To AP... or not to AP....

[boscoast]

Hi friends! I am about to go on my 3rd of 4 Disney trips in 12 months, and am figuring I should just bite the bullet and get an AP for myself and for my girlfriend. I'd love others opinions, both on the whether it is worth it for us, where we may find value in the pass, etc.

We have a lot of very serious financial goals - both of us are in grad school, but neither of us are paying for it (I work at a university and she has a full ride) and will graduate in 2021; we plan to buy a house shortly after. We are pouring money into our savings for that reason. I actually have a full time day job and a seasonal, 8 month a year full time night job that I go to after my day job, so we take relaxing and rewarding ourselves for this hard work very seriously, hence all of our Disney long weekends since we started our respective grad programs this past September.

We already spent $426 each on tickets for Sept which I would be able to upgrade to an AP. We have a trip planned next weekend, 3 days/2 nights, where we initially planned to just get the dining plan, not do any parks, and lounge by the pool to truly relax. We ultimately decided, considering the Florida summer, to get a water park annual pass for this trip but I haven't purchased it yet. So we would spend $148 each on a water park annual pass so factor that to $578 already put towards the $1,298.24 platinum plus pass.

We'd need to find $724 worth of additional value to make it worth it to upgrade to the AP. We don't have any future trips planned after Sept but WOULD plan them if we had the AP because I have a ton of JetBlue points and we can take multiple free flights per year. We are in our mid/late 20s so this is (lol) our time where we don't own a home or have kids yet and have the cash and time to bob down to Orlando for the weekend; so realistically 2 more (even short) trips would make it pay for itself?

But that said, the reality is, we will go to the parks less without the annual pass, both in terms of number of trips to Orlando and actual days spent in parks on the trips we do take. We love resort days and being at a hotel and eating, but would enjoy the flexibility of being able to go into the parks whenever, especially for dinner or to do a few things rather than feel like we have to cram in everything. The dining discounts aren't really a factor because I already have a Disney Visa and get 10% off at a bunch of places but we love the DxDP anyway and almost always get that and share some credits with local friends, making it worth it. We also don't drive while at Disney, so the parking discounts aren't worthwhile.

I spent about $200 on park tickets per person for a trip back in Feb 2019, and another $200 last September, 2018, so we clearly are on a Disney kick and I should have just bought the APs last Sept....but for both of those trips we didn't have plans for another trip after! Realistically in the year span of the AP, we would probably do two short long weekend trips on top of the two we already have planned this month and in Sept, so that would be an additional $500ish of park tickets per person if we chose to buy 2 day park tickets for 2 mini trips.

In light of all of this and our financial goals, does this seem crazy or worth it? Does it seem like we would be able to carve another $724 worth of value out of the passes? Part of finding $724 worth of value is spending more money to "achieve" the discounts per se, ie you have to spend money on a hotel room to take advantage of an AP discount, so I worry that we will just end up spending a lot more than we would otherwise plan for... but I also feel like maybe it's worth it and will let us be flexible? Part of me also feels like maybe we should do some other things after what will be 4 Disney vacations in 12 months, but that brings me back to well we are at a point in our life where we CAN do this so maybe we just should take the dive?

Can you tell I have spent so much time thinking about this and can't land on a decision?

 

[barkley]

Part of finding $724 worth of value is spending more money to "achieve" the discounts per se, ie you have to spend money on a hotel room to take advantage of an AP discount, so I worry that we will just end up spending a lot more than we would otherwise plan for..

this would prevent me from doing it. that $724 isn't taking into consideration what you will spend additionally to use the pass. i think you may find yourself feeling like you have to justify what you paid for it by using it which results in more money spent which not only eliminates any savings but costs so much more in the long run.

we plan to buy a house shortly after. We are pouring money into our savings for that reason

the more you can save towards this the better. what may be affordable housing wise today could be totally out of your price range in 2021 short of another housing market crash. i live in a historically crazy stable housing market (didn't experience near the impact of the crash other places did) but my home has increased in value by 25% over the last 2 years so a potential buyer would have to come up with much more out of pocket today/long term via mortgage/property taxes/insurance... than if they had looked at it 2 years ago and set the goal to save to buy it.


disclaimer-i have a universal trip planned in december and am buying 4 annual passes BUT only b/c their most restrictive one w/ big blackout dates is good for our entire stay and much less expensive than buying traditional park entrance. these passes will never be used again (cost to travel/hotel/meals is excessive and would never justify any of the savings of the passes vs. the pay per entry).

