Is my thinking logical? If so, why don't more people do this?

[ccigliano]

It really depends on your situation and vacation habits. We purchase the DVC annual pass every other year and plan our trips 51 weeks apart. I usually go the second week of December and purchase the pass and go back right after the Thanksgiving rush before it expires. Then I won't purchase another AP until 53 weeks later. I find that purchasing an annual pass also allows me to take advantage and schedule another trip in between say for my birthday or a Feb/Mar winter getaway. Annual passes also provide great discounts on room rates if you run out of points as well as discounts for merchandise and the Tables in Wonderland 20% off dining card. For us the DVC Annual Pass every other year makes much more sense. Good Luck.

 

[Muushka]

We are still using 10 day passes. We will get about 3 years out of them. And we will probably finish one up this Dec.

Using the 10 day non-exp are a great excuse to go to the different parties (MNSSHP and MVMCP), not using a ticket that day.

We will probably use our AP vouchers that we bought several years ago next year. With the price that WDW is charging for APs, even with the discount, they are too expensive. I would rather do the non-exp tickets. Much more reasonably priced. We don't go into the parks as much, but we still have a great time.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

We have held some level of AP (currently Premier) continuously since 1995. It hasn't always been the most economical way to go, but I don't mind paying for convienence --> One pass and don't worry about going into the park just for dinner or a show. I would feel to restricted if I had a daily pass, like I had to over think every park entrance. One pass for both WDW & DLR, one annual expense, and complete freedom. I don't have to worry about when to book a trip to get another use from an expiring AP.
As I suggested earlier, I look at it as one annual expense just as do for many other household bills.

Anyone else with me?
MG

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Good point from a PP about TiW. That alone pays for most of our pass, so park entrance is really just gravy.

MG

 

[twinklebug]

Many people already use the non-expiry passes and we would too, however, APs are the better solution for us. We've been going 3-4 trips per year for the last few years.

Even folk who go just once per year manage to make the DVC discounted AP work out better financially than the 10 day non-exp passes: the following year's trip is simply taken 11 months after the first.

Adding a disclaimer here though that the combination of having APs in hand & owning DVC may cause sudden spur of the moment trips that may in the long run not be very cost effective.

 

[vicki_c]

Adding a disclaimer here though that the combination of having APs in hand & owning DVC may cause sudden spur of the moment trips that may in the long run not be very cost effective.

No. Really? But I'm saving so much money!!!

 

[dianeschlicht]

I can't believe so many of you only do the parks for a few days on longer trips.

We don't go commando for touring the parks (as in racing from attraction to attraction), but for my family, every day is a park day even if it's just for an hour or two! We have only had 1 no park day ever that I can remember and it was Christmas Day!

(and yes, we have APs which are sadly expiring in another week)

Another couple who does the parks daily. We have APs and get 2-3 trips per AP year, then take 5-11 months off and start the process over again. We just started new passes in March, so we will travel for a week in December and a week in January to round out this AP year. Then we wont go back until the following Dec. when we'll start new APs.

 

[ssawka]

We just joined DVC last year and had our first trip "home" in January. For that trip I got DW and DD NE tickets, but I used an expiring ticket. The reason? We have a AAA credit card that pays us rewards in the form of AAA gift certificates, which can be used to buy Disney tickets. The only "catch" is that the gift certificates expire after 1 year. This means that to use them for Disney tickets, we need to buy tickets every year. We are planning on doing 4 park days each trip, making a 10 day pass last for 2.5 trips. So what this means now is that I will start alternating buying 10 day passes. Something like:

2010 - Buy DD & DW tickets
2011 - Buy Me a ticket
2012 - Buy DD & DW tickets
2013 - Buy Me a ticket
...

This will allow me to use the AAA gift cards and spread the additional cost over two years rather than buying all 3 tickets in the same year.

We normally go to WDW once a year, but after Jet Blue's $10 special this year, I'm tempted to switch to annual passes so we can go on spur of the moment trips.

The only negative thing with the 10 day passes is that each day now has a higher value, meaning when you buy the expiring passess, each day after 3 is about $3/person, so you might be willing to go into a park for a few hours or just for dinner. With the 10 day NE passes however, each day costs between $40-$50, so you become much more "stingy" with the use of your days.

