Out of state AP holders....

[Kayla's Mom]

I am in Phoenix and our APs expired in January. We went 6 times last year. We plan on getting APs again when we go in September or November.

 

[letthembelittle]

We bought APs during our trip in November (only after we had used our MM with our normal passes), we went again in April, we had hoped to go this summer just dh and I but since we got pg I guess that might not happen, and then we have a trip scheduled right before our passes expire this November. We probably wont get passes again for a few years so we had to make this year count!! We live in Utah and it is a 10 hour drive for us.

 

[bumbershoot]

We're not AP holders right now, but we had two years in a row with APs. Sigh...this year we're focusing on a huge WDW trip, putting all funds into that...sigh...

We drove for our first big trip (during which we upgraded to APs the first time), but that was for a big CA trip including family visits and my HS reunion. Turns out I don't like that drive anymore (did it many many times while in college, but I've changed), so we fly now. I don't much like flying, either, but I can calm myself down a lot more on a plane than while driving through mountains so it's the lesser of the evils.

I live in Oregon & only make it once a year but I have the Premium AP for all the discounts & free parking. We got me one last year & when I got home I figured out what I had spent for the AP (by upgrading a 6 day PH) & how much I have saved. We definitely came out ahead by getting the AP!! So I had no problem renewing it this year!!

**we drive**

It does help that you have a larger family, though. The food/merch discounts would never make up for the increased cost above a Deluxe for our family of 3. (trust me, I've TRIED to make it work on paper! even kept a journal for the first year with all the receipts, working out what we would have saved...nope, didn't work!)

 

[Eeee-va]

I'm in Arizona--I don't have an AP right now but I did just a few days ago (sniff!).

If you're doing two 5-day trips in one 365-day year with adults and no blockout days (on the second trip; you can upgrade to an AP at the end of the first trip), it's currently cheaper to just have a Deluxe AP. We actually did three 5-day trips with our APs. We had to pay for one blockout day (a Saturday in June), but it was still about the same price as admission for just two 5-day trips.

That's before food/occasional merchandise discounts, too!

As much as I'd love to do a weekend trip, I find the drive to be too long (I'm not in Tucson but the way we drive it still tends to take 7 hours) and with airport transportation and airfare, that would be too expensive for me too. Myself and two others did three longer trips instead, and that was fun. I am kind of hoping to do a quick weekend trip in October, but I still have a GAD voucher I never used, and figured to upgrade that to a hopper and then do the Halloween party, to get 1.5 days in the parks for less than the cost of a one-day hopper. We'll see what really happens though; that trip seems to be snowballing in regards to the number of people, and I'm sure they'll want to be there more than 1.5 days...

 

[victorandbellasmom]

We're in the Seattle area and have had an AP since 2005. There was a lapse in 2008 where we didn't renew because we went to WDW that year. We went again last Aug '09 and got another AP. We average 2 -3 trips within the 12 month period. We upgraded our parkhoppers to a DAP when we drove down last August. Flew down for our trip last month and we plan to drive down before our passes expire in a couple of months. We have 1 kid who hates to drive and another who hates to fly, so we alternate flying and driving. We're not going to renew our passes on our upcoming trip because we are planning a long and big family reunion next year so all of dh's vacation days are taken. We won't be back to DL 'til 2012 or later since dh wants to go back to WDW in 2012.

 

[GoinAgainSoon]

We live in Colorado, have Deluxe AP's and took 8 trips last year for 4-5 days each trip. So far this year (using January as a calendar year start time each time) we have been three times. The Feb and April trips were 4-5 days and the most current (this past weekend) was 6 days. We fly each time.

We definitely get our money's worth. We did have to pay for a blackout day this past Saturday (our mistake on planning), but, even with doing that, we get our money's worth from our AP's.

 

[nunzia]

We live in NM..about a 12 hour drive, but we usually take the train..we can fly in about 2 hours,(after driving to the airport 1 1/2 hours away, going through all the airport junk..ack) but I HATE that..but will do it if forced. If we go twice in one year we feel it's worth it. (we did have to pay an extra $90 this year since our plans changed to include a blockout day..)

 

[Meriweather]

We have Deluxe APs.
In the process of moving from WA to AZ.
We flew in April. I drove with DD in June (from AZ where she lives). Stayed 5 days, 6 days
We are booked for trips in Oct and Feb....a week, 6 days.....so well worth it for us.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

We will also (probably) be able to say we traveled to Disney by Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.

Cute

 

[rentayenta]

Utah here. We have Deluxe APs. We got them last October and went again just two weeks ago.

