Downside to Annual Pass?

[JungleCruiseFan]

The biggest upside is never feeling like you need to stay at the parks all day or get everything done everytime you go to justify the high prices. We have been going strictly with annual passes for I think 8 years now and we are from Michigan. We only buy them every other year as you can go in the summer, go again at Christmas or spring break or both and then go again the following summer before they expire and you get to go every year without having to buy them every year. Because we have APs we almost never spend an entire day at a park, we go at a leisurely pace and if something has too long of a wait or it closes down or timing doesn’t work out we never stress about not getting to do it because we don’t look at it from a cost per day and we know we can go back again whenever.
For one pass we typically get 30-40 park days in. 8 years ago when we paid less than $600 that was an amazing deal, almost the price of going to the movies! Now at over double the price it’s a lot more per day but still way cheaper and less stress than getting packs of tickets each time we go. Get the pass and have fun!!!

 

[OKW Lover]

Wondering if there are any downsides to purchasing that we aren’t aware of?

More frequent trips to WDW.

Seriously, with an AP you'll find yourself wanting to visit the parks more frequently since admission is already included.

 

[lanejudy]

Hi! Can you please share more of your thoughts/rationale for this idea?

WDW ticket prices are “front-loaded” meaning those first 3-4 days can cost almost full price per day. Longer trips like 8-10 days, the extra days don’t cost as much to add. So if one plans multiple short visits the ticket cost may hit the AP value easier than a couple of longer trips. Of course time of year matters which is why there is no one-size-fits-all answer.

 

[Mango7100]

With an AP we do find ourselves doing more half days because I don’t feel the need to be there all day to get my value. For instance, we will stop in a park at 6 pm on the day we drive in—would never spend a day ticket for just 3-4 hours without an AP.

But we 100% take more trips to WDW with an AP and put more pressure on ourselves to do WDW trips instead of other places because we already sunk money in our Incredipasses. For example, our last AP cycle we did 13 days over 4 trips (1 6 night, a 4 night, a 2 night but did MNSSHP and a one night tagged on to a beach trip). Without the AP we probably would have only done the 6 night and MNSSHP. And of course those extra trips we spent on hotel, food, Genie, etc. So we end up spending more. We have to decide in the next 20 days whether to renew and I’m torn. We are going for a 6 night over New Years for sure and if we renew we would do an extra 4 night over Easter to make it worth it. And that makes 0% sense, but it’s hard to give it up!

 

[CanucksRock]

You don’t want to give it up I got one in July 2019 and other than a 9 month Covid break I have had it since. Will be renewing again this year. My trip this fall, my pass will be renewed part way through - so I will only have used it for 2 - 6 day trips…but still, a regular 6 day park hopper is a few hundred more than my AP renewal cost. So it works, especially when you throw in all the extras. (We stay off site, so parking alone makes it worth it) …and you can do things like just pop into Epcot and ride Cosmic Rewind and leave, without thinking you wasted a day (Park Hopper is a must for us due to Cosmic Rewind as we tend to pop in for a ride everyday when in Orlando)

 

[tigerlilly]

Just a note about doing this, having even 1 AP in your party will mean not being allowed to book many of the 'regular' Disney offers. If you try to book a resort + ticket offer, all in the room need to have the exact same tickets so having even one AP in a room means booking resort and tickets separately. Not a deal breaker for many but something to keep in mind if looking at Disney Offers.

I never really thought about this! But that is a very a good thing to take into account. We are DVC (resale so not eligible for the lower price AP) so I didn't put that into my equation. That being said we are planning a trip with my parents next May (they are in their late 70's and do not want DVC... they want a room! lol) so I will have to definitely put this in my planning.

 

[HeatherC]

The biggest upside is never feeling like you need to stay at the parks all day or get everything done everytime you go to justify the high prices. We have been going strictly with annual passes for I think 8 years now and we are from Michigan. We only buy them every other year as you can go in the summer, go again at Christmas or spring break or both and then go again the following summer before they expire and you get to go every year without having to buy them every year. Because we have APs we almost never spend an entire day at a park, we go at a leisurely pace and if something has too long of a wait or it closes down or timing doesn’t work out we never stress about not getting to do it because we don’t look at it from a cost per day and we know we can go back again whenever.
For one pass we typically get 30-40 park days in. 8 years ago when we paid less than $600 that was an amazing deal, almost the price of going to the movies! Now at over double the price it’s a lot more per day but still way cheaper and less stress than getting packs of tickets each time we go. Get the pass and have fun!!!

