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

[fivelittles]

I’m just under 30 miles away. Usually about a 30-35 minute drive without traffic, about an hour with. I’m also a single adult. Pre covid I went almost every Saturday and usually 1-2 times a month on Thursdays after work for the pin releases.

I'm about twice as far as you, so going about once a month (twice at the most) sounds reasonable. That second half hour driving is the dreadful part though, half an hour is so quick!

 

[StormyCA]

I live in the Sac'to area and had the 'old' Deluxe a few years ago, as did my 'Disney-Sistah'. We visited a couple of times a year for 4-5 days at a time + I did a solo day or two when visiting family. We did a little bit better than 'break even' on price not including the money saved using the discounts.

But then 'life happened' and she is no longer able to visit the Parks so I lost my Park Pal. I'm not a big 'solo park person' so an AP of any kind doesn't make sense to me since I only go once or twice a year for a day at a time when visiting family.

If she were to again be able to visit or if I found another 'Park Pal' I'd probably get the Enchant. I'm retired so I don't need to be too concerned with blocked days/periods since I could tailor my visits to the calendar and prefer the less crowded months anyway.

 

[fivelittles]

I live in New York. I had a Signature pass. We visited 2 or 3 times a year. Maybe a solo trip for me. Not buying anything right now. WHY? Usually stay at the Disneyland Hotel, right now the rates are too high for no room service, no daily housekeeping and no early entry. Not a fan of the mobile ordering. The operation hours are not as long as they used to be. Menus and restaurants are not at full capacity. No Fantasmic. No World of Color. Also not a fan of wearing masks indoors and wearing a mask on a 6 hour flight. I'll wait.

When I am ready, I'll get a Dream Key and book my hotel through the Walt Disney Travel Company or direct from Disneyland Hotel.
The 90 day window really is harsh for me. If it was 120 I would be ok.

I get it. That makes sense to wait, I'm tempted to as well. But I've never had a pass and I'm so impatient. Haha.

 

[fivelittles]

I live in LA, about 40 minutes with no traffic (there is almost always traffic)
We used to go twice a month day trips, get there in the afternoon, stay until like 8. Nice and relaxed days. The best part of a pass is you don’t feel the need to push your pace to get value out of your ticket. If something you wanted to do has an unusually long line just skip it and hit it up next time.

We are probably going the enchant pass this year to test the waters and will upgrade to believe later or just renew at believe.

Yes! That's what I'm so excited for. I've only visited on a planned vacation, where you feel more pressured to have an agenda. I would love to be able to move at a more relaxed pace.

 

[laugard]

Thank you so much. It does seem doable to do day trips. I'm sure we'd get a hotel here and there, but they add up so quickly! $$

They really do! And if are getting a hotel, we want one within walking distance. We also realized for us 2 nights was almost a minimum requirement if we're getting a room lol. With the stricter parking restrictions at a lot of the Harbor hotels, one night is great for starting early the next morning, but you can't necessarily leave your car parked the next day. But the park day is when you might want to take a break during the day, and then you'd have it that evening to avoid driving home late. So ideally for us...two nights.

As long as the driver doesn't mind the drive, one day trips are definitely doable! And the freedom with the pass of not feeling pressured to have to go on every ride (or being bummed if you don't) is definitely worth it to us! Disney at a go go go pace can be fun, but I've really come to appreciate a leisurely take it all in pace, too!

 

[smartlabelprint]

I’m not one now or right before pandemic. But we are 10 hours of traveling by plane away.

 

[midnight star]

I live in LA and live 30 minutes away without traffic. With traffic an hour, sometimes more depending on the time of day. I would generally go every other weekend and many of the holidays since I was off of work. Sometimes I would go weekly if I wanted to do something specific (I.e watch fireworks, seasonal stuff).

 

[Psymonds]

we were in norcal, and it would pay off if we took two long weekends in a year. we haven't done AP's in 8 years though, just weren't able to go enough to make it pay.

 

[KPeterso]

I live right near John Wayne airport (about 12-15 miles I guess). Takes me about 20 minutes with no traffic and can be up to an hour if there is bad traffic. We go several times a month (2-4 times typically) for day trips. And then usually 1-2 2 night staycations at VGC.

 

[DLgal]

I live 15 miles south of the parks. I went every week, sometimes twice a week, with my previous Signature pass.

I used to live in Oceanside, but that was before kids. I went to the parks at least twice a month back then. I'd just do the drive. It wasn't bad at all.

 

[DizMe]

I'm having a dilemma about the husband and kids too. My husband travels a lot and I have two teens that will be busy with school, jobs and friends. Not sure how much they'll even go! I also have one 20 yr old "kid" that won't be getting one because he's a wildland firefighter and won't be using it enough. But we also have two elementary aged kiddos that would really love to go!

That's difficult, all right, with elementary aged kids! I have 5 kids, too. My 2 oldest are married and have kids. My "littles" are 21, 18, and 18. They loved going to DL and we'd do a family trip once a year, plus I'd usually take them around their birthday without the others along (except, of course, the twins went together ). When you have younger kids, it's harder to leave them behind, but mine were ok with going a couple of times a year. They knew we couldn't really do more than that and that I needed the time away LOL.

