Please help me decide if my family should become Annual Passholders

[kayteekt]

You may want to go ahead and purchase the annual passes ahead of time online and link them to your My Disney Experience account, otherwise you won't be able to make fastpass reservations until you get there, which would probably lock you out of getting fastpasses for some of the popular rides.

Yes, I was going to reply the same. If you care about getting your FPs before you arrive, you will want to get your passes before hand. You will activate them your first day in parks and they'll be good 1 year from that date.

 

[BeerMe]

For us it's all about the math.

 

[robinb]

You may want to go ahead and purchase the annual passes ahead of time online and link them to your My Disney Experience account, otherwise you won't be able to make fastpass reservations until you get there, which would probably lock you out of getting fastpasses for some of the popular rides.

I agree. OP, do you have a Target credit or debit card? If you do, you can save 5% right off the top by buying Disney gift cards to pay for your APs. That's $40 each or one TS meal . If you want to save more if you buy discount Target cards to buy discount Disney cards online. Here is the thread that describes how to do that: http://www.disboards.com/threads/disney-gift-card-deals.2941964/page-557#post-55264327.

 

[anpeck]

Oh wow, I didn't even think about not being able to make FP+! And I totally misunderstood that the clock won't start ticking on the AP's until they're activated. I thought it started when I purchased them. So glad you all tuned me in to this, I appreciate it! We've decided to not do the trip in May because we'd be able to fit in more trips between September of this year and next than we would between this May and next.

Thanks @robinb for the tips on saving even more money! I'm definitely going to look into it!

I'm seriously considering doing the TIW card, I think it could save us a lot of money! We have the following ADR's for September,

Cape May Café Breakfast and Dinner
Garden Grill Breakfast
Mama Melrose Dinner
Crystal Palace Breakfast
T-Rex Lunch
California Grill
Le Cellier
Tusker House Breakfast
Be Our Guest Dinner

On this trip alone I could see us breaking even, if not saving money, after the $150 spent to purchase it. Can you purchase the TIW card at the same time as getting the AP's? Or does that have to be done at Disney?

 

[robinb]

Oh wow, I didn't even think about not being able to make FP+! And I totally misunderstood that the clock won't start ticking on the AP's until they're activated. I thought it started when I purchased them. So glad you all tuned me in to this, I appreciate it! We've decided to not do the trip in May because we'd be able to fit in more trips between September of this year and next than we would between this May and next.

Thanks @robinb for the tips on saving even more money! I'm definitely going to look into it!

I'm seriously considering doing the TIW card, I think it could save us a lot of money! We have the following ADR's for September,

Cape May Café Breakfast and Dinner
Garden Grill Breakfast
Mama Melrose Dinner
Crystal Palace Breakfast
T-Rex Lunch
California Grill
Le Cellier
Tusker House Breakfast
Be Our Guest Dinner

On this trip alone I could see us breaking even, if not saving money, after the $150 spent to purchase it. Can you purchase the TIW card at the same time as getting the AP's? Or does that have to be done at Disney?

You will need to spend $750 to break even on the card but it also includes alcohol so that's a plus if you drink.

Here is a PDF of all the dining discounts: http://allears.net/pl/disc_dining.pdf

 

[anpeck]

We'll definitely spend that much! I budgeted $1500 for food based on our trip from last year. I get as much enjoyment out of our meals at Disney as I do going on the rides lol especially that filet from Le Cellier.... Mmmmm... . We do enjoy having drinks at meals so another plus! Thanks for the link, you've been a great help!

 

[mcgrawfan]

Thank you for this thread! I had some of the same questions as well

 

[anpeck]

Thank you for this thread! I had some of the same questions as well

I'm glad someone else got help from this as well!!!

 

[Wood Nymph]

Can you purchase the TIW card at the same time as getting the AP's? Or does that have to be done at Disney?

You can purchase the TiW card at the Guest Relations window (not a Ticket window) at one of the parks or Disney Springs.

 

[curlz2tite]

We are planning a12 day trip for fall, hoping for free dining. going no matter what. I have been thinking about what to do, I need to buy a ticket to get free dining if offered , but we are thinking about upgrading to an AP before we leave Disney & going back in the spring of 2017 & then again in the fall of 2017 possibly. Has anyone had experience upgrading during free food? We stay at POP so it is only Quick service & we might only do 1 sit down , so TiW is not really of interest for us.