This is exactly what we are thinking. We go every February and the ticket prices for a 4 day pass for our dates in 2024 will cost us $768 each! We might as well get an AP and go a week or so earlier the following year as well as possibly fill in with a few shorter weekend trips between then.

Based on the responses, I am not seeing any real downside to getting them at this point.

Thank you guys for all the responses!

 

[Selket]

This is exactly what we are thinking. We go every February and the ticket prices for a 4 day pass for our dates in 2024 will cost us $768 each! We might as well get an AP and go a week or so earlier the following year as well as possibly fill in with a few shorter weekend trips between then.

Based on the responses, I am not seeing any real downside to getting them at this point.

Thank you guys for all the responses!

I bought an AP recently since my son just started his disney college program internship and I plan to make several short trips - and probably one longer trip. I also find that I'll go to the park on the evening of an arrival day just to eat and hang out or something I wouldn't have perhaps done if paying for a 3 day vs a 4 day ticket. If you take shorter trips (2-4 day), the AP generally is worth it.

If they go back to offering something like "free dining" - that's where everyone in the room needs a park ticket and it's harder to figure the costs if you want to take advantage of that.

 

[kwdw]

I run the numbers solely on how many trips/park days to make sure I am intending to spend at least as much money on tickets in the next year as the price of the pass.

Having the AP (I'm also an out of stater) - does mean I will spend MORE money on other vacation costs - flights, hotels, ground transportation, food, souvenirs. I'm headed down in 10 days for a 2 day trip that WASN'T planned when I bought the pass just because Disney successfully marketed to me and I'm headed down for a Figment magnet, a chance to sit in a Passholder lounge, and a 30% merchandise discount. Am I am idiot falling into the Disney marketing trap? YES! But I do have plenty of vacation time and with Disney reward dollars from my credit card and flight miles, I'm expecting my trip to cost my $150 for the room and the price of souvenirs. Oh and the stupid ground transportation cost of $30 since Disney killed Magical Express which is still a huge loss for me.

So - the downside is that every year I have had an AP - I find myself making MORE trips than I expect and it costs me more than I would have guessed when I bought it. And it does mean I have not made some trips to OTHER places which I would ALSO enjoy.

 

[ars0525]

For one pass we typically get 30-40 park days in.

Wow!!! I live 1.5-2 hrs away & make it maybe 10 days a year now. Before Covid I was doing 18-20 days a year. I also just drive over for the day usually.

I agree having an AP means I might pop in when I wouldn't if I was in the area (I go to Clermont for triathlons), but the limits to park hopping after Covid have cut my regular visits. I used to go for opening, park hop & head home like 1-2pm. Now I am done before noon & don't want to wait 2 hours to park hop. That's the 1 thing I really miss & hope changes.

 

[DebbieB]

They tend to motivate you to make extra trips. For example, I live in PA, we decided to make a long weekend for the Tron AP preview. I’m currently at Universal for the Orlando Informer meet and added 2 days at Disney for Sunday and Monday. Don’t have to buy a ticket, used DVC points for the Sunday night room. This will be the 4th trip on my current pass.

 

[flowergleam1211]

WDW ticket prices are “front-loaded” meaning those first 3-4 days can cost almost full price per day. Longer trips like 8-10 days, the extra days don’t cost as much to add. So if one plans multiple short visits the ticket cost may hit the AP value easier than a couple of longer trips. Of course time of year matters which is why there is no one-size-fits-all answer.

Thank you! I don't see our family doing more than four or even two three park days during our relatively brief trips. Now the question is how many trips we would truly want in a 12 month period...

 

[JulieBeeRN]

Everyone is different, but it was about the math and convenience for us. We go to Disney 4-5 times a year so it makes more sense to purchase an AP.

