what is the AP...

[mygirl]

what is the AP discount for DVC members??
do most members find this the most economical way to purchase park tickets? just looking at our options...

 

[dianeschlicht]

what is the AP discount for DVC members??
do most members find this the most economical way to purchase park tickets? just looking at our options...

DVC members get $100 off the price of a regular AP. Even if you only go once a year, you can stagger your trips by a week or so to get two "annual" trips on 1 Annual pass. We were purchasing APs long before DVC had the discount, and this just makes it a better deal.

 

[BroganMc]

The best way to determine what is the best deal for you and your family is to calculate what the ticket costs are and how many days you plan to spend.

For instance, when I was traveling to Orlando one week a year, the best deal for me was the old 7-Day Park Hopper Plus tickets. I'd spend about 3-4 days in the week at the parks and the other 3-4 days at the resorts. I never used water parks but did use the Pleasure Island admissions. One of those 7-Day hoppers got me two years' worth of vacations. It didn't matter if they were consecutive years either.

When I started traveling to Orlando two weeks out of the year (one week twice a year), I went to an Annual Pass. It cost me about $50 more and I lost my Plus entries, but I got free parking (a savings of $9-12 a day since I was staying off-property at the time), the Dining Experience (DDE) discount card, and didn't have to limit my park days. My park travel became more spontaneous since I could enter a park just for evening fireworks and not feel I just blew a $30-40 ticket.

When my sister decided to join us last October she asked me to help her price out the best ticket deal for her family. She had two adults and two children (6 & 8). She'd be in Orlando for 6 days and didn't plan to return for two years. She had MNSSHP tickets for one of those 6 days which meant she had a ticket for that day. So I priced out MYW tickets through Undercover Tourist... 7 day MYW with park hopping, 6 plus admissions and no expiration. Total cost for her was $1471. She used 4 of those 7 days and 0 plus admissions. When she returns in '09 she'll have 3 days of parks and 6 days at the waterparks, DQ and/or PI.

If she had purchased APs with the DVC discount it would have cost her around $1395.

Now if her return trip had been this year, it would have been cheaper for her to get APs but just return before her AP expiration date. If she wanted to visit the water parks, then the MYW tickets become the best option. You'll pay an extra $100 for an AP that gives you access to the extra admissions.

The general rule of thumb is that if you visit parks 7 or more days out of the calendar year, an AP becomes the better deal for DVC members. I now visit 20-40 days of the year, half of it offsite, so an AP is a steal.

These sites give you the current ticket prices for your own comparisons:
http://www.allearsnet.com/pl/apass.htm
http://www.undercovertourist.com/united-states/florida/orlando/attractions/tickets/#14

 

[BostonDisneyKid]

We go to wdw 2-3 times a year (stays of 9-14 days) so we definately get a HUGE benefit from using the AP DVC Discount. We save $700 (100 x 7) and our daily park costs average between $12- $18/day/person. Plus the flexibility it provides to come and go where ever and when ever we want individually or a group makes things nice, not to mention we dont have to try to remember who has X amount of days vs who has Y just simplifies things.

We were AP holders before the DVC discount and probably will be after the discount discontinues as well (hopefully that is a long time from now).

 

[mygirl]

wonderful! thank you all!
we are looking into a DVC resale and plan to do appx. one week per year. our dates are pretty flexible, so the AP may be our best bet as we can "stagger" (as a pp mentioned) two visits out of a calendar year...