When to Get Annual Passes

[ThePecks]

When does it make sense to purchase an annual pass. We are going in September and again in March...wondering what is the break even days on an Adult pass. I could do the math, but I'm sure it has already been discussed and I would miss out on all the great information.

Thanks!

 

[thesupersmartguy]

An Annual Pass breaks even in roughly 9 days (At least for us). Since it includes park hopping, it is cheaper than a 10 day non expiring park hopper. And our DVC discount does not hurt either, it actually makes us break even in roughly 7 and a half days.



DISCLAIMER: Again, this is just what I can remember working for us. Any similarities to tickets valid or expired is purely coincidental.

 

[allshookup]

If we were going twice in one year, then I think the AP is a no-brainer...for me anyway! I believe it might be even less than 9 days if you purchase the TIW card (only available to Florida residents & AP holders) since you can then save 20% on some CS, most TS & even adult drinks. If you eat a lot of TS meals & are not on the DDP, the savings can be significant. Someone mentioned recently that just the freedom of coming & going into the parks & even just heading into Epcot for dinner without feeling like you've wasted a day's admission is priceless! I couldn't agree more!

 

[circhead]

I agree if you're able to get two trips out of the tickets and will be going into the parks most days it's worth it. When we go we usually stay 7 - 10 days so if I can get 2 trips in I buy the AP - then if we want to just run into Epcot for dinner we're not wasting a day. You have a lot of freedom with the AP and it also affords some discounts - some store discounts at DTD even a discount at some restaurants and the ability to purchase TIW (formerly DDE).

 

[hellerjw]

I agree with the others, if you will be going twice in 6 months then the AP is definitely the way to go, particularly if you plan to spend any significant time visiting the parks each trip. It would also allow you to lock in today's ticket prices just in case they decide to increase them before your next trip. Lastly, it gives you one more reason to return before they expire and get 3 trips out of them

 

[wildernessDad]

Given that PI basically has been closed down, if you were to buy an AP, I'd say make it an AP and not a PAP. In my opinion.

One can purchase an AP and a swimming AP for a dollar less. And if you're only going to go to the water parks a couple of times, it makes more sense just to purchase a ticket. If you do DisneyQuest as well, you'd probably want to consider the PAP.

 

[jkevinmcg]

And you might want to think about purchasing the voucher before the usual August price increase if you can.

 

[Anal Annie]

I just ordered the vouchers for ours this morning for our trip over Memorial Day weekend. For this trip we are going for 4 n (3 full days but want to hit a park on our first night too) then we're going again in August for 7 nights. Here's how my math worked out when I priced the scenario for regular AP's vs Hoppers (adult prices):

4 day park hoppers for 3 with tax $ 807
3 day park hoppers for 3 with tax $ 786
(in case we decided to skip the first night)
7 day park hoppers for 3 with tax $ 834
10 day non-expiring for 3 with tax $1,461
Premium AP's for 3 with tax $1,520
Regular AP's for 3 with tax & shipping $1,183
(and we have unlimited admission if we decide to plan another trip before next May)

So the 4 + 7 hopper scenario would be $1,641, the 3 + 7 day hoppers would be $1,620 and the 10 non-expiring would've been $1,461. Three Regular AP's worked out to be WAY cheaper for us because we knew for certain when we'd be using them again. Last time we bought the Premium AP's but discovered that on our shorter trips & on winter trips we didn't go to the water parks... So we decided that 2 one-day admissions to the water parks would be cheaper for us since we'd only be going on our longer summer trips.

Everyone has to do their own math, but I think anytime you've got multiple trips planned for a total of at least 8 days the AP's are worth it.