New Owner---Now to figure out tickets...

[MerriH807]

Hi! I was hoping I could get some advice on purchasing theme park tickets now that we have taken the plunge of buying into DVC. We bought last August and should have upgraded our MYW passes to Annual Passes before we left but my husband didnt want to fork over anymore money since we had just put a deposit down on our DVC.....
Right now we have a weekend planned in January w/o the kids to celebrate ownership and a week booked in AUGUST. I have read every possible sticky and post on tickets but I am still confused as to what to do......
I am deciding between:

An annual pass (for me and my husband, then buy tickets for kids in August...)

OR
a 10 day MYW with PH, WPM AND No expiration (WHICH IS QUITE pricey but may be worth it??!!)
I am so confused.

Any help, advice, or sharing of how you go about your park ticket purchasing would be greatly appreciated....

Thanks in advance.

 

[FigmentLady]

When DJ and I go to Disney it has always been for 8 days with park hopping. for us, annual passes make the most sense. Even if we only get two trips in one pass it still saves us quite a bit.

 

[adminjedi]

We buy annual passes to get two 10-14 day trips for the family (for example July 2010 and June 2011) and possibly a 3rd for just the two of us!

 

[ToddyLu]

DH and I purchased APs for the first time in December during our last trip. We will use them again in May and October...as well as the TIW card which expires 12/31/11. I doubt we will get one in 2012 since we will probably only do one trip that year.

 

[Sandisw]

We buy the AP's and then stagger our August trips so we get two years out of one pass. So we will be going the 10th to the 15th this year and next year, 2012, we will go from the 3rd to the 10th or something like that. This way, I buy passes every other year. With this plan, DH and I plan to fit in one of those long weekend trips during the year we have the AP.

Yours is a tough one. Do you plan to go every August? If so, I would consider buying you and your husband a non expiring pass (maybe like 6 days) for your trip in January. This way, that can be used in the future for any other short trips.

Then, in August, buy everyone an AP so you can use it both this year and next.

We love the AP and the ability to not have to worry about how long we are in the park. If we go and find it too hot or crowded, we just don't feel as though we wasted a ticket because we were there only 2 hours.

Good luck!

 

[dianeschlicht]

I think the AP is the best option for you, but not sure about the kids unless you plan to go again before August 2012.

I think a good option would be to buy APs for yourselves this time around and buy them for the kids in August IF you plan to take them again before the same date in '12. If you stagger APs like that, you wont have to pay for all of them at one time. Your big choice would then be if you would renew your APs for yourselves or do something different.

I think once you get into a routine of how you will use your DVC membership, the tickets will work themselves out. We go at least once and sometimes 2-3 times a year, so APs have always made sense for us. When we know it will be several months between when our APs expire and our next trip, we will buy new ones instead of paying the renewal and losing those months. We haven't found a cheaper way to do it for us, but I know there are others on this board who buy 10 day hoppers and use them for several trips. It's just not the way we prefer to vacation. We can't be at WDW and NOT go to a park.

 

[JEThompson99]

I was once faced with a similar situation. After researching prices, I think as a DVC member, if you're going to use about 10 days in the parks in a year's time, the AP is absolutely your best option.

Be sure to go through DVC Member services for it as DVC Members get a pretty good discount on APs, and the renewal is discounted too!

If you're doing less than 10 days in a year, I'd go the MYW ticket w/ no expiration option. And that way, you're not even constrained to using all 10 days in a year, they're good forever!

 

[LaurenT]

We went in November (all 3 of us), I'll be going again just DD and me in Feb, and then we are going in October..We still have days left on a 10 day no exp water park & more PH pass...but I got AP for dd and me and figured I'd save the non-exp for a time when AP didn't make sense. I would have gotten AP for DH too if I ha known at the time we'd be going again in Oct....
Total days in the parks for DD and me is 16 - so AP was the obvious way to go, especially with the DVC discount...then we got the TIW card - so for $75 we get 20% off everything including alcohol straight thru 2011! If we want to do a water park or DQ, we'll just use one of the & Fun days from our non exp passes....

 

[kmccl]

I may have this wrong, but we have decided on the 10 day non expiring passes. With the water park and park hopper option, we figure we could get 4 to 5 years out of these passes. We generally go for 6 nights. Do not go to a park on the first or last day, although we definitely could. Therefore, there are 5 days where we hit the parks. We have decided that we would do 3 days in the parks and 2 at the water parks (or vice versa) each year. With 4 kids, we often like to take at least one day in the middle to relax at the hotel. If my math is right, this would get us at least 4 years, and maybe 5. Since joining DVC, we have decide that we do not have to hit every park every year. We did that prior to DVC and were exhausted after our "vacation". Now we take time to relax and enjoy and it seems that the parks will never get old. Someone please tell me if I am messed up with this scenario!

 

[mdsd8700]

Like kmccl we do the 10 day non expiring with park hopper and wp option. Although we are new to DVC we have been doing yearly Disney trips (either WDW or DLR) since 1997. 2011 will be our first time doing two WDW trips in the same 12 month period although we have done WDW and DLR in a one year period before. Since we are never in WDW twice in the same year (except this year), we typically get 3 or 4 trips out of 10 day passes. We don't go to the parks more than 3 times if we stay a week, if it is a shorter visit, less park time. We always do a WP everytrip (well in the cooler months, if weather permits). With all that being said APs don't work for us. I know the 10 day non expiring passes with the hopper and wp option are expensive but for us the tickets like DVC are pre-paid and we will not need them for our next 4/5 trips to WDW. If we keep switching off between DLR and WDW the tickets we currently have will last for quite some time. I think it all comes down to how many times you will visit while your AP is valid and how many days you will spend in the parks. I agree with dianeschlicht as your vacation habits become more regular and you get into a routine ticket options will work themselves out. Congrats and Welcome Home

 

[ldo]

we also do the no-expire with WP&M. Our 10 day PH lasted 5 years. We do 1-2 park days and 1-2 WP&M on a week-long trip--we do DQ in the winter when it's too cold for the WP and have also done the Oak trail 9 hole walking golf--a terrifc bargain for just a WP&M ticket.
We sometimes do just 1 WDW day and then do SW or UNIV/OIA for a change. We have found that WDW and DVC offers so much to do. My kids like to go over to FtW and bike/fish amd they really like the Community Halls--they just spent 3 hours each of 3 days this Christmas at the CH at AK, which took up a good part of the day, and Mom read the paper watching the giraffes and zebras on the balcony!

 

[erinna]

Be sure to go through DVC Member services for it as DVC Members get a pretty good discount on APs, and the renewal is discounted too!

I'd planned to buy DVC APs at Downtown Disney upon my arrival. Now I'm wondering: Can I buy DVC APs there?

(Yup, it's our first trip as DVC members. Why do you ask?)