My Inner Cheapskate...

[FayeW]

By nature, I am a thrifty person. I am not afraid to spend my money, but I realize that no matter how hard I try, I can only spend each dollar ONCE! With that said, I try to make use of my money to get the best value, although sometimes getting the best value, costs me more money, KWIM? For example, I know in my heart that it makes sense to buy 10 day non expiring tickets, yet the extra $604 (CDN) for our tickets is hard for me to swallow, when we don't have any future trips planned. We are also going to US & IOA this trip. I can buy 2 day tickets, with 2 extra days free, for $99.99, but the tickets expire 4 days after the first use. For $18. more per ticket, I can have 3 days that never expire. We probably wouldn't go for 4 days in a row anyway, but it kills me to spend more money for less days, even though it will give us more flexibility in our vacation schedule. Sounds like the only truly sensible thing to do is to buy the 2 park annual power pass for $115., and not worry about which days to go to US/IOA. If I do that, then I am right back to the 10 day non expiring tickets because I would do my best to talk my husband into another trip before the annual passes for US expired.AAAHHHHHH! (The sound of my head exploding!)

 

[DMRick]

Ya know where it gets you to buy extra days for the best per day rate? I'll tell you. You buy the 10 day, and then realize it's not that much different from an AP..and gee, then you can truly go in and out of the parks. In fact, when the WDW parks are open late, and Universal isn't, you can stop by at night for a few hours, and not waste a ticket, because you have an AP. Uh..you really need to get your money worth, so you make plans for another trip. Oh gosh, South West is having another sale, and well, gee you have those AP's and you need to use them for X amount of days to make them worth it. OH, gosh, you came to FL so much, that you just need one more trip to get a free ticket on Southwest. Yup, you did it, and you have your free trip. Let's use it to go to WDW! Oh, look SW is having a $49 sale again. We don't want to use this free ticket for just that. I'll book the $49 tickets and save the free ticket. Let's see..I've never been to CA or Disneyland. Wow, the two tickets are worth about $1000 if we fly into SNA..let's use the "free" tickets for that. OK, now I need tickets for DL..hmm..the AP is a pretty good deal here. I wonder if we would be able to fit in another trip to make them worth it....

Of course we now have all these hotel rooms and food. LOL. If it sounded personal..it was LOL! That's us. I have the October trip to WDW on SW using the $49 tickets and a trip to DL in Dec using the "free" tickets LOL. So you see how "cheap" it will be to get that 10 ticket and AP?

 

[calie_j]

That is some dilemna. My inner cheapskate is saying it isn't worth 5 cents to spend money on something you wouldn't use. It would be very hard for me to justify buying 10 day tickets if I didn't have a planned trip to use them, and you never know what package deals will be available "if" in the future the opportunity for another trip comes up and not having tickets gives you more options to take advantage of that.

For US you have to decide how much time you want to spend there and what's most important to you (and you don't mention how long your trip is or what your transportation arrangements are). I'd probably buy the 2 day tickets and figure the 2 free days are extra since they're free so if I could fit even 1 more day into the schedule for it I'd be ahead and work my itinerary around it. Different scenario but we bought 3 day tickets and got 2 days free at DL so we changed our schedule to fit in 1/2 days to take advantage of it.

Good luck deciding.

Calie

 

[DMRick]

Different scenario but we bought 3 day tickets and got 2 days free at DL so we changed our schedule to fit in 1/2 days to take advantage of it.

Good luck deciding.

Calie

Is this recent? I haven't bought my DL tic's yet LOL

 

[calie_j]

This was 2 yrs ago but from what I've read DL frequently offers deals on tickets. Right now on the website it's showing 3 day park hoppers for $139 (original $159) and 5 day parkhoppers for $169 (original $200) so that's a pretty good special. And it's showing free shipping.

 

[disneysteve]

If you know that you will eventually go back to WDW, then the 10-day ticket is definitely the way to go, even if you don't have a return trip planned. The ticket will never expire and you can be sure prices will go up between now and whenever you do return.

We go annually, so I was thrilled with the new tickets as they will save us hundreds of dollars. I'll buy 10-days in November this year. We'll use 5 days this year and save the other 5 for next year. I never thought I'd see Disney lower ticket prices, especially lowering them so drastically.

