Cheapest way to buy tickets?

[code3chica]

So I'm trying to figure out if this is the best combo for my family....

2 adults, 1 kid (and 2 free kids under 2 - woot!)

We are going to the parks Dec 1-6 (Sun to Fri), staying offsite. We plan to drive our own car in since we have three in car seats. I will also be coming back for Princess 1/2 Marathon weekend in February and probably doing parks 2-3 days. There is a possibility of my husband and I also coming back in early May to bring DD right before she turns 3 (aka while she is still free) - it would only be one day. We do not want park hoppers.

#1 - Would it benefit me to get an AP? The free parking would save me $15/day x 6 days = $90 for just the first week. I don't know if we are staying onsite race weekend, but if we aren't that's another $30-45, + $15 in the spring.....so potentially $150 in free parking. And if I DO get one, should I buy it from Mousesavers or AAA?

#2 - I have pharmacy rewards and a Target Red Card - so would it be better to buy the GCs to pay for tickets, or just for meals?

#3 - I read on some other thread that someone suggested buying the 4 day (5th day Free) ticket and then going into the park and upgrading the last day there. Is that the cheapest.

My head is spinning trying to make sense of this...

 

[Cheshire Figment]

You might want to look at the Everything About WDW Tickets locked sticky in the TPA&S Forum. Especially the items bolded in the list below.

Post and Contents

1. This Table of Contents
2. Magic Your Way (MYW) Ticket Basics Including Definitions
3. Annual Passes and Water Park Tickets
4. Tickets Available Only to Florida Residents
5. Tickets Not Available to the General Public
6. Upgrading MYW Tickets (Not to Annual Passes)
7. Upgrading Tickets to Annual Passes
8. Dealing With Tickets Issued Prior to 1 January 2005 (Pre-MYW)
9. Children and Adults
10. Special Events
11. Comprehensive MYW Ticket Example
12. Hotel Card (Key To The World (KTTW))
13. Lost Tickets
14. Finger Scans
15. Frequently Asked Ticket Questions.
15A(1) Hopping Rules
15A(2) I Want To Hop For Only One Day On A Multi-Day Stay
15B. WPF&M With No Expire
15C. No Expire Upgrades
15D. Upgrading an Unused Ticket
15E. Upgrading Special Tickets
15F. Checking on Old Tickets
15G. Renewing Annual Passes
15H. Upgrading a Completely Used Ticket
15I. Getting Park Tickets Before Package Start Date
15J. Upgrading After Departure

Page Two of the Sticky

16. 2013 MNSSHP and MVMCP Information
17. 2012/2013 Armed Forces Salute Tickets
18A. Prices Effective June 1, 2013
18B. Reserved for Future Use
18C. How to Save Money on Annual Pass Purchases
19A. "Free" Tickets and Special Promotions
19B. Special DVC Member Premium Annual Pass Promotion
20. Ticket Purchase/Upgrade Locations and Telephones
21. Florida Resident Installment Purchases of Annual Passes
22. All About Price-Bridging (Or Not)

To get there directly, follow the link in my signature. The ticket sticky is your friend!

 

[code3chica]

Those links are helpful....but my brain is still spinning....

 

[Crazy Hakim]

This is a tough nut to crack.
Just using round numbers, your best choices are the Annual Pass, or a 10 day non-expiring.
A standard AP will cost about $650 and that automatically has Park Hopping & free parking as you mentioned.
Add the Water Parks and it's about $780
But, this will expire 365 days after it's first use.

A 10-Day, Non-Expiring Base Ticket is about $660 (1-Park per day)
Add Park Hopping about $720
Add PH & Fun & More about $750
The advantage here is this ticket will never expire! Your locked into 10 visits.
And the $90 to add PH/F&M also gives you 10 visits to the water parks in addition to the 10 theme park visits, and they too will never expire. Even if you use up your 10 theme park visits, the ticket will still be good until you use up all your Fun & More visits.

All I can add is that I see a lot of DVC Members who buy the 10 Day NE Ticket, so lets hope a few of them will chime in.

 

[code3chica]

OK....so how does this sound?

My ticket:
Buy a UCT 4 day (5th free). Activate it, upgrade to AP. (Do they refund your parking for that day if you do that?)

DH & DS : UCT 4day (5th free). Activate it, add another day.