My sister did the CP August 2011-January 2012 and we went to visit her twice. We went once in September for nights, then in December for 10 nights (over xmas and NYE). We then all went back as a complete family in May 2012 for another 10 nights.
We did all get AP's. She got about a 10% discount on those and purchased them for us in the company store. Having an AP will get you some retail and dining discounts on its own. I think the max discount is 10% off at certain places.
We also bought a Tables in Wonderland card which gave us 20% off on pretty much all of our table service meals. I think the cost is now $100 but if you eat a lot of TS meals (we eat one per day) it more than pays for itself. You can only buy it if you are an AP holder or FL resident.
One other thing to add, if you do stay on property with a regular reservation, the cast member price for the dining plan is discounted so it is a great deal. Because we stayed DVC we weren't eligible for that.
She did look into booking our hotels, during many times of the year they get up to 40% off and then it is actually 50% off if the cast member stays with you. However, we rented DVC points for both trips and found that price to be better than her price because we wanted to stay deluxe. If you want to stay at a value or a mod, her discount will be great. Have her book them as far out as possible because there are a limited number of rooms available for that discount just like with other discounts.
That is all we did as far as discounts, but we definitely felt like we more than got our money's worth with our AP's and the TIW card.
ETA: yes, she had a few passes to get people in free but we didn't use those. She only had 6 so we let her use those for her friends that came to visit. She also did have a few dining discounts but those were only valid when she actually ate the meal with us, which wasn't that common. So we did the TIW card since she was working for the majority of the time we were there.
She got to work at Cinderella's Royal Table and was THRILLED when she found out her assignment!
! However, as she doesn't even have a license yet, I'm not going to worry... Yet! I will go down with her to get settled in. I am hoping to go to the Food and Wine Festival while she is there, and maybe she can get me a sweet deal at AKL. I've always wanted to stay there. Hopefully we will have enough rapid rewards points for my airfare home in August, and for both DH and me to go in October. We will both go at Christmas, and I don't know if we will even do parks then, or just take a vacation and relax. DD is worried about being alone at Christmas, but as her last day at Disney is 1/3/14, I figure we'll be going down then to collect her and bring her home, anyhow!
