Should I renew annual passes

[Spikester]

I just checked the renewal for my annual pass (out of state) is $1175. I checked a 3 day park hopper pass, and looking at the dates through the year, they seem to range from about $140 per day up to $166 per day. So averaging it at $150 per day, it is only 8 days at the parks to even it out. Last 2 trips I only went to the parks one time each trip. But I added on a quick weekend trip starting on Friday. I know I made out to the good on my pass. I am definitely renewing. I have 2 trips I'm definitely doing (race weekends) and probably a few other days here and there.

 

[Donald Duck888]

If you renew would the renewal date be early or late July

That is unfortunately one of the issues. The renew date would be in early May so the renewed pass would expire before it could be used at all in Summer 2023. So It would be a case of July 22, Dec 22 (a bit iffy) and then perhaps one more in early spring 23(not sure on this one).

The other issue effecting all this is travel to and from. We live a bit over 20 hours driving time away so with air travel so unreliable right now (who knows what it will be for the next year) it limits when we can go even more than just school and work schedules do. It's not like we are going to do alot of quick weekend trips unless air travel really improves so the longer trips listed above may be the extent of it.

 

[bakerworld]

That is unfortunately one of the issues. The renew date would be in early May so the renewed pass would expire before it could be used at all in Summer 2023. So It would be a case of July 22, Dec 22 (a bit iffy) and then perhaps one more in early spring 23(not sure on this one).

The other issue effecting all this is travel to and from. We live a bit over 20 hours driving time away so with air travel so unreliable right now (who knows what it will be for the next year) it limits when we can go even more than just school and work schedules do. It's not like we are going to do alot of quick weekend trips unless air travel really improves so the longer trips listed above may be the extent of it.

Personally, I wouldn't renew. If you accomplish 2 trips in the summer months - '22 and '23 - the cost would be less than the AP renewal.

 

[Donald Duck888]

Well, I just wanted to update this. I renewed our AP’s for another year. It was a decision i went back and forth on several times but ultimately decided that with a 6 day trip this Summer and another in either March or April it seemed to be a bit better than break even on the cost. That was even without considering any increase in ticket prices between now and March.

Thanks to all for the responses and advice. It was a really tough decision to make. I feel pretty good about the decision I made but do have to admit I am not really sure I would be 100% satisfied with either of the options. At least this way I have an excuse to try to get to Disney more than i might if I had made the other choice.

 

[Donald Duck888]

one more update. I feel better about my decision now as apparently Swan/Dolphin offer a really good Annual Passholder discount right now so I saved a good bit of money on my Hotel cost for the upcoming trip. All in all it looks like with 2 trips I will now more than break even.

 

[frannn]

We had a similar dilemma and also decided to renew. We just went in May and got an AP discount on resort, food, & merch, and will prob go again in Oct. DD and I have AP but DH does not. He didn't come in May but will for Oct so will need a hopper pass. I would have renewed even if i lost a little $ because I looked at it as insurance. I felt I would've had to spend a lot more if we didn't renew and then decided to go twice this year.

 

[frannn]

Now...please tell me more about the Swan discount

 

[Donald Duck888]

Now...please tell me more about the Swan discount

It is on the Swan/Dolphin site and says 30% off AP discount. It also says “ending soon” though. I did not do the calculation but I was able to get the Swan in July for under $200 a night (base rate, not including the resort fee or taxes). The best i could find before was the teacher discount rate which was about 270 for the Swan and a bit lower for the Dolphin.

 

[gharter]

We are in a similar situation. We are going from 2 weeks to 1 week next year.
For us, it will come down to what 7 days of park hopper vs renewing our AP cost.

 

[Nick6300]

It is on the Swan/Dolphin site and says 30% off AP discount. It also says “ending soon” though. I did not do the calculation but I was able to get the Swan in July for under $200 a night (base rate, not including the resort fee or taxes). The best i could find before was the teacher discount rate which was about 270 for the Swan and a bit lower for the Dolphin.

I saw this too, and it seems like they inflated prices quite a bit before offering this discount. Yes Swan is more expensive than Dolphin, with the add of the new Reserve (they used to be closer together in price), but both are much higher than they were for our upcoming Sept trip, and with their very high resort fees we just couldn't justify them as similar to Value pricing with Deluxe accommodations anymore. We got about $140/night in 2019 via Priceline deal, same cost as Pop for our split. Yes times have changed big time since 2019. I wonder if the status of being paired with the Deluxe on property hotels have allowed them to increase prices further.

