upgrade GAD ticket or use for special FP option?

[cepmom]

My original plan was to upgrade our GAD vouchers to 3 day hoppers, but then I started thinking about buying passes in advance through Ares Travel and using the GAD vouchers for the special FP option instead.

We are going to be in Anaheim from 8/15 and leaving 8/21. Our plan was to go to Disneyland/California Adventure on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of that week.

I priced out tickets on Ares Travel and I can get 5 day hoppers for the price of 3 days x the 5 of us (all adult tickets) = $895. This would also give us one MM entry which I wouldn't get by upgrading my vouchers at the gate correct?

If I upgrade the vouchers at the gate I will pay $660, giving me a difference of $235. But I will get 2 more days and 1 MM entry, plus FP for each day we will be there.

I don't think we'll use all 5 days admission, but perhaps we would use at least one extra day. Is MM worth it? Will the FP be very helpful during this time period? I think it should be somewhat crowded still during this week right?

What would you do?

 

[kirstie101]

For me, it always depends on how tight the budget is. This is the first time DD will require her own ticket so that makes our budget tighter so we'll be upgrading ours to the 3 day hoppers. The MM's are always nice, but you could buy a lot or do a character meal with the $ you'd be saving.

 

[dmked]

You will still get one MM if you upgrade to a 3 day PH or more at the ticket booths at DL. We did GAD and will be upgrading to a 3 day PH, so we will pay a difference of $132 - they are $204 at the gate - per adult (we might even upgrade to an AP after we use our MM)

We have gone in the summer every time we have gone and have gotten good use out of the regular FPs so to us, the $72 towards admission is more important than getting the special FPs.

We used MM on our last trip and it was certainly nice, but not necessary.

 

[cepmom]

You will still get one MM if you upgrade to a 3 day PH or more at the ticket booths at DL. We did GAD and will be upgrading to a 3 day PH, so we will pay a difference of $132 - they are $204 at the gate - per adult (we might even upgrade to an AP after we use our MM)

We have gone in the summer every time we have gone and have gotten good use out of the regular FPs so to us, the $72 towards admission is more important than getting the special FPs.

We used MM on our last trip and it was certainly nice, but not necessary.

oh I didn't realize I could still get the MM when I upgrade at the gate. I read somewhere that you could only get the MM entry when you purchase in advance (don't remember where I saw that though) good thing to know.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

oh I didn't realize I could still get the MM when I upgrade at the gate. I read somewhere that you could only get the MM entry when you purchase in advance (don't remember where I saw that though) good thing to know.

It looks like you will lose $47 per person in savings if you use the vouchers for FP instead of to purchase tickets. Why not split the difference? Use the vouchers to upgrade 3 family members and buy discounted tickets in advance for the other 2 and use those vouchers for FPs for those days when you plan to arrive later at the parks? -- Suzanne

 

[cepmom]

It looks like you will lose $47 per person in savings if you use the vouchers for FP instead of to purchase tickets. Why not split the difference? Use the vouchers to upgrade 3 family members and buy discounted tickets in advance for the other 2 and use those vouchers for FPs for those days when you plan to arrive later at the parks? -- Suzanne

hmmm...this could work,allowing me to save some money but still get the special GAD fast passes too. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[MG3G]

We went last month when it was BUSY. We bought discount 5 day hoppers from Get Away Today and used our GAD for FP's. Four of us volunteered so we were able to have 4 days with FP's for our entire group. It was TOTALLY worth it! I know that many people think only about the $ value - we were on an extreme budget trip too - BUT to us it was worth it to get the FP's because they are something that money CAN'T buy - ie priceless. Who knows if we are ever going to get that kind of chance again - and I have to say that in our entire 5 days, although the parks were way too busy for our liking, we only stood in one long tine for TSMM. The day without FP's we watched all the shows. Other things to keep in mind we also collected regular FP's and used Parent Swap/FP many times. I mean my 7 year old got to ride Sreamin 6 times in a row - in around an hour, when it had a 40 minute regular line. With regular FP's he could have only done it once, maybe twice with parent swap. Too bad they didn't have FP's for bathrooms...

 

[cepmom]

We went last month when it was BUSY. We bought discount 5 day hoppers from Get Away Today and used our GAD for FP's. Four of us volunteered so we were able to have 4 days with FP's for our entire group. It was TOTALLY worth it! I know that many people think only about the $ value - we were on an extreme budget trip too - BUT to us it was worth it to get the FP's because they are something that money CAN'T buy - ie priceless. Who knows if we are ever going to get that kind of chance again - and I have to say that in our entire 5 days, although the parks were way too busy for our liking, we only stood in one long tine for TSMM. The day without FP's we watched all the shows. Other things to keep in mind we also collected regular FP's and used Parent Swap/FP many times. I mean my 7 year old got to ride Sreamin 6 times in a row - in around an hour, when it had a 40 minute regular line. With regular FP's he could have only done it once, maybe twice with parent swap. Too bad they didn't have FP's for bathrooms...

thanks for your insight. Do you know (or anyone else) how March compares crowd wise to mid August? I am wondering if it is going to be way crowded then the FP will be worth it to us also. We only have 3 days planned and will want to fit in as much as possible.

 

[Eeee-va]

I am not sure how busy your days will be--I think they'll mostly be OK, actually, due to blockout dates and it being around the time a lot of schools re-open.

I can see pros and cons to both options. Personally, I think that's a pretty big dollar difference, so I'd be leaning towards not getting the FPs. But that said, the FPs just MIGHT prove invaluable (I think this is going to be a pretty darned busy summer for Disneyland, even though you're going during probably one of the best weeks as far as crowds go).

Are you staying within walking distance of the parks? If by chance you are, the first couple hours the park is open have been pretty magical, with the park a lot less crowded than usual. For myself, it's worth a small upgrade price to just have a few morning hours in the park (i.e. a 4- or 5-day pass used as a 3.2 day pass ). But if you're driving in, I don't know if it'd be worth it, since you'd have a difficult time getting there at opening and it would really be a lot of hassle to get in for a few hours.

How long is the Ares Travel deal valid? Admission prices overall might go up by a few bucks sometime once summer kicks in (Disney just raises admission prices sometimes), but other than that, I think I might wait and see how the parks are maybe the second week of July. That will probably give you some idea of if you might NEED the FPs or not. (Though again, you're going when some kids are back in school, yet before the less expensive APs are unblocked for the summer, so you really should avoid some of the worst of the crowds.)

Have a great trip!

 

[drag n' fly]

We are definitely using ours for FP. With WOC and unblocked AP's for the first few days of our trip we will need them!!

 

[50sjayne]

We are definitely using ours for FP. With WOC and unblocked AP's for the first few days of our trip we will need them!!

Ditto.