California AP Holders

[kelmac284]

I live in Northern Cal so don't qualify for the So Cal and we have Deluxe. I would have gotten the premium but we never park in the garage, usually stay at a hotel on harbor that has parking, and we usually go on somewhat off times. We did pay the 30 pass this past week but I won't be doing that again.

It costs me around 1,000 just for the 5 of us to get the Deluxes so even though in theory the premium would be great it really isn't worth it for us all to have them.

I DO have a question though could one of us get premium for the discounts and the rest of have deluxe? That might work for the discounts etc.

Anyway I find the Deluxe is perfect for us and since we bought them this past summer we have been back twice and are going again 4 more times this year!!

 

[eatntae]

I DO have a question though could one of us get premium for the discounts and the rest of have deluxe? That might work for the discounts etc.

Yes, only one of you needs the premium pass, and everybody will get the permium discounts. However, the person with the premium pass must pay for the items. For example, if you have a premium pass but forgot your wallet, you would not be able to show your pass and have somebody else in your party pay for you.

 

[kelmac284]

Excellent that's what I thought. So in other words when I renew our passes in June if I upgrade to Premium and renew everyone else in my family to deluxe then I could get the higher meal discounts, the store discounts and the parking as long as the group is with me. Like I could pay for everyone's lunch using my AP and get the discount for everyone right? That's what I figured so that is a good idea. Thanks!

 

[pppiglet]

We have premium AP for the reasons everyone else above stated. I also don't want to worry about if it's a black out day or not.

One thing I noticed about AP's. More people are in DL, but most are just walking and shopping and eating. The last few times we've been most of the lines have been only 10-15 mins long. I guess they are like us and figure..."Oh..we could ride that next time", or "we rode that last time". Most of the time we will spend a day riding only 2-3 things. We just love to be in the park! When we got our passes the first time 20yrs ago not so many people in the parks, but the lines were mostly 1hr long!

 

[MateasMom]

We used to do a premium for me (for parking) and deluxe for DH. Now that the kids are old enough to need passes though, we do the SoCals. We did SoCal last year, and SoCal select this year.

 

[Wendi2000]

I have a SoCal Select, I live in Northern California though... It's perfect for me because I hate busy times so I don't ever want to be there during the summer (I also hate the heat) or on weekends. I've purchased one or two blockout passes in the past 3 years I think.

 

[ptlycloudy]

We live in N. Calif. and I would love to get the SoCal select passes but I am not sure how we would go about it. We have alot of family that live in Socal. Would one of them need to buy a pass and then buy all of ours too then all go to processing center together using their address? We just can't do the deluxe passes for all four of us and it is easy for us to plan to visit family when the passes are good. I wish they offered something similar for those of us in NorCal. Has anyone had experience with it? I would rather have select passes that we can renew and use 2 times a year than save up for deluxe passes that we can only use every other year or so.

 

[bumbershoot]

We live in N. Calif. and I would love to get the SoCal select passes but I am not sure how we would go about it. We have alot of family that live in Socal. Would one of them need to buy a pass and then buy all of ours too then all go to processing center together using their address? We just can't do the deluxe passes for all four of us and it is easy for us to plan to visit family when the passes are good. I wish they offered something similar for those of us in NorCal. Has anyone had experience with it? I would rather have select passes that we can renew and use 2 times a year than save up for deluxe passes that we can only use every other year or so.

You will most likely be asked for ID with your So CA address on it, each time you use it, and especially when you go to GET the So CA AP. I've heard of *some* people skating by, but unless you have a fund to upgrade on the spot when you're asked for proper ID, I just can't imagine it would be worth it.

*******

Did AP prices go up THAT much in Sept? I know this thread is originally from January of last year, but the statement..."I figured that with the only $70 difference between Deluxe and Premium"...made me just about faint. If only it were only 70 bucks between them!! I definitely would have upgraded to premium by now!

 

[lisadoll93]

We have So Cal. Mainly because I do not like going on Sat. We usually go Sun-Tues, due to its easier for DH and I to get those days off together. We had Deluxe one year and it really did not make a difference for us.

Blackout dates are generally busier days than non blackout dates.

 

[Disneyluvr2]

I live in Northern Calif, 500 miles away from Disneyland and I have a Premium AP. I want to be able to jump on the plane any time someone asks me to go and not worry if it's a blackout day! My two favorite things to do is eat and shop so I really enjoy the discounts!

