DVC & APP's

[NewJerseyDVCMembers]

We must admit, we held off for the longest time, stood our ground and refused to give in on the issue of Annual Premium Passes. But we couldn't hold off any longer.

We use DVC to visit WDW often, about 5-6 times a year. We don't visit the parks every day and had no reason to buy APP's. For some reason we decided to buy APP's a while back and now our only regret is not getting them sooner. We still don't do the parks everyday, but it is really nice to be able to move about freely without feeling like you have to use a "whole" day at a park because you bought a pass.

We now might do a waterpark in the early part of the day, stop by a park for lunch or dinner or to see a specific show or attraction, then swing through pleasure island for a drink.

We have spent hours in DisneyQuest and have spent 30 minutes there. We've done MK in the morning for breakfast then went back to the resort to relax. You just get a nice relaxed feel using them.

We know that the APP's are expensive, and that you need to use them a certain amount of times to "break-even". That being said, if you have it in your budget to get them, we highly recommend them. It gives a whole new dimension to your DVC vacations.

 

[Granny]

We still use a mix of AP's and PH's. I will admit, it is extremely difficult to stay at BWV or BCV and not have an AP. It's just so darn easy to pop into EPCOT or MGM for a short while and not have to worry about "using a day".

On the other hand, we don't spend every day at WDW. We like to go to Busch Gardens and Sea World, and even the evil Universal on occasion. So in some years, PH makes more sense for us.


Of course, if they'd go with a decent DVC discount on AP's, we'd probably jump on that in a minute!

 

[Tooneric]

That's great. We did just the AP (not APP) for the second time. We used this year's AP this summer and will again next Feb. I now find myself checking the AP discounts for rooms in December for perhaps a short 3 day trip. Only have enough DVC points for one nice trip a year, but the AP disounts give us a chance to stay at other Disney properties.

My inlaws are in the panhandle of Fla, and we visit the weekend before Christmas. That means I could maybe squeeze a WDW trip in the Mon, Tue, and Wed before Christmas. Wouldn't even consider it without the AP and the room discounts! Ho Ho Ho! I hope we get to go!

Now if DVC would only give us a discount on purchasing the AP and APP for next year...

 

[trampslady]

Annual passes are a must for us! I can't imagine having to "think" about popping in and out of a park. In fact only our very first trip was void of annual passes and that included length of stay passes.

We are averaging about 20-24 days per pass....pretty good investment I think!

 

[spiceycat]

I use to get the free passes - so I really hate to spend that much for annual passes.

I got them one year - for me a great bargin - also got them for mother and my niece - not so good an investment....

I am really considering the annual pass for my upcoming trip during Thanksgiving.

I kept waiting to hear about the great discount on tickets that the MS told me about......

I really need to go ahead and buy the AP before they go up in price again.

Still waiting.

Oh this Thanksgiving trip I will be there 2 whole weeks - a day (I have to take mother back) - so this might be a good year to get the AP again!!!

 

[kenziesmamaw]

How many visits do you feel it takes to break even on the passes? We have 175 points beginning in March 05 and are in the process of booking our first visit home to SSR on Memorial Day. We'll get at least one more long trip or two short ones on our 2005 points.

Since our use year begins in March and our first visit won't be til end of May.....we could get a lot of use out of AP's even if we just popped down for a weekend and stayed on cash rather than points.

What types of discounts do you get as an AP holder and are there any special season AP's open to Georgia residents? I know there are for Florida residents.

 

[spiceycat]

for the annual pass - between 7 to 9 days - if you are comparing it to the one day pass 7

if you are comparing to the 7 day hopper - 9 days.

only florida has a special resident pass.

I think the military get a good discount too.

here are the prices

http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/tickets.htm

hey thanks by the way - I didn't notice the new annual pass for Epcot - that is worth getting for me even if I don't buy the regular annual pass.

 

[kenziesmamaw]

I have to ask.....if you are from Alabama, how are you getting the Florida passes? The Epcot was a Florida resident pass. That's one we would buy before the regular AP.....love to eat at the different places in WS.

 

[plamp]

Don't the Park-Hopper and Ultimate Park Hopper passes also allow you to go in and out of the parks like the AP?

 

[rinkwide]

Originally posted by plamp
Don't the Park-Hopper and Ultimate Park Hopper passes also allow you to go in and out of the parks like the AP?

Sure but with the Hoppers you have to "burn" a day off the pass.

As NewJerseyDVCMembers said regarding APs:

You just get a nice relaxed feel using them.

