To annual pass or not to annual pass?

[hburke01]

I am going to the world for a week in August with my grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins (age 12 and 10). There will be 4-5 park days on this trip. I am also hoping to visit again in January for another week, 4-5 park days again. On the first trip we will be staying in a deluxe and eating mostly on property. Is getting an annual pass just for myself for the two trips worth it? Do the discounts/benefits outweigh the cost in this case? I am Canadian, and although I would like to do an additional trip in 2019 I am unsure if funds or time will allow.

 

[Robo]

An AP, just for ADMISSION use alone, will be cheaper than buying 2 separate 5-day Hopper tickets. (Very nearly the same price as two 5-day BASE tickets.)

Add the AP's built-in Memory Maker photos and its a done deal, for sure.
(With still many other perks on top of that.)

(Ticket and AP prices HERE.)

 

[IvyWinter]

Honestly, if you are definitely doing 5 days each trip, yes! my first ap i got it for just that reason (though managed to sneak a 3 day trip in as well because having an AP is a great way to make excuses!)

 

[hburke01]

Follow up question. What kind of resort discounts could I anticipate? I know food/merchandise is 10-20% depending on location but wondering about what usually pops up for accommodation discounts (and when it pops up). I have seen conflicting reports on this.

 

[Robo]

Follow up question.
What kind of resort discounts could I anticipate?

Sometimes a nice room discount (depending on the resort.)
Sometimes none.
AP room discounts are not a constant nor consistent thing.
They can change from season to season, yearly.

But, I personally would not buy an AP based on anything other than the actual AP benefits of lower cost park entries and parking, and Memory Maker.
I consider anything else to be "gravy."

 

[StageTek]

I am going to the world for a week in August with my grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins (age 12 and 10). There will be 4-5 park days on this trip. I am also hoping to visit again in January for another week, 4-5 park days again. Is getting an annual pass just for myself for the two trips worth it?

Right now a 4 day Park Hopper is $484 and a 5 day is $470
So two trips is $968 or $940
An AP is $849

 

[Karen46]

I agree if using 2 trips of 5 days, getting an AP is the better option. Memory maker alone is $169 and it works great. We got discounts for dinners, merchandise, tickets for seating for concerts at EPCOT. Rooms discounts are hit or miss. We got it but you never know. It worked out financially better.

 

[DisDreaming4116]

Just be prepared though....it WILL cost you more in the end. I bought an AP in August 2017 with the intention of using it for our Aug '17 and July '18 trips. That turned into additional Sep '17, Oct '17 and Mar '18 trips. As others have said, having that AP makes small trips look VERY enticing.

 

[Karen46]

Just be prepared though....it WILL cost you more in the end. I bought an AP in August 2017 with the intention of using it for our Aug '17 and July '18 trips. That turned into additional Sep '17, Oct '17 and Mar '18 trips. As others have said, having that AP makes small trips look VERY enticing.

You are so correct! Guilty here with that

 

[Liz Z]

Hi everyone

Love having the memory maker. Which makes it worthwhile in itself. And definitely if you have 2 visits for 5 days.


We're also Considering purchasing an AP again but a little conflicted with the new resort parking charges. Does having an AP waive those charges?


Thank You
Liz

 

[Shellyred8]

You are so correct! Guilty here with that

We are guilty of that too!!!

 

[wareagle57]

I'm trying to make the decision right now myself. We have a quick 2 day trip next weekend. I did non PH tickets to save money because we will be back for a full week in December with 5 day PHs. Tickets alone add up to 723, so with memory maker we break even right there. But I don't really want to shell out an extra 1500 for 2 APs right now, and then having to renew next April. My original plan was to become an AP in December so I could use it to come back for a couple of Star Wars trips in 2019 between Oct and December.

The only real difference is, we could have MM for THIS trip, and if we wanted we could go into the parks for about an hour on our departure day and maybe a couple hours our arrival day.

 

[MusicalAstronaut]

Sometimes a nice room discount (depending on the resort.)
Sometimes none.
AP room discounts are not a constant nor consistent thing.
They can change from season to season, yearly.

But, I personally would not buy an AP based on anything other than the actual AP benefits of lower cost park entries and parking, and Memory Maker.
I consider anything else to be "gravy."

This. Sadly the discounts (though heavily advertised) are not guaranteed. If it's cheaper than buying two separate tickets (which it sounds like it will be for you), do it! I would not buy it in anticipation of saving money on hotels.

 

[Monykalyn]

Just be prepared though....it WILL cost you more in the end. I bought an AP in August 2017 with the intention of using it for our Aug '17 and July '18 trips. That turned into additional Sep '17, Oct '17 and Mar '18 trips. As others have said, having that AP makes small trips look VERY enticing.

Me too! Got AP as Dd did college program last fall, and going back in summer. Originally got AP for august, Thanksgiving and DD pickup in Jan, plus a maybe in June-that turned into a girls trip added in October, going earlyf or pickup to spend NYE in parks, spontaneous trip in March (cheap airfare and college kid "missed Disney"), drop off for summer program next month and planned June trip, now also a quick August trip to pick kid up...

Does having an AP waive those charges?

No, but parking at parks is included. Makes staying offsite (even renting a car) much much more enticing and cheaper!