 

[rg35]

That's the "hook" - buy something that convinces you that you need to take more Disney vacations.

We bought DVC (resale) in 2012 and while the pitch is that you pay upfront to save money on lodging in the long run, the reality is that you don't really "save" any money because you're taking more trips to Disney than you might have if you didn't buy DVC.

It's basically the same thing with an AP. You will think of ways to make your AP purchase worthwhile. I bought Gold APs this year and we intentionally planned for our 2019 and 2020 trips to take advantage of that since it actually is cheaper than buying multi day parks passes for two trips. But I'm definitely not going to be looking to squeeze in more trips because we have these APs.

In any case, it sounds like you work hard and enjoy vacationing at Disney to get away from the grind, and you already had 4 trips planned before buying APs. You're only young once and it sounds like both you and your partner are pretty financially responsible (and graduating w/o student debt is a huge advantage) so I say you should do it. When I was young and in college I never went to Europe or did any of the cool travel that my friends all seemed to be doing. Now that I'm in my 40's with three kids I realize that the opportunity to experience those things is long past. I think if you can afford the passes and you'd otherwise be buying park passes for these trips that you already booked, you should just get the APs and enjoy yourself. You're only young once.

 

[gottalovepluto]

If you can afford it while still meeting your budget goals I’d do it. Grab the moment while you’ve got it sort thing.

 

[barkley]

That's the "hook" - buy something that convinces you that you need to take more Disney vacations.

We bought DVC (resale) in 2012 and while the pitch is that you pay upfront to save money on lodging in the long run, the reality is that you don't really "save" any money because you're taking more trips to Disney than you might have if you didn't buy DVC.

absolutly-though when we bought it we only used it for disney a few times.

we bought back in 1999 when they offered allot of trade-outs with other resorts and a couple of cruise lines which we were more interested in. we would bank our points to maximize them so we only used them every couple of years but managed to do 2 disney cruises/wdw stays (and one 10 day wdw stay), a non disney alaskan cruise and another long stay at disneyland. i got a gut feeling in early 2008 that we needed to sell b/c things were changing on the trade-outs and the maintenance fees kept going up so we listed it. managed to sell just weeks before the stock market crashed and nothing was selling. in the end we sold for over our purchase price enough that it covered the commission to the selling company as well as everything we had ever paid into it. i actually still have 1 day's admission from one of the old non expiring park hopper passes that may or may not get used some day.

the people that really made out were the ones who owned during the period of time free park admission was included with the purchase (lots of people were ticked when that went away).

 

[MickeyMouseCD524]

I would only do it if I had the trips planned like we went in December for 10 days in 2018 and bought APs because it was more cost effective for the trip and I knew we would be book ending our cruise in September with some time in the parks.

 

[Marionnette]

I would only do it if I had the trips planned like we went in December for 10 days in 2018 and bought APs because it was more cost effective for the trip and I knew we would be book ending our cruise in September with some time in the parks.

^^This!!!

I did convince my daughter to upgrade to an AP when we were there in April. But that was because we were there for 7 nights/8 days, she will take another 5night/6 day trip in Dec for a conference and the she’s going again for 4 nights/5 days to run the Princess Half in February. With 19 days planned in one year’s time, it just made sense.

OTOH, buying an AP and then planning additional trips to justify the purchase is not a good idea.

 

[boscoast]

OTOH, buying an AP and then planning additional trips to justify the purchase is not a good idea.

That's totally true and I know it's how they "get you" - but where we have already been planning last minute recurring trips over the last year (Sept 18, Feb 19, July 19, Sept 19), and have been basically going to Disney anytime we had a want to, I don't entirely feel like it would create a compulsion to spend more money than we have been. Sure, the future trips aren't planned yet, but we have been on this trend of "what if we go to Disney next weekend" (with the exception of the upcoming Sept trip with our large family which was planned much more in advance) which is where I feel like it could be worthwhile to just go for gold and get the APs before we decide again in Nov, or in Jan, or in March that we want to jump on a flight deal and head down for a quick vacation/warm weather.

Another factor I realized is that on our Sept family vacation, no one in our family is on the dining plan; there are 9 of us, all adults who love eating and drinking. I did some quick conservative math and there would be 300-400 worth of savings with Tables in Wonderland; I am certain my family would want to split the $150 membership, so despite that being another ballooning cost it would really only be $16 per person. Obviously the savings there would be shared throughout the party as well, not $300-400 worth of personal savings for me, but definitely a solid pro of getting the AP. We also would get the minimal advantage of 20% off most drinks/food we order off the dining plan on our July trip as well.