 

[Astylla]

I'm in the SF Bay area and work a government job which has shift work so I work 12 hour shifts - 3.5 days a week so will typically do Disney solo on my days off from Wednesday to Saturday and fly from Oakland to John Wayne. I'm probably getting the top tier pass just for the extra reservations and parking for those trips I do drive and I spend a lot on merch.
I could easily go every month.

 

[Kenshin21]

I live in north san diego as well, with an elementary aged child. So like you, its weekend/holiday days that we can go with the whole family. Occasionally when they had merch drops we went for a quick trip for that and a bite to eat. We had the signature pass so parking wasn't an issue. We only stayed overnight there during holiday trips, but everything else was just a day trip. The day trips for us took the entire day as we'd be rope droppers and leave before sunset. It was always a lot less stressful not having to plan our days and do whatever we wanted. Its all about entertainment value and what else would your family do instead.

Depending on how much you go and spend there(food and merch costs do add up) one of you can get the Dream key for free parking and higher discounts. We're a family of 3, I cant imagine food costs for a family of 6.

 

[AuntieMe3]

I'm about 80 miles.... about 1 1/2 hour there, if/ when traffic was good.

We got our first APs in 2005, had them until the closure. Years ago we went alot, at least twice a month but usually more. Sometimes we would pop down to eat dinner and ride a few rides before heading home. As traffic started increasing in our area and it took longer to get there and then again back home, we started going just once a month, sometimes more. About 2-3 times a year we'd get a room(Tropicana) so we didn't have to make the drive home and could go again before we headed home. We went so much for a little while DH and DD got tired of going....lol and I ended up being the only AP for a couple years. DH never went back to having a pass but DD eventually ended up back with me. LoL

The good thing about passes is you know you'll be back so you don't have to pack everything in one visit. We started planning what we wanted to do in our days...one time we'd concentrated on characters, another time shows, etc.(preCovid obviously).

I'm still torn if I'll get a new pass or not....not sure I'll have the same spontaneity I had before with the reservations but we'll see....I can't imagine not going back to the parks but I'm not buying a ticket and not applying it to an AP. LOL

 

[bwvBound]

I'm in NE San Diego, ~90-120 minutes out. We gave up "same day up/back" trips many years ago. We now either stay overnight at a nearby timeshare (w/in easy walk of DLR) for weekend visits or I ride up solo for mid-week trip using public transportation (express bus). The bus works out great for me.

 

[colormegreen]

We are in the LA county more north then south of it. We would go down at least once a month and it was due to my husband’s unpredictable work schedule. He will have Sundays off now so it will work out! But we honestly make the passes worth while. We also have Legoland and we don’t mind the drive or traffic. It’s very doable for day trips and no rush to get everything packed until those days.

 

[fivelittles]

They really do! And if are getting a hotel, we want one within walking distance. We also realized for us 2 nights was almost a minimum requirement if we're getting a room lol. With the stricter parking restrictions at a lot of the Harbor hotels, one night is great for starting early the next morning, but you can't necessarily leave your car parked the next day. But the park day is when you might want to take a break during the day, and then you'd have it that evening to avoid driving home late. So ideally for us...two nights.

As long as the driver doesn't mind the drive, one day trips are definitely doable! And the freedom with the pass of not feeling pressured to have to go on every ride (or being bummed if you don't) is definitely worth it to us! Disney at a go go go pace can be fun, but I've really come to appreciate a leisurely take it all in pace, too!

My husband doesn't mind driving at all. He actually enjoys it. I am the opposite though. Haha. And he travels a lot, so I may just get a cheapy hotel if I take the kids without him. I am SO looking forward to being able to enjoy the slower pace of an annual pass. I've never had one and I think we need to experience it, at least for one year.

 

[fivelittles]

That's difficult, all right, with elementary aged kids! I have 5 kids, too. My 2 oldest are married and have kids. My "littles" are 21, 18, and 18. They loved going to DL and we'd do a family trip once a year, plus I'd usually take them around their birthday without the others along (except, of course, the twins went together ). When you have younger kids, it's harder to leave them behind, but mine were ok with going a couple of times a year. They knew we couldn't really do more than that and that I needed the time away LOL.

The younger two would NOT tolerate being left behind. Haha. My 18 yr old would love a pass, but my 16 yr old doesn't really care either way. So it makes it a little harder to hand over nearly 1k for her pass. But I KNOW if I don't get her one, she'll be bummed when it actually comes down to us heading out for a day at Disney. lol

 

[fivelittles]

I'm in NE San Diego, ~90-120 minutes out. We gave up "same day up/back" trips many years ago. We now either stay overnight at a nearby timeshare (w/in easy walk of DLR) for weekend visits or I ride up solo for mid-week trip using public transportation (express bus). The bus works out great for me.

I'm looking into the Express bus! Thank you.

 

[fivelittles]

Everyone here is so helpful. My husband was like...you're telling me that you went on a Disney forum to ask if it made sense to get an annual Disneyland pass? I know where to go to get the answers I want to hear. lol.

I've never had a pass before, so it feels kind of scary to spend so much. But my kids are growing up so fast and so many of my dearest memories of them throughout the years are from our vacations there. I am giddy at the thought of being able to spend at least one year as a key holder.