How would you plan & what would you do?

[Minnie*bell]

Hey everyone! =) My husband and I are considering the annual pass. When we go on our 1rst trip, as a new family to WDW, we will have a 15 month old son. We are from Pittsburgh PA & know for sure we will get 10 days out of it. I always have 2 weeks paid vacation & have always taken @ least 2 vacations a year to different places. We are thinking about the AP b/c our our new little one, there is no other place I'd want to take my little guy. But here is the thing, when I usually do a WDW trip I always fly,stay @ a value or moderate resort for @ least 10 days @ a time. In 2009 I went for a week w/ my family & 2 week trip w/ just my husband. [I know 2 weeks is a long time, no, we were not bored,no, we are not rich, that was the 1rst time he went as an adult] So,last year AP would have come in handy. But for our next trip in 2011 I have been racking my brain trying to figure how we can do @ least 2 trips w/ an AP. So I figured that if we committed to driving instead of flying we could go more then 1 time & the AP would be valuable, especially if we could squeeze in 3 trips. The problem is we live 20 hours away. What would u do? Go once & fly or go @ least 2 times & suffer the drive? As a kid we drove everywhere. We were also thinking of, dare I say, packing lunches [& I love WDW food] SO, once again skip the meal plan & suffer the drive or just do one WDW trip the way I'm used to w/ "the works" THANK YOU FOR ADVICE!!!!



Plan A: *10 days in WDW OR Plan B: *2 weeks+ [AP]
*value resort *value resort
*dining plan *cash for meals [only 3
*fly 2 hours table service per trip]
*use WDW transportaion *drive 20 hrs
*have our car

 

[Suz D]

We're from Morgantown and had AP's this past year. We have driven to WDW our last two trips (we are about 1.5 hours closer than you are) and loved the drive. We did take the autotrain home in January however.

We are not going to renew our AP's for several reasons.

1. When we go we stay for a long time. AP's are a great deal if you are going to do say three 4-5 day trips which would be 12-15 days. It sounds like you travel more like we do and stay 7-10 days a couple of times/year (14-20 days). Your AP runs a bit more or break even so unless we know we'll use it more than those two trips it's not worth the investment because...

2. Another perk is a good room rate but in January we got the Disney Visa room rate for my in-laws which was almost as good as the AP rate (it was about $25 more total for the time they were there).

The thing about an AP is that you sort of feel compelled to go because you've got it and sometimes that can lead to spending $$ you might night have (not YOU specifically, but a general you as in everyone).

We are going again in May partly because we have the AP's but mostly because my in-laws have offered to come watch our 14 and 3 yo DD's so we can go away for a week. With the AP's already paid for, a good room rate, and use or lose airline credit on SW we are able to go for 7 nights for just under $1000 on the dining plan (deluxe for one day and QS for the other 6).

But, as far as the drive, we love it, but you are in a different situation with your little one. Only you know how your child travels.

Good luck!

 

[Suz D]

Sorry, I forgot to add that with your car there you would be able to save $$ by eating at some off property places (we love Sweet Tomatoes near DTD).

I re-read your post after I wrote my 1st response. I didn't see that you would stay there two weeks. If that is the case and you could even do one more trip with the AP's, that's a good way to go $$ wise.

I also wanted to encourage you to try the QS dining plan. We were regular dining plan people all the way, but did the QS on this last trip in January. We LOVED it. We did a couple of TS OOP which added to the cost, but only doing 2 TS instead of 7 TS saved us a bit on tips so we probably broke even. I really enjoyed ordering whatever I wanted from the QS locations plus you get 2 snacks a day instead of one and a refillable mug (which we always purchase so that saved us quite a bit too).

You can also do a split stay like we are doing. Part of your trip would be TS and part QS.

Lots to ponder.

 

[VAN]

My personal advice is to forget about an AP at this time. If you have a little one you may need an odd vacation day for something else. Sounds like money is a big issue as well. I've thought about getting an AP but then that drives all the decisions just to save a buck or two ... more likely it will make me spend more!!!

So, my advice is not to get an AP. Regarding driving vs flying, if you are not tied to the school schedule, we have found that it is almost cheaper for two to fly as to drive (we are also 20 hrs) and if your vacation time is limited, you won't want to spend your vacation days on the road.

Again, this is just my opinion ... you and your DH have to do what is best for your family.

