Does anyone else think that Disney Annual Passes are really overpriced?

[mickeyfan2]

DH and I have both a WDW AP and a SW AP. We do both on every vacation. The SW AP gives us stuff that Disney does not, but each is a value in its own right.

The Disney AP (per allears) is $477 for an adult. DH and I get 3 10 night trips per AP. We always get the room discount, since we are not picky about the resort. We usually visit Disney parks on 9 days per trip. That is 27 visits per AP. OR $17.67/day to visit. That is surely a bargain.

If one uses an AP wisely, then it is a good deal.

 

[Muushka]

Just for information purposes, a 10 day Hopper with No Expiration actually costs more than an Annual Pass. This is for non-Florida resident and does not take into consideration either DVC Member or AP renewal discounts.

To agree with MinnieGirl, you can get more use out of a 10 day non-exp. With the plusses, it is more expensive than the AP with my DVC discount. We got it with the plusses, so that will be 16 days of parks/water parks. On an average 6 night trip, we may go into the parks 2 days and maybe a plus day. That will last us 5 Orlando visits, or 3 years. With an AP, the most we can get out of them is 3 visits. And I actually enjoy it when we do not go to the parks every day. Much more relaxing.

But there is no right or wrong answer to the OP's question.
It is what ever your personal opinion of what is expensive.

 

[Mean Queen]

Doing the math on how many visits we currently have planned this year, it's about $21 a day per paying family member for each visit. That's with park hopping (which we do often.) I honestly thought we had more trips planned than we did. I guess I better plan a few more to lower that cost. I always say Disney is our reward for living with the heat, humidity, and hurricanes.

 

[goodeats]

When you compare it to a seasonal ski pass (our local 'good' mountain is $500+pp) or season tickets to professional/college sports (our season tickets, only 6 home games, for UCLA is $300pp) I still think it's a good deal. Especially when you consider all the room/food discounts you can get. WDW is a worldclass resort destination, they can charge what they want. Until the business suffers they won't lower the prices.

If I lived close by I would definitely get one!

 

[DisneyMomJen]

We are a family of 6 and have to purchase 4 adults and 2 kids AP's. Luckily we get the DVC discount, but I think it is still ALOT of money to shell out. The way I try to keep the cost down is first, when anyone asks what my kids (or my DH & myself) want for Christmas, I tell them Disney Dollars. This is saved for AP's. We also have one day passes from previous Free Dining packages that will be applied toward AP's. We leave this Saturday and will only have to pay about $400 out of pocket for 6 AP's or $1100 or for 6 Premium AP's. I know we will get 3 trips out of these and hopefully 4 if I can talk DH into a trip in early December. We bought our first AP's 2 years ago and got 4 trips out of them. We did not renew since it was not worth it for us. We stayed at the BC this past April during Spring Break and did not even go into the parks since I knew they would be packed. There really is so much to do besides the parks, including relaxing by the pool.

 

[Magickndm]

We buy passes every year. The last 2 years we started out seasonal, but then for one reason or another, ended upgrading to annual. We live close enough that we spent at least 24 days in the parks a year, probably more, that's the minimum. So, if my math is correct, we are spending $13.96/day each time we go.
To me, there is no where you can go and get more bang for your buck.

 

[ntsammy5]

That is 27 visits per AP. OR $17.67/day to visit. That is surely a bargain.

Yes it is. I only get a military discount and will get passes based on ho I plan on using them for the next year. Some years I get an AP, others I don't. If I were a FL resident, I'd always get a FL AP.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

I think the Florida Seasonal Pass is a much better deal at $230. But I agree, tickets are getting really up there! I remember when they were $20

We were going to do the seasonal passes, but of course we're going to Disney at XMas with my family like we always do. That means that if DH and I get the seasonal passes, my folks (who have the regular APs) will have to take my 2 year-old into the park by themselves if she wants park time. I can't do that to my parents They've already paid their parenting dues The deluxe AP's (or whatever you call them) are soooo overpriced IMHO

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

That's why we try to go once a month, to justify the high cost. Even with the FL. resident renewal rate (same as the DVC member rate), it's pretty costly. I fear the day my baby turns 3, because my older DD will turn 10 soon after. And by that time, I can't imagine how high the ticket prices will be. We'll probably have to give them up then and just enjoy the DVC resorts.

No kidding! I only have the 1 child right now, but I also fear the day that she turns 3 and we have to start paying for an AP for her too. I told DH that I'd rather just stay in the DVC accomodations and drive over to Universal and Sea World to do park days. He loves Disney parks a whole lot more than I do. I like them well enough, but I'm perfectly happy with Universal and Sea World too. I like DVC accomodations the best, though. If Universal made something like DVC, I personally would probably sell my DVC points and buy into that instead. DH wouldn't agree with me at first I'm sure, but if the Disney ticket prices keep going up maybe someday I could convince him!

 

[seashoreCM]

The breakeven between an AP and regular tickets is about 12 days with hopping. Without hopping you can get up to 18 days (also on two expiring tickets).

You need four water park or Disney Quest visits to justify the premium AP regardless of the number of theme park visits you make.

Disney hints: http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/dispass.htm

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

The breakeven between an AP and regular tickets is about 12 days with hopping. Without hopping you can get up to 18 days (also on two expiring tickets).

You need four water park or Disney Quest visits to justify the premium AP regardless of the number of theme park visits you make.

