What's YOUR Tix Purchase "Formula"?Help!

melomouse

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jul 6, 2001
Messages
1,396
Calling all ticket Experts!

...I keep reading here, and reading.. and thinking, and planning, and trying NOT to blow the budget on the last major portion of my pre-trip... and time is running out!!! You guys are great - can you stand ONE more question about how your family decides which MYW passes to get..???

Ok - this is my story - 2 adults, 2 kids - but DS is 13, which will cost me n adult pass. DD is 9 - last year as a "kid" for Disney purposes.We will arrive 10/3 late afternoon. No parks. Leaving 10/12 - no parks. 10/6 MNSSHP - have tix. No WP - pool at the rental villa and I am not up for it this trip.

Not sure if we'll go back anytime soon - this trip was rather spontaneous.. tho we did get to WDW 5 times between late 2001-2003. Had AP's at one point for DS and also for me.(I'm the widowed mom whose hubby passed while on our WDW vacation in '01 - now have very nice BF who will join us).

How do you decide how many days you will actually use and spend at the parks per trip??

We don't usually "hop" but I likely want the option. Park hours are a factor, of course, which I have checked. Definitely we will be there every evening the parks are open late - except maybe Epcot - I have STILL only been to half the countries - spending most of our time at MK and MGM.Need to get to Fantasmic again - tho no FDP left for H&V at all - we have always had the FDP 3x before this..

Don't want to "pay forward" for too much in tix I may or may not use. DS insists this time on DQ - likely DD also..but that would be the only PLUS option this time - I can buy a separate tix for that.. should I??

We don't burn the candle at both ends. (I'm too old for this!!!LOL) Typically we got to the parks late morning - before noon and just STAY late unless there's early closings.....We will also take breaks for an entire day..since we have the well-equipped villa and I know Orlando pretty well. No US/IOA in the plans and have done. Orlando Science, Wonderworks, etc. Limited interest in AK, where DS "needs" to do Dinosaurs and KRR>

So.. what do I buy from ticketmania??? 4 or 5 day MYW hoppers? Separate admission for DQ?? I will also add that one of the stress factors for me besides the hugs $ layout is that when I had the AP's - I was sooo relaxed - coming and going as I pleased. The thought of "running" out of park days makes me nuts. Should I buy less, then upgrade at the parks?

Sorry this is so long! Thank you for any and all help/input/pixiedust!!!

melomouse
 
My plan is to buy the MYW with the hopping option but not getting the plus options til we are there and are sure we'll have the time (and the weather permits the water parks). :flower: (and maybe I'll have the chance to convince the kids we really don't need to do the water parks...not my cup of tea ;) )
 
For the sake of my calculations, set aside the Plus option.

If you need 5-day PH tickets (expiring) but purchase 10-day PH non-expiring tickets, those extra 5-days cost about half of what the first 5 days cost. The math is pretty darn good if you only need 4 days, too.

Also it has been reported that if you buy your 9-year-old a 10-day non-expiring ticket and he uses it at least one day as a 9-year-old, when he returns as an "adult," you can have the pass upgraded to an "adult" pass for no extra charge. (If a child has his or her 10th birthday during the trip, I wouldn't think you'd even need to do that.)

Take a look here for my crazy tables of the various cost combinations for expiring park hoppers (PH) and non-expiring park hoppers (PH/NoX).

The bottom line is that if you need less than the full 10 days, it's usually a great value to buy 10-day non-expiring passes -- if you have the extra cash. If you need money to put gas in the car, having bargain-priced tickets in the fire safe doesn't do you much good! (If it cost me $42 to fill the take of my Accord, how much does it cost to tank up a Hummer H2?)

Brett
 
10 day Park Hopper non expiring adult $353.58
We bought Annual Pass adult for $420 (with tax)

Very close in price- we do 10 to 14 days
Usually get an AP rate for a resort
And will buy the DDE card (AP holders only for $50) to get 20% off meals.

