DVC discount for Annual Passes

[spiceycat]

using the new discount $100 for Annual Passes and $125 for Premium annual passes - which passes will you buy now!

 

[DebbieB]

Annual passes, same as before. Too bad I have to buy 2 new ones on 12/4 before the discount kicks in!

 

[EmptyNester]

Can I choose two? Sometimes AP, sometimes PHP. Just like now, it will depend on how we've planned our trips.

- Sharon

 

[pplasky]

If they AP discount continues for more than a year, we will Probably alternate between PHP's and AP's. We travel to Disney in spurts, banking and travelling once, then borrowing and travelling 2-3 times. AP's are still not cost effective for the lean years. I voted kept PHP for 2005.

 

[SueOKW]

I was a PH user - and a very frugal one. I will now buy APs every two years and plan my trips to be 50 weeks apart from each other.

 

[disneyberry]

<font face="times" size="+0">I will wait and see.
Before this info leaked, I planned to wean myself off of APs because they were causing me to go to WDW more often than I could afford to. I found myself planning more trips just to "maximize" use of the APs... which kind of defeats the purpose. (Oh BTW, I wanted to add that our typical trip involves only 3 or 4 days at the parks.)

The logic should be:
<i>I plan to go to the WDW Parks at least 9 days this year,
So I should buy an AP. </i>
Not:
<i>I bought an AP,
So I should go to the WDW Parks at least 9 days this year. </i>

Anyway, I still have some unused PHs that I should use up (not worth it to trade them in since I bought them at very cheap prices years ago). So, I will be using PHs for a while and see how that works out. Besides, without all the details about the AP discounts and its limitations, it's hard to make an informed decision about whether I'll take advantage of it.
I do have to admit it's very tempting, since the breakeven drops down to about 6 or 7 days, depending on which PH prices you are comparing the AP with. But, we'll see how it goes.</font>

 

[Lesley]

You know, this whole thing puts a wrench in our plans....we planned to get 7 day PHP's for our next visit and stretch them out over several trips...for the same reason others have mentioned...we were making more trips than we should because the AP's were burning holes in our pockets.

But if we're going to get a discount on an AP....that makes it about the same price as a 7 day PHP.....and gives us the other passholder perks. So now we're stuck with a trip next month where we need 2 days of park hopper passes (perhaps 3)....which we can get at about half the cost of the 7 day PHP, but the per day cost is about twice as much! That just eats at me...but if I knew for sure we were going to be able to get this discount next time we need AP's (sometime in 2006....next year we plan to go to HH) it would make it seem better.

Anyway, we've bought AP's ever since joining DVC in 2000....skipping time in between rather than renewing. We've had over 50 days in WDW on just 2 years worth of passes. I was just ready to change our strategy...and its too late to change our plans for this year....but a discount would change my future plans for sure.

And you know, disneyberry....we did buy AP's because we planned more than 8 days....but our planned 10-14 days turned into 20-30 days because we kept saying "let's squeeze in one more trip" Both our points balance and our bank account balance suffered!

AP's are really nice with kids....you don't feel like you have to spend the whole day in the parks and make them miserable just because you paid for that day. Next month we're trying the one day on, one day off strategy. We'll see how that goes with our current crew.

 

[DrTomorrow]

We'll also be doing the "every other year" vacation planning dance, fitting 2 or 3 trips in one "AP Year". Whether it is AP or PAP will depend on where we are staying - if at SSR, we'll get PAP and hit PI for several nights, then fit our water park visits in as well.

 

[jmminarik]

I voted AP even though we tend to also buy PHP's for our guests, else I'd have voted 'AP and PHP'.

-Joe

 

[disneyberry]

Originally posted by Lesley
And you know, disneyberry....we did buy AP's because we planned more than 8 days....but our planned 10-14 days turned into 20-30 days because we kept saying "let's squeeze in one more trip" Both our points balance and our bank account balance suffered!

<font face="times" size="+0">Yes, we ended up doing 3 trips w/ about 15 days in the parks last year. Way more than we originally planned! It's just too tempting to think "Oh we have APs, and we have DVC, so let's go just one more time." </font>

 

[spiceycat]

see this was plot of DVC to free up the 2-bedroom - you can stay longer and more often in a studio.....

(this is a joke)

 

[Chuck S]

We have used APs for the last several years, and see no reason to change. However, with the discount I may go to a PAP...though I rarely use anything that would involve the Premium addition, it will depend on the actual cost difference as to whether or not I upgrade.

 

[ClarabelleCow]

someone mentioned trading in, I have php's that still have 3 pluses on them, can they be traded in to new PH's or AP's?

 

[spiceycat]

yes you can - but remember with a trade up the options have no value - just the price of ticket when you brought it - not the value it has now.

I just kept my PH and PHP.

 

[CarolMN]

Originally posted by ClarabelleCow
someone mentioned trading in, I have php's that still have 3 pluses on them, can they be traded in to new PH's or AP's?

If the only thing left on the PHPs is unused plus options, the PHPs have no "trade in" value. Disney gives no dollar credit for unused plus options -

Best wishes -

 

[patsal]

I might just go from every other year purchases of PAP's to renewing the PAP's. I would go more frequently--I really hate the 365 days between vacations year! It would allow me to do some of the events I have always wanted to try--in long weekend form. See now I'll have to use weekend points! Guess I'll need to buy some more!
Yup, this perk is definately part of an evil plot to continue to part me from my money! See I'll save $500 on PAP's, spend a few thousand on new points, add the restaurants I have been skimping on because admission was too big a bite out of my wallet, and add a few days in Disney hotels-I mean really with that AP discount who could resist. Well you get the idea--I'm so glad DVC will be saving me money!

I really am glad to see the discount and I will use it, but I know I'll spend the discount and then some, which really is fine by me.

 

[goofynme]

Does anyone have an opinion, or some concrete knowledge as to my situation...We own AP's now that we bought last month...on our February trip we are planning to upgrade to PAP's...would there be a discount applied in our case??


Any help would be appreciated!

This is GREAT news!

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

I think we will probably keep our PHP's because we plan on visiting WDW every other year as we like to alternate w/DL. We just bought 7day PHP's during our last visit and still have three days as well as 4 pluses. By the time we make it back to WDW in 2006 they may not even be doing the discount anymore. I won't post a countdown timer -- it's too depressing !!!

 

[tinkerbell of winter]

OH i am sooooo excited! I am definitely buying annual passes for our upcoming trip at the end of april! It will be so great to only have to worry about plane tickets and spending money for our vacation after that! So cool! It's about time they gave us a decent benefit! So does the discount go in to effect after the beginning of 2005? If you can't tell already i'm pretty darn excited about this!

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Now that the breakeven is 5 or 6 days, we'll renew our APs. We weren't planning on it as we thought we'd only get 5 - 6 days in the next year after ours expire in May. But now that we get a discount, renewals it will be!