How far ahead do you plan?

[Chili327]

Years are sketched in advance so that we can plan big years with Annual Passes and then years off, plus inviting friends along who may need years in advance to plan.

For example, we are ending an AP year in January 2025. That will be our only trip in that use year, banking about half our points into the next. The next AP year will be September or October 2026-September 2027, with three trips planned. That will give us 2 years of points for those three trips, plus half a year banked, plus a year available to borrow. We have a minimal amount of points, but boy does it feel like a lot of points for that binge year, especially given the September and January point charts.

I like the idea of using a pass for one year with multiple trips. Just haven’t figured out how to stretch my points like that… I guess bank and borrow then take a year or 2 off to get ahead again.

 

[Zubon]

I like the idea of using a pass for one year with multiple trips. Just haven’t figured out how to stretch my points like that… I guess bank and borrow then take a year or 2 off to get ahead again.

Skipping years is the main trick, yeah. If you really wanted to binge in a 12-month period, you could use 4 full use years (bank, use those two years in the latter part of a use year, cross the use year line, borrow and use those two years in the early part of the next use year).

The light version of that is offsetting annual trips by a few weeks between years. For example, if you like to travel in July, take the Year 1 trip in late July and the Year 2 trip in early July. Your Sorcerer Pass will cover both, although an AP for two trips might not be worth it (check ticket costs times number of days per trip). You then let the AP lapse for 11 months, which costs less than renewing.

 

[foodiddiedoo]

Skipping years is the main trick, yeah. If you really wanted to binge in a 12-month period, you could use 4 full use years (bank, use those two years in the latter part of a use year, cross the use year line, borrow and use those two years in the early part of the next use year).

The light version of that is offsetting annual trips by a few weeks between years. For example, if you like to travel in July, take the Year 1 trip in late July and the Year 2 trip in early July. Your Sorcerer Pass will cover both, although an AP for two trips might not be worth it (check ticket costs times number of days per trip). You then let the AP lapse for 11 months, which costs less than renewing.

Explain the AP lapse costing less than renewing? I have an Incredipass which I was planning on renewing as a Sorcerers Pass to save like 500 dollars for 2026 because now that I have DVC I'm eligible. How can I save money? Or are you just saying it's cheaper not to buy one yearly?

 

[IDSkinner]

Such a great thread with a lot of great tips and information. I use the simple 'notes' feature on my iPhone/Mac and share with my DW regarding our points status and when we must use them. I book 11 months out at our home resort which we love(GF).

We're(DW and myself) from Idaho, so there's airfare to consider, as well, in the cost of a trip along with our arrival time is always later in the day. We'll check into a value or moderate resort on arrival day(we vary them up to check out a different resort) because the transfer of bags to the home resort is easy to do and we'll have our owner's locker transfer, as well. A nice perk for staying at a Disney Resort.

We went four times this past year and I felt like I needed a break after the last trip. Like several have said, they'll use the points, take a break and bank/stack up points for a flurry of trips.

This past year, we followed the 'Points Guys' plan for a companion pass on Southwest and it worked incredibly well. That allowed us to have the second passenger fly for $12ish dollars on a flight for two years(Companion owner basically is able to fly on points that entire time). We purchased the Incredi-pass because one of our trips was for Christmas and needed the non-black out dates availability(family trip) otherwise the Sorcerer would've worked well. We basically stacked four-week long trips in that year maximizing our Incredi-pass and the Southwest companion pass. Now, we're taking a break into 2026 while we push the points to the next use year and will likely take a couple of longer, but less frequent trips starting in 2026 and ending in 2027. We've also decided, as another had said, to commit to not going from May-September(heat). My birthday is April(Flower and Garden Festival time) and my DW is late October(Halloween time). So, we're planning on going during those times. Great weather and events. We'll travel less and stay longer. We plan on cranking up the companion pass(we rotate owner to qualify) to be begin on January 2026 where it will be good for two years. Rinse and repeat.

Once we make our plans, we'll let the kids(young, working adults) know that we're going and that they are welcome to stay at the resort. Tickets and travel are on them and we'll cover the food.

Fairly simple and only a few years out in planning multiple trips. Great tips everyone, so thanks.

 

[Zubon]

Explain the AP lapse costing less than renewing? I have an Incredipass which I was planning on renewing as a Sorcerers Pass to save like 500 dollars for 2026 because now that I have DVC I'm eligible. How can I save money? Or are you just saying it's cheaper not to buy one yearly?

Fleshing out my example that assumes you travel around the same time each year:

• Trip 1 in late July 2025: get that AP, expires in late July 2026. (Optional: more trips in between)
• Trip 2 in early July 2026: still covered by 2025 AP. Let it expire after this trip. (No trips until...)
• Trip 3 in late July 2027: get that AP, expires in late July 2028. (And so on.)

The savings is the gap when you would not be using the AP. Renewing would mostly cover unused time. A 15% discount means that if you would go 2 months between your renewal date and your next use, you might as well let it expire (unless you would then have a 2-month gap at the end of your new expiration date, in which case it is a wash). Unless you are traveling very frequently or consistently, having a gap between APs is going to cost less over time than renewing (and having an AP when you are not going to the parks). This is especially so if you have off-and-on binge years. In the example above: go nuts taking trips, borrowing points, etc. during that July-July year, then rest up for a year or two (or at least a few months) before your next July-to-July binge starts.

DVC members particularly gain from intense years and years off because we can bank and borrow points plus getting the Sorcerer's Pass as an out-of-state guest. Have a big year with an AP and banked and borrowed points, then take a year off and bank those points into your next big year.

 

[Chili327]

Skipping years is the main trick, yeah. If you really wanted to binge in a 12-month period, you could use 4 full use years (bank, use those two years in the latter part of a use year, cross the use year line, borrow and use those two years in the early part of the next use year).

The light version of that is offsetting annual trips by a few weeks between years. For example, if you like to travel in July, take the Year 1 trip in late July and the Year 2 trip in early July. Your Sorcerer Pass will cover both, although an AP for two trips might not be worth it (check ticket costs times number of days per trip). You then let the AP lapse for 11 months, which costs less than renewing.

Oh spanning 2 UY hurts my head to think about, i think id just take a trip in Oct/Nov, then another in Jan/Feb. (MY UY is Sept/Oct)
But now i know something to aim for. lol