 

[J'aime Paris]

YOLO!!

(As long as you can afford it....I'm not about overextending oneself...)

 

[MickeyMouseCD524]

That's totally true and I know it's how they "get you" - but where we have already been planning last minute recurring trips over the last year (Sept 18, Feb 19, July 19, Sept 19), and have been basically going to Disney anytime we had a want to, I don't entirely feel like it would create a compulsion to spend more money than we have been. Sure, the future trips aren't planned yet, but we have been on this trend of "what if we go to Disney next weekend" (with the exception of the upcoming Sept trip with our large family which was planned much more in advance) which is where I feel like it could be worthwhile to just go for gold and get the APs before we decide again in Nov, or in Jan, or in March that we want to jump on a flight deal and head down for a quick vacation/warm weather.

Another factor I realized is that on our Sept family vacation, no one in our family is on the dining plan; there are 9 of us, all adults who love eating and drinking. I did some quick conservative math and there would be 300-400 worth of savings with Tables in Wonderland; I am certain my family would want to split the $150 membership, so despite that being another ballooning cost it would really only be $16 per person. Obviously the savings there would be shared throughout the party as well, not $300-400 worth of personal savings for me, but definitely a solid pro of getting the AP. We also would get the minimal advantage of 20% off most drinks/food we order off the dining plan on our July trip as well.

I mean so long as you crunch the numbers and it works for you. then why not. It does seem like you've already thought extensively about it. I will say this. If you get a Tables in Wonderland card the dining plan is absolutely not worth it unless it's free. We saved so much with that card in December and being able to not worry about doing math for the tip.

 

[Marionnette]

That's totally true and I know it's how they "get you" - but where we have already been planning last minute recurring trips over the last year (Sept 18, Feb 19, July 19, Sept 19), and have been basically going to Disney anytime we had a want to, I don't entirely feel like it would create a compulsion to spend more money than we have been. Sure, the future trips aren't planned yet, but we have been on this trend of "what if we go to Disney next weekend" (with the exception of the upcoming Sept trip with our large family which was planned much more in advance) which is where I feel like it could be worthwhile to just go for gold and get the APs before we decide again in Nov, or in Jan, or in March that we want to jump on a flight deal and head down for a quick vacation/warm weather.

Another factor I realized is that on our Sept family vacation, no one in our family is on the dining plan; there are 9 of us, all adults who love eating and drinking. I did some quick conservative math and there would be 300-400 worth of savings with Tables in Wonderland; I am certain my family would want to split the $150 membership, so despite that being another ballooning cost it would really only be $16 per person. Obviously the savings there would be shared throughout the party as well, not $300-400 worth of personal savings for me, but definitely a solid pro of getting the AP. We also would get the minimal advantage of 20% off most drinks/food we order off the dining plan on our July trip as well.

I think that you’ve already convinced yourself that it’s a sound decision. So just go with it.

 

[siren0119]

Another factor I realized is that on our Sept family vacation, no one in our family is on the dining plan; there are 9 of us, all adults who love eating and drinking. I did some quick conservative math and there would be 300-400 worth of savings with Tables in Wonderland; I am certain my family would want to split the $150 membership, so despite that being another ballooning cost it would really only be $16 per person. Obviously the savings there would be shared throughout the party as well, not $300-400 worth of personal savings for me, but definitely a solid pro of getting the AP. We also would get the minimal advantage of 20% off most drinks/food we order off the dining plan on our July trip as well.

Apologies if you already knew this, but it bears mentioning that when you have Tables in Wonderland, the TiW membership holder generally must pay the bill for the whole table in order to get the discount applied to the full bill. Even if your family pitches in on the membership fee for you to get a TiW card, it will be in your name and according to their policy you have to be the one to pay the bill. Granted there are some restaurants who may be willing to be lax in enforcing that policy, but that is the expected standard.

Just something to be aware of if thats the plan you move forward with

 

[MickeyMouseCD524]

Apologies if you already knew this, but it bears mentioning that when you have Tables in Wonderland, the TiW membership holder generally must pay the bill for the whole table in order to get the discount applied to the full bill. Even if your family pitches in on the membership fee for you to get a TiW card, it will be in your name and according to their policy you have to be the one to pay the bill. Granted there are some restaurants who may be willing to be lax in enforcing that policy, but that is the expected standard.