I also found that we felt “obligated” when we bought tickets. If we bought four day tickets, then we were going those four days or I felt like we were wasting our money. With the AP, we can be more flexible on how many days in a trip that we want to go to the parks. And I don’t feel like we have to spend all day in the park to get our moneys worth.

But that is what works for us.

 

[robinb]

If you can make the math work for at least 2 trips, the major downside is that it will burn a hole in your pocket. You will find excuses to make a trip that you wouldn't normally make because you already have park passes.

I've been an AP holder on and off for over 20 years. The upsides are:

1. Feeling free to enter and exit the park when I want. Not feeling I need to be a "Commando" to get my money's worth. Being able to pop into a park on my arrival day or my departure day without a second thought.
2. 20% merch discount. I don't buy a lot of souvenirs, but it's nice to save a little bit here and there. There is also specialty merch like AP ears and pins.
3. 10% TS food discount. It's better than nothing.
4. Using the AP entrances. It's not much, but sometimes those lines are shorter.
5. There are resort discounts, but we don't use them any more. We own DVC and we usually stay on points now or sometimes offsite.
6. Free parking.
7. An AP makes staying offsite more attractive. A combination of (1) and (6) works together to save you even more money. The 30 minute early entry for resort guests becomes less of a requirement when you're not trying to wring out every minute of your park pass. The free parking saves you $25 a day. You could end up saving a boatload of money staying offsite (http://www.skyauction.com/ has some great deals for a week in a timeshare).

 

[JungleCruiseFan]

Wow!!! I live 1.5-2 hrs away & make it maybe 10 days a year now. Before Covid I was doing 18-20 days a year. I also just drive over for the day usually.

I agree having an AP means I might pop in when I wouldn't if I was in the area (I go to Clermont for triathlons), but the limits to park hopping after Covid have cut my regular visits. I used to go for opening, park hop & head home like 1-2pm. Now I am done before noon & don't want to wait 2 hours to park hop. That's the 1 thing I really miss & hope changes.

We go for long trips at multiple resorts and take it easy. Last summer we did 20 days between pop century Saratoga springs and Yacht club. At Christmas we stayed at my in-laws house about an hour away and went to the parks 4 times and the previous summer we did I think 19 days between pop century and Caribbean beach so 43 days on that annual pass. We generally do 15-21 days each summer.
Our current pass we are going on shorter trips but more often, we are doing 11 days this summer, probably 4 again at Christmas, adding 7-8 at spring break and then another 9-14 next summer.

 

[RoyandWalt]

We used to buy it for 3 trips per year, averaging 5-6 park days each. 2 trips wasn’t worth it.

 

[TikiRob]

Just bought our first passes in April. Already booked two trips we wouldn’t have likely taken! Ain’t mad about it, though.

 

[thinkerbell]

We just purchased AP’s last month while there. We have a trip planned for August and a possible end of September already. I would also love to go in February. Question…I have read that it is slightly lower to renew at the end of our year than it is to purchase a new AP. Can anyone tell me how much it is to renew at this time just to be able to compare it to the price we paid?

 

[CarolynFH]

We just purchased AP’s last month while there. We have a trip planned for August and a possible end of September already. I would also love to go in February. Question…I have read that it is slightly lower to renew at the end of our year than it is to purchase a new AP. Can anyone tell me how much it is to renew at this time just to be able to compare it to the price we paid?

The renewal discount is usually 15% off the cost of a new AP.

 

[Upatnoon]

The downsides:
The sunk cost
The "obligation" to visit to "get your money's worth." Have you ever overeaten at a buffet?
Vacations still cost money. Travel, lodging, restaurants. Tickets are just one part of the equation.

The positives
Going more.
Much less pressure to squeeze every penny out of a park ticket day.
Includes hoppers and parking.

I think the greatest benefit is just the freedom to enjoy the parks as parks. Sit on a bench and peoplewatch. Visit more shops at Epcot. Disney can be such a stressful, high-stakes trip for people paying such a high price per day. An annual pass takes so much of the pressure off. It's really a different experience.