Reality Check Time?

Falconfree

Earning My Ears
Joined
May 2, 2014
Messages
6
Hello all!

My husband and I moved back to our hometown in the Florida Panhandle a few months back and are planning a 6 day WDW trip soon. It will be our third trip since we got married seven years ago, and our first by ourselves (we both went many times as kids). We lean more towards the relaxed style of trips, rather than going commando. I'm 18 weeks, 4 days pregnant with our first child.

We've started toying with the idea of getting a couple of annual or seasonal passes (probably seasonal) for Florida residents. Our reasoning is that once our little girl is here in September, we will probably be driving the 5 hours to WDW on a much more regular basis. Especially since both sets of grandparents live in our same town and visit Disney somewhat regularly too.

So, we need a reality check! Is it realistic to think that new parents might make the trip down on a regular enough basis for a pass to be worth it? We are also on a somewhat tight budget. Should we just get the MYW tickets for this trip, and see how we adjust to parenthood first? Or, since we already know we are big fans of Disney, should we pull the trigger on a pass?

Thank you!

Edit: I should add, I know nobody can tell us anything for certain, but I'd love any input we can get from BTDT parents who are also Disney fans. :)
 
Hello all!

My husband and I moved back to our hometown in the Florida Panhandle a few months back and are planning a 6 day WDW trip soon. It will be our third trip since we got married seven years ago, and our first by ourselves (we both went many times as kids). We lean more towards the relaxed style of trips, rather than going commando. I'm 18 weeks, 4 days pregnant with our first child.

We've started toying with the idea of getting a couple of annual or seasonal passes (probably seasonal) for Florida residents. Our reasoning is that once our little girl is here in September, we will probably be driving the 5 hours to WDW on a much more regular basis. Especially since both sets of grandparents live in our same town and visit Disney somewhat regularly too.

So, we need a reality check! Is it realistic to think that new parents might make the trip down on a regular enough basis for a pass to be worth it? We are also on a somewhat tight budget. Should we just get the MYW tickets for this trip, and see how we adjust to parenthood first? Or, since we already know we are big fans of Disney, should we pull the trigger on a pass?

Thank you!

Edit: I should add, I know nobody can tell us anything for certain, but I'd love any input we can get from BTDT parents who are also Disney fans. :)

My kids are hitting the teen/tween years, so I think I qualify! LOL

Parenting is going to be what you make it. If you want to get season passes and make the trips, do it!!! It will be worth it to you if it is something you really want to do. We decided early on that our kids were going to live through experiences and not things, so we made it a priority to always plan new adventures, do new things, see new places, have them try new activities, etc. Our kids came along for the ride perfectly fine! Sometimes it hasn't been easy - a screaming 10 month old in the backseat on the last hour home wasn't a fun time, but we always made it through and did it again! (although these days I would take that over a cranky 14 year old! LOL)

Because of this, my kids have this amazing thirst for adventure and new experiences. They are not afraid of trying new things. They have been indoor skydiving, zip-lining, fed wild animals, taken airplane lessons, had helicopter rides, play all kinds of sports, been to the top of the Sears Tower, driven to countless places their friends have never been before, and to top it off, my 7 year old's first roller coaster ever was Rockin Roller Coaster in DHS, then the next day he conquered Space Mountain!

Good luck on your new adventures!

ETA: We are originally from Michigan (Detroit area) and have travelled several times a year to Chicago (a 5-hour trip) since before our kids were born. DS14's first Chicago trip was at 3 months old. Now we live in the Chicago suburbs and travel back to Michigan LOL The kids are so used to the 5-hour trip that they don't even think of it as a trip anymore...they just call it "going to grandmas" LOL and we very often leave on a Friday night after work and come back Sunday. I WISH we lived 5 hours from Disney!!! You are so lucky!! :)
 
Hello all!

My husband and I moved back to our hometown in the Florida Panhandle a few months back and are planning a 6 day WDW trip soon. It will be our third trip since we got married seven years ago, and our first by ourselves (we both went many times as kids). We lean more towards the relaxed style of trips, rather than going commando. I'm 18 weeks, 4 days pregnant with our first child.

