Worth it to get an AP?

[peterpanandwendy]

Hi everyone!

Ok, so here is the deal… I'm REALLY trying to make staying on site happen for our family this trip

I was noticing that others mention AP discounts for the resort hotels. For a four day park hopper I would pay $300. For an Deluxe AP I saw they were around $550… So a difference of $250.

I was wondering what kind of discounts AP holders get on the resort hotels. Would it be more than a $250 savings on 6 nights? What other discounts do you get? Where could I find out about the black out dates?

Would it be possible, for example, to get a resort hotel discount during peak season, like say mid March, or July-August, or Christmas time? (We would be coming from Canada and are both in education, so those would be our only options)… or do AP holders only get resort discounts during non-peak times?

Thanks everyone

 

[calilou]

The AP hotel discounts are not set in stone. The last couple of years they have been pretty consistent from what I have experienced/observed: 20% for sun-thurs nights and 10-15% for weekend nights (most often 15%). They tend to start in late winter right about the first of the year (great because Christmas décor is still up for the first week/10 days of January; not great because it still tends to be very crowded then), this lasts through the first few months of the year up until spring break. This year they also did a late spring discount through the end of May. They often do a late summer discount starting late August that runs through the beginning of October. It sometimes picks up after Halloween as well and lasts until Thanksgiving. I've never noticed if they do something the beginning of December. So generally no, they don't AP discounts during traditional peak times. Keep in mind you may find a 15-20% discount on a site like Orbitz.

Deluxe AP discounts are 15% on most restaurants (pretty much all except food/drink stands like popcorn, etc) and 10% at retail stores. Premium AP discounts are 20%/15%. I have found that these savings add up quite a bit, especially on food.

All of the discount info and blackout dates can be found on the Disneyland website. That's a great area to explore to help in the decision.

 

[nicolispicoli]

The difference is 250 per person, but adds up depending on how many people in your family need AP's. Chances are, you won't save much moving on site since the cost of staying on site even with the discounts is still much more than staying off site, especially during peak seasons. Yes, you will save quite a bit in discounts here and there with food and merch, but the hotel discount isn't very much. Usually you can find similar promotions available to the public. HOWEVER, do you have plans to go to disneyland again even once more in the next year for at least three days? The absolutely, it's worth it. It only takes two 3 day trips for me to justify having my AP. The on site hotel, food and merch discounts are all happy perks for me on top of that.

 

[peterpanandwendy]

The difference is 250 per person, but adds up depending on how many people in your family need AP's. Chances are, you won't save much moving on site since the cost of staying on site even with the discounts is still much more than staying off site, especially during peak seasons. Yes, you will save quite a bit in discounts here and there with food and merch, but the hotel discount isn't very much. Usually you can find similar promotions available to the public. HOWEVER, do you have plans to go to disneyland again even once more in the next year for at least three days? The absolutely, it's worth it. It only takes two 3 day trips for me to justify having my AP. The on site hotel, food and merch discounts are all happy perks for me on top of that.

Right, but in order to get the discounts, really only one of us (me) would need an AP, right? If I'm the one booking the hotels and paying for food and merchandise I am the only one that needs an AP, the rest of my family would just need the four day park hoppers. So really, only a $250 difference for me. Which could be worth it… if PP says there is a possibility of a 20% discount at say, Paradise Pier, at say, $300/night for 6 nights that is a savings of $360… and if I can get discounts (15%) on food than that is a savings of around $135 for me based on my average food budget… so a total savings of $475 minus my $250 investment, which is around $225 savings….so yeah, not really worth it…

Dang. Worth a try

 

[cgh]

For us, it is well worth it, but it depends on how much you'd be spending the hotel. We do a premium room at DLH for 6 nights. The room is $550 I think. Only 1 of us (me) got the AP. I will need to pay for everything to get the discount. I called 11 months in advance and I believe got 10% off for early August. That deal was gone when I added a night 4 months out. I have a deluxe pass which is 10% off at most restaurants, some stores (including the lego store!). It's also nice because when we go, I can go into the park after we arrive and get the photos pass taken care of,maybe look at allergy menus, etc.

(oh, and for us, it was even cheaper because DH's work gave us tickets for one day at Disneyland. I used that ticket to count towards and annual pass). I think it cost me $300 to cover my ticket for this year (I'll go in the park for 5-7 days), plus get the discount on the room (.1X$550)X5= $275 . Then, I get all the discounts on eating. Since DS has so many food allergies, we are doing every character meal + table service meals such as Carthay Circle. I actually contemplated upgrading to the premium since I'll now go in on a blackout day but it was not worth it.

So whether it is worth it really depends on what your plans are when you are there.

 

[Mel522]

Deluxe AP discounts are 15% on most restaurants (pretty much all except food/drink stands like popcorn, etc) and 10% at retail stores. Premium AP discounts are 20%/15%. I have found that these savings add up quite a bit, especially on food.

Deluxe AP discounts are 10% at most restaurants and 10% at most retail stores. Premium AP discounts are 15% at most restaurants (10% at most downtown disney restaurants), and 20% at most retail stores (10% at most downtown disney stores).

 

[calilou]

Deluxe AP discounts are 10% at most restaurants and 10% at most retail stores. Premium AP discounts are 15% at most restaurants (10% at most downtown disney restaurants), and 20% at most retail stores (10% at most downtown disney stores).

I'm a little off, thanks for the correction! I'm a premium PH and my daughters are deluxe so it's all a little jumbled in there.

 

[scrapshappen]

You might be better off using a promo code at Orbitz that is generally 15% off two or more nights but sometimes goes as high as 20%. And if Disney is already running a general public rate special, you will get that, plus the additional savings. We have AP's and found the Orbitz deal to be better than what we could get with our APs.

Now if you want an AP so you have an excuse to go back again within 12 months, then by all means, go for it!

 

[GatorChris]

For us, the main reason to get an AP is because we had two 5 day trips planned for about a year apart. By paying for two trips worth of tickets up front, we saved over $200. Not much when you're spending $2k+ each trip, but it all adds up. Plus we get the 10% discount for meals and that's nice. I've yet to use it for hotel discounts. The DLH properties are just so dogone expensive. Only a group rate makes them worth the price for us. And for that, it's all about who you know.

 

[Minnie Loves Mickey]

There are also local hotels that will give you AP discounts.