Having an AP has ruined me... and I love it.

[Mopedmom1]

Another thing that helps is our kids are now a junior in college and a senior in high school. Pretty low maintenance parenting at this point.

Empty nests are THE BEST for vacationing. Our youngest is 23, our oldest is 33. Once college is paid for, TIME TO GO HAVE FUN!

 

[mamamelody2]

I would love to be "ruined" by an AP!
I don't see that happening any time soon, though.

 

[disneybirds]

We had an AP several years ago and loved it! We live in Atlanta, so we ended up going 5 times that year. We flew down a few times for just a long weekend and then did 2 longer trips. We especially enjoyed being able to pop in for a few hours on arrival and departure days. Thinking of upgrading to AP during our Christmas trip.

 

[Mike D.]

Over the last several months I have enjoyed staying at a couple of off site motels. Surprisingly decent accommodations for around $45 per night.

Do you have any recommendations for motels? We are considering converting our tickets to APs when we go next month, and were considering doing a long offsite stay this summer. $50/night sounds great.

 

[mindeola]

I will become an AP holder this Friday. Yippee! We have already transitioned to that style of touring and less stress though. I will be staying offsite for the first time in March. WE are renting house with my parents and my sister and her family. Came out to $389 a family for six nights. Not too shabby. My niece was accepted to the DCP and will be there January-August. In order to go as often as I want to visit her, I am going to have to stay in some of these off site hotels/motels for a few trips.

My husband and I both earn about four weeks of vacation year. We also work 9.5 hour days so that we have every other Friday off. That, sometimes combined with a Monday holiday, really helps ! I leave Friday for my girls getaway. Friday is a holiday so I will make Monday my alternate day off. That means I only needed to take three vacation days for a 7 day trip!

 

[jpeterson]

We converted our tickets in May to APs, since then we went again in August, have a trip in 12 days, 1 planned for February and 1 for March!

Yeah, definitely changed things.

 

[Melissa Perez]

We take WDW as it comes to us, not caring if we miss out on an attraction. .

this could not have been said any better! we are on year 3 of APs and it really does put the vacation back into a WDW vacation! It breaks even after only 5 or 6 days in the parks, so after that, it really is the cherry on top!

 

[tlmadden73]

We invested in APs for the family, activating them on our 7-day vacation in July. So far I have been back to WDW every month since, and twice in August. November trip starts tomorrow when DW and I head down for a few days. We live in NC and have about a 9 hour drive, which we don't love but is far from unmanageable.

Anyhow, being a Passholder has radically changed my park touring style after 16 years of Disney vacations. Formerly I would always shop for packages, staying on site and often springing for the dining plan if it wasn't being offered for free. We pretty much stuck with one park per day, often not even taking an afternoon break. I always used Disney transportation to get from resort to park. We drive to the parks now, and take breaks too. We stop for lots of Photopass opportunities now since that is included with the AP. We never used them before.

Over the last several months I have enjoyed staying at a couple of off site motels. Surprisingly decent accommodations for around $45 per night. I now hop to different parks pretty regularly, especially if I run into a big crowd and long queues somewhere. We take WDW as it comes to us, not caring if we miss out on an attraction. Not that I do a lot of ADRs, but so far I have been able to get everything I want, including BOG for Monday. I just found that one today. I notice that I am a whole lot less stressed while on Disney trips now, and feel as much a part of the magic as ever even though I'm staying off site.

Maybe best of all is that I can go to WDW cheaper than I can make a quick trip to the mountains or beach. $100-$120 in gas, plus ~$50 per night for a room, plus food. Yeah, having APs has ruined me... but in a good way.

I guess what am discovering is that there are a lot of great ways and "right" ways to tour the parks, and it is a delight to be living out a new way.

I live in NC too and because of that short distance, I've made several short trips to WDW since 2014 and plan on making more. We've been going on 10-day no-expiration hoppers with my preschoolers, but as my son gets older, we probably will opt for longer trips.
I would buy the no-expiration tickets if they were available still, as we have loved the flexiblity it has given us (want to stay an extra day? Want to cut vacation short for some reason? Want to make a last minute trip? Miss a ride?), but sadly those aren't available anymore and we only have 4 days left .

Thus I've been looking at an annual pass as well for us for 2018-2019. I just like the flexibility it will give us rather than a "gotta get it all done in X days" mentality a package can give you.
I've done the math and figure if you go at least 8 days in a year (minimum) getting an Annual Pass saves you a lot of money.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[mickeyfanachey1999]

We have only had annual passes for one 12 month period and it was GREAT!!!! I can't remember the numbers exactly but the four of us ended up with like 28 park days each that year. Unfortunately DW has gone back to work and the kids are no longer homeschooled so the allure of the AP isn't as great as it once was.