I agree, and that's the reason we buy them. You can make an argument about the PHP passes being more cost effective with vigilent use but the reality is no one really goes on vacation to save money. We go to have a good time.

Buy an AP and live a little (don't you just love spending other people's money ).

 

[Terry S]

We currently use the AP because the kids are still fairly young and we don't do water parks and we only do DQ once in awhile. As the kids get older and we do the water parks and I know the kids will spend a lot more time at DQ, we will get the PAP. My favorite part about the AP is I don't feel guilty going to a park just for dinner or just for an hour and then leaving. Of couse there is the other value of taking a quick unplanned trip and not having to worry about tickets either.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

As Tooneric alluded to, there is one more huge benefit to the PAP/AP..... The resort discounts.
This is not as big of a deal for DVC members, but still some great frosting on the 'ole cake.

We just saved several hundred dollars on the YC concierge (our plan B, in case the Vero Beach Resort falls into the Atlantic) for our upcoming trip. Once you factor that in, the break even comes very quickly.
Many here pay cash for weekends, and the AP/PAP is also great for that.

Before DVC, we used to stay at the Poly for 8-10 nights at a clip. The PAP room savings alone paid for our entire passes, and park entry was purely gravy!

MG

 

[jmminarik]

Originally posted by Maistre Gracey
As Tooneric alluded to, there is one more huge benefit to the PAP/AP..... The resort discounts.
This is not as big of a deal for DVC members, but still some great frosting on the 'ole cake.

Ironic you should post this. In my spare cycles today I've been mulling over whether all of the discounts available through the AP would be part of the reason we don't get offered any discounts on the AP.

I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned this before, would a DVC AP/PAP priced somewhere between the florida resident discount and the renewal price of the regular (P)AP be more palatable to Disney if it offered us no further discounts? We already get some Perks for being members and since a discounted (P)AP would already be a perk, does it really need to carry it's own Perks?

Other than the typical arguments of why Disney won't give us (P)AP discounts, am I missing a reason why something like this wouldn't work?

-Joe

 

[crisi]

That's one of the reasons I LIKE the UPH even if it costs us a little more over hoppers. We aren't even close to breaking even on PAPs - but the freedom of being able to go where you please is so nice and not say "gee, its only 2 hours of park time, maybe we should just stay by the pool and not "waste" the day."

We are "close" to breaking even on APs, but without any "pluses" and a need to spend at least one day at waterparks, the UPH makes sense.

 

[minster22]

We bought PAP in April 2004 and will get 42 days at WDW from this one!! This is a combination of cash ressies and DVC points (we are new members as of 9/03!!). I think the best use of the PAP is to try and get at least 2 trips use of them, even if you space it almost the whole year apart. In the past I have used the PAP as much as possible for the one year and skip a year and then start over.This will get harder to do now that we are DVC members, don't think I'll be able to stay away that long!! Once you have these passes though, the freedom is just wonderful!! You never have to think about using a day just to eat lunch somewhere or shop or whatever. These last passes we bought with the old DC discount ( vouchers....activated them in April) and would really love to get a DVC discount on these passes!!

 

[parrotheadlois]

We are just about ready to make our first trip "home." It just occurred to me to check (I'm sure it's in the book, somewhere, but it's just easier to ask her), do we (DVCers) get a discount on the Annual Passes? What's a APP??

Thank you!!!

 

[CRSNDSNY]

We have an AP, but it would be great to have even greater flexibility with the APPs.

I've already more than gotten our money's worth from our APs! It has prompted us to go more often than we thought we would have when we originally bought our APs. Now we have to decided if we'll renew them or not.

 

[bears163]

yes i really think disney needs to come up with an AP that works better for DVC members. for one you really don't need the room discounts. so either a cheaper price or maybe a break on the points you use. something.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Originally posted by bears163
yes i really think disney needs to come up with an AP that works better for DVC members. for one you really don't need the room discounts. so either a cheaper price or maybe a break on the points you use. something.

Yes...ITA. We'd visit more often if we got a discount on APs or renewals.

 

[MagikMom]

I am going to be getting APP's for the first time in just a few days! We will be at SSR for 10 days and we are planning another vacation for 15 days in June/July. We usually buy UPH passes but when I compared the price it was cheaper for us to get the APP because we were going twice in 1 year. It will be alot of money up front when we get there in 2 days but then when we go in june we won't have to worry about paying for passes for our 15 day stay!