Planning to buy Annual Passes for our family - what to do about 2 yr old?

[Tulip2796]

We are planning on purchasing Annual Passes for our family of 4 (probably Gold) since we are FL residents. We haven't been to Disney since moving here a couple of years ago. One of our kids is only 2 but will turn 3 during the course of the year of our annual passes. I'm not sure what to do about him since he's free when we start but then won't be. Will they pro-rate his annual pass once he turns 3 if the rest of the family has APs. I definitely don't want to pay for him sooner than I have to since between overnight stays, dining and my husband's propensity to buy our kids lots of souvenirs, I'm sure we'll be spending plenty. Just not sure how to handle this and would appreciate any insight. TIA!

 

[wilkeliza]

How far into the year of having your AP will the 2 year old turn 3? How many trips after 3 do you think you will take? It may cost the same or less to just buy the 2nd half of the year tickets for the 2/3 year old and then get them their own AP when the family all renews.

 

[Accident]

I was going to ask the same thing how much would it cost to just use tickets for him after he is 3? I would inquire with ticket sales though as the prorated question is interesting and I doubt this is the first 2 year old that will be 3 before their parents aps expire.

 

[scrapquitler]

I certainly would wait to buy it until after he turns 3.

As to what to do once he turns 3, that depends on how you plan to use the passes and if you plan to purchase them every year or not, and how many days you plan to visit the park between his birthday and the expiration of everyone else's passes.

If you plan to renew your passes and can see yourself keeping AP for the entire family for a few years, I'd just buy his when he turns three. Having one member of the family with a separate expiration date won't really matter if you just renew everyones whenever they expire and continue for years to come. In fact, this might be desirable because you'd only have to pay for his when the time comes.

If you think your annual passes aren't something that you are going to renew for years to come (or at least for next year), you'll want to consider how many days you will likely visit WDW between his turning three and when everyone else's passes expire. If you only plan to visit a limited number of days during the second half of this year, it might make more sense to buy him multi-day tickets for each visit if that's how you'll be visiting. Running the numbers is the only way you'll know for sure.

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

Nothing gets pro-rated. Tons of families have the youngest kid on a different payment contract and expiration date than everyone else because s/he turned 3 halfway through their pass year.