It is cool to have the ability to walk to HS/EP and I'm assuming maybe a day of late EP hours and 3rd opportunity for GotG. But it's about $200/day with the modest 15% sale to get the skyliner instead of that walking proximity. With the savings you can also pay for G+.

The direct Marriot site for Swan/Dolphin did have several other discounts for nurses/medical professionals, teachers, I think police maybe, AAA, senior, etc. There's also a few good Marriot credit card promos you could do for points. We have AAA and medical available to us too, and thought they weren't too far off from the AP discount.

 

[Nick6300]

Well, I just wanted to update this. I renewed our AP’s for another year. It was a decision i went back and forth on several times but ultimately decided that with a 6 day trip this Summer and another in either March or April it seemed to be a bit better than break even on the cost. That was even without considering any increase in ticket prices between now and March.

Thanks to all for the responses and advice. It was a really tough decision to make. I feel pretty good about the decision I made but do have to admit I am not really sure I would be 100% satisfied with either of the options. At least this way I have an excuse to try to get to Disney more than i might if I had made the other choice.

I hope you're able to enjoy full use of your AP. We bought out of state APs in Nov., and while we got decent use with the Nov., Dec., May, and upcoming Sept trips, we're leaning towards no on renewing because of anticipating not as many trips after Sept., surging flight costs, we have 2 sets of Sams Club promo APs + a set of old tickets, don't use the other perks for TS or merch (we used the free parking and memory maker though). It is a tough call though. Don't love that they stopped selling them to make it tougher to not renew... as I prefer to take a short break and use my old tickets in 2023 and then buy new APs in 2024. Still lean towards not renewing, but we shall see how strong my conviction holds when I'm having Disney withdrawals. I have a good friend (in Michigan) who is in the same boat, but even with a HS kid, she went about 6-7x on her AP, with 2 wknd trips by herself. She will probably renew, surprised that I'm not.

2015/2016 from Tampa, I skipped maybe only a handful of weekends from WDW to go to Busch, not once going to Universal (felt like a traitor if I did) or going to the beach, even though I could see the water every day. Now, I'm thinking if I took a break, by not renewing, maybe I'll finally try Universal, visit some other places.

 

[Donald Duck888]

Don't love that they stopped selling them to make it tougher to not renew... as I prefer to take a short break and use my old tickets in 2023 and then buy new APs in 2024

I totally agree with this. I would have really liked to wait a month or 2 and then bought new to be more able to maximize possible use.

I saw this too, and it seems like they inflated prices quite a bit before offering this discount

Totally agree here too with the prices being inflated. I too remember getting Swan or Dolphin for around $150 a night not that long ago. I also remember getting BWI and Yacht club for around $300 a night and now they are around $500 for a discounted deal. It is truly crazy how much the Disney experience is going up in price.

My deal actually saved me around $500 over the Teacher discount being offered so I am pretty happy with it Keeping in mind how the total level of cost inflation on all things Disney is really upsetting.

Now if the Dolphin would just return the $350 deposit they charged my card for a Dec trip I cancelled almost 3 weeks ago I will be even happier. So quick to charge the deposit yet so slow to refund the charge when you cancel.

 

[Nick6300]

I totally agree with this. I would have really liked to wait a month or 2 and then bought new to be more able to maximize possible use.


Totally agree here too with the prices being inflated. I too remember getting Swan or Dolphin for around $150 a night not that long ago. I also remember getting BWI and Yacht club for around $300 a night and now they are around $500 for a discounted deal. It is truly crazy how much the Disney experience is going up in price.

My deal actually saved me around $500 over the Teacher discount being offered so I am pretty happy with it Keeping in mind how the total level of cost inflation on all things Disney is really upsetting.

Now if the Dolphin would just return the $350 deposit they charged my card for a Dec trip I cancelled almost 3 weeks ago I will be even happier. So quick to charge the deposit yet so slow to refund the charge when you cancel.

I'd hope you'd get the deposit back quicker. I checked Swan and Dolphin again, and the AP discount was gone. I also saw that their official sites lists Sheridan and something else for each hotel's home page, but still saw Marriott credit card offer at checkout. I thought it was a Marriott site for both hotels as of pretty recently and just thought it was odd. When trying to match up a Priceline Express deal by Bonnet Creek area, 4 star, etc., it had those non Marriott hotels listed (but not Marriott). Do you have any experience with trying to match up an Express deal with Swan/Dolphin?

 

[Nick6300]

I totally agree with this. I would have really liked to wait a month or 2 and then bought new to be more able to maximize possible use.


