Sorcerer's Pass questions

[ClaraOswald]

We are debating if we should alter our future plans and get a Sorcerer's pass.

We plan to go to WDW for 7 nights in January 2027 and January 2028. We like to go after MLK day. Arrive on a Saturday and leave on a Saturday. (Or Sunday to Sunday, if flights are better.) The plan is to buy 6-day hoppers for both trips.

I did the math and I think we'd save a few hundred dollars if we try to plan the two trips within the same 12 month period. So maybe do January 30th - February 6th, 2027 (would need to double check our points since Feb is more.) And then January 22nd - January 29th, 2028.

So here are my questions about the pass. I read about it but I'm still a bit unclear on a few things.

Would we have to wait and purchase it the day we arrive (theoretically, January 30th)?
Is it hard to get reservations the morning of or night before? We often don't know which park we want to go to until the night before.)

 

[ClaraOswald]

Also....is this too risky? Because if we would need to cancel our 2028 trip due to illness or anything else...then we would have wasted roughly $1400 or so by only taking 1 trip with those annual passes.

 

[CarolynFH]

We are debating if we should alter our future plans and get a Sorcerer's pass.

We plan to go to WDW for 7 nights in January 2027 and January 2028. We like to go after MLK day. Arrive on a Saturday and leave on a Saturday. (Or Sunday to Sunday, if flights are better.) The plan is to buy 6-day hoppers for both trips.

I did the math and I think we'd save a few hundred dollars if we try to plan the two trips within the same 12 month period. So maybe do January 30th - February 6th, 2027 (would need to double check our points since Feb is more.) And then January 22nd - January 29th, 2028.

So here are my questions about the pass. I read about it but I'm still a bit unclear on a few things.

Would we have to wait and purchase it the day we arrive (theoretically, January 30th)?

No, you could buy them anytime within a year of the first day you plan to use them. They don’t become active and start their year ticking until the first time you use them to enter a park.

Is it hard to get reservations the morning of or night before? We often don't know which park we want to go to until the night before.)

Well, we’re here now, and this morning I canceled the reservation for DHS I had made weeks ago because we decided to do something else. Later this afternoon we decided to visit MK, so I made a reservation then.

It’s rare for reservations to sell out, usually only at the most crowded times e.g. Christmas to New Year’s week.

 

[CarolynFH]

Also....is this too risky? Because if we would need to cancel our 2028 trip due to illness or anything else...then we would have wasted roughly $1400 or so by only taking 1 trip with those annual passes.

Unfortunately only you can say how much risk you’re willing to take on. If you never activate them, the amount you paid for each ticket turns into a credit that can be applied to the purchase of another ticket of equal or greater value. But if you use them for one trip and not the second, then yes, you’ve lost some value.

 

[Genie+]

Also....is this too risky? Because if we would need to cancel our 2028 trip due to illness or anything else...then we would have wasted roughly $1400 or so by only taking 1 trip with those annual passes.

I think it comes down to how high that risk is for you.

From my own perspective, if we had the same dates planned as you, it would be a slim chance of maybe 5 or 10% that something would stop us from taking the second trip. I’d likely make our back up plan for that: renew the AP and reschedule trip #2, then also plan to late Jan again before 24 months runs out. Taking 3 trips would likely come near breaking even on an AP plus one renewal.

But if our risks of cancelling were much higher, then doubling down could end up making things worse. I’m pretty confident we’d at least manage 3 trips over 24 months if that was what it took to salvage only getting one trip done on the first AP.

Consider your risks, then think of some feasible back-up plans and how likely you are to pull them off.

 

[muppets3d]

There are sometimes random days where a particular park's reservations are sold out. It is rare these days but it does happen. For example the website shows that EPCOT's reservations were sold out today.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I think it comes down to how high that risk is for you.

From my own perspective, if we had the same dates planned as you, it would be a slim chance of maybe 5 or 10% that something would stop us from taking the second trip. I’d likely make our back up plan for that: renew the AP and reschedule trip #2, then also plan to late Jan again before 24 months runs out. Taking 3 trips would likely come near breaking even on an AP plus one renewal.

But if our risks of cancelling were much higher, then doubling down could end up making things worse. I’m pretty confident we’d at least manage 3 trips over 24 months if that was what it took to salvage only getting one trip done on the first AP.

Consider your risks, then think of some feasible back-up plans and how likely you are to pull them off.

How do you figure that 3 trips would break even on buying an AP and renewing it once? I figured one would need at least 2 trips per year for it to make sense.

The main reason we would ever really need to cancel would be if any of us are too sick to travel. Or if a family member dies or is super sick/near death. As my parents age, that second one gets scarier for me.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I should add we're really only willing to go to WDW in January/February. December...maybe. But not as likely.