Is getting AP worth it?

[jp02]

I've read where some people buy annual passes because many times they are offered discounts on rooms. I don't know a lot of information about it. Can someone who has done it please explain how it saved them money or any other options that help save money aside from the general public discounts. Also I live in Texas so that would be something to consider with getting AP. Thanks in advance.

 

[buzznina]

You should mainly get the AP if you are planning on visiting the parks about 9 or 10 days. I think that is about the break even point with purchasing a regular park pass with hopper included. Yes they do usually come out with AP room only discounts, which on average is a 3-5% better discount then the public discount. It also gets you 10% off at some of the stores. If thinking about getting one, you can just buy one for you and then purchase regular park tickets for the rest of your family, this way you will still get the benefits that come with it. We have purchased an AP for the past 5 years and I will say that almost all our ressies were made with an AP discount. But we are lucky in the fact that we live in Florida and they have a special "Seasonal AP" that costs 1/3 less then the regular AP, so our decision is easier.

 

[jp02]

I've read where some people buy annual passes because many times they are offered discounts on rooms. I don't know a lot of information about it. Can someone who has done it please explain how it saved them money or any other options that help save money aside from the general public discounts. Also I live in Texas so that would be something to consider with getting AP. Thanks in advance.

 

[Upatnoon]

I've read where some people buy annual passes because many times they are offered discounts on rooms. I don't know a lot of information about it. Can someone who has done it please explain how it saved them money or any other options that help save money aside from the general public discounts. Also I live in Texas so that would be something to consider with getting AP. Thanks in advance.

Are you planning to take 2 or more vacations to the World within the timeframe the season passes are good? This is where you "save" money, but you are spending plenty as well for the additional trips.

A great website to read for discounts is mousesavers.com

 

[tinkcutie]

Hi! We just activated our Annual Passes in October and are heading back in six days for the Christmas festivities and then again in January for our son's 3rd birthday ! I HIGHLY recommend getting them. If you plan on going more than one time a year, it will MORE than pay for itself. You get room discounts, restaurant discounts, merchandise discounts at almost ALL locations. We saved HUNDREDS of dollars with our APs. We were able to get a Deluxe Room, Concierge level in the MAIN building at Grand Floridian for literally nothing. It saved us over $5,000.00 on the room alone (for 10 nights) and then TONS on merchandise and food. At one point, we saved $111.00 on ONE shopping spree SO if you plan on going even 2 times, it's DEFINITELY worth it. We also receive newsletters keeping us updated on special Disney insider info, such as the Fantasyland expansion and have discounts offered on the Halloween and Christmas parties. They have hinted that AP holders will be able to experience the "soft" opening of the Fantasyland expansion before other guests. It's really great and we will definitely be renewing when our year is over! I say to go for it if you can fit it in your budget. It will definitely pay for itself in NO time.

 

[jp02]

How much was the discount if you saved $5000 that is a wonderful savings. Do you know if there was a general public discount going on at the same time?

 

[NH Disneyfan]

I purchased an AP for the first time in my life this year, and I live in New Hampshire (so we can't just drive over for the day). We are DVC members and planned 2 trips in the same 12 months specifically to "save money" with the annual pass. As a DVC member, there is a discounted pass available. Our two trips are August 2011 (10 nights) and April 2012 (7 nights). Here's what we saved as a family of 4.

Tickets: $1600 for AP, $2300 if we bought 2-7 day passes
Tables in Wonderland: For $75 dollars as an AP holder, you can purchase a tables in Wonderland card. This gives a 20% table dining discount (while adding an 18% tip) for the full year.
Accommodations: As DVC owners, we don't need accommodations, however, those discounts are generally made public so that would be an additional savings.
Merchandise: There is a 10% (i think) savings on merchandise in many of the shops.

Overall, I'm not sure the savings of the hotel would be enough to justify the cost of the AP, especially for one trip. It eventually seems like most discounts are eventually offered to the public. What I have heard of people doing is buying one AP for the tables in wonderland card, as you can cover 10 diners with one card and with large groups, that can add up.

Hope this helps.

 

[AJA]

I wouldn't get an AP unless you are planning two visits. I don't think the AP discount is that much better than a General offer or PIN. Now if you have no discounts at all (no hope of one) and are staying deluxe it might be worth it otherwise no. Unless of course you can arrange next years trip right before your AP expires.....it's a really good excuse to have to come back.

The AP is almost $200 more than a 10 day park hopper. $550ish for an AP and $360ish for a 10 day hopper.

 

[goofy4tink]

I always have an AP in hand. I have it to get into any park, at any time, throughout the year. In the past, I have averaged 2/3 trips a year...making it about 18 days per AP each year....at least. Some years, it's been over 3 weeks.
Any way...yes, you get 10% off a lot of shopping. You get a discount, maybe 10% on lunch at some restaurants. And you can get a discount on rooms. As well as on things like mini-golf and party tickets. BUT....I have yet to get the AP in order to get any discounts. They are not a sure thing. As long as I am going to be in WDW parks at least 14 days out of each year, I get an AP. And, then I get the TiW card which allows me to get a 20% discount on table service dining.

I have booked rooms with the AP discount, and it can add up. I don't think I've saved thousands though...that would have been nice. I think the most I have saved, using my AP for various discounts (Room and shopping) was about $200 total. And that was only one time.

