How to Purchase Park Admissions

[bray]

We are new to DVC and will be using it for the first time in June. We hope to spend a week at BCV and then 3 or 4 days at Vero Beach.

In the past, we have always had a package at WDW where we could come and go to any of the parks/water parks as much as we wanted. We could come and go many times on the same day.

I have considered purchasing an annual pass for my DH, 8 yr old DD, and myself. We thought that if we were able to use it this June and then get another vacation in next summer before the pass expired, we would save money.

Since we are both teachers, we can't count on going any earlier than June 1 of any year. Has anyone done this? Since we want to get two vacations out of it , I don't think it would be a good idea to buy them in say May 2004. The way I understand things, that would not allow us to use them at the beginning of June 2005.

Do you all purchase them online at Disney, is there any advantage to buying them from DVC (discounts???), Disney store????

Thanks for any advice or hints!

 

[JeffPort]

Now that we are DVC members (who don't plan to go more than one time a year on average), we have purchased Park Hopper Plus passes for the whole family. These passes give you great flexibility (you don't have to go to the parks every day) and they never expire. I suggest that you buy the 7-day Hoppers with the 4 additional Waterpark/Pleasure Island admittances. If you don't go to the waterparks on the same day as the theme parks, these give you a total of 11 days worth of activities for about $300 (less than $30 per day average).

In addition, you can get these passes from Florida wholesalers at a significant discount from Disney's gate prices. I keep an eye on the prices. The last time I checked, this place had the best offer ($306 adult, $244 child):

http://www.discount-tickets.us/tickets.htm

Keep in mind that Disney just raised its park prices, so expect the resellers to raise prices any day now. In fact, I'd suggest that you buy today in order to lock in the lower price.

There are at least a dozen wholesalers in Florida that sell the Disney Park Hoppers. You can find them quite easily with a Google search.

 

[bray]

Given that we are looking at being there for a week in the 2nd week of June 2004 and a week in June 2005, what is the opinion about purchasing an annual pass. We probably will go to a water park and a theme park on the same day.

Thanks for the info.

 

[stacy6552]

We get the 7day hopper plus passes, because you get 11 days worth of fun and they never ever expire.

I buy mine at the disney store, even though you dont get a dvc discount on them. Our mall has a rewards program, so I go right down and get my rewards cards. This year we got alot of Christmas presents for free!

 

[kocar]

Bray:

my husband and I are both in education too. We just bought into
DVC as well, HHI is home, but with our extra points we plan to go to OKW/BCV mid-June. I too have been going back and forth with the annual pass vs. 7-day park hopper plus. It is my understanding that the annual pass starts with the date of activitation, not the date of the purchase. If you plan to complete a vacation within a year of when you first activitate your annual pass in June, then it appears it would be cost effective, if you don't plan to visit any of the water parks. However, if your kids are like mine, we are choosing our hotels based on the type of pool the hotel has! Because the Park Hopper privileges never expire, for us, I think the Hopper Plus will be more beneficial bec/we can use the water park entries on a future visit and then just purchase a regular park hopper without any plusses the next time we visit.

Hope this helps, not confuses, you! Good luck in your decision. Mayber we'll run into you down there!