Should we buy annual pass or regular tickets?

[FSU Girl]

I have two trips coming up this year. In November for my wedding where we will go to the parks for 4 days and then again for New Years where we will go to the parks for 3 days. We are Florida residents so there isn't a 7 day ticket option so I'd have to buy those separately. Still, it comes out about $400 cheaper than the Premium annual pass (the one we'd need so New Years wouldn't be blacked out) The extra money is a little less than getting another 3 day ticket.

Do you think we should buy the normal tickets and save the $400 since we currently don't have any plans on going in 2019 (we have two honeymoon cruises we are doing which are already big expenses) Or should we get the annual pass because the additional cost would be two weekend trips which could easily happen. If we were to go in 2019 we'd stay off property to save money and the free parking at the parks would help.

 

[CinderellaDream]

I would definitely get the annual pass - even more so because you are a FL resident and weekend trips would be more doable than someone who was not a FL resident. Plus with the AP you can make spontaneous decisions to go for any special events that come up over the course of the year.

 

[FSU Girl]

I would definitely get the annual pass - even more so because you are a FL resident and weekend trips would be more doable than someone who was not a FL resident. Plus with the AP you can make spontaneous decisions to go for any special events that come up over the course of the year.

That sounds good to me My Fiance has been teaching me about budgets and having to actually discuss big purchases before they happen so I have to go to him with good reasoning before I buy

 

[michbaron]

I would maybe buy one annual pass for the memory maker, free parking, discounts, etc and then buy the other tickets separate if there aren’t plans for another trip

 

[Princess_Lisa]

If you are staying offsite, add $22/day ($154 total) for parking. If you plan to add MemoryMaker to one trip, that brings it within $100 the cost of an AP. MemoryMaker for both trips would make the AP cheaper than day tickets. Also, if you buy stuff, you save $21.30* on every $100 spent. You save $10.65* on every $100 spent at most TS places also.

*Not sure if AP discount comes off before or after tax is added.

If you have a ADRs already made, add together the discounts and see if you come out close or ahead. If it is close, I would go with the AP since you can take more trips if you decide to later.

 

[Cloe Colton]

I would maybe buy one annual pass for the memory maker, free parking, discounts, etc and then buy the other tickets separate if there aren’t plans for another trip

agreed, at least one of you should get the AP to get the food and souvenir discounts, plus the free memory maker.

 

[FSU Girl]

If you are staying offsite, add $22/day ($154 total) for parking. If you plan to add MemoryMaker to one trip, that brings it within $100 the cost of an AP. MemoryMaker for both trips would make the AP cheaper than day tickets. Also, if you buy stuff, you save $21.30* on every $100 spent. You save $10.65* on every $100 spent at most TS places also.

*Not sure if AP discount comes off before or after tax is added.

If you have a ADRs already made, add together the discounts and see if you come out close or ahead. If it is close, I would go with the AP since you can take more trips if you decide to later.

I love the math you did! My Fiance is a math guy and these numbers will definitely help with choosing the annual pass. We've never done the MemoryMaker since it's so expensive, but we do like taking pictures with the photopass people so we'd actually get some nice photos out of it which is an added bonus.

We haven't made any ADR's yet, the window hasn't opened up. But we were planning a few for both our trips so there would be definite savings there too.

 

[FSU Girl]

I would maybe buy one annual pass for the memory maker, free parking, discounts, etc and then buy the other tickets separate if there aren’t plans for another trip

agreed, at least one of you should get the AP to get the food and souvenir discounts, plus the free memory maker.

I think we wouldn't buy one of each, it would get a little confusing with trips and too easy if one has an annual pass to book another trip, which would force us to buy more single day tickets so that could get pricey.

 

[Cloe Colton]

I think we wouldn't buy one of each, it would get a little confusing with trips and too easy if one has an annual pass to book another trip, which would force us to buy more single day tickets so that could get pricey.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean. If you have plans for actually doing the weekend trips outside of your two main trips then you should both definitely get the AP. If you really think you will only go those two times, one person having the AP and the other person getting whatever tickets you need doesnt really become that confusing. I myself am the only person in my family with an AP and my husband just gets a three or four day pass depending on how long we are there.

