DLR Annual Passes: Yes/No, Tips & Tricks? When to Buy?

[missycakes99]

Hi all!

This is my first post so bare with me. I tried to search the forums for a similar topic, but had no luck.

We recently moved to the state and thought we should take advantage and get annual passes this year (we're in NorCal).

We have a five day trip planned this fall, a three day trip planned for next spring and hope to have a few more weekend trips in the late spring. According to the math, it's worth it. We think it's probably worth it to get annual passes, but I'm having a hard time deciding.

Anyone have any tips and tricks on the matter? If we're not going until October, should we buy now? (mostly so we can utilize the passes for discounts at local hotels)

I've also read that it may be worth it for only one member of the fam to buy an annual pass. We have a two year old (who will be three next year). Do we buy him a pass or wait? Do we put it off and game the system a bit (which i hate to do, but it's also not cheap).

Please help! Thanks!

 

[SMD]

Does your first trip include any blockout dates? If so, and you want to buy the deluxe pass, consider using hoppers and then upgrading. The only reason to buy an AP now is to protect against another price increase. Otherwise, you only get a voucher, not an actual AP, so to obtain discounts you'll still have to get your AP with a valid barcode at a ticket booth.

As far as the two year old, it would depend on if you plan to renew your APs or if you think you'll do something like alternate having APs every other year. There is no child price on APs, so if he turns 3 half way through your year, it may end up cheaper to buy him a child PH after he turns 3 until your renewal date comes up.

It might be worth it to have one person in your family get a premium AP while the rest get deluxe. You'll have to decide if you'll use the parking benefit and look at the locations where the discount is accepted. You get an additional 5% on food and an additional 10% on merchandise. If you mostly eat churros and popcorn in the parks, they don't offer an AP discount, so the premium difference is moot. Non-Disney places at DTD give a one size fits all discount, so again, no advantage to have premium.

 

[FryingPansWhoKnew]

Do we put it off and game the system a bit (which i hate to do, but it's also not cheap)!

I would always wait to buy the passes until we need them. There is a risk of price increases, but I still always wait.

Generally I would never presume to tell people they should do the right thing. We are all tempted from time to time, and none of us is perfect, but as far as gaming the system, I would urge you not to do this. I realize it's not cheap and let me tell you I'm not a rich person myself, but I think you will regret it if you don't do the right thing. Let your conscience be your guide.

 

[aliceindisneyland]

Hi all!

This is my first post so bare with me. I tried to search the forums for a similar topic, but had no luck.

We recently moved to the state and thought we should take advantage and get annual passes this year (we're in NorCal).

We have a five day trip planned this fall, a three day trip planned for next spring and hope to have a few more weekend trips in the late spring. According to the math, it's worth it. We think it's probably worth it to get annual passes, but I'm having a hard time deciding.

Anyone have any tips and tricks on the matter? If we're not going until October, should we buy now? (mostly so we can utilize the passes for discounts at local hotels)

I've also read that it may be worth it for only one member of the fam to buy an annual pass. We have a two year old (who will be three next year). Do we buy him a pass or wait? Do we put it off and game the system a bit (which i hate to do, but it's also not cheap).

Please help! Thanks!

I don't understand wanting to buy AP now for hotel discounts. If you get an AP discount, the hotel will just want to see your AP before you check out, no need to have it on hand now.

5 day parkhopper: 289 - fall trip
3 day parkhopper: 254 - spring trip
Total: $543 - you've already made your $519 Deluxe pass worth it after just 2 of your planned trips.

Since you're in northern CA your choices are Deluxe and Premium.
Parking makes the difference between Premium pass for one of you being worth it or not.

Parking is $17 per day or $159 to add to your Deluxe AP. You have to use DL parking for 10 days to make the parking pass worth it. If you stay on site or stay within walking/shuttle distance, you won't need to use DL parking.

If you will park 10+ days, that leaves you with just $21 difference between Premium and Deluxe with parking. You need to spend about $425 on food using the Premium pass to break even. [Merchandise gets extra 10% off, so you'll hit the break even point sooner if you buy merchandise.]

