No Expiration Dilemma

[randmel]

Hi all --

I'm new to the board, so please forgive me if this question or scenario has been addressed a million times before.

We're planning a trip to WDW in November -- staying 5 nights and are planning 4 days for the parks. For my family of four (2 adults, 2 children -- 5 and 3) a 4-day PH pass is $1003 or so with tax.

I know we'll go back at least one more time before my older one turns 9. I've been considering getting a longer pass and adding no expiration to it. I figure if I buy an 7-day no expiration ticket, then for about the price of one adult 3-day PH pass, I can get all 4 of us 3 more PH days in the future.

My dilemma is this -- the next time we go, I'm not sure that three days is enough time. But to add one day's admission on that future trip would be about $400 by today's prices (certain to go up in a couple of years). But to buy the 8-day pass today is $200 more than the 7-day pass, and actually seems to be the only combination of days that makes the price per ticket per person go up.

I could do the 10-day pass, but again, I end up with uneven days, and it will add $300 to the price of a trip that's priced within our budget now.

Should I go ahead and spend the money now to buy tickets for the future? Or should I just buy what I need now and let the future take care of itself?

Another question is -- is 3 days sufficient for the parks, or do you really need 4?

I sure hope someone can give me some advice here because I just don't know what to do. Going ahead and doing the extra days/no exp makes sense because the price of park admission per day per person is so reasonable. Just don't know if it's worth going over budget to do it.

What's your experience??

randmel

 

[seashoreCM]

Very general rule -- Non-expiration is a sure bargain only when the remains of the ticket completely cover a future vacation and both vacations are at least 3 days.

Should you goof and the non-expiring remains don't cover, you will take a hit when you have to buy another ticket on vacation #2 but you will usually make it back when (if) the remains of the second ticket with non-expiration completely cover vacation #3.

Sometimes you don't have a choice about non-expiration, an emergency forces you to go home early.

If you also buy water park fun you can get more total days out of the ticket to cover two vacations with.,

If a child outgrows a child pass he still gets to use the remaining days at no extra charge.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/dispass.htm

 

[DznyLvr2005]

Have u looked into getting an Annual Pass? It could work out to be cheaper??

 

[Va-bear]

Ofcourse budgets are important - so in the end thats the final thing. But if you can find ANY way to swing it I would. I have spent MANY, MANY hours with a calculator and drawing up vaious vacations plans we could/would take in the future. I originally thought I would go up to the 7day ticket....but really, after hours and hours and LOTS of reading advice I have decided to do the 10day/water park/no expiration (we will save some money by NOT doing park hopper - we are always able to plan enough for 1park/day.) It will double our original ticket budget...BUT with the water park/Quest days thrown in we actually are going to be able to use it for __4__ trips!!! (w/ only buying tickets on 1 Seaworld and 1 Universal day...) That will make each trip have 2 park days and 2 "other" days OR 3 park days and 1 "other" day (even without adding in the Seaworld/Universal tickets) - perfect for our type of trip! It will end up being QUITE a bargain for us - and all of this isn't even taking the YEARLY increase of tickets into acocunt!!!

So, all of this is to say, play soome more with your numbers - buts its probably the best thing.

ps- another rule of thumb I read was the VERY BEST bargain is to replace each 10 day with another 10day - that way you never have to cover any "single" days with a big "per day" cost. (yeah...nice, but a little costly !)

 

[DznyLvr2005]

Ok I just looked it up...
Annual pass for adult is 441.98 and for children 388.73. THis may help you... http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/tickets.htm#ap

 

[Darian]

Hey randmel !!! Welcome to the DIS!!!

That is quite a dilemma you've got there. I see you've noticed how the price leaps upwards after more than 7 day passes. Will this be your first trip to WDW or have you had others? The reason I ask is that there is a lot to see. 47 square miles of fun! My Disney Wife (DW here on the DIS) and I have been about 5 or 6 times I don't recall, with stays from 7 to 10 days each time. We still haven't seen it all. Never been to Downtown Disney (DTD) or Pleasure Island or even Blizzard Beach water park. No real desire to see Disney Quest but thats not really my point. There is tons of walking to be done and that takes time. Unlike Disneyland, Magic Kingdom is fairly spread out. And walking time eats up the day. Add in crowds, lines and the heat and you'll not want to the Disney Death March style of visiting the parks.

Bottom line is that its better to stay a longer number of days than trying to cram everything into just 3. If three is all you have then by all means go for it. You'll have a blast! There are plenty of tips out there about making the best use of your time. Since honestly its impossible to "see it all" in just 3 or 4 days, I wouldn't try. Do your research and see what are your MUST see things and do those.

If you buy tickets that just cover your planned stay, without the "never expires" option you can save a good deal of money now. If you have fully used up your tickets when you leave, there is no waste of the ticket. The only benefit would be to get tickets for future use at a discounted price today. seashoreCM has some very good scenarios for this and makes a valid point. If you are planning to do two 3 day trip or one 3 day and one 4 day, go ahead and get the 7 day ticket.

How many hotel nights are you planning on purchasing?

 

[byoung]

3 days is not enought time to see 4 parks.

 

[randmel]

Thanks all!

We're staying 5 nights this trip. We live in SC, so it's an 8-9 hour drive down -- so essentially one day to drive down, 4 to visit, and one day to drive back. So, 4 days is definitely all we'll do this trip. Also makes an Annual Pass not the best deal for us since we won't make more than one trip a year.

My husband weighed in on the issue tonight and voted for the 7-day pass no exp, figuring next trip we can spend 3 days at Disney and 1 or 2 days at Universal or something.

Now, I'm wondering if the 10-day pass *would* be best after all for the same reason, especially if children won't cost more if they outgrow the age limit on the ticket. Hmmmm....

Thanks so much!

randmel