FL Resident Annual Passes and TIW with little kids: Honest opinions needed!

[Buntington]

Hi all! Checking back in on these forums after a long absence and in need of advice.

After 10 years in the midwest, I have finished my education and landed my dream job in FL and we are finally moving back for good next month. We will be living exactly 1 hour away from WDW. We will not have a ton of extra money so we want to be frugal, but also want to be able to visit Disney frequently. We have at present a 2.5-year-old DS who loves everything Disney, especially princesses (Mulan is his fave), Pooh, and Mickey. We also have a 5-month-old DD who is a bit young to appreciate that kind of thing right now but will be tagging along on any WDW trips we make.

So the question is, is it worth it to get APs and if so, what kind of APs would maximize our fun while minimizing our cost? Is TIW worth it? We were mainly looking at the seasonal pass and the weekday pass. Since we are only an hour away, we were hoping to make day trips in order to avoid paying for pricey hotel stays. My work schedule will be compressed so I will be off every Friday, so with the weekday pass we would theoretically have 40+ opportunities to go (barring blackout dates). But it may be difficult to stay for an entire day with little kids who need naps and no hotel. And we may regret not being able to go on Saturdays and Sundays if we only get the weekday pass. For those who live in the area and go on day trips, do you end up skipping the restaurants and just bringing food from home, or do the discounts really make it worth it to dine in the parks? We certainly want to do a couple of princess breakfasts over the course of the year, but we don't need to eat in a nice restaurant every time we go.

Thanks for any advice you can offer!

 

[Mom2KandK]

We live an hour away and have the regular passes. If you decide to get the seasonal or weekday, consider getting at least 1 regular AP. That way you won't have to pay for parking. Parking isn't included with the seasonal passes, and paying $17 to park each time will get pretty pricey after a while.

We've been getting the APs ever since we moved here about 5 1/2 years ago. The magic has not gotten old yet! We usually just make day trips, and sometimes we even make spur of the moment late afternoon trips. We mostly eat at counter service restaurants and save the table service ones for birthdays and special occasions. (Or when we have friends or family visiting us and we want to enjoy a nice sit down meal together.)
The 10% dining discount is only good at certain restaurants, and most of those are table service and it's only good at lunch time. Off the top of my head, the only counter service the discount is good at is Earl of Sandwich in DTD.
You are allowed to bring outside food in, so if you need to watch your $, you can bring food to the parks. We always bring refillable water bottles because you can get free ice water at the counter service restaurants. Some water fountains are filtered and cold, so we fill up at those too. We know where the "good" water fountains are, so that helps!

Sometimes we will stay at a Disney hotel for a special birthday or something, but most of the time it's a day trip. Although we do stay overnight when we attend the MNSSHP since the party ends at midnight.

Hope this helps!

 

[Buntington]

Thanks, that's definitely helpful! I hadn't thought about getting a single regular pass for the parking. So you don't have TIW then? I know you get discounts at a bunch of restaurants, not sure how much is counter service. Have you gone with little kids? Is there any place or way for them to nap in the parks if you do stay there the whole day?

I can't imagine the magic ever getting old! We went every year when I was a kid growing up in FL and I never got tired of it, but we lived 4 hours away so we didn't have APs. Can't wait to go even more often with my little ones.

 

[Mom2KandK]

Thanks, that's definitely helpful! I hadn't thought about getting a single regular pass for the parking. So you don't have TIW then? I know you get discounts at a bunch of restaurants, not sure how much is counter service. Have you gone with little kids? Is there any place or way for them to nap in the parks if you do stay there the whole day?

We don't have TIW, but I may look into it soon since we have several ADRs coming up that may end making it a good deal.

My kids are 15 and 8 now, but there have always been quiet places for my little one to nap while we were there. She just slept in her stroller and sometimes I'd find a shady spot and sit while she napped and my husband took my older daughter around. When she was a baby I utilized the baby care centers pretty often.

 

[ilovefh]

Do you plan to eat at table service restaurants often? If so, then I would get Tables in Wonderland. We don't have it though. We don't eat table service often enough.

We are closer, only 15 minutes, but we rarely eat in the parks.

If you think you'll want to go Saturday or Sunday and you can afford the extra $110 I'd go with the seasonal pass. If you think you'll go more than 13 different days then I would get one person an annual pass for the free parking.

Be sure to check the blackout dates too.