 

[Lynne M]

I've merged the OP's two AP threads.

One thing to keep in mind with AP discounts on rooms...they're not guaranteed, are not always offered, and may not be offered on the resort or room type that you want.

 

[alex9179]

I've checked out all kinds of scenarios for our trip next year. You should see my columns of figures! Room type, UT tickets, package, free DP, DP or no, TIW...and I have found that I would be saving about $100 by getting an AP (with all the other discounts figured) over the potential GP promo for our one trip. And this is if I get the AP for myself and UT tickets for the rest of my family of 2A/3C. We have settled on the Poly and the highest GP room only promo is 25% off. With an AP it has been between 30-40%.

We do not have plans to go back within a year of my trip, but I'm working on it I would love to meet my friend there and celebrate our birthdays with a girls weekend and possibly take the kids another time. These plans negate any savings because I probably wouldn't consider it without the AP.

Traditionally, an AP offers a larger room discount than the other mass promos. If you were planning on a deluxe, you will save several hundred dollars if there is availability. If you are planning multiple trips, you will save hundreds of dollars. You will not be saving any money if you decide to go back to Disney to make the AP worth it

 

[jlevis]

We're AP holders; we stay off-site and we drive from Michigan to Orlando. If you drive you get free parking.

 

[WDWaholicDCLnut]

AP are so worth it if you plan to come back within the year. We have always had a AP living in FL. We use to live 8 hr away and would time at least 2-3 times a year to come back and stay a week. We stayed at the Poly mostly and got a good discount there, 40%. Makes a big difference. Also you get discounts on food, merchandise too. There really are a lot of perks. Free parking. WE just did a behind the Seeds tour and saved 15% per person on that. The list just goes on and on. If you want to come back more in the year its worth it.

 

[DisneyMim]

We've had APS forever and my opinion is the same as others have already said, that you need to look at how many trips you will take in a year's time to see if they are worth it. We are also DVCers, but also pay cash for some of our trips. We generally go 2-3 times a year so for us they are worth it. As for the discounts, sometimes APS can offer room discounts, but I would not buy them just for that reason. We love the freedom of being able to park hop if we want, but of course you could do that with regular tickets by adding the park hop option. Don't know anything about regular tickets as we haven't bought anything but APS for many years, but I would look into all options before you buy any tickets. As everything else, you need to see what will work best for you.

Enjoy The Magic!!

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

It also gets you 10% off at some of the stores.

Don't forget that with the Premium Annual Pass then you will get 20% off the stores owned and operated by Walt Disney World.

 

[Grumpy92]

For us the AP is worth it. Each year we track the number of days we enter a park and we always do atleast 8 days a year. But we live in Fla.

As for the hotel discount again, this is worth it to us. Go to http://www.mousesavers.com/disneyresorts.html and you can see a list of the current AP hotel discounts. Since we rarely go on a busy holiday we usually always get an AP discount on our hotel room. Most of the time it is 30% or more off the rack rate. This really does bring the nightly rate down and allows us to do other things.

I would first ask yourself "How many days would I go in a park during a 12month period?" Second, would the break on the hotel make up for the cost of the ticket? If you are going once during a year, then no this will probably not be cost effective.

Other benefits include as merchandise discount at some locations and the ability to join Tables in Wonderland at a discounted membership rate. TIW gives you a 20% discount in some of the Disney restaurants. The AP also offer a 10% discount on a few of the restaurants.

Hope that answers your resort discount question.

 

[schoen]

My family is not as calculating as others on here. My husband and I just purchased APs. We were there for ten days, and we DID go into the park all ten days (yeesh!) We also bought the TIW card since we usually eat at least two TS meals a day.

We don't have another trip planned yet, but now we know that if we do plan another trip for this year, than we have tickets and 20% off dining. We made back the TIW card discount on our last trip.

If we don't go back than we are out $200 for the APs, but we are willing to risk it. We know we'll want to go back, and if not, it is only $200. We have kicked ourselves several times for not getting AP's.

Now if we DO go back, since we are DVC, we will literally just have to pay for food and airfare, which will be 20% off .

 

[melmlantz]

A lot of people have said it is about how many trips you take per year.. but even if we only took one this year, we are going for 14 days, and APs wound up being MUCH cheaper than buying park tickets! Rememeber, you can only buy park tickets 10 days at a time, and the first few days are the bulk of the expense (e.g. a 10 day ticket is barely more than a 9 day ticket). If you were going 11 more days though, you have to start over as far as pricing goes! (So for us, we would have had to purchase 2 ten-day tickets, and 2 four-day tickets.) APs much cheaper.

Of course, now that we have them, we are going again in August. And I have fantasties about flying down for the Christmas Parade taping next year!

 

[buzznina]

I forgot to mention the big downfall of having an AP, it makes you want to go to WDW again before your AP expires

 

[Missyrose]

I forgot to mention the big downfall of having an AP, it makes you want to go to WDW again before your AP expires

This! We bought APs for the first time because we had 5-day trips planned in Oct. '11 and March '12. But since we have the APs, we wanted to sneak in one more trip before they expire... so I just rented DVC points for a trip in Oct. '12. Extra trips sure do eat away at the savings.