Need Advice - AP or not to AP?

[gnoles]

We've only taken the family (Me, DW, DS11, DS9, DS3) to Disney once... before DS3 - Let's call him "The Machine"... got here.

I'm planning for the next couple of years and it hit me that I could possibly purchase an annual pass and get two vacations for the price of one. Basically, pushing our normal vacation back to mid-July, and then coming back mid-June the following year.

Things I'm wondering about:

on property or not. AP Discounts?
dining plan? Tables in Wonderland?

We did the dining plan four or five years ago and it was great, but I'm wondering if I'm going to hit the break even point with four adults/one child now.

Suggestions? Advice?

 

[auntie]

You really have to crunch the numbers. If you really are going to go more than once for over a week each time..it may be worth it.
That being said, we've had an AP for the last two years. I'm seriously thinking of not purchasing this year, as the discounts on the rooms (which is the reason I purchased it) haven't been that great. The General Public Discounts have been pretty close to the same as those given with an AP. If I definetly knew I'd be able to make two trips with in the year, I might consider it. Also..be aware they have raised the price of the AP's.

We did the Dining Plan with the kids when it included the appetizer and the gratuity. We thought it was worth it. The convenience factor is what made it worth it for us. That being said...our last two visits, we didn't bother with the dining plan. For one thing...we like to order appetizers..even if we're splitting one, and you have to leave the gratuity. The convenience factor is gone, and we may as well pay out of pocket. The Tables In Wonderland card, was available to us at a discount of $25.00 because we had the AP. We used that at our sit down meals. Very convenient. It took off 20% and included the gratuity, and you weren't restricted to what you could order off the menu.

 

[rt2dz]

Unfortunately, you always have to crunch the numbers of every aspect and add them up in all the different combinations to find which works best for your traveling party.

I will say that we go annually. We always buy a discounted ticket and upgrade to an AP. We then make sure we get two trips out of the AP to cut the costs down. I have found between day 11 generally makes the AP cheaper/more cost efficient (even without starting with a discounted ticket) than any other ticket, assuming hoppers. I haven't run the numbers yet for the new ticket prices. Each AP went up $20, and the other tickets by a higher % (not sure actual prices). I'm not sure if you need it but THIS is a good primer on purchasing tickets.

I don't find the dining plan to be worth it, for our family and our eating style. THIS article is a good issue how to look at WDW dining plans and figure out if it is a good deal or not. The link within also is a how-to guide, more or less. Prices, I think, reflect either 2010 or 2011--2011 sounds more right costs on the main article I'm giving you. The secondary article might be 2009, maybe 2010. The theory is sound regardless, which is why I still recommend it, you just can't use the provided numbers. We do use TiW, as after 2 meals, it has more than paid for itself.

Onsite or offsite is just a matter of personal preference. We're going offsite this year--after years and years of saying "only onsite." Disney just hit a price point in their resorts where I no longer find value. You'll find lots of info on why you should stay onsite, but THIS and THIS thread make for a good read if considering offsite. The second one helped me make my decision.

I hope this helps!

 

[clanmcculloch]

Please look over the details of the 2012 dining plan. There is very little resemblance to the dining plan of 5 years ago. 5 years ago it included appetizers and tip with every meal. Neither are included any longer. 5 years ago breakfast CS meals included a second drink; not any longer. Prices have gone up significantly. Snack credits back then could be used for just about any food item that was under $4 which included things like large bags of chips and boxes of donuts. Now, the snack credits are limitted to single serve items only regardless of price of the bigger items. The financial value of the plan has changed a LOT in the past 4 or 5 years.

If you're not 100% sure that you'll take a second trip within the year then I wouldn't advise getting APs for everybody. What I would suggest doing is a rough estimate of what your food will cost and then compare based on applying a 20% TiW discount at places you could use it, adding in the $75 cost to buy it as well as the price to upgrade one person's ticket to an AP. If you'd likely stay off site then also factor in the free parking from the AP. If the prices are close then I'd buy one AP and a TiW card.

I wouldn't include AP resort discounts in the numbers. It seems as though the discounts have been maybe 2-3% better than the general public discounts for some time now. That amount of discount is not enough IMO to swing the decision one way or the other.

 

[gnoles]

Thanks to everyone who's chimed in so far. Although I enjoyed staying on-site with the four of us, I'm not so sure about it now. I appreciate all the links.

Right now playing with menu choices and doing a "what we like" vs. what we will spend on the DDP. A couple days we might go over, but for the most part, we'll be under what we spent. Hmmmm. It's a good thing we started this a year out.

gn

 

[TAKitty]

Everyone always says that you shouldn't get an AP for room discounts, but lately the discounts do seem to be consistent. Last year they didn't even offer discounts when I went.

The AP dining discounts are minimal but they can help. For me, tables in wonderland isn't really beneficial. The AP does save on ticket costs IF you are already planning on visiting twice in a year, for I believe at least 10 days.

To save money, you could always stay onsite and have garden grocer deliver breakfast and drinks to your room. The savings on drinks really adds up, especially if you only order water at restaurants.

It might be more of a savings to visit when Disney is offering a discount package. You might have better luck that way.

Good luck and happy vacationing!

 

[KB24]

Yeah, it's about crunching the numbers for you. The AP here in California for Disneyland is structured such that in 2008 when I started it made sense to do a Deluxe pass with some dates black out to just add parking.

But the cost now of a DAP plus parking is only 20 shy of getting the other 50 days plus parking.

Plus me and my DW have been to Disneyworld twice in the last year and are thinking of going a third time in November.

If we renew our California passes at 500 for a PAP (Which is what it costs now ) the other 250 to add the Florida option of the premier pass seems worth it.

 

[nrpofp]

We did what you suggested. We took trip this year in the middle of May and our returning the next year at the beginning of May. We threw in a extra trip in October. We should break even with the oct trip and save money with the third trip. If you only planning 2 trips I don't know if I would risk it. I figured if we only make 2 trips I am only saving about 300.00 dollars, and if something happens and you have to cx you have thrown away some money. It might be beneficial to upgrade one adult to ap for the room discount and dining discount.