Remember that only the Premium card holder can pay for food/merchandise. So if you have the Premium pass and take the little one on a ride or to the restroom and your DH goes to order food, you'll miss out on that extra discount. That happened to us loads of times the year I had Premium.

If you do not add parking to the Deluxe pass, the difference between Premium and Deluxe is $180. You will need to spend $3600 on food with the extra 5% to break even. Again, you will hit this faster if some of your spending is on merchandise. And as pp noted, you get no extra Premium discount in Downtown Disney, Garden Walk, etc.; just your 10% for AP.

Not buying a 2-yr-old who does not need a pass is not gaming the system! He does not need a pass yet! Buy him a pass on the trip he turns 3. The only problem is that then he will be half a year off from you, and you will want to renew your passes again to get full value of his pass...and that is how you end up with 8 years of APs!

The best thing about buying an AP in October: 2 Halloween seasons!

 

[FryingPansWhoKnew]

Not buying a 2-yr-old who does not need a pass is not gaming the system! He does not need a pass yet! Buy him a pass on the trip he turns 3.

I misunderstood the OP apparently. I'm not really sure what the OP is asking or why she is considering buying an AP early.

 

[missycakes99]

Wow, guys! Thank you so much! This was immensely helpful.

I really appreciate it.

 

[missycakes99]

I am confused, too. I wasn't sure when the pass becomes effective so I didn't want to buy now and then lose 5 months, but after digging (Disney doesn't make it easy) I realized that the passes become official the day you enter the park. I thought I'd have to have the number on me in order to book hotel reservations, etc.

So now I see that you do not. thanks!!

 

[KeKy4]

We did as others have mentioned and bought one premium and the rest deluxe. My husband has the premium and I never had an issue using his pass when buying food/merchandise while he stayed with the kids. When they asked for ID for the pass, I showed his and said it was my husband and they always said that's fine. I wouldn't spend the money on a pass for your two year old until you have to.

 

[zap]

We are in Nor Cal, too, and went with the Annual Passes because you can make monthly payments with no finance charges or extra fees if you live in CA. We went with the Premium passes for the higher discounts on food and merchandise. They come with parking passes but don't use them because we stayed at Park Vue Inn which has free parking and is VERY close to the main gates.

 

[crystal1313]

We are in NorCal too. First two years we had APs we did the payment plan. This last time we just bought outright on our CC and paid it off right away. We have two boys, so it's hard to stomach the AP prices for them, so we just buy them park hoppers. Also sometimes my DH and I go without the kids. We have premium because we don't want to deal with block out dates. I wouldn't buy your 2 year old a pass until they are 3. We've always gotten our money's worth out of our APs with the amount of times we go and the discounts. Just be careful! Cause you will plan more trips then you expect! LOL. So fun though and wonderful memories for the kids.

 

[bakerudall]

Speaking of child AP's--I wish there were family AP's! Possibly something that discounts families with 3-4+ children (I would be happy to provide copies of birth certificates and show ID's at the gates to prevent fraud). Another option would be child AP's that could apply to any child in the family. For instance, I have 6 kids. I could go do DLR much more frequently if I and/or DW could take two or three kids at a time (smaller car, way less fuel, great deals on standard size hotel rooms, etc.). If we could buy two adult and 3 child AP's that would work with any of our children, DLR would still get paid for 4-5 people entering the park on each trip instead of making less money on a family who would never buy 8 AP's at one time and would visit far less often.

 

[GatorChris]

Wow, great info here. I have 5 APs for all of us, but I may upgrade to Premium for me if we end up staying at a Disney hotel instead of the HoJo. With 6 nights on the first trip, the savings on merch and food alone would probably make up the difference. And that's just the first trip. All the other trips would be gravy.

 

[missycakes99]

hahah that's the problem! I now find myself sticking DL vacations in every other month. There are worse problems in life

 

[superlarz]

You could buy your AP now and activate it when you first go to the park. This would protect you from any surprise price increases. If you choose to wait, you can still call any of the hotels that give you a discount and book the discount rate. They will require you so show your AP at check in or check out (typically whenever you are paying)