 

[disneydreamer74]

I live in NM, but usually drive to see family in AZ, then leave from there the next day. So, it is an 8 hour drive for us. I have decided to upgrade to DAP's this trip (Aug.) because we plan on going back for Christmas time and again in Spring when Ariel's ride is completed! Hip hip hooray!

 

[ShellyMouse]

im going to print this out to show dh....see!?!, all these people make it worth it!!

keep your replies coming.....the more peer pressure the better!

 

[Brady's Mom]

We had AP's that expired in May. We are tentatively planning a Nov. trip and would love to get AP's again - we just don't know how many we would get.

We took a total of 4 trips with our AP's (3 with the family, one with just DH and me) and really felt we got our money's worth.

Now that we might be going again in Nov. the thought of having to pay for tickets is hard for me - I would rather pay the extra money for each person and just get the DAP. It would probably only be about $600 more for our family of 6. BUT, the big question is would my 2 oldest boys get as much use out of their's and would it be cost effective.

We've flown and driven, the drive is 10 ish hours for us and we break it up each way - but it gets really tiring and some of us can get grouchy.

Also, my DS 8 told me the other day when we were driving in the car - "when we go to Disneyland the next time I am SOOO flying!" He's one of the people that hates the drive.

 

[disney_dreaming_mom]

We live out of state and have a deluxe annual pass. We found that it saved money on our yearly vacation expenses dramatically. We have a toddler who really doesn't care to go anywhere BUT Disney and the beach right now. I priced out different places to go like Sea World, Lego Land, and even the local zoo. Disney has everything our family is looking for in a vacation and when you price things out is actually pretty affordable with the AP. We went three times this past year and the passes paid for themselves after our second trip.

We also saved a bunch on hotel rooms, merchandise, and food in the park. We were able to stay on Disney property for one trip because the AP rate was so low. We plan on going to WDW next year so we aren't getting passes again until the year after but I highly recommend getting one if you are close enough to drive. I read that there is an AP for both DL and WDW now which is also great! If only we could afford those...

 

[liesel]

We are also in Colorado and had DAPs that just expired. We went 3 times: June 09, December 09, and June 10 (a week before the previous June trip). We are from the area and also visit friends and family while we are there. With the AP, it was nice to do a few half days and not have the pressure to do these marathon days to get our money's worth on the park hoppers. Last June, DAPs were $269 and we bought them at Costco and received a $50 disney gift card with each AP which we used to pay for our food (I've heard that this is no longer available), so we really got our money's worth. We went to DLR on 15 separate days (some all day, some just a few hours). We also saved with food and merchandise discounts. I recommend it if you are going twice in a year.

 

[SeattleTink]

We are DAP holders too. This is our second go round. Last time we had them in 2008 we ended up using them on 3 different trips.

This time we got them in February (used GAD vouchers) and are going back in August for a family reunion of sorts. This will be a long trip, 10 days. We plan on visiting DLR and also explore SoCal. We will be staying across the street to DLR so we can pop in and out as we please.

The discounts add up quickly and now that you can get 10% discounts on merchandise (for a limited time) that really helps too.

If you are going for longer than 6 days, or more than once year it does pay you to upgrade to an AP.

 

[sandgrace]

We live in Arizona and go at least 2 times a year to DL (usually more.) It's an easy drive for us and we just planned another trip in July and will go again for Halloween before our AP's expire in Oct. We've had Premium AP's for 3 years now and it's well-worth it for us. The 20% discounts on food, souveniers really pays off for us! Thinking about upgrading to the new Premiere Passports so we can go WDW too.

 

[Nala83]

I live in Washington, and I fly. I just got my first AP (used GAD), and I actually got the Premier. I did the math (over and over and over again). I spent 10 days at WDW in May and got 45% off the room with the AP discount. I'm headed to Disneyland in September and I'm looking forward to dining discounts.

Now the dueling snowball has taken effect...maybe DLR in Nov and WDW in April for a work conference. For me, it will probably never again make sense to have the Premier pass- but just this once it made sense!

 

[azdisneylover]

AZ here, and we have Deluxe passes. Even though things haven't worked out as we have planned (got APs in 11/09, and was supposed to be going once a month), I am scheming ( hoping and praying) to get new ones when we go to DL Christmas!
If things go how they should, we will ge plenty of great usage out of the APs. This is just talking about admission price, and not even the discounts of things!

 

[Just2DisneyKids]

We lived in Las Vegas for about 18 months (my DH is military) and we got deluxe AP's for a year. We went about 10 times in 12 months, drove about 4hrs, and usually stayed either 2 or 3 nights each trip. So worth it! We are now back on the East coast but are heading back to the west coast for a few weeks in July and can't wait to visit Disneyland again!