First, my apologies for how long this is!
My family is interested in going to Disney World Dec 17-21 to meet up with family members who are also visiting (their flights are much cheaper into FL than into SC where we are from so they fly to FL, visit Disney then drive to SC to stay with us). I'm also going back to Disney for Marathon weekend in January, to Disneyland the following weekend for the Tinkerbell 1/2, then back to Disney World in February for the Princess 1/2. I'm driving myself crazy trying to figure out the cheapest combination of trips and while some things like airfare I'm pretty much stuck paying the same regardless, I think I could save money with an annual pass.
For the Premier Annual Passport (good for both parks) it's $849 + tax (I think this is 6.5% in FL) = $904.18 (however on MouseSavers it shows the total with tax as $876.54?)
For the base Annual Pass for only Disney World it's $611.31 (with tax)
Individually through the runDisney discount sites for race participants tickets would be (these all include tax and park hopper):
WDW Marathon (3 day): $257.73
Tinkerbell (4 day): $230
Princess (4 day): $241.60
So for just the race weekends my total would be $729.33. I think because I'm only going to Disneyland this once, and the difference between the two passes is more than the runDisney price for Tinkerbell it doesn't make sense to get the PAP unless there's some extra benefit I don't know of?
Where I get confused is the December trip with my family. My uncle works for the Department of Defense so we can go to Shades of Green for about $140/night and get discounted tickets (5 day Park Hopper is $317/person but I'm not sure if that's with or without tax). However, they're also offering Free Dining during this time so it might be better to forgo the military discounts. For Pop Century, our total (for 3, 2 adult and one child age 17) with room, 5 day Park Hopper and free dining comes to $1493.84. I know I would have to get at least a 2 day ticket to get free dining, but what if I'm the only one who wants to do this? My other family members would need tickets for the full length of the trip.
If I went in December with my family, could I buy the regular length of tickets then upgrade to an annual pass once I'm there or would I be ineligible because of Free Dining? If not, I've read here I could buy the 2 day ticket but not use it and save it for the future, but how do only I buy a 2 day ticket and other family get 5 days? Also, if I save the 2 day ticket for the future, can more days be added to it or would I have to purchase those initially?
Thank you so much for your help and I'm sorry for so many questions! I've been reading for a while and the more I learn the more questions I find!
My family is interested in going to Disney World Dec 17-21 to meet up with family members who are also visiting (their flights are much cheaper into FL than into SC where we are from so they fly to FL, visit Disney then drive to SC to stay with us). I'm also going back to Disney for Marathon weekend in January, to Disneyland the following weekend for the Tinkerbell 1/2, then back to Disney World in February for the Princess 1/2. I'm driving myself crazy trying to figure out the cheapest combination of trips and while some things like airfare I'm pretty much stuck paying the same regardless, I think I could save money with an annual pass.
For the Premier Annual Passport (good for both parks) it's $849 + tax (I think this is 6.5% in FL) = $904.18 (however on MouseSavers it shows the total with tax as $876.54?)
For the base Annual Pass for only Disney World it's $611.31 (with tax)
Individually through the runDisney discount sites for race participants tickets would be (these all include tax and park hopper):
WDW Marathon (3 day): $257.73
Tinkerbell (4 day): $230
Princess (4 day): $241.60
So for just the race weekends my total would be $729.33. I think because I'm only going to Disneyland this once, and the difference between the two passes is more than the runDisney price for Tinkerbell it doesn't make sense to get the PAP unless there's some extra benefit I don't know of?
Where I get confused is the December trip with my family. My uncle works for the Department of Defense so we can go to Shades of Green for about $140/night and get discounted tickets (5 day Park Hopper is $317/person but I'm not sure if that's with or without tax). However, they're also offering Free Dining during this time so it might be better to forgo the military discounts. For Pop Century, our total (for 3, 2 adult and one child age 17) with room, 5 day Park Hopper and free dining comes to $1493.84. I know I would have to get at least a 2 day ticket to get free dining, but what if I'm the only one who wants to do this? My other family members would need tickets for the full length of the trip.
If I went in December with my family, could I buy the regular length of tickets then upgrade to an annual pass once I'm there or would I be ineligible because of Free Dining? If not, I've read here I could buy the 2 day ticket but not use it and save it for the future, but how do only I buy a 2 day ticket and other family get 5 days? Also, if I save the 2 day ticket for the future, can more days be added to it or would I have to purchase those initially?
Thank you so much for your help and I'm sorry for so many questions! I've been reading for a while and the more I learn the more questions I find!
