Need help deciding whether or not to buy annual pass

[bailman]

Hi all,

I'm hoping you can help me make this decision today. We are DVC members so we are eligible for the premium annual pass deal that ends today. My family is my husband and I, and 3 girls ages 10, 10 and 9

We are going on a trip with our DVC points in January 2015 for 8 days, staying at the AKV with our points and then my parents are taking my entire extended family (18 of us!) on a trip in June 2015, staying at a value that will be 4 days in the parks and a 4 day cruise on the Dream. I have been in charge of all the planning for both trips, but my mom has said that she wants to get the dining plan for everyone to make it easier in June.

Having to buy tickets for both trips only 5 months apart, I want to get the best deal possible, even if my mom is paying for the June trip.

I figured that 8 days of base tickets for the 5 of us for January would be $1757 including tax.

4 days of base tickets for the 5 of us for June would be $1544 including tax.

That comes to $3301 if we just buy tickets as we go for each trip.

The PAP deal would cost us $2577. So it looks like we would save $724 buy buying the PAP. No brainer, right? But my concern is that there would be some kind of promotion offered for the June trip that would make it not worth having those PAP's.

What do you guys think the promotion will be, if any, in June and would it most likely save us more than $724? (free dining?)

And also, if we do get the PAP, would we be eligible to get the dining plan along with everyone else in my family? It would be a huge pita to have 5 of us paying out of pocket for food and 13 of us using the dining plan since my mom wants to keep it simple.

I'd be grateful for any info or other things I haven't considered. I waited til the last day of the promotion so I need to figure this out.

Thanks so much,
Carolyn

 

[Geomom]

Since your June trip is not using DVC points, it looks like you wouldn't be able to buy the dining plan unless you buy at least a 1 day ticket for everyone. Now a 1 day ticket is over $100/person these days...so you might still save $300 if you get the PAP and just buy a 1 day ticket. (Double check the costs.) My question is...can that 1 day ticket be used anytime in the future? Or do you need to use it during this trip? If you do get the PAP and plan to just get a 1 day ticket for the June Value trip--I think you'd still be eligible for any discounts--on the off chance that there was free dining. I also don't know if the MagicBand stuff would confuse the matter even more as your room key, tickets, dining plan would all be on it.

 

[patty57]

Sending you a PM.