now let me get this straight,AP or HOPPERS

[mickey's minnie]

which is cheaper for 1 adult and 4 children,ages when we go 4,8,11and13 i know annual passes are for a year but what about hopper passes? how long are they good for?just the trip we are on or what?we will not be going back within a year so what are your recomindations?at the risk of sounding totaly dumb will the hopper passes get us in the parks all day every day without paying extra? money?while we are there?we will be at the all stars music for 10 days dec/09/2002-dec19/2002 im just trying to get the best price before i book thank you for all the helpI have looked into the package deals but am debating !!!!!!!!LOL I swear I don't know how you all do this 2 and 3 times a year ,hopefully i will learn enough on this trip to be a disney trekki LOL thanks

 

[ncbyrne]

Your trip is for 10 days. However, much depends on time of arrival/departure on day 1 &10 and if you will you want to go to the parks every day? Park Hopper Plus passes give you the freedom to "hop", as indicated by the name, from park to park. For instance, you can go to the MK first thing in the morning, and hop (via monorail) to Epcot...or any other park as many times as you want. The Plus feature for a 7 day ticket is 4. Meaning that you can also go to any of the water parks or World of Sports for a maximum of 4 times - all withing the same 7 days. The maximum days for Park Hopper passes is 7, but they do not expire. Each day counts as one day off the pass, but the days do not have to be consecutive. Even if you left at the end of your trip and only went to the parks 6 days, the remaining day would still be good in 5 years (or whenever). An adult (ages 10 + up) Park Hopper pass (without DC discount) is $325.44. Child (age 3-9) is $261.84
Adult Annual Pass: $369.94 Child: $314.82 - these tickets give you unlimited entry to all 4 parks for one year.
Premium Annual Passes include the water parks and WOS. Adult: $497.14 Child: $422.94.
Disney Club membership costs $39.93 per year. One of the perks of membership is discounts on the passes: WITH the DC discount - 7 day adult Park Hopper Plus pass: $308.46
7 day child Park Hopper plus pass: $246.98 Annual Passes - Adult: $354.04 Child: $301.04
Premium Annual Pass - Adult: $475.94 Child: $404.92
Now, there's also another option: Anyone staying onsite can also purchase Park Hopper Passes based on the number of days of your stay. These are only worth it if you are planning to go to the parks everyday.
It's a lot to absorb and you'll have to do some math to figure your best prices.

 

[mickey's minnie]

ncbyrne,LOL don't I know it,since we will be going in december ,will we even need to go to the water parks? i'm thinking I know i want to go to magic kingdom and epcot im not sure what else i've never been so this is all new to me,we are staying at all star movies cause it sounds like it will be fun for the kids they love movies especially disney movies and after all it is a vacation so if we just go do things and come back and watch movies it will still be like a vacation for us will they be able to be in the pool at this time of year ?i would hate it if they couldnt,thank you for typing all that i really do appriciate it,can you recomend a few other sites to visit or not to misses thanks again for all your help

 

[Mercy]

Mickey's Minnie... you certainly have plenty of time to decide what type of pass you will need. My suggestion is to spend time on these boards to decide on the things you will want to do while at WDW. You mentioned MK and Epcot, but you will be there long enough to enjoy all he parks, MGM is one of my favorites and I think your kids will also enjoy AK.

I've never been to WDW in December, so I can't comment on the weather, but I do believe that the resort pools are heated. I do not know about the pools at the water parks. Being in WDW for that many days I would probably go with a 6 or 7 day hopper, 7 if you can afford it. As ncbyrne stated, any day or option that is not used is good forever so you can use it on a future trip.

 

[SueM in MN]

The pools are heated in December, but the air isn't (so it is COOOOLLLLDDD when you get out).

You mentioned that you were looking into packages. Be sure to add up all the pieces of the package, and especially look at pieces you don't plan to use. When you do that, most packages cost more than if you bought all the parts separately. You are paying for the convenience of someone else putting everything together for you.

Anyone staying onsite can also purchase Park Hopper Passes based on the number of days of your stay. These are only worth it if you are planning to go to the parks everyday.

Those are called length of stay passes. They are good only for your stay, so if you don't go every day to the parks, you can't use your "left-over" days (that you already paid for) later like you can with a Park Hopper.
Regular Hopper passes or Regular Annual Passes don't have the plus features that were mentioned. If you don't plan on using them, the regular passes would be best for you.
The break even point for Annual Passes is usually 8 days. If you plan on going to the parks for 8 days or more OR you plan to come back within a year, AP would be a good option.
Here's a
link to the DIS page about Ticket Prices and a link to the DIS page about Annual Pass Benefits.