Do annual passes really save you money?

[Trekker]

LOL! We went to WDW in Nov 2001 and because we were going to be there for 12 days we bought APs. This was the less expensive route to go.

Well in the long run did this really save me money?

I think not....

Since then we have gone:

Mar 2002 for 11 days
May 2002 for 5 days
and I'm scheduled again in Oct 2002 for 6 days

There is no way we would have made any of these trips if we did not have the APs. It was kinda like I felt obligated to get more use out of those tickets because I had them.

ROFL - my "savings" on the Nov trip has cost me $1000s - LOL

How about the rest of you that buy APs to save money on a trip. Do you end up doing the same thing?

 

[beansmom]

If you save enough on your room to offset the increased cost of the pass, then it would.

Besides, I WANT to make three trips a year---JUST one time.

 

[CarolA]

I'm with Trekker, but every penny was worth it.

 

[tonilea]

On a per trip basis, YES

BUT for us the AP is a vacation BUDGET BUSTER, 3 trips in one year

 

[AKASnowWhite]

Well Trekker, you certainly got your money's worth from the PASSES at least!!

I see what you mean about *saving* money though....we did the same thing....those *free* trips (used frequent flier miles as well) that aren't really *free*, just more affordable. But to say that they SAVED us money, well I wouldn't quite go that far!

 

[travelitis]

My dh and I are thinking of getting APs for just us. We're taking the 3 kids for Thanksgiving and are planning a trip without them in the summer. We always go for a week alone in the summer, and the last 3 yrs. it's been a cruise. This summer we have an extra week of timeshare to use. (long story, but they screwed up, so this is our compensation) Rather than exchanging it, because of the circumstance, we thought it better to just stay at the one in Orlando. Can we stay there a week without going into WDW? My dh, heathen that he is, could, but I cannot fathom it. In this instance I would consider it a savings, because if we don't go to WDW, we're going on a cruise. Normally it would not be a savings overall for us as we do WDW every other year.

 

[bearzabout]

We have saved a bundle because of our annual passes this year. Although we will spend nearly 5 weeks in Orlando this year, we feel we spend less at Disney than if we were to travel to other destinations. This year, changes in our business and the economy have kept us from travelling to our favorite places – Europe, the South Pacific, Scandinavia, etc. Since we are adventurers at heart, eating our way around the world at Epcot or hanging out in AK is the next best thing to travelling the world.

We have learned to enjoy Disney on a budget too. We fly free using miles or book cheap tickets, stay at a 3* Priceline hotel or condo using Skyauction, get a cheap rental car and use connections coupons for food. For about $800 per week for 2, we have an absolutely fabulous time at a most magical place where you can let the realities of the real world disappear. This year, we have considered Disney to be our vacation home. For our hard earned vacation dollar, we feel Disney World is a bargain indeed.

 

[MELSMICE]

We got the AP's in April of 2001 (April 7 to be exact) over the Easter break & used them for 2 weeks. We knew we would be back during the 2002 Easter break for 2 weeks & would be leaving on April 8, 2002 so it was perfect timing.

With those passes "hanging over our heads" we took an extra trip in December 2001.

Did they save us money - probably not if you consider we took the extra trip, however, the convenience of them was worth every single penny.

We loved going in & out of parks whenever we wanted. One morning we walked from the Contemporary to MK for fast passes for Space Mountain. We went back to CR to swim & around 1:00 walked back to MK to use our passes. We got ice cream on the way out & relaxed the rest of the day at the pool. It was one of the best days & our kids loved every minute of it.

I say AP's all the way no matter how much you use them or how many "extra" trips you take!!! We already have our vouchers for our November trip & are using them again for our annual Easter trip.

 

[tink2dw]

We only used our Ap's for 1 trip but the reason I bought them instead of Hoppers was for the ease of use. I didn't have to worry about using up or days or wasteing days. It was easy and since we went to the parks on 13 days it was a savings!!

 

[Tiffany]

I would say yes. We sit down and say okay how many trips are we going to be able to afford during the next 12 months. If the answer is either one of more then 8days or more then one trip we buy the APs.

We are going to be taking three trips from Feb 1st, 2003 through Feb 1st, 2004. So I bought two adult APs with DC discount just before the prices went up and it will work out to less then $19 a day on park admission. So even if we get a better rate with a code we are still saving money on 19days worth of park admission.