Reasons you love being an AP

[zobow02]

So many people rant on Disboards (I do it too sometimes) so why not create something positive to talk about.I love being an AP. I love being able to get discounts, and being able to get into the parks with Disney's AP line. I get in twice as fast as other guests with reg tickets.

Does anyone else have their reason for being an AP?

 

[Klayfish]

Actually, that's not always quite the case. We were just there and I'd say 30-50% of the time, the AP line was just as long and in some cases a good bit longer.

What I'd really like to see is an AP line for the toll booth in the parking lot entrances. I can't tell you how many times we've been stuck behind someone who has no idea what's going on, asks the toll booth attendant a million questions and holds up the line.

The AP discount is always nice, my kids like buying things.

 

[goofy4tink]

I've had an AP for almost 15 yrs now...and I live in Mass!!! I used to go down twice a year, then it turned into three times a year. Then, two years ago, my dd started the College Program, now she's a f/t CM.....so, I've been making more frequent trips. I'm up to about 4-5 a year!
I love the shopping discounts!!!

 

[Ben E N]

I like being a photopass mule. I told my brother and sister-in-law to add me as family and friends, and they then went and took 300 photopass pictures during their 5 day Disney trip. I was able to get them all of their images and they were greatly appreciative.

 

[yulilin3]

I'm a local ap holder.
I love being able to go to the park for just a couple of hours without pre planning so much
For example yesterday morning i asked my daughter if she wanted to check out tsland in the evening. I managed to get fp for AS2 we arrived at 7pm, did AS2 with fp, tsm, sdd and st on standby, ate at Woody's lunchbox and left at 10pm.

 

[dlavender]

We love the photopass and the ability to take quick trips without any pressure to hit it all.

Last weekend we popped in and had a great time! We can just leave when tired and we know we can come right back another weekend.

 

[FastPasser.]

I've never had or needed an AP, so I didn't realize what they cost. Just looked it up, wow, especially for a typical family. What's the most popular AP?

 

[loves to dive]

I've had one for about 5 years, the discounts are nice when you can get them but I seem to always either shop where they aren't offered, eat where they aren't offered or stay in a room I can get for less with a general discount so they aren't a driving factor for me. There are times we go through the regular line because it's faster than the AP line so that's not a factor either. I get it because I go more than once a year and it's cheaper than regular tickets. We always buy park hoppers and I just compare numbers. Oh and we don't use the memory maker so that is not a factor either. I do like having one since I know if I get a wild hair and want to pop down for the weekend and can find a room, my tickets are covered. I live about 7 or 8 hours away so it's not a bad drive and sometimes a long weekend at WDW is just what the doctor ordered.

 

[TheRealTeal]

I love not having to plan. We can just decide to go for the day, and don't feel like we have to do everything because we can just come back. It's so low pressure.

 

[Flamingeaux]

We did the AP thing twice. 1st time we made 3 trips and the 2nd AP we made 4 trips!!! Seeing as I plan on retiring in 1.5 years I have been giving thoughts to possibly buying an AP....

 

[yulilin3]

I've never had or needed an AP, so I didn't realize what they cost. Just looked it up, wow, especially for a typical family. What's the most popular AP?

I've stuck with the Gold. I'm only blocked out for the 2ish weeks of Christmas and NYE and Spring Break season. Doing the monthly plan payment for me and my DD comes to about $82 a month so not bad at all, just consider having to pay for parking each time I go, that's $22, since I go to the parks about once a week it pays for itself very quickly

 

[Ben E N]

I've never had or needed an AP, so I didn't realize what they cost. Just looked it up, wow, especially for a typical family. What's the most popular AP?

The main benefit of them that I see is that you can take two trips bookending one year. Such as a July '18 and June '19 trip. That brings the cost of APs down to less than two 8-day tickets. Expensive as heck, yes, but so is anything at Disney.

 

[yulilin3]

I've had one for about 5 years, the discounts are nice when you can get them but I seem to always either shop where they aren't offered, eat where they aren't offered or stay in a room I can get for less with a general discount so they aren't a driving factor for me. There are times we go through the regular line because it's faster than the AP line so that's not a factor either. I get it because I go more than once a year and it's cheaper than regular tickets. We always buy park hoppers and I just compare numbers. Oh and we don't use the memory maker so that is not a factor either. I do like having one since I know if I get a wild hair and want to pop down for the weekend and can find a room, my tickets are covered. I live about 7 or 8 hours away so it's not a bad drive and sometimes a long weekend at WDW is just what the doctor ordered.

shopping and dinning discounts are offered year round, you do have to check ahead of time for them though. Basically every WWDW owned store has the 20% discount, many non Disney owned stores and restaurants offer 10% off

 

[SaintsManiac]

I love the freedom and the discounts.

 

[StacyStrong]

I've never had or needed an AP, so I didn't realize what they cost. Just looked it up, wow, especially for a typical family. What's the most popular AP?

They are expensive, but if you know you're going more than once in a year, you can usually save money right away.

I'm getting my first one in December because I know in going back in April.

 

[Klayfish]

I've never had or needed an AP, so I didn't realize what they cost. Just looked it up, wow, especially for a typical family. What's the most popular AP?

Not sure, but we went with the Platinum Plus or whatever that "top level" one is. Includes water parks, park hopping, etc... We love the water parks, and we figure if we're going to cough up that kind of money, we may as well go for broke (literally...LOL) and give ourselves maximum flexibility and benefits. We're a family of 5, so it ain't cheap.

The main benefit of them that I see is that you can take two trips bookending one year. Such as a July '18 and June '19 trip. That brings the cost of APs down to less than two 8-day tickets. Expensive as heck, yes, but so is anything at Disney.

Yes, exactly this. We've done APs twice and this is exactly what we do. Our most recent one just expired a few days ago. It started July 1st 2017. We did a 17 day trip in July 2017. Then we did about 8 or 9 days at Thanksgiving, 11 days at Xmas and another 17 day trip at the end of June 2018. So we definitely got our money out of it. Not renewing this year, just doing water parks this summer, but plan to start the cycle over again in July 2020.

 

[gharter]

We go twice a year, so the AP works great for us. Cheaper than regular tickets. Love being able to jump park to park if we wish. The discounts are nice, and to my surprise, really like the free memory maker. We used to skip by the photographers. Now, we frequently stop. Love the onride photos and videos as well.

 

[grumpy28]

My favorite thing about having an AP is taking the "just because" mini trips. We are not local, but we go at least 4 times a year. I am always scouring the deals to see if there is a trip deal we can't pass up. We have a family of 5, so driving is essential to save $$. I love my AP!

 

[JBinORL]

As others have said, I love the freedom. We live 20 miles away, and we can stop in, do one or two things, and leave if we want. We've gone into MK and had ice cream sitting on the fake grass, then left. We've gone in to AK and done FOP, had a drink at Nomad Lounge, then left. We just went into HS and rode RNR and visited Toy Story Land for Swirling Saucers, then left. We feel free to explore and do things we wouldn't normally do when we had a limited amount of time.

Add in free parking, shopping discounts, dining discounts, TiW, discounts on special ticketed events like MVMCP, and to us it's worth it. Plus with so many visitors, we can let them plan to do whatever they want so they enjoy it, and we just tag along and help when we can.

 

[larry47591]

This is our first year family of 4 but only need 3 passes. Started out think 3 trips this year. That has turned into 5 quickly thanks to some cheap rooms through a TA. We also got universal annual passes on the last trip in June. We go back in 10days can’t wait. We just figure we will spend 46 days in Florida this year. We live 13 hours away in southern Indiana. The drive isn’t to bad except Atlanta. Totally worth it