DVC Annual Pass vs 10 day pass, Best Deal with DVC discount?

[Stevegriswold]

Hi,

Ok, We are now DVC owners.

We have 150 BCV and 60 OKW points.
Mom, Dad, and a 2.5 year old little girl

I can get an annual pass with $100 off DVC discount good for 1 year per adult and $85 for our little one when she is 3.


Annual Passes with DVC disc.:
$477 - $100 = $377 x 2 adults
$420 - $85 = $335

= $1089 for 2 adults, one child annual pass with DVC disc.

Or

Undercover Tourist 10 day no exp Disney Tickets:
http://www.undercovertourist.com/united-states/florida/orlando/attractions/tickets/

$495 Adult 10 day with water parks, no Exp
$469 Child 10 day with water parks, no Exp

= $1459 for 2 adults, one child 10 day, all parks and water parks, Disney Quest, and No Exp.

Paying $370 more for 10 day passes but we could go to the parks 10 times and the water parks 10 times from now until we use them all up years from now.

Questions:

1. With 210 DVC points does it make sense to buy annual passes vs 10 day no exp tickets?

2. When are most DVCer's buying annual passes vs 10 day no exp tickets? At how many days you stay per year do you think it works out better to get annual passes.

3. From what I have read on undercover tourist it sound like the water parks on the No Exp passes do not expire. Years ago they use to expire 14 days after first use. So if I am correct we could have 10 water park passes and I figure we might go one time each year to a water park, so those would last us a long time.

4. Any other annual pass discounts that make getting annual passes better than getting 10 day no exp tickets? Or are the extra annual pass discounts the same I would get being a DVC member anyway?

Thanks,
Steve

 

[tjkraz]

1. With 210 DVC points does it make sense to buy annual passes vs 10 day no exp tickets?

2. When are most DVCer's buying annual passes vs 10 day no exp tickets? At how many days you stay per year do you think it works out better to get annual passes.

Those are questions for which the answers will vary greatly from one person to the next. An annual pass is good for 366 consecutive days from activation. So, even if you visit just 1x per year, staggering the trip dates can easily permit you to get 2 trips under a single set of APs.

If you get at least two 6-night / 7-day trips on one set of APs, that's as many as 14 days in the parks. The 10-day tickets wouldn't cut it.

3. From what I have read on undercover tourist it sound like the water parks on the No Exp passes do not expire. Years ago they use to expire 14 days after first use. So if I am correct we could have 10 water park passes and I figure we might go one time each year to a water park, so those would last us a long time.

If you buy non-expiring tickets, the waterpark days do not expire. So, yes, you could buy the 10-day tickets once and continue using the waterpark visits for years to come--even while your theme park admission is under APs.

4. Any other annual pass discounts that make getting annual passes better than getting 10 day no exp tickets? Or are the extra annual pass discounts the same I would get being a DVC member anyway?

The DVC Annual Pass discount is the best one available.

 

[TisBit]

I have looked at the same thing you are looking at. I currently have multiple parts and brand new 10 day no expiration tickets (as well as left over water parks, etc). I think my math was that if you use about 6-7 days in a year then you would break even with the annual pass vs no expiration.

For the record, you do not get ten days of waterparks....it is like three days with each ten day pass (not sure if that is correct number or not). Water parks are like $30 a day admission seperately.

We are going once this next year and will be in Orlando on a seperate trip about six months later. I am getting AP's and looking to add a trip about a month before the AP's expire to get the best value for them.

We will not be at the parks every day (I have twin 3 y/o's), so I am looking forward to not feeling pressure to "maximize" each of my days like I usually do, if I want to go to Epcot just for dinner I can, without feeling like I am wasting my money.

 

[LSchrow]

...For the record, you do not get ten days of waterparks....it is like three days with each ten day pass (not sure if that is correct number or not). Water parks are like $30 a day admission seperately.
.

just fyi, that changed in 8/07 ~ the 10 day MYW pass now has 10 day of the minor parks, also.

btw, we're finding that having an AP can be very expensive. we bought ours in 10/07, planning on going back at the end of 9/08. with each trip being at least 8 days, 16+ days per pass sounds great, right?
so, we booked our 9-10/08 trip. ahhh, but if you have an AP, why not squeeze in another trip? so we booked a trip for may '08.
then my 8 & 12yo nephews "really REALLY" want me to join them in august '08.........

so 2 roundtrip airfares for 2 people, plus another r/t for me, and at this rate, we''ll need more points!!
so the "bargain" APs will prob cost us about $5000.......
lol

 

[Jeremy&Susan]

Definitely a good thread.

