Help! AP renewal & room discount.

[loopner67]

I have a problem. My AP is going to expire in a little over a week. I want to renew it and save money by renewing it before it lapses.

We are thinking of going back in late Sept/early October 2008. The only reason why I'd get the AP is to get a discount on the hotel. We want to try out the BC. I've had the AP for two years now and got a discount in March '06 and in April '07 (both times on the WL).

Sooooooooo, here's my question... if you were me, would you renew the AP and not know if you would even get a discount on the hotel? What do you think the chances are? Are they still coming out with AP discounts on a consistent enough basis for me to chance this? Hmm.

I need to "sell" my DH on renewing my pass, so any advice or thoughts are very welcome!

 

[loopner67]

Doesn't anyone have insight into this? Can I post this on the front page for resorts where more people might see it? hmm!

 

[janjandis]

Did you know that you can renew your pass up to 30 days after it expires? That might help you to decide. From the Passholder website:
Q. When can I renew my Pass?
A. You can renew your Pass from 30 days before until 30 days after your expiration date, in order to receive your renewal discount.

Also, I think renewing the pass only saves you 40.00 over buying a whole new pass, so that's not much of a savings if you need the pass later in the year.

 

[loopner67]

Thank you for this info. I got something about my renewal in the mail and I thought I had to renew by 4/16, but I'm glad to hear I have more time. I won't need the pass until Sept, though, so I'm thinking it won't be worth it. We live in PA and I will only be going to WDW one time this year. Thanks again for your response.

 

[sherry8253]

Hi neighbor. I am from PA too. We buy AP's but get 2 trips out of each pass - Jan & Dec so we don't renew because the 2 trip system wouldn't work if we did. Now my take on AP's. For the first time ever, AAA discount was better than AP rate for our Jan '08 trip. Even the CM who priced both for me said 'wow that is unusual.' We booked WL honeymoon suite for our honeymoon. In Jan they took a flat $50 off deluxe rooms. So you were better off with 15% discount with AAA then the flat $50 on more expensive rooms. So in my opinion, it is a dice roll. If they do the flat $50 off for a BC room, the AAA rate may be better depending on the time of year you are going - I don't know what the AAA discount is for Sept/Oct timeframe. I think during non value season the AAA rate is only 10% off. The other thing I would look at is how many days you will be in the parks if you are only doing one trip and how much more AP would be then other tickets. In the past, I would have said AP discounts would be the way to go because the discounts were great. But lately, I don't know that we AP holders are getting such great deals. We usually stay 12 nights each trip & are in the parks 20 to 24 days with each AP so I think we do okay simply because of ticket use. Hopefully, you will get some other opinions too.

 

[loopner67]

Sherry - Hi from the Poconos! Thanks for your response. Even with the other responses, your's really helped me. I will definitely look into the AAA rate now. From what I'm hearing, it sounds like it'll be my best bet, but I'll still inquire about the AP rate (even if I have to keep calling & calling & calling all the way up 'til Sept).

Wow, you are in the parks a lot of days of the year, so the AP has to be awesome for you. If we don't get the AP, we're going to miss getting the DDE card, too. It probably won't outweigh the extra money, though.

Again, thanks for your input! I appreciate it.

 

[sherry8253]

Hi Loopner - My DH loves dining in Epcot. So several of the days, it is just go into Epcot around 5 or 6, have dinner and leave. For our Dec trip, he promised me we are going to try some of the reorts for dining so there may be less park days. Are you sure you can't talk your DH into 2 trips this year? We get the DDE card too. We usually drive down straight through to save $$$ but I got great rates ($54 each way) on air tran out of Dulles for our Dec trip. I already booked with the AAA rate and I will call as soon as AP rates come out to see if they are better. Hope you get a great discount and have a great time at the BC.

 

[loopner67]

Hi Loopner - My DH loves dining in Epcot. So several of the days, it is just go into Epcot around 5 or 6, have dinner and leave. For our Dec trip, he promised me we are going to try some of the reorts for dining so there may be less park days. Are you sure you can't talk your DH into 2 trips this year? We get the DDE card too. We usually drive down straight through to save $$$ but I got great rates ($54 each way) on air tran out of Dulles for our Dec trip. I already booked with the AAA rate and I will call as soon as AP rates come out to see if they are better. Hope you get a great discount and have a great time at the BC.

LOL Sherry... I'm laughing about talking my DH into two trips. I'm amazed that we're going back this year, so two trips is pushing it. To most people I know, we go a lot. I'm always telling them that they should see how often people from the DisBoards go! It's the two of us, our two boys and my stepdaughter. It's pretty expensive for the 5 of us to go and we also own a Myrtle Beach, SC house, so I can't push for Disney too often.

Your airfare is awesome! We've been looking into discount stuff and are hoping we can fly Allegiant out of Allentown to Sanford/Orlando again. Both airports are smaller, so less hassle, smaller lines, etc... It'll still be about $200 a ticket for each of us. We drive to MB all the time, but I highly doubt we'd ever make the drive all the way to WDW.

Thanks again. I'll keep those fingers crossed for a discount!!