Totally agree here too with the prices being inflated. I too remember getting Swan or Dolphin for around $150 a night not that long ago. I also remember getting BWI and Yacht club for around $300 a night and now they are around $500 for a discounted deal. It is truly crazy how much the Disney experience is going up in price.

My deal actually saved me around $500 over the Teacher discount being offered so I am pretty happy with it Keeping in mind how the total level of cost inflation on all things Disney is really upsetting.

Now if the Dolphin would just return the $350 deposit they charged my card for a Dec trip I cancelled almost 3 weeks ago I will be even happier. So quick to charge the deposit yet so slow to refund the charge when you cancel.

Did you ever confirm if Swan/Dolphin does allow you to go after a 3rd, 6pm VQ for GotG and late hours Mon & Wed? I want to make sure I'm looking into Dolphin with the Deluxe benefits intact.

 

[Donald Duck888]

I'd hope you'd get the deposit back quicker. I checked Swan and Dolphin again, and the AP discount was gone. I also saw that their official sites lists Sheridan and something else for each hotel's home page, but still saw Marriott credit card offer at checkout. I thought it was a Marriott site for both hotels as of pretty recently and just thought it was odd. When trying to match up a Priceline Express deal by Bonnet Creek area, 4 star, etc., it had those non Marriott hotels listed (but not Marriott). Do you have any experience with trying to match up an Express deal with Swan/Dolphin?

I too would have thought that the refund would come more quickly. I called a few days ago about it and they said it could take up to 14 Business days so I am going to wait a little more to see if it posts to my credit card before calling back as with the holiday it still has not been 14 Business days.

Also, you are correct in that Dolphin is Sheraton and Swan (and reserve) are Westin. I think it is some way of being set up that since Marriott owns both brands they are reserved through Marriott. I do not have any knowledge on Express deals, sorry.

Did you ever confirm if Swan/Dolphin does allow you to go after a 3rd, 6pm VQ for GotG and late hours Mon & Wed? I want to make sure I'm looking into Dolphin with the Deluxe benefits intact.

Not sure on the VQ but I do know that when I stayed at the Swan Reserve earlier this year we were able to get into the early and extended hour events during that trip.

 

[Nick6300]

I too would have thought that the refund would come more quickly. I called a few days ago about it and they said it could take up to 14 Business days so I am going to wait a little more to see if it posts to my credit card before calling back as with the holiday it still has not been 14 Business days.

Also, you are correct in that Dolphin is Sheraton and Swan (and reserve) are Westin. I think it is some way of being set up that since Marriott owns both brands they are reserved through Marriott. I do not have any knowledge on Express deals, sorry.



Not sure on the VQ but I do know that when I stayed at the Swan Reserve earlier this year we were able to get into the early and extended hour events during that trip

I believe I saw a match yesterday with a Westin brand for Swan and it was quite a bit cheaper than official site booking w/ discounts. Didn't know those 2 brands were Marriott owned. Still like $500 more than Pop though for 7 nights. We'd love to be able to walk to EP/HS, but my father in law who's going on this trip loves water parks, so we will have to go one on 3 of the am's, plus they all love AK the most, so that sort of limits the walking advantage for potential EP/HS RD days. The Deluxe late hours - if still M/W only, would be cool. But I don't know how thrilled in laws will be with staying out late and getting up early for RD. I think I've seen a few posting they received a 6pm VQ, but I don't know if you can get it in addition to a 7am or 1pm if staying at a Deluxe. Still trying to decide where we're staying. Begrudgingly bought the inflated airfare yesterday for the 4 of us via SWA. They're nearly 100% higher than 2021 booking, booked same week. So tickets/AP and airfare set, hotel, transportation to and from MCO, and airport parking remaining before ADR and park reservations. So much to do!

 

[dsanner106]

Just faced the same dilemma and decided to extend our passes. We have had them 5 or 6 years now and if I felt they would return by Sept. would have let my may day pass and reupped later. No telling when passes will be avail. again, so renewed

 

[igrsod]

I would renew. I have the same dilemma. If you don't renew, you lose the opportunity.
You never know what can happen, you may just go for a short trip during that year.
I thought when my kids got to high school we wouldn't go as often (so we didn't purchase the DVC we were contemplating). Turns out we went more and after a couple years bought DVC, mad that we spent all that money the previous couple years that could have gone towards our contract. ugh
When mine comes due, I will be renewing. Who knows what the situation will be when/if they bring back new sales.