 

[marx]

We enjoy using an AP so much (for the relative value and freedom) that we plan our trips to WDW in bunches. We went three times in the last 12 months. We hadn't been to WDW since 2012 (and only because of Superstorm Sandy which left us without power for 2 weeks), and we won't be returning for at least 2 years. There is certainly value when you go 2 or more times in a year. There is freedom too - with an AP, we don't feel like we need to be in the park for 6-8 hours; just a quick visit is enough. Add to that all the perks and using APs (for us) is a given.

 

[china mom]

Not currently retired. I was but then went back to work and am back to entry level when it comes to leave accrual. And it is kill king me. But, having a spouse work for an airline does have its perks. I have been know to fly down for one (very long, exhausting) day every so often and pop down for a whole weekend when I can find an affordable room. When I add one or two week long trips with the rest of the family, the AP pays for itself several times over.

 

[Shellyb84]

We've had APs for almost two years now, we will be renewing early 2018. It's amazing! We're just North of Atlanta so we usually drive, it's about 6.5 hours. We went 5 times in our first year with the APs (we had only gotten it because we had two trips planned but discovered we wanted to go even more since our tickets were paid for). This year we've been 5 times and I've got 3-4 trips in the planning for 2018. We typically take one long trip in the summer when DD's out of school (12-13 days), one week either spring or fall, and then some long weekends throughout the year. I get 5 weeks of PTO and DH gets 4, we also try to plan some of the trips over holidays off work to maximize the vacation days we have. I love our laid back touring style now. Disney actually feels like a relaxing vacation instead of a mission to try to squeeze in as much as possible. I know our trips will be slowing down in the next year or two, DD is getting more serious into dance so the competitions, extra classes and camps take a lot of time in the summer and weekends, but we are enjoying making the most of it for now!

 

[stinkpickle]

I'm surprised we were as disciplined as we were. I thought getting APs would make us visit more than usual, but we stuck with our once-per-year trip. Airfare was the limiting factor, I guess. However, we converted discounted 7-day hoppers last year when the 13 month deal was offered, and we used 9 park days last year, and we'll use 8 park days this year. We probably won't renew, though. BUT, I might buy APs again to cover 2018 and 2019.

 

[jjjones325]

I have the opportunity to pay less than $700 (even less than that if I pay using gift cards bought at Target) and get APs for me, DW, and DS. DW isn't sold on the idea. I need help!!! We have one month, 3 days before we are there, so I need to convince her ASAP.

 

[Mopedmom1]

I have the opportunity to pay less than $700 (even less than that if I pay using gift cards bought at Target) and get APs for me, DW, and DS. DW isn't sold on the idea. I need help!!! We have one month, 3 days before we are there, so I need to convince her ASAP.

Have her read this thread.

For me the best part of an annual pass is knowing you can go back. You don't have to try to see and do everything, so it can be a vacation, not a physically exhausting week that takes DAYS to recover from once you get home.

ETA: You have until your last park day to upgrade. Let her experience the good times before she has to decide.

 

[BrownHP800]

We are also in NC and have about the same amount of driving. We go as often as we can. It is not unusual for us to leave Friday evening and drive down then drive back home again Sunday. Sometimes those little quick trips are the most fun.

 

[msk]

My AP was my retirement gift to myself last June. We live in Birmingham so it is a 8/9 hour drive. Since then I went in June, July, got my DH an AP and we went in Oct. I'll be back in Feb and again in April. I love having my AP and the pleasure of doing what I want without feeling rushed to get things done. I also love being able to go to a park when I arrive without feeling like I'm using a "ticket day" for just an evening of fun. Another giant perk is knowing that on departure morning I can (and often do) run into a park for a last minute purchase or ride.

 

[rickybobby]

We had AP's back when kids were small, but it naturally makes you go back to Disney lots more if you have one. So it's a win for WDW. Even with the tickets paid for, you still spend loads on food/hotels/etc . It is cool though to be able to go to a park on arrival or departure day just for a while without worrying about burning a day on admission tickets.

 

[scrapquitler]

I absolutely agree, but we are all the way from Vermont. We usually fly, but this week we are going to drive, which we haven't done in like 25 years. We love the fact that we feel absolutely no pressure. If I want to sit on a bench and people watch for two hours, I do exactly that. I don't worry anymore about missing something. I've done it earlier this year, or I can do it again in a couple months if I miss it now.

 

[tarheel618]

Surprisingly decent accommodations for around $45 per night.

Can you provide some names of these hotels? Bought AP for Christmas and need some cheap stays/ that are clean and safe hotels. We are staying onsight in March but would like some cheap weekend options