Just something to be aware of if thats the plan you move forward with

^ Yes this is very true. When we went in December we just had everyone Venmo or PayPal us if we were splitting and it worked out fine. But definitely something to be aware of

 

[Cruising Engineer]

If the numbers work for you and you are comfortable with the decision, just do it. Sounds like your weekend get-a-ways are what you enjoy doing and having the airline points really helps. Once you graduate, get jobs, and get the house, things will change. Enjoy it while you can. I'm a graduate student also, but paying for it. One trip a year to WDW is it for us.

 

[rg35]

the people that really made out were the ones who owned during the period of time free park admission was included with the purchase (lots of people were ticked when that went away).

My grandparents bought DVC in '93 when that was still a perk/incentive. It was great when we went on family trips because it really reduced the cost of going to Disney. But they did seem to know that it would be phased out at some point.

 

[stephk1981]

Only you know if it's going to be worth it based off of looking at ticket prices for each trip by how much the tickets will be.......if you are still at $724 loss by getting an AP pass an need to ' find that savings'. Then no, I wouldn't do it. As an AP holders you can get higher discounts on resort as well, but unless you are staying deluxe each trip, I doubt it will save $724. Yes TIW card is a savings, but I don't know if it's a $724 savings. You are saving to buy a home....(possibly children after...who knows what will come!) I wouldn't do it right now( this is an opinion only!) I waited until I was married, through law school, had bought a home and had a 2 year old before going down the AP road. It is addictive to continue to renew as well. Once we did my husband was already through his Masters and we had definite financial stability ( meaning a decent amount of extra cash flow.) I was in my late twenties by then.

However, if you feel like this is the way to go for you and GF then do it......your money, your life. Whatever you decide, I do hope you and GF have amazing trips this year, and find the perfect home for you two!

 

[boscoast]

Only you know if it's going to be worth it based off of looking at ticket prices for each trip by how much the tickets will be.......if you are still at $724 loss by getting an AP pass an need to ' find that savings'. Then no, I wouldn't do it. As an AP holders you can get higher discounts on resort as well, but unless you are staying deluxe each trip, I doubt it will save $724. Yes TIW card is a savings, but I don't know if it's a $724 savings. You are saving to buy a home....(possibly children after...who knows what will come!) I wouldn't do it right now( this is an opinion only!) I waited until I was married, through law school, had bought a home and had a 2 year old before going down the AP road. It is addictive to continue to renew as well. Once we did my husband was already through his Masters and we had definite financial stability ( meaning a decent amount of extra cash flow.) I was in my late twenties by then.

However, if you feel like this is the way to go for you and GF then do it......your money, your life. Whatever you decide, I do hope you and GF have amazing trips this year, and find the perfect home for you two!

Thank you!! We currently live in an apt in a tough housing market (major city), but are both from close suburbs and hoping to move back out in that direction

 

[boscoast]

Apologies if you already knew this, but it bears mentioning that when you have Tables in Wonderland, the TiW membership holder generally must pay the bill for the whole table in order to get the discount applied to the full bill. Even if your family pitches in on the membership fee for you to get a TiW card, it will be in your name and according to their policy you have to be the one to pay the bill. Granted there are some restaurants who may be willing to be lax in enforcing that policy, but that is the expected standard.

Just something to be aware of if thats the plan you move forward with

Yes, thanks for flagging! We have a Disney Visa at the moment, so we were already planning to put everything from the 9 person trip in Sept on that to access the 10% discount since we are eating 4/6 meals at places that offer the Disney Visa discount. We're not splitting up for any of the meals, with the exception of one person who will be splitting from the group to hang out with local friends a few times. It will be nice to get the rewards dollars, although compared to our JetBlue card the rewards rate feels so paltry.

It makes me really appreciate that the four 60-something-year-olds all have Venmo!

 

[Pooh2]

We are empty nesters and bought our first AP this year.
The savings have been great on hotels, meals and merchandise but we are definitely way over our usual budget. No matter how much money we've have saved, Disney wins every time!
We will probably not renew our pass but intend to squeeze tons of fun out of it this year.
For us, we are happy with the purchase.

 

[stephk1981]

Thank you!! We currently live in an apt in a tough housing market (major city), but are both from close suburbs and hoping to move back out in that direction

That makes it tough! Nothing to do with your thread....but we have moved quite a bit due to husband's job. If you can wait for a buyer's market ( given there ever is one in your area....we have lived in some large cities to where it is always hard to buy and snag a good price!) Anyway, if you have that option, keep renting until then.....it will be worth it! I wish you a lot of luck and patience throughout your buying/ moving process

And.... congratulations to both of you finishing up graduate school soon.....while saving for a house especially!!!! I never had that diligence while in school, way to go