I have no answer other than we bought annual passes in December due to us going back in February and then later this year as well.

I am watching this post to see how the experts would maximize the options.

 

[drag n' fly]

It is not so much about how many points you have with only three of you. You can stretch those a long way. It is how many trips can you comfortably take to WDW in one year. We live almost 3000 miles away from WDW so having an annual pass is really not in our best interests. We are buying the undercover tourists 10 day non expiry park hopper water park and more passes and that offers way more flexibility for us. We bought 225 points in November at DL and part of our incentive was two non expiring vouchers for WDW annual passes. Dh and I are not even going to redeem them for a long time until we know we will get the best use out of them!

 

[ChelleinNC]

I would go with the AP's. It's really nice to have the freedom to go into Epcot at 8:45pm just to watch Illuminations, or go to a park just for dinner, things you'd never use a "day" for. It's nice if someone gets sick after going into the park, or is miserable. Oh well, you just leave and don't worry about it. It really allows you to slow down and enjoy the parks instead of trying to make the "most" out of your day.

I also don't think you'd get much use out of the waterparks & disney quest with a 3 yr old. She won't be big enough to do much at either one.

Discounts are a nice benefit with the AP. DVC & AP discounts don't always line up, so it's nice to be able to use whichever is the better discount.

 

[llmurphy17]

just fyi, that changed in 8/07 ~ the 10 day MYW pass now has 10 day of the minor parks, also.

btw, we're finding that having an AP can be very expensive. we bought ours in 10/07, planning on going back at the end of 9/08. with each trip being at least 8 days, 16+ days per pass sounds great, right?
so, we booked our 9-10/08 trip. ahhh, but if you have an AP, why not squeeze in another trip? so we booked a trip for may '08.
then my 8 & 12yo nephews "really REALLY" want me to join them in august '08.........

so 2 roundtrip airfares for 2 people, plus another r/t for me, and at this rate, we''ll need more points!!
so the "bargain" APs will prob cost us about $5000.......
lol

Very funny although true- I must agree. We purchased our AP's in Dec 07 and have two other trips planned for July 08 and Oct 08 to maximize our tickets. But what we forgot about was the additional expenses for the plane for 5 roundtrip,the DDP for 5 and then all the souvenirs you find yourself buying each trip. about $5,000

 

[AKV707]

DW and I have APs. We usually go twice a year for about 12-14 days. That is also what led us to become DVC members. The DVC discount on the APs is also a great benefit.

Also as an AP holder, you can purchase the Disney Dining Experience card which for $65 a year gives a 20% discount at almost all table service restaurants including beverages.

 

[TisBit]

Don't forget free parking at the parks too.....especially if you are ever off property (we will be for one of our trips) and that will save us 20-30 bucks for jumping over to Disney!

And as for costing more for more trips....well I consider that a plus, my DW isn't a Disney nut, so I can use the AP as a good reason to go back! Plus I will be one of the cool kids!

 

[SSRFred]

Obviously, you come out way ahead if you do multiple trips on the annual pass.
But even if you don't, the annual pass has more benefits. Here's a dollar to dollar comparison.

Only one Adult needs to have an AP for everyone to benefit(You're all traveling together).

Premium AP DVC Cost: $454

7 out of the 10 day pass (prorated) cost: 347

This is what I got for $107 more?

Free parking at the parks (I drive everywhere) $70
Disney Dining Experience 20% off most sit down meals $65 (20% of $660= $130 - 65 = 65)
10% of World of Disney (10% of $100) $10

So, I could have saved about $145 on my last trip in December. My next trip will include the same AP's and DDE so my savings will be even more.

You could save more through the 10 day tickets, it just depends on what you do and where you do it.