We've started toying with the idea of getting a couple of annual or seasonal passes (probably seasonal) for Florida residents. Our reasoning is that once our little girl is here in September, we will probably be driving the 5 hours to WDW on a much more regular basis. Especially since both sets of grandparents live in our same town and visit Disney somewhat regularly too.

So, we need a reality check! Is it realistic to think that new parents might make the trip down on a regular enough basis for a pass to be worth it? We are also on a somewhat tight budget. Should we just get the MYW tickets for this trip, and see how we adjust to parenthood first? Or, since we already know we are big fans of Disney, should we pull the trigger on a pass?

Thank you!

Edit: I should add, I know nobody can tell us anything for certain, but I'd love any input we can get from BTDT parents who are also Disney fans. :)

I would suggest the MYW tickets for this trip and then see what happens. You can always upgrade while there (before you leave) if you change your mind and apply what you paid towards the AP. You mention you are on a budget and having a new baby is a big adjustment. I know if we had AP's, the stress of not using them would impact my decisions. I say enjoy your vacation with MYW passes and enjoy the new addition to your family. There's always time to buy AP's if you decide to head to WDW on a consistent schedule.
 
I would suggest the MYW tickets for this trip and then see what happens. You can always upgrade while there (before you leave) if you change your mind and apply what you paid towards the AP. You mention you are on a budget and having a new baby is a big adjustment. I know if we had AP's, the stress of not using them would impact my decisions. I say enjoy your vacation with MYW passes and enjoy the new addition to your family. There's always time to buy AP's if you decide to head to WDW on a consistent schedule.

I agree. And I want to add with a newborn you really have no idea what to expect. They all surprise you. You might find yourself driving to the WDW area less for a while. You really never know. My best advice would be to take it one day at a time and not make any major decisions until baby is here and you see how things are.
 

My DH and I were Disney fans before we had our DS and already had Florida Resident seasonal passes. Once DS (4 in August) was born he went 5 times in the first year (13 weeks, 5 months, 7 months, 9 months and one his first birthday!!). We are getting ready to leave in 1.5 weeks for his 14th trip and have 2 more trips planned for this year. The seasonal pass is worth it for us and we definitely get a good amount of use out of them!
 
I would wait. My youngest hated car rides when he was under a year old. Every time we went anywhere in the car he would cry the whole time. It was so stressful. I used to sit in the backseat trying to console him when we were visiting family 3 hours away. I tried to avoid car rides whenever possible. After he got a little older he outgrew it. :confused3 If we had annual passes to anywhere they wouldn't have been used that year.
 
We lived in the Orlando area and went to WDW only a handful of times. We then moved to the panhandle and started a family and since our 1st DD was 6 month old we have gone to WDW 2-3 times a year and the FL resident seasonal pass is GREAT! Plus; in case you did not know, you can do the monthly payment plan for any Florida residents APs. Does not hit the budget as hard:thumbsup2
 
A 6 day non hopper is $316. A seasonal pass is $319. Just get the seasonal pass. If you don't go again in the next year, you wasted a whole $3.
 
We ended up lucking out! My mom discovered she could get a corporate discount on Disney tickets through her hospital. Supposedly they discounted MYW tickets, but they were actually more expensive than the ones on Undercover Tourist. They did have annual and seasonal passes for cheaper though, so we ended up getting seasonal passes for 299. :)

And we maaaay already be gathering advice/planning for bringing a 7-8 month old to WDW next year. ;)

Thank you so much for all the advice, everyone. It has been invaluable!
 





Receive up to $1,000 in Onboard Credit and a Gift Basket!
That’s right — when you book your Disney Cruise with Dreams Unlimited Travel, you’ll receive incredible shipboard credits to spend during your vacation!
CLICK HERE



New Posts







DIS Facebook DIS youtube DIS Instagram DIS Pinterest DIS Tiktok DIS Twitter DIS Bluesky

Back
Top Bottom