Although we dont live in Florida so odds of us adding additional trips isnt there. (not to say i wont find someone else to travel with lol)

 

[FSU Girl]

I'm not sure I understand what you mean. If you have plans for actually doing the weekend trips outside of your two main trips then you should both definitely get the AP. If you really think you will only go those two times, one person having the AP and the other person getting whatever tickets you need doesnt really become that confusing. I myself am the only person in my family with an AP and my husband just gets a three or four day pass depending on how long we are there.

Although we dont live in Florida so odds of us adding additional trips isnt there. (not to say i wont find someone else to travel with lol)

Well as of right now we have no plans to do weekend trips, we probably would do them if we buy the annual passes to make them worth the purchase. If we don't buy them and just do the normal tickets we might not go at all during 2019, but being only three hours away there's always a possibility we do go for a weekend. Most trips before we got our current annual passes were done spur of the moment so it would hard to predict if we would do this in 2019. Since the annual pass is more expensive we'd have to go at least 4 more days to make the price worth while, if we don't do the extra trips it's kind of a waste of money. Not sure if I explained that well or just talked in circles

 

[gap2368]

I have two trips coming up this year. In November for my wedding where we will go to the parks for 4 days and then again for New Years where we will go to the parks for 3 days. We are Florida residents so there isn't a 7 day ticket option so I'd have to buy those separately. Still, it comes out about $400 cheaper than the Premium annual pass (the one we'd need so New Years wouldn't be blacked out) The extra money is a little less than getting another 3 day ticket.

Do you think we should buy the normal tickets and save the $400 since we currently don't have any plans on going in 2019 (we have two honeymoon cruises we are doing which are already big expenses) Or should we get the annual pass because the additional cost would be two weekend trips which could easily happen. If we were to go in 2019 we'd stay off property to save money and the free parking at the parks would help.

I would not get an AP because you have said that money is tight and you are not planning on going in 2019 the FL AP you would need would be $729 a 4 day FL ticket would be $266 and your 3-day pass would be $241 you would save $222. I think you are staying on site so you get free parking. I think since you have 2 expense curse planed I would skip the AP until letter.

Also, do you live close enough for a day trip or would you need to add a hotel to the cost of the AP?

 

[Texans_loyal]

Hey buddy!
I would go for an AP! Y'all dine/stay on property a lot and the discount will be handy! I just got $80 off of my hotel with my pass! so excited to hear about your wedding!

 

[kniquy]

If you are FL residents and could see going for a weekend hear or there then i would get it -- having the AP will also get you the memory maker, shopping and dining discounts -- so in the end it might save you some money. You might actually find some AP room discounts so when you want to come for just a couple days - it might make sense to stay on property. I also believe that the AP might get free park parking (but don't quote me on that one) so if you stay off site that might be a benefit. It does really boil down to the numbers -- so if buying them is considerably more than what your tickets will be then no it doesn't make sense. Having the passes might be fun for a year where you might want to make those spontaneous trips.

 

[FSU Girl]

I would not get an AP because you have said that money is tight and you are not planning on going in 2019 the FL AP you would need would be $729 a 4 day FL ticket would be $266 and your 3-day pass would be $241 you would save $222. I think you are staying on site so you get free parking. I think since you have 2 expense curse planed I would skip the AP until letter.

Also, do you live close enough for a day trip or would you need to add a hotel to the cost of the AP?

I feel like you're my Fiance's voice of reason lol. It would save a bunch not to get the annual pass. It's just so hard to know if we won't plan another trip, especially since I've gone to Disney every year of my life without missing one so it would be weird not to go. We are three hour drive away, so we could kind of go for the day, but it would be an incredibly exhausting day and probably not worth it not to stay overnight.

 

[FSU Girl]

Hey buddy!
I would go for an AP! Y'all dine/stay on property a lot and the discount will be handy! I just got $80 off of my hotel with my pass! so excited to hear about your wedding!

