Those who live close to the parks

[saju1109]

We are going to purchase the seasonal passes. We have a 1 year old and can't see bringing her to the parks in the middle of the summer. The added parking to the seasonal passes are a nice addition. By the way, I have not been to the parks in many years. What is parking up to now?

 

[Keels]

$20.

 

[saju1109]

$20.

Wow so 3 days for parking w/o the passes will be $60 unless you are staying on site (we are not on site this coming weekend).

 

[Moushe]

We live a few hours away and have the Seasonal Pass (will go with the Silver pass once this one expires). This pass works for us now because we rather avoid the high crowd seasons and our kids are little (1 & 3) so we don't have to worry about scheduling around their school vacations. So far we have 3 five day trips planned for 2016. I'm sure as the kids get older our touring habits will change a bit.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

We are going in a few weeks and only live a few hrs from the parks. How often do you go and do you find it worth it to purchase annual/seasonal passes. We plan on purchasing seasonal since we are not crazy enough to go in the summer and during christmas. We think we may go a few times in spring and maybe again in the fall next year.

We did not go as often as I would have liked. But we more than got our money's worth.

Our issue was life with children all the way to high school. Lots of competing schedules. I would have liked to go at least once a month.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

Just to throw it into the mix, we have APs, no block outs. And we go A LOT. I think it's been PACKED the entire Oct/Nov/Dec season while those summer block outs for our locals came off. We will renew with no blockouts, as that's most of the time when out of towners visit too.

We also have SW/BG and LOVE those huge stellar rides and incredibly beautiful aquariums and animal enclosures. We will DEFINITELY renew these. I found SW to be a great option before or picking up for MCO airport without wasting a whole day!

And Universal, well, haven't been in 10 yrs...I like enough but I personally don't care for HP and they don't have any good FLR deals so unless we find a friend to take us free, we just do all the other parks instead and we never miss Universal....

Biggest help for locals are booking seven different days of FPs of 3 attractions and never waiting. No other parks do that for us, so we alternate Disney Parks the most!

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

I live 3 hours on the nose away, and you can see from my signature I get a lot of use out of my AP!

 

[DrivenByDisney]

We live about 10 minutes from the parks and we go at least once a week to multiple parks. AP holder since 1989. We love the parks and that was the main reason we actually moved to Orlando about a year ago, was to spend more time where we spent all of our down times.

Living so close affords us the ability to not have to worry about rushing to keep up with rides, ADR's, etc. We can go, stroll around or just ride rides over & over again if we like. We also shoot out there for dinner many evenings as well.

Our passes and Tables card has more than paid for itself several times over. Nothing has worn off for us going so much to the parks and other Disney activities.

 

[dISNEYlOveer]

We live about an hour and a half away and use our Premium APs a lot. Usually at least once a month maybe more depending on whats going on and if family is down visiting. But with the pass, you also get discounts on so many things so even if we're not going into the parks, we can use it at Disney Springs. So it pays for itself.

 

[dyna]

I live 45 mins from the parks in the past we have had reg AP's but now that the week day pass includes parking we got that which has some black out dates that we usually would not go anyway. We are in the parks at least once a week sometimes more. If we decide to go on a weekend for some special reason got at least 4 friends that are CM's that can get us in.

 

[xApril]

I'm about twenty minutes away and I usually make it out at least once a week or at least once every other week. I've grown up with my dad working there but ended up getting an annual pass two years ago so he wouldn't have to get me in. Even after going this long, I still love it. Theme parks are in my blood.

 

[Eeyore's My Favorite]

I live 1 1/2 hours away from WDW & up until last month we had the Florida Residents Weekday APs, and we went at least once a month plus had stays onsite of at least 4-5 days every couple of months. But with the cost increase & other issues we've decided not to renew them this go round. I'll miss WDW but have begun saving again for the APs & more onsite stays.

 

[evilqueenmindy]

I live 90 min away, for me the seasonal pass is the way to go. I would avoid summer and holidays anyway, and you still get pretty great rates on the resorts (even during blackout times, it's fun to do a quick weekend non- park trip)
We take 3-4 trips a year varying between 2 and 4 nights, and head over to the parks A few times a month for a day. It's totally worth the investment in my opinion

 

[katt789]

As someone who lives as far as Canada and has been a passholder for years, it's always worth it if you're doing more than 2 trips of 5 days...that usually pays for itself (i can't speak for increase in prices recently but that's been my knowledge in the past). Add in food & hotel discounts, free parking,etc

 

[Stefecatzz]

I'm a 2 1/2 hour drive & have had the regular AP for a few years now w/no blockout dates. I realized that I have only gone during a blockout date range twice within the past few years & recently have been avoiding those times anyway so I will renew with the Silver pass this year. I have been going for a few nights at a time every 2-3 months so I get my money's worth. I've also been taking advantage of the great deals for rooms w/the Passholder promotions.

When I make the move to the area, I will have the option to upgrade if I choose so that will be fine.

 

[fla4fun]

I used to live a couple hours away. At that time, they only offered two AP options - four park only or with water parks, etc. We had the four park pass. We probably spent a couple weeks and maybe 3-4 weekends at WDW at that time. Now I live about 20 minutes away, and I still get the four park, no blackout pass. I usually spend about four weeks and 2-3 weekends at WDW now.

I just happened to renew the day before the whole change up for AP's happened, so I have time to decide which pass I will go with on renewal. Although most of my trips are within the days the Gold pass would be valid, occasionally I have found myself at WDW on Christmas Day - so I'm still thinking about which pass is best for me.