To Annual Pass or not to annual pass...!!

[Whisky In A VAse]

This year we are going to Florida for 17 nights....10 @ Disney and 7 night cruise. Of the 10 nights we plan on spending 7 in the Disney parks, with a couple of them days park hopping. We are staying off site.

Next year we are planning another Florida trip, but will be spending the time in and around Disney again the plan is to stay off site.

We are a family of 4, 2 adults & 2 children.

Not booked next years trip yet, but as long as our jobs and circumstances remain the same we plan to travel at a similar time of year.

So I am really open to pro's and con's as I really can't decide...

Also, where is the best place to purchase annual passes for the best deal?

Cheers

Neil

 

[Elise79]

Firstly, the easy bit Annual passes can only be purchased from Disney. They offer 2 an Annual Pass which covers the 4 main parks and then the premium annual pass which covers 4 main parks, 2 water parks, Disney Quest & Oak trail golf.

If you can time it so you travel before the AP expires it will be cheaper than buying 2 sets of tickets. You will also get free parking at the parks.

We have AP's and we will be getting 3 trips and around 40 park days out of them so for us they have been great value.

The question is are you comfortable paying the money for the AP's in the thought you will probably be back next year?

 

[crabbie1]

I was toying with doing(buying one annual pass)this but cant get the free dining plan although going back hopefully next year..I looked at buying the TIW card which gives 20% discount on most resturants but read the 18% gratuity is automatically added. Havent dismissed it but need to look to see if its worth it.

 

[Pegasus928]

I was toying with doing(buying one annual pass)this but cant get the free dining plan although going back hopefully next year..I looked at buying the TIW card which gives 20% discount on most resturants but read the 18% gratuity is automatically added. Havent dismissed it but need to look to see if its worth it.

Yes the 18% is automatically added. We just looked at it that we were prepaying for the tips for both our trips

We have had both Disney and Universal AP and in our experience the Universal one gave us a lot more for our money. The discounts were a lot more widely available throughout all the outlets and most of the restaurants - without having to go and buy a separate TIW card like you do with Disney.
Having said that if we ever found ourselves in a position where we can go again twice in a year I wouldnt hesitate to get APs.

 

[Elise79]

I was toying with doing(buying one annual pass)this but cant get the free dining plan although going back hopefully next year..I looked at buying the TIW card which gives 20% discount on most resturants but read the 18% gratuity is automatically added. Havent dismissed it but need to look to see if its worth it.

The 18% is automatically added however as you would be tipping anyway does it actually make a difference? Also if service is really bad you can speak to a manager and get the tip removed or reduced.

TIW saved us money over buying the DDP but free dining it wouldn't. It benefited us as DD is under 3 and othe DDP would get credits so all her meals would have been full price and it covered our alcoholic drinks too We also eat were we want rather than worrying if it is good value on the DDP.

The other thing to remember is you get room only discounts through Disney US. We had 42% off the CR last November.

 

[T16GEM]

DH and I are currently going throught this dilemma at the moment too

We are certain that we are going next year because we are going with DH's parents, I was almost set that we would be getting APs and then on Friday DH said that he may want to change the time of year that we are going.

We are a family of 4 and I worked out on a spreadsheet that we would save £317.43 (very accurate!) if we had the standard passes, factoring in the cost of parking etc, but we wouldn't have water park access whereas we usually buy the 10 day waterpark fun and more ticket so I was basing my pricing on that. If we were to go for the premium passes it would cost us £3.82 more I love Aquatica though and was thinking that I would go to Aquatica more, as we were thinking of getting the AP for SW, BG and AQ. And then I wouldn't mind missing out TL and BB.

I'm really waiting to see the cost of flights before we decide. Obvioulsy as we can only buy them direct from Disney anyway we would go to DTD when we get there to purchase. The other thing is that we have already bought a full set of 10 day passes before we thought of the 2nd trip, so we have got thos if we decide not to go with AP.

Disney Tickets......it's a minefield out there!

 

[crabbie1]

The 18% is automatically added however as you would be tipping anyway does it actually make a difference? Also if service is really bad you can speak to a manager and get the tip removed or reduced.

TIW saved us money over buying the DDP but free dining it wouldn't. It benefited us as DD is under 3 and othe DDP would get credits so all her meals would have been full price and it covered our alcoholic drinks too We also eat were we want rather than worrying if it is good value on the DDP.

The other thing to remember is you get room only discounts through Disney US. We had 42% off the CR last November.

Without going into a big debate about tipping I dont like being told I have to tip 18%. I see what you are saying but 18% is a suggested amount and I do normally leave that or even more and have only left a very low tip 3 times as server was rude ,one we saw once and the other was dam right rude and pointed out the tip wasnt included!!!
I have sat and worked it out and for us it is better not to get the TIW card/annual pass as my mom is coming this time.
Thanks for the advice though

 

[Whisky In A VAse]

DH and I are currently going throught this dilemma at the moment too

We are certain that we are going next year because we are going with DH's parents, I was almost set that we would be getting APs and then on Friday DH said that he may want to change the time of year that we are going.

We are a family of 4 and I worked out on a spreadsheet that we would save £317.43 (very accurate!) if we had the standard passes, factoring in the cost of parking etc, but we wouldn't have water park access whereas we usually buy the 10 day waterpark fun and more ticket so I was basing my pricing on that. If we were to go for the premium passes it would cost us £3.82 more I love Aquatica though and was thinking that I would go to Aquatica more, as we were thinking of getting the AP for SW, BG and AQ. And then I wouldn't mind missing out TL and BB.

I'm really waiting to see the cost of flights before we decide. Obvioulsy as we can only buy them direct from Disney anyway we would go to DTD when we get there to purchase. The other thing is that we have already bought a full set of 10 day passes before we thought of the 2nd trip, so we have got thos if we decide not to go with AP.

Disney Tickets......it's a minefield out there!

You are feeling the same as us about this..... Your right, it is a minefield..
We are also looking at flight prices and they seem expensive for Jan 12, which is the latest you can look. We have a few weeks yet before we need to decide though...v

 

[T16GEM]

We are also looking at flight prices and they seem expensive for Jan 12, which is the latest you can look.

Flights are very expensive for next year, I can't see them coming down either