Tickets vs. Pass

[toocherie]

Going "home" in November for first time for seven days. do most DVC members buy the annual pass or do they buy MYW tickets? I may or may not get back to WDW within a year, but in calculating ticket prices there doesn't seem to be that big a difference between buying a 7-day ticket and the discounted pass amount. I know it's somewhat of a gamble as to whether I will get back within the 365 day mark, but I would also hate to pay almost three hundred dollars for a 7-day pass (with expiration) and then actually get back and have to pay again.

Thoughts?

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

It all depends on how you use your points. We originally bought points thinking we'd do one week in a 1-bedroom each year. However, because it's just the two of us, we've found the studios to be very comfortable. This has allowed us to stay two weeks each year instead of the one.

We'll go in August the first year (when we buy the annual pass), then July the next year. That way, we get four weeks out of each pass. There's no way MYW tickets can come close to beating that value.

If you're not going to be there for 10 or more days in a year, you'll want to do the math both ways to see what your best bet is.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We have been using Annual passes ever since we purchased DVC 11 years ago, even when they were not discounted. It was always cheaper for us to do that, since we first used to travel once a year, and would skew our stays by a week or so to get two year's worth of trips on 1 AP. When the DVC discount came along, we continued to do the same thing, except that now we don't wait a full year to return, but usually buy a new voucher when the old one expires and first use it several months later. We tend to go 3 times in 366 days, and then start a new pass 6+ months later to start the process over again.

We like the flexibility of being able to go a park each day and not have to worry about burning a day on a pass. We find we often will go to a park just to do a sit down meal, or just to do one show or attraction. I'd hate to do that and burn a day on a 10 day pass.

 

[goofy4tink]

I have an AP at all times. My dh and dd have MYW 10 day non-expir. hoppers. Dd used to have an AP but now that she can't just up and miss school, she has moved to the hoppers. She goes once a year, dh goes every other year (at most) so the non-expire hoppers work best for them.

 

[abk96]

We bought AP's for the first time last July and it was worth it for our family. We'll be getting our third trip out of them before they expire this summer.

I guess it just depends on how much it will cost for AP's vs. MYW tix. And of course if you can plan another trip before they expire.

By the way, we were supposed to take a trip to Maine this summer but I talked my DH into waiting one more year because we have the AP's after all, right. And it would be a shame to not get one more trip out of them.

Good luck in your decision.

 

[wildernessDad]

Going "home" in November for first time for seven days. do most DVC members buy the annual pass or do they buy MYW tickets? I may or may not get back to WDW within a year, but in calculating ticket prices there doesn't seem to be that big a difference between buying a 7-day ticket and the discounted pass amount. I know it's somewhat of a gamble as to whether I will get back within the 365 day mark, but I would also hate to pay almost three hundred dollars for a 7-day pass (with expiration) and then actually get back and have to pay again.

Thoughts?

I have a rule of thumb, your rule may be different, that if I am going to stay 10 nights or more in a year, then I will get the PAP and not buy a 10-day no expiration park ticket. You are close to that mark. If you feel that you will be going back within the year, than an AP might be best for you. You'll have to assess the likelihood of your coming back within that time.

 

[jjnv]

We use the 10 day non exp with hopper and water park tickets. I bought them through the mousesavers.com link. It was less than $500 shipped. It will last us more than 3 trips since my boys love Disney Quest and water parks. So we are never in the main parks for more than 3-4 days when we go. With the new MYW tickets, you can 10 pluses for 10 day tickets. We will end up with some pluses left. That would good in case we get AP in the future. We can use these for water parks instead of paying for premium AP.

 

[ldo]

we do 2 long days in the parks--going to one park in AM and a different one PM, and 1-2 DQ or WP days and couple of pool/Community HAll/resort/DTD days. Our 10 day passes last us for 5 trips--we are a family of 5---and go every year--so stretching a pass for 5 years is a GOOD thing!

 

[hellerjw]

We like the flexibility of being able to go a park each day and not have to worry about burning a day on a pass. We find we often will go to a park just to do a sit down meal, or just to do one show or attraction. I'd hate to do that and burn a day on a 10 day pass.

This was the deciding factor for us too. We felt we would be back within a year and knowing we can pop into the parks simply to have a meal or watch one show without wasting a day on a pass was what sealed the deal.

 

[toocherie]

I have a rule of thumb, your rule may be different, that if I am going to stay 10 nights or more in a year, then I will get the PAP and not buy a 10-day no expiration park ticket. You are close to that mark. If you feel that you will be going back within the year, than an AP might be best for you. You'll have to assess the likelihood of your coming back within that time.

That was my thought process too . . for the $$$ difference, taking the chance that I will be at WDW more than 10 days in a year does not make sense for me.

Thanks again!

 

[becca-becca]

We are going for 6 days at Christmas and we like park hoppers. We don't think we are going back next year because we are going on a cruise in January 2010. So, I think AP are too expensive if we aren't sure we are going back, however, I can't decide about no exp 10 day park hoppers, because most likely, we will go back the next time for more than 4 days. Any opinions?

 

[veenstra56]

We use the 10 day non exp with hopper and water park tickets. I bought them through the mousesavers.com link. It was less than $500 shipped. It will last us more than 3 trips since my boys love Disney Quest and water parks. So we are never in the main parks for more than 3-4 days when we go. With the new MYW tickets, you can 10 pluses for 10 day tickets. We will end up with some pluses left. That would good in case we get AP in the future. We can use these for water parks instead of paying for premium AP.

We get 10 day tickets for the same reason. We're not huge parkgoers anymore, and so a 10 day ticket will last us two or three years with the no-expiration option. And the 10 water park option will last even longer.

 

[ldo]

non-expire is ONLY a good deal when the unused days will TOTALLY cover the next visit---if you think you will need more days, then you are probably better off justs getting tickets that expire.

 

[PinkTink63]

We always get AP's and get two trips out of them. We did that even before we bought DVC. If you buy the AP, you might be more apt to get back to the World!

 

[maryserv]

This is basically how we do it in our family as well, I have the DVC AP, and I buy 10 day Hopper Non-expirys from the group that Mousesavers works with. I get their Newsletter, and then order the passes. Sometimes they have specials and usually free shipping. I did this year allow my AP to lapse without renewing, simply because I knew that we were using our points in 2007 to go to Tanque Verde Ranch instead of Disney.