Does an Annual Pass Make sense?

[MickeyReeds]

We will be going to DisneyWorld in March 2017, 7 days, staying off property. We will pay for parking each day. I was planning on buying 4, 7 day park hopper passes from ParkSavers for $394.46 each ($1577.84 total)

My son will travel with his marching band to DisneyWorld in December 2017 and as of right now, my DD and I will be traveling to see him perform. We're not sure how many days we would need park tickets, but I will estimate 4 days.

Would it make sense for us to purchase at least one annual pass for this trip, using it to get "free parking" and the memory maker, which we will likely buy? Would it make sense to buy one for DD as well? DS will get his tickets through the band and DH isn't planning on going.

Any thoughts??

 

[wdw4rfam]

Don't forget the 20%off 45 new restaurants, 10% off some others, 20%merchandise discount they just added. We had 2 trips planned so we added a third right before they expire and figured out we could save thousands since the oases pay for themselves after the first 2 trips. i just bought this morning before they decide to up the price

 

[loves to dive]

When renewing my AP and when I bought my first one, I don't take discounts into account since they are fluid, a restaurant on the list today might not be on it tomorrow. If your tickets would cost less with the AP then go that way if not, it wouldn't make sense to me. As far as parking, if you are staying on site you get free parking any way.

 

[mountdew1]

Would you otherwise buy Memory Maker? If so, then I think it's a no brainer to get at least one. The $140 in parking for the first trip, plus $149 for Memory Maker would be $289 in savings. Your $394.46 tickets which should bring you $467.54 in value (as far as I know the park savers tickets are bridgeable), with the $289 form parking/MM brings you to $756.54, so only $40 shy of the gate price for an AP of $797.69. When you add in potential dining/merchandise discounts it almost makes sense to buy one even if you don't do the second trip. And as for the second trip, it depends on the price you end up paying for tickets. At gate price ($419 + $467) it's an obvious win even without parking/MM, but at ParkSavers prices it's closer (currently that same $394 for a 4 day or a 7 day) being about $6 shy. In theory you should more than make that up with merch/dining discounts never mind the parking/MM. But the toss up is, are you 100% going on that second trip?

 

[georgina]

We will be going to DisneyWorld in March 2017, 7 days, staying off property. We will pay for parking each day. I was planning on buying 4, 7 day park hopper passes from ParkSavers for $394.46 each ($1577.84 total)

My son will travel with his marching band to DisneyWorld in December 2017 and as of right now, my DD and I will be traveling to see him perform. We're not sure how many days we would need park tickets, but I will estimate 4 days.

Would it make sense for us to purchase at least one annual pass for this trip, using it to get "free parking" and the memory maker, which we will likely buy? Would it make sense to buy one for DD as well? DS will get his tickets through the band and DH isn't planning on going.

Any thoughts??

Go ahead and buy your 7 day PHs, then you can decide to upgrade one (or 2) to an AP while you are there (savings calculated by mountdew above). No need to decide yet! Perhaps by then you will have a better idea what you want to do, what all the new AP discounts are and how you would save with them.

 

[Klayfish]

I agree with above. Figure it out as the time gets closer. If you're going to make a few trips and spend probably something like 15+ total days in WDW (off property) then I think it makes sense. We did this exact calculation ourselves, but we spent 50 total days over our 12 month AP, so it was a no brainer for us.