WWYD..Disneyland AP or huge WDW trip?

[Azjenn]

So this one us a hard one for me! I can't decide between doing a 14 night trip to WDW or getting AP's for Disneyland. I do already have a trip booked to WDW with free dining in the fall and was able to get all the dining reservations we want. But, I ran numbers and we are able to get signature AP's for disneyland and take prob 5 trips over (We live in Arizona) for roughly the same price. I'm so torn! We love both parks, but right now a year of Disney versus one big trip for a couple of years is sounding pretty good. What would you do?

 

[cruisehopeful]

Would you really go 5 times to Disneyland in one year? How long would your stays be for? How many nights in hotels each trip? Since I live in southern California, I go to Disneyland a lot.

It is nice to be able to go fairly often because if you have to miss something because it's closed or the lines are too long, you know you can see it next time. With all that said, since I've only been to WDW once, I would be pretty interested in a massive trip there. I hate flying, so getting everything done in one trip would be the way I'd like to do it. Did you factor in that food and hotels tend to cost more at Disneyland?

 

[Malcon10t]

Disneyland.

 

[Azjenn]

Would you really go 5 times to Disneyland in one year? How long would your stays be for? How many nights in hotels each trip? Since I live in southern California, I go to Disneyland a lot.

It is nice to be able to go fairly often because if you have to miss something because it's closed or the lines are too long, you know you can see it next time. With all that said, since I've only been to WDW once, I would be pretty interested in a massive trip there. I hate flying, so getting everything done in one trip would be the way I'd like to do it. Did you factor in that food and hotels tend to cost more at Disneyland?

We probably would we had AP's 2 years ago and did 4 trips in that year each of them 4 or 5 days. We typically stay across harbor at the BWPPI. I do like being able to take our time and relax a little in the parks knowing that we will be back soon. The last time we did WDW I felt like I needed a vacation afterwards to recover because we were so exhausted haha

 

[StormyCA]

Well, I'd probably go for the DL AP since you already have a trip to WDW planned. If you were asking about a DL AP vs a 'once in a lifetime' WDW trip my answer would be very different.

Would it be possible to extend your current trip for a couple of days and still get the DL AP?

 

[EmmersIsTheMommy]

DL AP. Hands down.

 

[Nevada Jen]

That's a tough call. I think this might be the year to do Disneyland aps. I suspect there will be a big price hike when star wars land opens. But if you want to wait for that to open and the dining is important to you, this year at wdw you get pandora at wdw. When my aps at DL expire I'm taking a year off of my ap at DL for a wdw trip. And we are in AZ and make about the same amount of trips.

 

[hootey]

D i s n e y l a n d

 

[Sun_soakin]

Keep your WDW trip and get new APs later down the road. We did a nice long WDW trip like that (12 days) and found it much more relaxing than our first trip there a few years earlier b/c we had more time and built in pool and water park days. Also, I'm dying to see the new things in AK.
We are three trips into our current DL APs and my kids are starting to get bored of DL, so we won't go back for awhile. No matter which trip we are doing, DL or WDW, we start to miss things at the other, so we just have to keep alternating!

 

[Abbey1]

We live in Utah and have APs. We will end up taking 6 trips before our passes expire in January. We decided not to renew for next year so we can take a big WDW trip next Halloween, and then we'll get APs again the following year.

I feel like going many times throughout the year is the best for our family, since we LOVE visiting during different holidays and events. BUT, I can't justify visiting a differerent Disney park and paying for tickets etc when we have an annual pass for DL.

Maybe you could do one this year and the other the next?

 

[LindySpirit]

Disneyland Annual Pass!

 

[SMD]

I have a DLR AP and I traveled a lot last year. WDW was planned but ended up with a free housing international, so no brained to switch. Anyway, to afford the trip last year, I got a lower level AP. If I had to choose, I'd lose some days in WDW, save money where I could, maybe not food, but are there dates when the flight is cheaper? Put the savings in a fund towards DLR, then buy parkhoppers to upgrade to Deluxe APs when I could afford that to start the year of DLR. You could even upgrade to Signature during the year, or maybe just buy 1 for the parking and photopass benefits.

 

[BGinCali]

I don't know if you would want to incur any additional cost, but have you considered the Premier AP where you can go to both WDW & DL? I don't know what you are purchasing for the WDW trip to compare price wise - the Premier AP is $1,439 + tax. Just a thought!

 

[agamble]

This is how I feel about a trip to WDW. It would be great fun, but for the cost of the one time trip we can buy APs and pay for several hotel stays throughout the year at DL. We will take the kids to WDW someday, but this year we chose to go with the APs again.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I say DL. But as a CA native I'm biased I love the different seasons at DL & seeing the park for different seasons is so much fun. WDW is fun too, and would make a great 14 day trip, but if I had to pick AP or a 14 day WDW trip to fill my Disney quota for several years I'd go with the DL AP for sure.

 

[boggerbret]

Oh man I just wrote a Big reply and Noticed you already been to WDW lol I Still Say WDW!!!! It's such a BlasT!!!! But We just got AP's to DL and we are loving it

 

[Winnowill]

We are also in AZ. We did an eight-day at WDW in 2014, and we bought APs last June (we're doing our last AP trip coming up in about four weeks). I easily say go with the APs - DL is just so much better than everything other than MK at WDW. We've gotten 15 park days already over four visits, and our last trip should be another five or six days. Also, have you considered buying just one Signature pass and the rest Deluxe? That's what we did - we're blacked out on some Saturdays with the Deluxe, but we only need to park one car, and we only need one Photopass. That saves $250 per pass.

That said, my DD9 has just decided, after seeing the commercials for Pandora, that she wants to go back to WDW next year. So we'll see.

 

[mich311e]

That's a tough one. We're also in AZ and we did a year of Disneyland last year! 8 trips in one year! (one visit was 1.5 days because we were also attending a concert in Coachella)

I'd love to take my son to WDW, DH and I went for our honeymoon 20 years ago. But it's just so much work to fly across country. And expensive. I love the convenience of being able to drive to California, stay across the street from Disneyland, etc. It's so easy and fun!

That said, I do one day want to take my son to Disneyworld but it will cost far more than Disneyland APs with 4 or 5 trips.

 

[Elk Grove Chris]

I agree with the majority, get the APs if you have already been to WDW.

It is a pain going to WDW from the West Coast, but it is worth it at least once if you can swing it. We did a 12 day trip xmas of 2015. We went all out with a xmas party and candlelight processional and renting points at two deluxe resorts. For 5 of us, the cost for food, lodging and tickets for one trip to WDW would equate to about 6 trips to DL for us from northern California.

 

[azfalcon]

I live in Phoenix and could not imagine going to Disneyland 5-6 times a year. I would enjoy the nice log vacation at WDW and then consider DL AP passes at another time.