 

[DMRick]

Stteve, you have more control than I do. Darn I can't resist when SW has such good rates. I can't visit our local Lake for that price! This is our last year with AP's however, because unlike the 10day tickets, you can't save them for another year, and with the lack of AP phone rates, we truly won't be going as often, once this AP dies.
I have to say, that I too would go with the max days, if everyone who gets a ticket is apt to come back.

Callie..are DL park hoppers good forever? I thought I read only for 14 days. How many days do you suggest.

 

[FayeW]

If you know that you will eventually go back to WDW, then the 10-day ticket is definitely the way to go, even if you don't have a return trip planned. The ticket will never expire and you can be sure prices will go up between now and whenever you do return.

We go annually, so I was thrilled with the new tickets as they will save us hundreds of dollars. I'll buy 10-days in November this year. We'll use 5 days this year and save the other 5 for next year. I never thought I'd see Disney lower ticket prices, especially lowering them so drastically.

That's the problem, I don't know if we will go back. If I buy the 10 day tickets, then I am committing to a trip at some point in the future. In that regard, this decision is a little more complicated than just the ticket price.

 

[disneysteve]

That's the problem, I don't know if we will go back. If I buy the 10 day tickets, then I am committing to a trip at some point in the future. In that regard, this decision is a little more complicated than just the ticket price.

If I thought I was taking a once-in-a-lifetime trip, then I wouldn't even consider buying more ticket than I need. No point in that.

DMRick - I don't know that I have more control. I just know my schedule and between my work, DW's job and DD's school, we can't go to Disney more than once a year. I wish I had the freedom (and the funds) to pop down whenever I wanted.

 

[LuluLovesDisney]

I'm sorry . . . I can't find this anywhere "KWIM"? What does that stand for? Thanks.

 

[FayeW]

Lulu, KWIM stands for "know what I mean".

 

[C.Ann]

Funny you should pose this question because I was thinking of starting a similar thread.. Hope you don't mind me jumping in here with my scenario too..

I plan on going to Florida in January and will stay there until late March.. I'll only be 50 minutes away from WDW and plan on making numerous trips to the parks during that time frame..

I'm not sure what kind of ticket I should buy.. Should I get the AP and renew the following January? Go with a no-expiration ticket that can be used whenever?

My DD and DGD will come down at some point in time and I'm thinking of getting them the no-expiration tickets because if they only make it down there once, they can use whatever is left on them when they come back to see me the following year..

How much of a price difference is there in the AP - the longest no-expiration hopper - and the renewal AP? There's so many different ways to purchase tickets now it makes my head spin just to think about it..

 

[DMRick]

C.Ann..do you have any idea how many days you'll be in the park within a year? And do you like to "hop"? That's important to know to give prices. And would you want the extra's, like the water parks? The hopper is always a better price, if you are going into Disney for more days than the equal cost of the regular tickets.

If your daughter belongs to a teachers credit union (or maybe it's just their union), it's another place to look for ticket prices. A friend just called me last week, looking for the least expensive tickets..and they ones her daughter could get through a teacher's union or credit union, and they were a lot less than even Mary's great prices at Ticket Mania..even cheaper than military. I was really surprised. I told her to hop on them. You could get 10 days (at this time..could change) no Expiry (you would have to get that or use it within 14 days..it's cheaper ($209) of course if you don't mind it expiring, so you could actually buy two of those as long as you'll use each within 14 days) with Park Hopping for $337 ($315 with no park hopping)..the equal AP would be $420.68 (with no extra's) so you would have to go in 13 times to make the AP a better rate, within a year. They also have the tickets with the extra's and the AP's with the extras. For us..no more AP's, unless they suddenly start granting bid room discounts. Hope you followed that LOL.

 

[C.Ann]

C.Ann..do you have any idea how many days you'll be in the park within a year? And do you like to "hop"? That's important to know to give prices. And would you want the extra's, like the water parks? The hopper is always a better price, if you are going into Disney for more days than the equal cost of the regular tickets.

If your daughter belongs to a teachers credit union (or maybe it's just their union), it's another place to look for ticket prices. A friend just called me last week, looking for the least expensive tickets..and they ones her daughter could get through a teacher's union or credit union, and they were a lot less than even Mary's great prices at Ticket Mania..even cheaper than military. I was really surprised. I told her to hop on them. You could get 10 days (at this time..could change) no Expiry (you would have to get that or use it within 14 days..it's cheaper ($209) of course if you don't mind it expiring, so you could actually buy two of those as long as you'll use each within 14 days) with Park Hopping for $337 ($315 with no park hopping)..the equal AP would be $420.68 (with no extra's) so you would have to go in 13 times to make the AP a better rate, within a year. They also have the tickets with the extra's and the AP's with the extras

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Thanks.. You have accomplished what I thought no one ever could - I'm more confused NOW than I was before..

