. Once you have an annual pass you end up looking for every possible opportunity to go. We have one right now because we had planned two trips -- we ended up doing four and I'm looking for a way to do five. ROFL!

 

[eyor44]

The major problem with Annual Passes concerns when they are in a drawer more than 100 miles from Disney World and they whine a lot and scream:

Use Me!

 

[eyor44]

If you are staying at Shades of Green I am assuming you are military or government? Check with your office that sells the park tickets for the current price of APs through them.