 

[turtle51]

I have a premuim as well as my mom and my cousin. We all work for school districts and it did not make sense to be blacked out on our days off. We get the premium yes for the free parking, discounts on food and merch but also we like the freedom. Sometimes we get the nitch to go and jump in the car and go for a few hours. There have been times when it is so crowded that all we do is watch the fireworks. We go at least once a month if not more. I also use my free parking when I go with friends to downtown disney. I see no point in paying when I can get us there for free.

 

[turtle51]

I have a premuim as well as my mom and my cousin. We all work for school districts and it did not make sense to be blacked out on our days off. We get the premium yes for the free parking, discounts on food and merch but also we like the freedom. Sometimes we get the nitch to go and jump in the car and go for a few hours. There have been times when it is so crowded that all we do is watch the fireworks. We go at least once a month if not more. I also use my free parking when I go with friends to downtown disney. I see no point in paying when I can get us there for free.

 

[FigmentsBiggestFan]

Like most of the other locals (that's not a bad word), my son and I have the Premium for the discounts and free parking, but mostly the no blackout dates. My DH got the Deluxe one because he won't be going without us and I can take care of the "premium" stuff.

I will say this - as someone who (for a little while longer) holds both APs for WDW and DL, WOWZER - these APs are EXPENSIVE!!! Especially for only having two parks. My Florida AP was much less expensive and included four parks! Oh well, I'll still get my money's worth!!!!!

 

[biolabetty]

We started with just me having the premium, and my husband and 2 older kids have deluxe. We got the socal passes for our 2 little kids, but quickly upgraded to deluxe for them so we could go on the days they were off from school. My mom just recently got a socal pass, and was only asked for her I.D. when she was actually processing the pass. She has never been asked to prove she was a socal resident every time she goes to the park.

Don't always assume that groups of teens on their own are locals either. When I was in high school, Disneyland was a regular stop for our high school choir tour, and we were not from socal. My niece from northern california came many times on her own with her swim team. I've even met large groups of teens that were visiting from other countries at Disneyland.

 

[Padstack]

I have the premium (for the parking & 15% food discounts) and my wife has the SoCal Select AP and will upgrad her the next time we go on a blackout day and will upgrade again the next blackout day.

My wife will only go with my DD during a weekday when I am traveling. She will go on a weekend only if I go with her, so it makes more sense to start her off with the cheapest version possible. That and it helps to spread the costs throughout the year.

 

[audrabolster]

We bought deluxe passes and added parking to one of ours. We don't like visiting on very busy days, so we didn't need the premium really. We mostly go on Fridays or Sundays, and the SoCal pass had WAY too many blackout dates for us.

 

[actionvaughn]

Local that's 30 minutes away, and we have deluxe passes. (We'll be upgrading to premium in March) Once you start going often enough, you do recognize people after a while, but no one has "local" or "tourist" slapped on their forehead..

Whether or not the SoCal passes have a black out date on a day I want to go doesn't have a HUGE effect, but it's something I consider when I decide what to do for the day. I guess the logic is that since the passes are only available to locals, that it affects the traffic a lot.. I think?

 

[mindylovesmickey]

I'm pretty sure that when we go next month we are going to go ahead and upgrade to the Premium pass for all of us. My kids and I will use it the most since my husband will be deployed for most of the year, but when he comes home we intend on going once or twice and possibly over holiday's which is when he will have time off and we don't want to have to be hindered by blackout dates. I think that no matter how many times we go this year, it will be worth it.

 

[SILLYANDI]

Excellent that's what I thought. So in other words when I renew our passes in June if I upgrade to Premium and renew everyone else in my family to deluxe then I could get the higher meal discounts, the store discounts and the parking as long as the group is with me. Like I could pay for everyone's lunch using my AP and get the discount for everyone right? That's what I figured so that is a good idea. Thanks!

This is exactly what we do. I have the premium for the discounts & parking-I'm the lucky premium holder because no one goes to Dland without me! Everyone else has the deluxe-with the kids in school and all of us allergic to crowds (you should hear my kids if they have to wait longer than 15 mins for a ride?!) there would be no reason for all of us to have premiums. We never go during crowded time and hardly ever on weekends, but the option is there should visitors want to go on one of those days with us.

 

[FigmentsBiggestFan]

I think that the best time to go is right after school on a weekday. We can get a LOT done in those few hours!!

You'll usually find us at Screamin' or the Matterhorn (DS's current favs)!