California AP Holders

[AllJackedUp]

I am curious about those Californians holding APs...do most of you buy the special SoCal ones or do you just buy the Deluxe or Premium so you have all-access? I am curious as to schools of thought on this and how it affects crowds. When you are in the park, you can pretty much determine who the locals are and who the tourists are, as well as traffic patterns.

So, I'm wondering if most locals buy the cheaper SoCal passes with more restricted days, it might be better to plan a visit around the local black out days, even though tourist traffic might be slightly higher.

Any thoughts? Thanks for the help!

 

[Califgirl]

I'm not really sure how you can 'tell who the locals are'.
On some other boards that I frequent there seems to be a lot of 'local bashing.' I enjoy these boards because people like to share info on how to make your trip more enjoyable.

In general, avoiding black-out days if possible, will probably give you a less crowded day at the parks. Black out days are blacked out due to expected high traffic.

 

[Albort]

If i was an AP, i would rather get Premium... mainly cuz all i have to go is like 4 times to break even on pricing...

 

[eduk8r26]

I started out with a So Cal AP, then upgraded to a regular deluxe. Not having a premium was not an issue because I don't go that often, but if I lived within a few miles of DL (I'm an hour and a half away) I might consider a premium. We've been half a dozen times at least and feel I've more than gotten my money's worth out of it.

 

[Disney Dreams]

We have premium passes.

Why?
- The parking (at $11 a shot) is included - this is a huge plus!
- If we got to DL with others who are NOT AP holders, as long as 1 of us rides in their car, they get the free parking as well.
- When out of town friends want to spend the day at DL, we can join them for the day or just for a couple of hours, any day of the year.
- The 10% we save on merchandise helps with birthday, holiday, etc. gifts

I believe the last time we figured it out, we break even on our 5th visit.

 

[AllJackedUp]

I started out with a So Cal AP, then upgraded to a regular deluxe. Not having a premium was not an issue because I don't go that often, but if I lived within a few miles of DL (I'm an hour and a half away) I might consider a premium. We've been half a dozen times at least and feel I've more than gotten my money's worth out of it.

So, I guess my question is: Why did you upgrade? Was it to have fewer restrictions on days?

My intention of this question was not to "bash locals"...without the locals, we all know DL would be struggling. I'm basing my views on overheard conversations while waiting in lines, talking to people while in lines, and general astute observations. Also, when you see large groups of unsupervised teenagers, it's generally pretty safe to assume that they are locals just hanging out. When the overall crowd at DL practically doubles after 6:00 pm, it's also fairly safe to assume that most of those people came after work, not because they were all kicked out of DCA. I noticed this pattern every night during the week we were there.

My (hopeful) theory is that most locals buy the cheap pass, thereby restricting themselves to only 175 days. Logic (and the rampant use of credit cards in this country) tells me that most people probably just purchase the deluxe or premium in order to have access whenever they choose to go.
Thus, nothing is really to be gained by trying to second-guess what the crowd flow is going to be like. But I was curious to see what other people's thinking was regarding the annual passes.

 

[KelsiesMommy]

I'm a CA resident, however I live 2 1/2 hrs away- we have deluxe passes,because we need Saturdays free in off season so DH and my mom can go when not working.

When we lived in OC, we actually had the Premium passes

 

[elwise1966]

Both me and my partner get the Premium AP for several reasons:

Parking-$11 per day saved and when others come with us in a second vehicle, they get free parking too.
The freedom to go when we want. We are usually there on weekends which are blocked on other passes, thereby saving the $30 ($60 total) to get in on a blackout day.
The food discount and the merchandise discount add up over the course of a year. I'm sure we have saved the cost of 1 AP in discounts alone.
I like the special cards we can get by renewing by mail. (I know, I know...dumb reason...But hey, I'm a Disney geek!

If I lived nearby and could go during the week, I would certainly downgrade to a cheaper pass because I probably wouldn't go on weekends anymore.

 

[eatntae]

My girlfriend and I both have Premium APs, and we live about 50 min away from DL. Like others have said, the free parking was a huge perk, but only one of us needs a premium for the parking. So another reason we have premium is because I go to school and she has work, and our schedules often conflict. Most of the time, when I am off from school, it is a blackout day. My girlfriend doesn't have the same days off each month, so we decided we just needed passes that would allow us to go whenever we wanted, without having to look at the calendar and worry if it was a blackout day or not. Finally, I tell my family and friends "if you ever go to Disneyland, call me because I'll go with you if I'm free." This hasn't happened yet, so I'm still waiting.

As far as crowds go, we found that the non-blackout days for SoCal passes were great. Short lines in practically everything. The main downside to those days is that DL closes earlier, and DL doesn't have the nighttime shows, like fireworks and F!

 

[fenfur]

If i was an AP, i would rather get Premium... mainly cuz all i have to go is like 4 times to break even on pricing...