 

[HeatherC]

You can also price out the 10 day non expiring passes. We've done this a couple times and got 2 or 3 trips out of them each time. That way if you can't go one year, you still have passes even if you have to wait a few years!

 

[Minnie*bell]

You can also price out the 10 day non expiring passes. We've done this a couple times and got 2 or 3 trips out of them each time. That way if you can't go one year, you still have passes even if you have to wait a few years!

Ya someone told me it's the same price to get expiring tickets but u can go for the full 10 days on expiring tix. IDK what to do we'll prob. get the AP so we can go 2x in 2011. I wanted to do the no expiration thing it seems like the best idea until someone said that.

 

[Suz D]

Ya someone told me it's the same price to get expiring tickets but u can go for the full 10 days on expiring tix. IDK what to do we'll prob. get the AP so we can go 2x in 2011. I wanted to do the no expiration thing it seems like the best idea until someone said that.

Minnie, because of the way you like to travel, the non-expiring would probably not be a good fit. They are designed more for people who go for 3-4days each trip and go once a year. Then they can get three trips out of one pass. A 10 day non-expiring Park Hopper pass is about $540.00 (which is actually more than an annual pass). But if that same person went on one 3-4day trip a year over three years, the cost of three 3-day ph passes would be close to $900.00 ($288.62 x 3). So for that person a 10 day non-expiring PH pass is a great deal.

If know you will be able to take at least two 10 day trips this year, the AP would make sense (especially if you like to park hop). I think that you received good advice from a previous poster about needing a few days off here and there and not burning all of your vacation. Of course if you have a flexible job which allows you to take time off without pay and don't need the $$ from that time off then that point doesn't really matter.

 

[Minnie*bell]

Minnie, because of the way you like to travel, the non-expiring would probably not be a good fit. They are designed more for people who go for 3-4days each trip and go once a year. Then they can get three trips out of one pass. A 10 day non-expiring Park Hopper pass is about $540.00 (which is actually more than an annual pass). But if that same person went on one 3-4day trip a year over three years, the cost of three 3-day ph passes would be close to $900.00 ($288.62 x 3). So for that person a 10 day non-expiring PH pass is a great deal.

If know you will be able to take at least two 10 day trips this year, the AP would make sense (especially if you like to park hop). I think that you received good advice from a previous poster about needing a few days off here and there and not burning all of your vacation. Of course if you have a flexible job which allows you to take time off without pay and don't need the $$ from that time off then that point doesn't really matter.

Right, & I thought w/ the non-expiration,is the best idea@ 1rst. We could stay 10 days but go to parks for 5 & enjoy the resort & downtown disney, ect. That was my thought. & then that way we could go back to WDW anytime we wanted be it in the same year or later. I like that idea we could do our table service on nights we r not @ parks & slow the vacation down. But some guy told me the price for a 5 day w/ expiration is the same as a 10 day w/ no expiration. I honestly am soo confused. I do have a flexible job& get 2 weeks paid for sure. Oh my goodness, what to do...???

 

[Suz D]

Right, & I thought w/ the non-expiration,is the best idea@ 1rst. We could stay 10 days but go to parks for 5 & enjoy the resort & downtown disney, ect. That was my thought. & then that way we could go back to WDW anytime we wanted be it in the same year or later. I like that idea we could do our table service on nights we r not @ parks & slow the vacation down. But some guy told me the price for a 5 day w/ expiration is the same as a 10 day w/ no expiration. I honestly am soo confused. I do have a flexible job& get 2 weeks paid for sure. Oh my goodness, what to do...???

Good point about not going to the parks every day. I hadn't even thought of that. I was thinking a 3-4 day trip but you could easily do a 7 day trip and spend 3 at the parks and 4 other places. Hmmmm. I don't know if I could be there and NOT go to the parks but it really IS something to think about (especially if you have a park hopper, go at a slower time of year so you can cover more ground at the parks, and have your own car so you could drive to the ocean one day etc). Since we're not renewing our AP's, that's something we might think about as well!

 

[savannahcat]

We live just outside of Pittsburgh and are about to buy our fourth round of APs. We'll get three trips in on this set. My DH and I are flying for an adults only trip June 27-July 2. In January, we'll drive and stay for 8 nights. Then, next June, we'll drive again and stay for 10-12 nights.

We are blessed that my DH gets 4 weeks+ of paid time off each year and I am currently a student. If I had only 2 weeks of vacation time to work with, I'm not sure it would be worth it to drive that far.