Hi We definitely stayed at Disney a lot this year, mostly because we had the annual pass and I wanted to get my monies worth out of it. The discount with the pass are really great though. Thanks

 

[FSU Girl]

If you are FL residents and could see going for a weekend hear or there then i would get it -- having the AP will also get you the memory maker, shopping and dining discounts -- so in the end it might save you some money. You might actually find some AP room discounts so when you want to come for just a couple days - it might make sense to stay on property. I also believe that the AP might get free park parking (but don't quote me on that one) so if you stay off site that might be a benefit. It does really boil down to the numbers -- so if buying them is considerably more than what your tickets will be then no it doesn't make sense. Having the passes might be fun for a year where you might want to make those spontaneous trips.

Well right now we have the cheapest Florida resident annual pass and we have gone a lot this year. So we were not considering getting it for next year until I started calculating dates and numbers. Normally we'd always stay on property, but with them charging to park at the hotels I don't think we'll be doing that any time soon. Parking at the parks is free for annual passholders so that would be a saving. It's roughly around the cost of another 3 day ticket so we'd just need to go more than 3 days to make it worth it.

 

[gap2368]

I feel like you're my Fiance's voice of reason lol. It would save a bunch not to get the annual pass. It's just so hard to know if we won't plan another trip, especially since I've gone to Disney every year of my life without missing one so it would be weird not to go. We are three hour drive away, so we could kind of go for the day, but it would be an incredibly exhausting day and probably not worth it not to stay overnight.

I would wait to get an AP latter next year like in November or December 2019 this way you can go next year you will just be saving the AP until then and then you would have a year to use the AP, The only resion why i say this is becuse you have said money is tight and you have 2 cruses next year, ( and I think you are staying club level over new yers eve) I just con not inmagion the cost of this plus a wedding ( I do not know about you but money does not grow on trees for me, I know disney wish it did so we could just give them more money) but do you have the extrea $400 pluse ( hotel, food extra) for an AP ANd I can assure you there will be not disney counts for your hotel room new years eve. not sure about your November trip. and yes I am just like you I love a little under 4 hours away and I try and go as often as I can but I have had to gove things up to keep my AP ( like a Disney cruise ) so I know how hard it is to chose. Also, do you really want to start out your marriage talking about money and worrying if you are going to make it worthwhile for an AP. I think you said your soon to be husband has a great just but what happens if something comes up and he loses it.

 

[Princess_Lisa]

Well right now we have the cheapest Florida resident annual pass and we have gone a lot this year. So we were not considering getting it for next year until I started calculating dates and numbers. Normally we'd always stay on property, but with them charging to park at the hotels I don't think we'll be doing that any time soon. Parking at the parks is free for annual passholders so that would be a saving. It's roughly around the cost of another 3 day ticket so we'd just need to go more than 3 days to make it worth it.

Same, except I upgraded a couple times (Weekday Select --> Silver --> Gold). I've done at least 27 park days over the last 8 months. I am planning a 7 day trip shortly after my AP expires and want to keep PhotoPass. Parking is not applicable as I'm staying onsite and exempted (for this trip) from the overnight parking fee. Renewing is about $83 cheaper than a 7 Day ticket (7 Day Non-Resident is $23 cheaper than 4 + 3 Day FL Resident tickets) plus MemoryMaker and I can continue to do monthly payments.

 

[FSU Girl]

If I do buy the 4 day and 3 day pass how will that work having both in my account at the same time? I'd have to have them both because the November and December trips will fall within the 60 day fast pass window. Will the ticket scanners know which ticket to scan each day?

 

[gap2368]

If I do buy the 4 day and 3 day pass how will that work having both in my account at the same time? I'd have to have them both because the November and December trips will fall within the 60 day fast pass window. Will the ticket scanners know which ticket to scan each day?

I think you can go to GR and make one a priority over one. Also have you seen the all about ticket that @Robo started. https://www.disboards.com/threads/all-about-tickets-upgrades.3570721/