Ahhhh But Albort after getting in free for many years and having a Main Gate Pass it gets REALLY difficult to justify PAYING to get in, so you get one of the cheaper passes, because you know you wouldn't want to be there on black out days anyways. Are you in DL or DCA?

To the original poster we get the more expensive So Cal pass because as I stated above we wouldn't want to be there on the blackout days. But we do want the option to go on Sundays. But we have a different perspective because my Dh and I are former cast members so we have been there done that on everything there so if it is too busy we just leave. Also we only live 20 min away so if parking is ugly we leave before we even get into the parking structure (like we did on the 2nd ).

 

[iceskatejen]

Premium here. I figured that with the only $70 difference between Deluxe and Premium (wouldn't even think of anything less that Deluxe) and the bigger discounts with the Premium (no merch discount with Deluxe and Premium has a larger food discount), I'd make it back in no time. Plus, I mostly go on Saturdays and when I renewed most Saturdays were blocked out for months.

 

[Thumpersmom]

We live 6 hours away and buy the premium! We are never sure what days we will go and this way it is available all days. This year we went for Spring Break and the week at Thanksgiving so we would have been blocked out for some of that time.

I do think the discount on food and merchandise adds up quite a bit more then you would think.

My DS (who is 10) has a premium and between us and the grandparents he has been at the resort every other month this year.....he is actually there now with my mom!!!

 

[Vanvmom]

My brother lives 2 hours from DL and he got the So. CA passes (he meets us at DL for a few days on most of our trips). DH's brother and his family have the So. CA passes as well (they live 20 minutes away). The wife and son go to DL for playdates with other local moms with kids, and their family also joins us for a day when we visit DL.

As a northern CA resident we purchased Deluxe for the family and Premium for me (so that we can get the max. discounts). We wouldn't go on Black out days due to higher crowds. By the 7th day at the parks we'd paid for our APs (but we continued to visit every 8-10 weeks just to make sure).

 

[KPeterso]

We live about 20 minutes from Disneyland and have the deluxe pass. I needed to have 1 weekend day to be able to go most of the time, so sundays work great. I like to go early and get before the masses arrive. And if it is too busy, I will just leave. No point in wating in lines when I can go anytime! My coworker and his family who live about an hour from DL also have the Deluxe APs, and like to do the same as my family on Sundays. We keep expecting to run into each other because we are always there at the same time when we talk about it on Mondays!

 

[wendypooh22]

We opted for the premium passes when we upgraded during our December trip.

The free parking and higher discounts will save us $$$ and we won't have to worry about what days we couldn't go...

We have been back twice already and I love being able to go whenever we want. Even if it's only for the morning, we know that we can come back whenever we like.

 

[dletz]

I have never had an AP with blackout dates. Even when I got my first AP in 1987 (wow can't believe I've had an AP for 20 years) for $79 there were no blockout dates, and as they've added pass types I've always bought the most expensive. I like going at a drop of the hat. My daughter and I will often decide at the last minute to go while her dad is working, or go for a few hours before he gets off work. So I like having the freedom of going whatever day the mood strikes. I think having to worry about block out dates would drive me nuts.

 

[inspcramer]

I live 10 minutes from DL and have a Premium Pass mostly for the parking and the food discounts. My GF has the Deluxe Pass as we don't usually go when it is most crowded but we go on the 1/2 as that is our anniversary. We also didn't need parking on both cards as she doesn't go without me.
If we had to pay to park each time I probally wouldn't go. AS it is we go about 20+ times each year.

 

[fenfur]

I'm just wondering if people are aware that you can add a parking pass for $59 to any of the AP's, even the cheap so cal ones. So thinking $11 a pop for parking is not realy true if you get a parking pass added to ONE of the AP's.

For us personally and our habits at the parks, it would be REALLY hard, actually impossible, to justify the Premium pass, even counting the free parking and food discounts.

 

[lulubelle]

We have the So Cal pass. The one where you can go on Sundays. But we usually stay for one to four nights when we go. I am such a Disneyland freak that I get totally immersed in the parks and love staying there and making it a vacation. We get AP discounts on the rooms. We do other things on Sat. Usually DTD, a movie, a nice dinner out, enjoying the hotel. Then we do the parks on Fri, Sun and sometimes Mon and/or Thurs. My pass is blocked out during holidays and during July & August, but I would never go at those times anyway...too crowded. I plan our trips in the off months. This year we are staying in Feb, April, Sept and Nov. I usually do a few day trips during the year (Sunday), but not too many. Oh, and I have a Disney Visa which gets me discount (spend over $50) at the World of Disney Store and the AP or AAA gets me a discount most everywhere else. I do A LOT of shopping there. I know we spend thousands of dollars a year at the DL Resort, so they certainly get plenty of $$$ out of this family!

P.S. And I am kind of offended that you would say it is obvious who the locals are versus tourists. I disagree. I am often asked by CMs where we are from and they are always surprised we are locals. We often act giddy and we appreciate everything the parks offer. Don't judge a book by its cover as they say....

 

[AllJackedUp]

Thanks for all the feedback, it's been very insightful!