Considering getting an AP

[thundrmtn]

My DH and I are headed to DW next Wednesday, last minute trip. We are staying at the Hilton at DTD. However, we are going back December 28-Jan. 3, staying at the Poly. We still need theme park tickets, so I was contemplating getting DH and I annual passes (the kids are going with us in Dec.) I have a few questions (please bare with me):

1. If we get AP's will there likely be a code out for our travel dates? (since it's holiday season)

2. Can we get on the dining plan or is it a better deal to purchase a DDE card?

3. How long is the DDE card good?

I did the math and if we buy a 6 day ticket for next week and a 7 day ticket in December for each of us, it comes to (including tax) 1120.38. Buying two AP's will come to 954.24. That saves us just in theme park admission 166.14.

It seems like a no-brainer, but I also want to get a good AP rate on the room too. I wish we could cancel our Hilton ressie but it's non-refundable and the AP didn't cross my mind until now.

Thanks if you got this far!

 

[disneyfan55]

My DH and I are headed to DW next Wednesday, last minute trip. We are staying at the Hilton at DTD. However, we are going back December 28-Jan. 3, staying at the Poly. We still need theme park tickets, so I was contemplating getting DH and I annual passes (the kids are going with us in Dec.) I have a few questions (please bare with me):

1. If we get AP's will there likely be a code out for our travel dates? (since it's holiday season)

Holidays are the busiest times. Check Mousesavers.com for historical info on codes for AP

2. Can we get on the dining plan or is it a better deal to purchase a DDE card?

You can only purchase the Dining plan if you are on WDW sites. We did do the DDE just 2 weeks ago. It costs 60 and I think it's worth it. While it is mostly available for TS places, I was pleasently surprised that the food courts in the Values were included as well as Animal Kingdom and a few others.

3. How long is the DDE card good?

13 months. We purchased ours May 20 and it is good through June 30, 2009

I did the math and if we buy a 6 day ticket for next week and a 7 day ticket in December for each of us, it comes to (including tax) 1120.38. Buying two AP's will come to 954.24. That saves us just in theme park admission 166.14.

It seems like a no-brainer, but I also want to get a good AP rate on the room too. I wish we could cancel our Hilton ressie but it's non-refundable and the AP didn't cross my mind until now.

Thanks if you got this far!

You will also have FREE Parking ($11 per day) for both stays not just the Poly one. There are many other perks with the AP such as discounts on Lunches in a variety of restaurants and discounts on many of the tours available. There is also a discount on mini golf.

 

[TJA]

We've been AP holders for about 5 years now, didn't realize it has been so long! I can touch on a few of your questions.

1. We have never been to disney during holiday season, so I don't know for sure about AP discounts during that frame, but I do think even if some AP discounts were released, they would be hard to come by during busy times. I think that particular time frame between Cmas and New Years is one of the busiest times in dinsey.

2. The dining plan versus DDE really depends on your own circumstances. Personally, we normally have 2 sit-downs meals a day and that's it. So if we did the basic plan, we'd be paying for a lot of out-of-pocket meals. If we did the deluxe plan, then we'd have too many meals (but we are curious to try it someday....). So I think it's really a personal preference. We use the DDE card and feel we really get our money's worth out of it.

3. The DDE card is good for one year. Well, we just got our latest DDE card on April 21 right in disney and the expiration date is actually May 31, 2009.

Another good thing about buying AP's, for us, is that we never feel pressured to spend a whole day at a park. We sometimes have a pool day and then just enter a park later on for a meal and a few rides. We wouldn't do that with regular passes because we'd feel like we were wasting a day on our pass. We feel like we have a lot of freedom with AP's, in other words, freedom that we didn't feel when we bought regular MYW passes.

 

[thundrmtn]

Thanks! I hope there will be codes in December!!