Thank you for your charts !
 

pooh2001 said:
10 day Park Hopper non expiring adult $353.58
We bought Annual Pass adult for $420 (with tax)

Very close in price- we do 10 to 14 days
Usually get an AP rate for a resort
And will buy the DDE card (AP holders only for $50) to get 20% off meals.

Thank you for your charts !

Good point! I keep forgetting about AP's. We used to do those...back before the renewal had to start immediately after the expiring period. In fact, I still have a premium annual pass voucher from many years ago - the face value isn't much more than $300. Today's price is almost $550.... But we keep booking these deals that have admission included and we keep saying we won't be back within a 365-days.... (7-for-4, or room-only codes with discounts almost as low as AP discounts for short trips made pre-MYW, free dining, etc.)

Ignoring room discounts, AP's are certainly the best value if *know* you'll be spending 12 days or more (if I did my math correctly) WITHIN a 365 day period. If you won't be back within 365 days but know you'll be back, the 10-day non-expiring tickets will still be of value.

Brett
 
What about 8 day MYW tix with hopping and seperate tix for DQ? This would allow the freedom to come and go pretty much as you please. I have also become spoiled to the annual pass and this fits the bill for me!
 
Thanks. guys, for your suggestions, and to you, Brett, for sending me to the crazy tables. I am amazed at how I am math phobic and can still hold advanced degrees. When it comes to break-even points and value on these types of this, my brain shuts down!!
So how is it I could find my way around MK AND do a WDW dessert test - BLINDFOLDED!!!
Enjoy!!
 
Definately buy DisneyQuest from Ticketmania. They have the best prices I've seen. Sign up for mousesavers.com newsletter (before the 15th) and it will have a link that typically saves an additional $3 per DQ ticket (adult, don't remember kids price as my kids are all "adults" as far as Disney is concerned).

Running some numbers, if you think you will use 6 or fewer days in the parks this trip, it would be cheaper on a per day basis to buy a non-expiring 10 ticket and save the remaining days for another visit (I did my calculations on the adult prices). For 7 or more days, it is cheaper per day to buy the expiring, as long as you use at least 7 days on this trip. (On Ticketmania, the 8 day expiring is actually cheaper than the 7 day) If you are converting an expiring ticket to non-expiring, it always makes sense to upgrade to a 10 day. Of course, any non-expiring tickets assume that you will be returning with the same people (tickets cannot be transferred or shared, even in your family) within a reasonable time period (and reasonable is defined by you). So if you aren't sure BF will want to come back, you may want to get only an expiring ticket for him. (The above is using Ticketmania prices for advance purchase and prices from Mousesavers for upgrades at the parks and assumes park hoppers, but no pluses. I did not use Ticketmania pricing from the Mousesavers newsletter as it was not handy.)

Since you will have eight days, not counting your arrival and departure days, I personally would buy the 8 day expiring park hopper tickets through Ticketmania. That way I can go to the parks everyday if I want, even if it is only for dinner at Epcot. This will cost me only $5/person more than 5 day expiring park hoppers (and no extra for your DD - 8 day tickets have some weird pricing on Ticketmania). So for an extra $15 your family can go to the parks up to three additional days. And I would buy separate DQ tickets thru Ticketmania.

And if adding the extra days allows you to not park hop, you could save $129 if you go with 8 day expiring base tickets.
 
Karen
Thank you!! You're AWESOME!!! Your suggestion will probably be the one I'll take and you hit the nail on the head with all the ins and outs. Sometimes we need that outside informed perspective - and I got it!!!!!
Yipee!!!! A couple of more weeks!!!
Thanks to all....
 








Receive up to $1,000 in Onboard Credit and a Gift Basket!
That’s right — when you book your Disney Cruise with Dreams Unlimited Travel, you’ll receive incredible shipboard credits to spend during your vacation!
CLICK HERE








DIS Facebook DIS youtube DIS Instagram DIS Pinterest DIS Tiktok DIS Twitter DIS Bluesky

Back
Top Bottom