For past pass holders...how far were you from the parks?

[fivelittles]

We're in San Diego and would go on Sundays. We'd leave early in the morning, be in the park shortly after rope drop, then leave around 4-6pm. Often we were home in time to have dinner. We'd also take overnight trips on school breaks, but the majority of our trips were same day.

This makes me feel like it's very doable! This is just how I envisioned doing the short trips.

 

[fivelittles]

We are in Phoenix so about 6 hours drive time. We have been known to leave here at 0200, hit rope drop, and leave the parks around 4PM, although that's getting harder to do as we get older.

Wow. That's a long day!

 

[fivelittles]

I think you'll break even in about 6 trips if you factor in park hopper and parking for Believe. I live about 12 minutes so not so helpful in commenting on the commute. I'm the AP that Disney wanted to cut down on.. I go spontaneously and usually just for a few hours. I think for my last full year AP I was past 30 trips. It really comes down to how you and your family like to do disney. I realized I am not a rope drop and stay til closing type of person. I just went the last 2 days and since I was paying for the ticket, I tried to stay as long as possible to maximize what I paid for. I even stayed at Grand Cal DVC for a night to avoid paying for parking. I can't wait to have an AP again so I can go back to how I enjoy disney. One thing I did notice was my first year as an AP a few years back, I got a pass without parking, and so I ended up going just 6 times that year. Its a psychological game I supposed but I know not having to worry about parking fees help make those few hour trips doable. I think you should definitely get the passes since you seem so excited and this way you can see how your family utilize it. There's still a few unknowns about the passes like how many reservations are available and how fast they book out, etc You can try out the different commute methods and see what might work best for you. I don't think it'll be hard to go at least 6 times to break even at least.

Living 12 minutes away would be so much fun! We're that far away from legoland and I haven't even taken the kids once. Even my 8 year old says she would rather put that money towards a Disneyland key instead. Disneyland just fits us so much better because even the teens have fun.

And I can understand why you don't want to pay for parking after years of having a pass with free parking. I wouldn't want to either! I love your mission to avoid it.

 

[Katiebird]

This makes me feel like it's very doable! This is just how I envisioned doing the short trips.

It's very doable! And it sounds like you are a good 40 minutes closer than I am, too.

 

[SherylLC]

I live 25 miles away, at the west end of the 91 fwy.

We must be neighbors!

There are times I don’t go for weeks/months, and then friends come in from out of town and I will go every weekend. I have already been there eight times this year without an AP or Magic Key, and that was with making reaervations.

And living parallel lives!

 

[kelmac284]

I live near Sac as well. We had had AP's off and on since 06. Started out buying them for the whole family but as they got more expensive I would just buy one for myself mostly for the discounts and because I go on a ladies trip almost every year. I was going more than my kids so it was worth it for me to have it. It got so bad at the end we couldn't even afford the hoppers anymore and had to get 1 park per day. My girls are both in college now with part time jobs so they can finally afford to buy their own tickets or passes and in Nov of 19 they bought their own AP's. Well I am sure you know how THAT turned out. We have a trip planned for early sept and bought 5 day passes. I am going to upgrade to the one that is like the old deluxe. I still keep forgetting the names. For me it is worth it because I can use the money I already paid for our 5 day hopper and then I am going for 5 days in Feb and another 2 to 3 days in April. Plus if we buy the passes we will probably try to go one more time next summer to make it worthwhile. If you can amortize it out to break even or have free days then it is def worth it but if not then I would stick to just day tickets

 

[ten6mom]

Wow. That's a long day!

It is a VERY long day... but super fun! (and comparatively inexpensive!)