 

[Muushka]

We use both APs and PH passes depending on what the plan for the year is. With this past increase in APs, we are more likely to use the PH passes and not go into the parks that often, which is refreshing. If you are the type that must go into a park every day, then I would think twice about those APs. If you are like us and can take it or leave it, then go for the PHs. We have visited this past Dec and Sept for a total of 13 days and only did the parks 4 of them.

Next year, Jan 2009, we plan on 3 visits that year, so we will probably activate one of our AP vouchers.

Does the Undercover Tourist have the new tickets now? When we ordered our 10 day non-exp PH plus, they only offered 6 plusses. And even after WDW changed to 10 plusses, UCT still only had the 6 plusses. But at some point they will change, and the price will likely go up.

 

[drag n' fly]

We use both APs and PH passes depending on what the plan for the year is. With this past increase in APs, we are more likely to use the PH passes and not go into the parks that often, which is refreshing. If you are the type that must go into a park every day, then I would think twice about those APs. If you are like us and can take it or leave it, then go for the PHs. We have visited this past Dec and Sept for a total of 13 days and only did the parks 4 of them.

Next year, Jan 2009, we plan on 3 visits that year, so we will probably activate one of our AP vouchers.

Does the Undercover Tourist have the new tickets now? When we ordered our 10 day non-exp PH plus, they only offered 6 plusses. And even after WDW changed to 10 plusses, UCT still only had the 6 plusses. But at some point they will change, and the price will likely go up.

They have the 10 plusses now. Prices appear to still be the same. We bought our ASMU package and 10 day tickets through Dreams Unlimited. Even though we have 2 trips planned this year we will only spend approx 4 days in the parks so it makes better financial sense for us to use the DU tickets. If you plan on going to the parks every day like you mentioned then an annual pass would be better.

 

[alldiz]

just fyi, that changed in 8/07 ~ the 10 day MYW pass now has 10 day of the minor parks, also.

btw, we're finding that having an AP can be very expensive. we bought ours in 10/07, planning on going back at the end of 9/08. with each trip being at least 8 days, 16+ days per pass sounds great, right?
so, we booked our 9-10/08 trip. ahhh, but if you have an AP, why not squeeze in another trip? so we booked a trip for may '08.
then my 8 & 12yo nephews "really REALLY" want me to join them in august '08.........

so 2 roundtrip airfares for 2 people, plus another r/t for me, and at this rate, we''ll need more points!!
so the "bargain" APs will prob cost us about $5000.......
lol

I hear ya
Kerri

 

[bluslag]

Can anyone tell me what website I should go to to get the DVC discount on annual passes. I have done it in the past but can't seem to remember where I did it. Getting older you know and can't remember much. Thanks

 

[AKV707]

I bought mine by phone through member services. I am not sure if you can do it on the member site.

 

[SSRFred]

Can anyone tell me what website I should go to to get the DVC discount on annual passes. I have done it in the past but can't seem to remember where I did it. Getting older you know and can't remember much. Thanks

Login to your account. On the lower left you will find a 'Year of a Million Dreams - become a WDW passholder. Click on it and It'll send you to the online store.
Otherwise you can find it under member privileges/perks.

 

[ChelleinNC]

Login to your account. On the lower left you will find a 'Year of a Million Dreams - become a WDW passholder. Click on it and It'll send you to the online store.
Otherwise you can find it under member privileges/perks.

You can also buy them at the parks, or guest services, with your member card.

 

[Stevegriswold]

Hi,

Thanks for all the great ideas.

Currently we are going to WDW for two five day trips in 2008. So I think for this year we will just do the 10 day no Exp tickets for everyone. We will do AK one day on the tickets, Pirate and Princess Party (special ticket event) which also has a DVC discount, and MK another day. So that would use just two tickets on our ten day pass and give us one day to go to the resort pool, shop, etc.

We are 7 hours from Disney and would drive so that helps, but I can't see us going enough times in 2008 for an annual pass yet.

Someone wrote about the DDE plan (20% off meal card for $65) Can you get this as a DVC member or only if you have an Annual Pass? This might work for us. Looks like you need to spend $325 to get your investment back in the card.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[aubeone]

You must be an annual pass holder or a Florida Resident to get the DDE Card. It is also good for one year.