APs are ADDICTIVE!
If you get them you find yourself having more "excuse" to go.
You get price discounts on food, souvenirs, and full flexibility into the parks.
On the OLD system, I did a very thorough calculation and found that if you stayed 7 days you could have bought an AP. I havent did any figures on the new pricing system. Its not an issue to us. We know were going 3-4 trips a year, so we just know they are for us.
We always do the dead times of the year.
One trick for those of you who want to go a LOT, but not as much as we do, is to do the alternate yearly trick. Weve done this too. Take your vacation ... lets say the second week of February, then your NEXT vacation the FIRST week of February, then the NEXT year you dont buy one, and the following year you do it again. You lose your AP renewal discount, but you get to go every year and use APs. Got it? It makes sence if you think about it. They last 365 days, so as long as your next years trip is LESS than 365 days, its on the APs. If you took it the exact same week every year it wouldnt work.