Need Ticket Advice

[Parkhopper]

My family of three (DH, DS12 and me) will be travelling to Disneyland from July 7 - 16th. We are staying at the Crowne Plaza for a convention and will need to drive to the parks. We plan on going to the parks most days, although some days it will just be in the evening due to other obligations during the daytime hours.

So we will be in California for 10 days and realistically, we will be in one of the parks for at least part of the day for about 8 days.

We were thinking about getting DS and me an Annual Pass and getting DH a Premium Annual Pass to cover parking, but realized that we will most likely wind up in a group and may not always drive ourselves to the parks (I am sure that we will drive some, but not all of the time). The PAP will also allow DH entrance on Saturday July 14th and if we get the regular AP, DS and I will need to pay $30 each to get in on that day, right?

I guess I am trying to figure out if the PAP really makes sense for DH as I am sure we will not be driving each time (let's say 1/2 of the time) and I just do not know if the dining and merchandise discount will *really* be worth the extra money put out.

We have a lunch planned at Blue Bayou, one dinner planned at Carnation Cafe, one dinner at Club 33 and we are just going to have to wing the rest of the dining at this point..unless you get an AP discount for Premium seating for Fantasmic.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. I think that I am beginning to "overthink" this entire trip. I want everything to be magical for DS12's very first Disneyland trip!

Suzi

 

[hlbtimes2]

A few more things to think about:
You can get 7 or 8 day park hoppers for $209. That would be less then getting a/p's, although you wouldnt get dinning discounts.

You can get a DAP with parking for $298 (thats the $239 ap and $59 for parking) rather then the PAP.

Parking is, I believe, $12 a day. If you park 6 or more days you come out ahead on that cost.

You will not get ap discounts for club 33 or F! seating, but you will on your other dinning. Shopping too if at least one of you had a DAP.

Will fireworks and F! be offered on other evenings of your trip? Do you need to be there on Saturday or is there something else you can do?

 

[DangerMouse]

Also, you won't need a parkhopper or AP to get into the park on the day you dine at Club 33. You will have a complimentary hopper attached to that dining experience.

 

[Parkhopper]

A few more things to think about:
You can get 7 or 8 day park hoppers for $209. That would be less then getting a/p's, although you wouldnt get dinning discounts.

Will fireworks and F! be offered on other evenings of your trip? Do you need to be there on Saturday or is there something else you can do?

Where does one purchase the 7 or 8 day park hopper tickets? I have been not been able to find anything on the www.disneyland.com site with prices for 7 and 8 day tickets. It actually looked like the only way to obtain these tickets was to be staying at one of the Disneyland owned hotels or by purchasing a package.

Fireworks and Fantasmic should be running most of the evenings of our trip (weather permitting), but we really plan on being in the park almost every evening. We don't *need* to be there on Saturday, but realistically we probably would be there because there are no convention activities that day.

I am appreciating the help and you are both giving me things to think about! If I can get the park hopper tickets I can get EE right?

Suzi

 

[hlbtimes2]

Yes, if you buy the hoppers you will have EE. You can call disney travel to get the 7-8 day hoppers, or you can get them from www.getawaytoday.com travel. The other thing you could consider, depending on which days you think you'll be in the park, is buying a hopper. Use however many days it is good for, then upgrade to an ap for Saturday.

If you upgrade on a black out day, they will let you in that day. Be sure to keep your receipt with you in case they question you if you hop or take a break. They backdate your ap to the first day you used your hopper so it can be confusing at the gate. The downside to doing this is that you dont get the dinning discounts on the days you are using the hopper. The upside is you get EE and dont have to pay the $30 blackout fee. They will give you full credit of the purchase price of your hopper toward your a/p. If you paid for parking the day you upgrade, and you purchase parking on your pass, they will apply the cost of that days parking toward your purchase as well.

Your original questions you wonder if the dinning and other discounts would make a DAP or PAP worth the extra cost. The DAP offers a 10% discount on dinning, so you would need to spend $300 on food to see a $30 savings. The PAP is 15%, so for the same $300 in food you would save $45. The PAP also offers 10% on merchandise. With only being in the park partial days, I dont know that you'll be eating enough meals to really make a huge savings.

 

[Parkhopper]

Thank you hlbtimes2 for the great explanation. One final question...I have to order the 7 or 8 day hoppers in advance? I was hoping to purchase at the Ticket Booths as I plan on using Disney Gift Cards for the purchase.

Thank you VERY much for all of the help so far!

Suzi

 

[hlbtimes2]

I would imagine you could buy them at the gate, however all tickets are more expensive at the gate then they are in advance.