Disney hints: http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/dispass.htm

Interesting! We may go to the waterparks on our upcoming vacation, but I don't know if we'd really go 4 times. I've never been to Disney Quest and I doubt I'd go even with the Premium Pass. It doesn't sound like it would be my thing (or DH's thing), and it doesn't sound like it has much for toddlers. Maybe we will just buy the seasonal passes after all.

I've decided that the $500 or so that we would likely have spent at Disney restaurants won't get spent on this trip. I'll just cook all of our meals in our DVC unit instead. It's not that we can't afford both...it's the principle of it. I don't want to spend $500 (for the FL passes) or $900 (for the Premium Passes) and then spend another $500 on food at Disney That's ridiculous IMHO. DH seems OK with this plan, although I think that he would like to eat out at least a few times. I told him that we could eat out at Wolfgang Puck Cafe, Earl of Sandwich, Fulton's, or Teppanyaki because they aren't owned by Disney Disney is getting enough of our money on the passes alone on this trip

 

[DawnM]

CA passes at Disneyland are GREAT! FL WDW passes are overpriced.

We haven't been to Disney in over 18 months and we have no trip planned anytime soon. I haven't gone this long without Disney since 1990 when I was dating a cast member!!!!! He got me hooked on Disney.

But with three kids it just makes it a lot harder to go.

Dawn

 

[i3utterfli82]

I am so thankful Disney has the FL Resident Seasonal Passes. IMO they are a steal. We go for a week vacation every year in October, but do it a week before the last so we can get 2 full weeks out of the passes and then we do a trip in December to see the Osbourne Lights and the rest of the decorations. It fits our needs perfectly and the price is right. To OP I suggest you just buy the seasonal pass and go during the off times.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

All I can say is if you think the FRR are expensive, see how it feels to be a non-resident.

Have you read the pricing charts at the ticket booths lately????

If you buy a park hopper--holy cow, it doesn't take too many days before you are better off buying a seasonal pass.

It is all relative and across the board Disney is just expensive.

 

[ntsammy5]

All I can say is if you think the FRR are expensive, see how it feels to be a non-resident.

Lisa -- I see you've done the Disney Marathon and the Donald Duck marathon --- that's great! Who cares about the times, you finished. My youngest, DD(26), is training for the 2008 marathon right now!

Added: My best time for a marathon was 5:18:01 -- 36 years ago! AAAARRRRRGGGGGGG!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Lisa -- I see you've done the Disney Marathon and the Donald Duck marathon --- that's great! Who cares about the times, you finished. My youngest, DD(26), is training for the 2008 marathon right now!

Added: My best time for a marathon was 5:18:01 -- 36 years ago! AAAARRRRRGGGGGGG!

My full was a bummer b/c I had the flu and was late so not an official finisher. By less than 1 minute! Making up for it this year!

My half time was awesome. The training included knee surgery and 1 month of no running in the middle of training. I was pleased as punch with that one.

But thanks for the complement! 5:18 is highly respectable!

 

[LilGMom]

For our family I don't view the FL Res. Seasonal passes as too expensive. We go at least two weeks a year and park hop like crazy. It would be more expensive for us to buy MYW tickets with the park hopping and no expiration options than for our Seasonal passes. I'm thankful that WDW has the Seasonal passes for FL residents - makes living in this hotbox of a state more bearable. I'll put up with the humidity, lovebugs, and roaches the size of small terriers for my Seasonal pass.

 

[Jason71]

I have full-year passes for all the big three--WDW, Universal and SW. While there is a certain amount of sticker shock to the WDW pass, I think an earlier poster had it right, compared to a season ski pass or Orlando Magic season tickets or a Broadway theater package at the Bob Carr Center, it's not bad at all. It works out to less than the cost of a nice dinner and a movie once a month.

The one thing I do think WDW is chintzy on is discounts. Universal is 10% off food across the board, and 10% or 15% off merchandise. WDW limits discounts to weekday lunches at World Showcase and a couple of DTD stores. It just makes it easier to buy a Uni pass when I know I will get a chunk of the money back in discounts all over CityWalk.

 

[CarolA]

well i don't know what your discount is but to be honest i really don't think that walt would approve of what they are charging

yes i know insurance to operate the ride's have skyrocketed sence 9/11
cost of living is very high
gas prices are high
taxes are high
pretty soon we will all have to pay for the air we breath

but they can charge what ever they want and get away with it just like cable tv

Does Walt speak to you directly??? Sorry, but why do you think that Walt wouldn't approve? Walt would probably approve, he actually liked to make money!

Walt actually had a fairly high cost struture. There was a cost to get IN the park and then you were charged for EACH ride. The "E" ticket rides cost more then things like "It's A Small World" I went in the 70's before the pricing changed and we spent close to $50 for a day... (teenagers! Lots of Space Mountain) If you didn't want to spend a lot of money you could spend a lot of time on It's a A Small World (A ticket LOL!)

My WDW AP purchase was around $350 with the DVC discount. Since an AP is for "park admission" in theory I could go to each of the four parks at WDW for barely over $1 a day.... And that's too much money??? What else are you buying for $1 a day????

If you buy and AP without a discont and go 12 days... $38 a day or so.... That's for four parks and a full day. Tickets to my college football game next weekend $50. Four hours and no Mickey Mouse! (And have you seen those food prices???)

As for Universal... the DAY HP opens they are dumping those great discounts.

Universal, SeaWorld etc are cheaper not because they "want to make less money" but because that's what they can get from us. Of course comparing those passes to WDW is a little misleading.

SeaWorld, ONE PARK WDW FOUR PARKS
Universal TWO PARKS, WDW FOUR PARKS (and a large section of one of Universal's parks will be shut down for the HP addition...)