Magic Your Way vs. AP

[DizBelle]

Given the new Magic Your Way tickets, what do you suppose is the new "break-even" point for APs? At what point is it more economical to buy an AP instead of a Magic Your Way ticket?

I think it will take some fancy math to figure it out. Anybody game?

 

[Diznut84]

This becomes much more difficult to determine with the new structure. If you take one long trip, you are much more likely to do better with the Magic Your Way. If you take a lot of short trips, the opposite might be true. The most obvious trend in the pricing can be summarized this way:

Going to WDW for 1 Day: $59.75
Go for 2 Days: $59.25 More (Spend that 50 cents carefully! )
Go for 3 Days: $52.00 More (Still not much savings)
Go for 4 Days: $14.00 More (Big Savings)
Go for 5 Days: $8.00 More (Getting cheaper than the movies at Downtown Disney!)
Go for 6 Days: $3.00 More (Cheaper than buying a hot dog on Main Street!)
Go for 7 Days: $3.00 More (See above!)
Go for 10 Days: $10.00 More
Stay Forever: Priceless!

Disney has really made staying additional days cheap. Come on, stretch that vacation out to 10 days and spend everyone one of them at WDW! What do you think are the chances that people are going to want to shell out $50+ to go to Universal or SeaWorld after their four days of Disney when they can go back to WDW for $8? Not much!

 

[bizeemom4]

I don't have the fancy math for you but here's a simple way to think about it. If you do two 7 park day trips within 12 months, the new Magic tickets cost about the same as an AP BUT you don't have to prepay the whole $400 like you do with an AP.

Add on the park hopping option $35 x 2, the AP is cheaper by about $64.

 

[mom2of2]

but then figure in the room discounts and it gets a whole lot harder. This last discount wasn't that great for value resorts considering I got $49 with AP and would have had $55 general code. It's gonna be a tough choice when it comes to renewal time.

 

[kkmauch]

Not to mention the DVC discount on APs...might be a hard decision

 

[Shells9]

Oh, no! I hate fancy math! This is all way too much for me to think about, lol! I use the AP mostly for room discounts, and so I don't have to factor in admission with each trip. For us it might be worth it to retain them, even though the whole pre-pay thing is a pain. I love the EZpay system that Universal & SeaWorld/Busch Gardens offer.

 

[InstImpres]

Also if you are doing a Magical Gathering, one of the MYW tickets includes unlimited gathering events!!!

 

[kirbsam]

For me and my family, it will be easier to figure out. I no longer have to wonder about AP vs. UPH vs PHP tickets. In the past all people in your group needed to get UPH's, so if you went that route, no AP. Now I can get an AP for our October trip, if codes come out, and then not have to do the math about saving on PHP vs. UPH. Don't know if this makes sense now that I have reread my post, but the bottom line is there is less math for me. If I save more on a code then the difference in cost between AP and MYW, I will get AP and the rest of the family can get MYW. If not, we all get MYW.

 

[arazamataz]

We got three trips out of our AP's . 8, 7 & 8 days. Two trips we got AP room discount. This Easter we used room only discount. Maybe there will be a March AP rate. We lucked out on the way the dates worked out for the AP. Have to checkout which is better rates before April renew date.

 

[sters]

I don't have the fancy math for you but here's a simple way to think about it. If you do two 7 park day trips within 12 months, the new Magic tickets cost about the same as an AP BUT you don't have to prepay the whole $400 like you do with an AP.

Add on the park hopping option $35 x 2, the AP is cheaper by about $64.

Don't forget to factor in the $8 parking fee if you are have AP but stay off site.

 

[tar heel]

No, don't factor in the parking fee if you have an AP. AP holders get free parking!

 

[phamton]

From: http://www.mousesavers.com/wdwticketprices.html#myw

Annual Pass

Provides one year of unlimited admission to the four major parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios, and Animal Kingdom), plus free parking.
$403.64 Adults (10 and older); $342.93 Children (3-9)

Note that as of 1/2/05, you can purchase a 10-day Magic Your Way Ticket with the Park Hopper option and No Expiration option for $366.36 including tax. If you won't visit the theme parks on more than 10 days during the year and you don't care about the Annual Passholder benefits (such as free parking and resort discounts), the Magic Your Way Ticket is a better deal.

Premium Annual Pass

Provides one year of unlimited admission to the four major parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios, and Animal Kingdom), the water parks, Pleasure Island and DisneyQuest, plus free parking.
$531.46 Adults (10 and older); $451.58 Children (3-9)

Note that as of 1/2/05, you can purchase a 10-day Magic Your Way Ticket with the Premium option and No Expiration option for $414.29 including tax. If you won't visit the theme parks on more than 10 days during the year and the water parks, Pleasure Island or DisneyQuest on more than 5 days during the year, and if you don't care about the Annual Passholder benefits (such as free parking and resort discounts), the Magic Your Way Ticket is a better deal.