Help from all the AP and non exp experts!!

[CarolinaMomOf3boys]

I knew I could count on all the brilliant budget peeps on the dis to help me...here is my dilemma: buy AP or non exp? we are a family of 4; me, DH, and 2 DS...ages 10 & 14. We try to do disney every april and august....now for the boys, its every other april, as they alternate years spending spring break with their dad and it gives me and DH a chance to do disney without the kiddos every other year
I am trying to decide between the AP or non exp....theoritically, if we timed it right, we could almost get in 3 trips within 12 months with the AP....and does AAA offer the best discounts for APs? We are a member of AAA and what about undercover tourists? Do they offer discounts on APs or just ticket sales? Also, if i go with AP or non exp, how does it affect if we get a bouncback? <which we have never gotten, didnt know until recently you had to ASK for it once at disney> any and all suggestions, scenarios, comments, big and small are soooo appreciated, as I knew nothing of APs and non exp until reading about them on the DIS.


Melissa

 

[TifffanyD]

Well if you like the dining plan you can book that with an AP and no tickets. If you had non-exp you would still need to buy a package to get this.

There are some discounts associated with having an AP.

Bouncebacks typically can be for room only so this would work with either option.

However, for the dining plan and the discounts only one person needs to have the AP, so the kids could have non expiring.

Would you use up the entire 10 day nonexp over the course of 3 trips? Would you want to go more? That's only like 3 days in the park per trip

Also with AP's the park hopping feature is included. And if you want to stay offsite parking is included.

I think a 10 day nonexp base ticket and an AP are comparable in price. Add park hopping and the nonexp costs more

 

[RN2003AZ]

If you want one of the coupons for the 10% AP discount, I have one left I could send you.

 

[Shmily1]

Since you are going three times, I would get an AP for atleast one of you but probably both you and your DH. Then for the DSs, I would suggest the Non-exp tickets since they would only get two trips out of theirs.

The AP discounts are so worth it!! Also, we loved having the DDE (now the TIW) card that you can get with the AP. This usually was a great deal for us. DH was so amazed at how much money were saving by me having an AP and the DDE. Since the DDE is good for up to 4 people, I would only buy one of those though. When I got my AP, it was at Christmas. I activated it three weeks later on my birthday. I had booked our room on the AP discount, we ate with the AP or DDE discounts, and shopped with the AP discounts. We had already saved more on that one weekend than the AP costed.

We don't have AAA so I can't help you with that part, and I don't think you can get the AP at UT.

If you have APs and want to book a package instead of using the AP discounts, you can do that with a 1 day park ticket for each person. Then you can save those 1 day tickets (since they weren't used, they don't expire) and use them to "pay" for your your renewals on your APs or to add onto for the DSs when their non-exp tickets run out of days. I've usually found that the AP discounts were better though unless it was free dining.

Have a great trip!!

 

[CarolinaMomOf3boys]

thank you so much for the responses, as we are wanting to go ahead and book in the next week or so for our august trip

 

[puffkin]

Do the AP's for you and DH. We get 3 trips off of one pass by doing the staggering how you suggesed. This pass we are doing May, Dec, May. Then we will buy new passes next December and do Dec May Dec and so on. We also do the TiW instead of the dining plan and find that to be a great value.

We are DVC, but we often add a night or two to save on weekend points and the AP rates are usually worth it. There are also discounts on Mini golf and other activities that are useful as well. We also like having park hopping ability and not having to worry about using up a day if we only hit the parks for a few hours one day.

 

[MEM]

I've been an AP holder for 8 years now and the only discount on the AP that I am aware of is the one for DVC owners. It is a generous discount but limited to the owners and their children.

I booked my very first trip to WDW with AAA and they didn't sell the AP - I purchased it directly from Disney.

The only "danger" in being an AP holder is the temptation to visit more often.

 

[robinb]

I would go for APs for all of you as you will get 2 trips out of the boy's APs and 3 out of yours. If you're there for free dining in August you can upgrade your park passes that come with the package to APs. If you miss free dining you can also get discounted tickets elsewhere and upgrade them after 1 day's use. You will get the "gate" value applied to your AP v/s the discounted value. Once you have your APs and you do happen to book a bounceback deal that requires a pass (like free dining) you can get away with just buying a 1-park 1-day pass for everyone and applying the value to your next AP.

 

[CarolinaMomOf3boys]

thanks, again for all the posts & ideas!!