First off - park HOPPERS are a must.. NO water parks or the other "extras"..

DD isn't in a teachers union - her position is in the field of counseling and management..

I would "guess" I would probably hit the parks a minimum of 3 days per month - more if my DD and DGD came down to visit..



**Forgot to add: If the house sells and closes prior to mid-December, there "might" be a trip in there that would include me, DD and DGD - at which point an AP might be best for me for this year???

 

[DMRick]

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Thanks.. You have accomplished what I thought no one ever could - I'm more confused NOW than I was before..

Made perfect sense to me LOL. You pretty much have to be going more than 13 visits within a year to make the AP worth it (compared to the myw tix). I do like the AP, because I don't feel guilty for only going sometimes in the evening. But if you plan on full days, it doesn't look like an AP is a good choice, unless they offer you discount room rates, and you would take advantage of them. With a non expiring tic, if you decide to not go as often, you can use your left overs next year.

 

[disneysteve]

Hi C.Ann
That's a tough call. One question: might you be inclined to spend more days in the parks if you had the unlimited access of an AP? Since you won't be all that far away, I could see where that situation would arise. In that case, the AP might be the better way to go rather than limiting yourself to the 10-day hopper. And, as DMRick mentioned, an AP gives you the option to just pop in for a couple of hours, or dinner at a favorite in-park spot, or something similar that you wouldn't want to waste a day of admission for on an MYW ticket.

 

[C.Ann]

Hi C.Ann
That's a tough call. One question: might you be inclined to spend more days in the parks if you had the unlimited access of an AP? Since you won't be all that far away, I could see where that situation would arise. In that case, the AP might be the better way to go rather than limiting yourself to the 10-day hopper. And, as DMRick mentioned, an AP gives you the option to just pop in for a couple of hours, or dinner at a favorite in-park spot, or something similar that you wouldn't want to waste a day of admission for on an MYW ticket.

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Hi Steve! That's what I was thinking too.. While I'm there at my sister's (which is north of Orlando), I'll be going down to see my brother in Vero Beach and my best friend in Port St. Lucie and if someone wants to take in a couple of days at WDW, of course I'd love to go.. Then I also recently learned that an old friend of mine lives up in The Villages now and I can see going down to WDW with her as well..

I'll probably go for the AP - and get the 10-day no expiration for my DD and DGD..

 

[DMRick]

Of course that can also backfire. You want so badly to get your AP's worth, you might find yourself making trips you really didn't want to make LOL. I think we're doing that more this year, than any other year.

And, as DMRick mentioned, an AP gives you the option to just pop in for a couple of hours, or dinner at a favorite in-park spot, or something similar that you wouldn't want to waste a day of admission for on an MYW ticket.

 

[C.Ann]

Of course that can also backfire. You want so badly to get your AP's worth, you might find yourself making trips you really didn't want to make LOL. I think we're doing that more this year, than any other year.

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Yeah - wouldn't that be a crying shame? Especially if SW continues to toss those $49 fares around.. Let's see - AP puchased in January of '06? Hmmm.. Flower & Garden show in late April would be interesting.. Halloween in WDW? That would be different.. A quick trip to see the C'mas decorations? Why not?

Yup - it definitely spells T-R-O-U-B-L-E........

And we both know I wouldn't buy it in hopes of getting an AP room rate - LOL.. I'm far too old to wait around for that..

 

[disneysteve]

Of course that can also backfire. You want so badly to get your AP's worth, you might find yourself making trips you really didn't want to make LOL. I think we're doing that more this year, than any other year.

You seem to have that problem a lot

Fortunately (or unfortunately perhaps), we don't have that problem. I'm too cheap to go down multiple times plus we won't pull DD out of school for vacations and we won't go during winter or spring breaks because we don't like the crowds or during summer break because of crowds and heat. So we stick with our Jersey Week trip.

Now, back before DD was in school and DW was a SAHM, that was a different story. LOL! Our record was 4 trips in 13 months. DD had logged 12 trips by the time she turned 9.