Premiere Passport. How much did you save?

[acf_1991]

Okay, so it's decided that my family and I will be getting our Premiere passports!! I am beyond excited and I know in the end we will be getting our money's worth.I've already done the calculations. There's only a problem. I don't know EXACTLY how much to save anymore and me being the obsessive planner that I am, this is bothersome. I wanted to know, for those of you who have had the Premiere AP, how much did you save on the resort? Or anything else for that matter. I have heard that someone on the DIS saved 40-45% off, is this possible?
Also, if I recieve a pin and I have an AP, can I still combine both discounts?
Also, if I paid off my vacation and I recieve a pin say, a week later, can I still apply the discount?
If I can, how do I get my money back? In the same form it was paid originally?

 

[pixarmom]

Hi OP!

We saved quite a lot with the Premier Pass! During the life of the pass, we took four trips to WDW and one to DL. We bought the TIW card right away and used that for the WDW trips (20% off at most TS locations) because we usually have two ADRs per day. The merchandise discount for the Premier at WDW was 20% the entire time, but that can change. And I can't recall the discounts at DL as well - I know we received dining discounts of 15% or so and merchandise discounts sometimes required a minimum purchase.

As for the resort discounts, the room-only AP discounts were often 40% - 42% off, but I haven't seen that as much lately (looks like 35% for this summer.) At one time, I had a PIN code that was 40% off and I initially booked room-only with that code. Then the AP rate came out at 42% off for BC, so I just called and asked if Disney could apply the AP discount instead of the PIN code. The AP rate was available for my dates, so they did. For DL, the general public summer special discount was the best - 40% off GCH. I may have used a general public discount for one of our other trips, too - I think it was 35% at the Poly.

You can't really combine the discounts - just see which one works best. For us, it was the combination of room-only reservations and the TIW card for dining discounts.

Enjoy the Premier Pass!

 

[The Original~Mad4mky]

When I used mine last summer at WDW--most cast members were even confused about it, and had to ask a supervisor to help them. It was a major pain. I hope they have it figured out by now.
I didn't use resort rates when we went to WDW, as I was there for a convention. So, I can't answer for that...

BUT--as far as food goes: The food discount for the Premiere Pass doesn't work as well at WDW as it does at Disneyland. At Disneyland, you can get a AP discount at almost every walk up counter and at EVERY site down.
You don't get discounts at most places at WDW. There are very few select places where you can get discounts (unless that has changes since last fall)--and you won't get the dining discounts at the resorts themselves (hence the free dining plans would work best for).

Discounts on merchandise is where I saved quite a bit. But, you could do the same if you used a Disney Visa and then paid it off when you got home.

What I had to do, was figure out, if buying the pass made sense. How many days/trips to WDW or to Disneyland will you take to make it worth the $$??

We go to Disneyland all the time, and I always have a Premium AP--so an upgrade to a Premiere AP for a one time a year WDW trip--if it is over 5 days makes sense for us.

Plus, it's cool to own one.

 

[Smiling Cheshire Cat]

We bought Premier passes last fall. You get the same room discount with the Premier pass as any other annual passholder gets. We got 35 or 40% off our room at the Boardwalk for our upcoming trip next week and I'm getting ready to book a room at AKL villas for the first week of August but we are only getting 30% off. Discounts for AP holders seem to vary depending on the time of year it is and the demand for rooms. You definitely cannot combine discounts. When we went to DL last fall the room discount for the general public was better than the AP rate so that's what we used when we booked at the Grand Californian.

I also recommend getting the TIW card if you are foodies and especially if you like to drink. We recouped our $75 after the first trip.

Also as Premier passholders we have been getting 20% off merchandise so that is great advantage. There is very little discounting on food at WDW. I think it is 10% off at a limited number of restaurants and only on certain days.

Honestly I wouldn't worry about paying off my vacation when you book with room discounts until afterwards. You only have to put down one night's deposit and then pay for the remainder upon checking in.

The only problem we have with our Premier passes is they cause us to want to go to Disney more often. When you think about already having the tickets paid for, it makes it look much more affordable.