 

[smjj]

We buy 10 day no expiration park hopper tickets. We feel its the best deal and the way we go down, we usually miss a couple of price increases this way...smjj

 

[RadioFanatic]

I'm another that always does this. In fact, these year, I'm using my GAD ticket to buy the 10 day for the next couple of trips.

 

[Vickis3js]

When we bought we did the math and had originally planned to go the 10day route. Then DH and I started talking about going once a year ourselves and then once a year with the kids. So we now get APs for us with the DVC discount and then buy the kids hoppers. We go no less then 8 days with the kids and hit a park each day so for us the 10day would not be economical.

If we could honestly stay away from the parks for a few days then I would definatly get the kids the 10day tickets and us the APs. But the kids are itching to go to a park even if it is just to ride their fav ride and grab a snack.

 

[stichy]

We always do this. Maybe it isn't as common with non DVC people. Right now I have 10 day no exp hoppers for us and in laws that we will get 2 more trips out of. We use them for 3 days per trip. We alternate Disney years with Disney-lite years. Every year we go in early December. Every other year we also go for our anniversary in May. Those years we usually buy an AP and then throw in another short trip sometime while the AP is still good.

 

[lucyem]

We are trying to figure the best way for us as well - DVC AP or the 10 day NE Hoppers. I will get an AP since I will be at WDW the longest this year. Plus we want the TIW card. Now my husband and kids are another story. Our trip next year will include Sea World and Discovery Cove. That means only a few days at WDW. But if I go early again and one or both my kids come with me then they would need the AP, but if not.... Then there is my oldest who will soon be considered an adult by WDW ticket standards and it may make sense to buy him some non expiring tickets he can use over time. After a while you get all

 

[MEM]

We also do the parks daily! This year we are planning on purchasing AP's and getting 2 or 3 trips out of them.

We also do the parks daily. Owning at BCV, it would be torture not to stroll over to Epcot every evening, even for an hour. For us, the AP with the DVC discount makes the most sense.

 

[MEM]

We have held some level of AP (currently Premier) continuously since 1995. It hasn't always been the most economical way to go, but I don't mind paying for convienence --> One pass and don't worry about going into the park just for dinner or a show. I would feel to restricted if I had a daily pass, like I had to over think every park entrance. One pass for both WDW & DLR, one annual expense, and complete freedom. I don't have to worry about when to book a trip to get another use from an expiring AP.
As I suggested earlier, I look at it as one annual expense just as do for many other household bills.

Anyone else with me?MG

Totally! Its a line item in our budget.

 

[delmar411]

since we plan at least 1 trip a year that spans 10+ days, the 10day NE makes no sense for us. We go into a park every day even if it's just for dinner. We also do the TiW card.

With promo for renewal we got 4 out of the 6 us covered under that and our APs don't expire until July 2011 so we'll get 3 full trips out of them. The other 2 in our family will have to renew but will still get 2 full trips out of their tickets so still a better deal than any other style.

 

[kristenrice]

I keep going back and forth...

We are not planning a WDW trip until 2012. My parents are treating our entire family on that trip so we won't have to pay for our passes. So, our next trip to WDW will not be until 2013.

When we go, we typically go for 5 nights, either the first week of April for Spring Break or the second week of June.

My initial plan when we bought in to DVC was to go in June and buy AP's and use them again the following April. Then, we'd have to take a year off. When we went last June, we bought the AP's. I kept thinking, "we don't NEED to go to the park because we have AP's". But then, I also realized that if we DON'T go to the parks, we have wasted money on the AP's.

Now, I am thinking that the NE tickets might be the way to go. That way, we really do not need to go to the parks because our tickets don't expire. On our last trip, we had so much fun just hanging out at the resort pool and we had a ball at FW! The girls loved the horses and played on the playground. Then, we took out some SeaRaycers and played on the lake for just under an hour. After that, we walked into Trails' End and enjoyed a nice leisureley lunch. The kids liked collecting the pinecones and we could have easily enjoyed a few more hours there. But the whole time, I kept thinking, "we have to get to a park today....we need to get our money's worth on those AP's".

Although, financially, the AP's are probably the better way to go, I think that the NE passes might allow us a little more freedom to enjoy our vacation. We can do whatever we want, without worrying about getting our money's worth.