Annual pass mistake!

[Daitcher]

Hey guys,


I just wanted to post this, especially for the new DVC members. There is a lot of talk on these boards about the annual pass discount for DVC members. I just wanted to warn everyone that for many people the annual pass simply doesn't make sense. The Magic your way tickets seem to be the best deal by far for my family. Using our family of 3 as an example: Annual pass for adults is $314.18, for my 3 year old it would be $267.32. This doesn't give you water park access either for this price. To do the PAP it jumps to $415.35 and $353.58. Our family will have 16 days at WDW this year. Out of those 16 days we will probably do 3 major parks and 1 or 2 water parks. The annual pass just desn't make sense for us. We are going to buy the MYW 10 day Premium ticket with no expiration. This costs $414.29 and $369.56. This gives us 10 major park days and 5 plus features ( for us we'll use them as water park days). This ticket allows park hopping as well. We will be able to use this over probably the next 3 years or so. For our family it makes so much more sense. I guess my advice is to really run the numbers very carefully. The Magic Your Way tickets can be customized to fit your needs and in many cases offers the best deal. AP's do offer other discounts so you really need to factor that into your decision as well. If you use the AP discounts to save on room rates then the AP might make more sense. I know the dining plan is another consideration. We stay in suites when not doing DVC Resorts so the AP does us no good as suites are not discounted. Hope this helps someone out. We were all set to buy the PAP until I really took a good hard look at the numbers and really did an honest asessment of our vacation habits. Good luck and happy travels.


DAVE

 

[mowog]

I'm confused? Am I hearing that of the 16 days you're spending at WDW you are only going to a theme park (MK, EPCOT, etc) 3 times? If that's what you said then I think your usage pattern may be different from many members. We hit 2 to 3 parks per day. So the MYW may be best for you but would not work for me.

Jean and Bob

 

[FreeTime]

When our last AP expired we purchased 5 day hoppers. We have used them for the last 3 trips. The AP no longer made sense for us, as we would visit the parks for only a day or 2 and then purchase special events tickets. In a few years, we may go back to the AP's again.

 

[DebbieB]

It does depend on your vacation habits. If you are only going to use it for 3 park days and 1 or 2 water park days, then an AP would not make sense. On the other hand, we go to a park everyday of our trip and I usually get about 20 park days out of my AP, making the most of the AP by scheduling the following year's trip a week earlier.

 

[msteddom]

I'm not a DVC member, but I've researched the AP vs. MYW tickets, and it all depends how many days per year you spend at Disney. Right now I only go once or twice a year for a total of no more than eight days. That being the case the 10 day MYW ticket with plus makes more sense for me, because I can get two or three vacations worth of use out of it.

Now I am a Disneyland, CA AP holder because I go there as often as every two weeks, but for now the WDW AP will have to wait.


Melissa

 

[Laurabearz]

I own a AP becasue I am the keeper of the money!!

But for my family I opted for the 10 day MYW with plus's no expire tickets. Since we head to WDW a lot, we dont feel the need to do the parks every day of every trip, and we can get a year and a half's worth of trips with one 10 MYW pass (I am hoarding the plus's for when the kids are older) (ooh good tag... Proud plus horader lol)

But I will admit sometimes I wish everyone had the AP's so if plans change I wont cringe about spending just a few hours in a park... LOL but in the long run, we are better with the 10 day pass.

 

[Chuck S]

It certainly depends on your vacation habits. The APs are a great value for us (2 adults), we spend 16 to 22 days per year at DVC resorts over two to three trips, most days we visit parks, and we have no interest in water parks. The APs give us the flexibility of spending hte day at one park, and then going to EPCOT for a nice restaurant meal without adding $35 for park hopping, plus it enables us to use the DDE, which is added value for us and is not "limiting" like the dining plan. In fact, we felt the APs were of value to us, before the great DVC discount , as we occasionally arrived a day early and were able to get a discount for one night at a value resort.

By limiting, I mean it is not pre-paid, so we don't have to have an appetizer and entree and dessert to feel like we are getting our $$$ worth. We eat what we WANT to eat, and are satisfied.

 

[Dean]

Remember there are a few minor benefits of owning an AP or similar that you don't get other ways. But with some similar DVC benefits, the difference is not as much as none DVC members would see. Looking at the per day cost is usually the best, esp if you have a track record to guide you to the number of days you'll need. If it's a break even, I'd go with the AP because it gives you the additional benefits and the flexibility to go to the parks for dinner or other small uses.

 

[dis-happy]

With the DVC discount, we went with AP's this year and have loved it! Never realized how nice it is to come in and do a couple hours at the parks on arrival day, and not feel like we wasted a ticket. It's definitely helped me ammend my commando-mom ways. And as Dean pointed out, there are perks---sometimes we are off-site and the free parking alone has added up. The only downside: you're tempted to do more trips with an AP! By year's end, we'll have about 30 days in--but only $10. per day for Disney sounds pretty great.

 

[granmanh603]

Hey guys,


I just wanted to post this, especially for the new DVC members. There is a lot of talk on these boards about the annual pass discount for DVC members. I just wanted to warn everyone that for many people the annual pass simply doesn't make sense. The Magic your way tickets seem to be the best deal by far for my family. Using our family of 3 as an example: Annual pass for adults is $314.18, for my 3 year old it would be $267.32. This doesn't give you water park access either for this price. To do the PAP it jumps to $415.35 and $353.58. Our family will have 16 days at WDW this year. Out of those 16 days we will probably do 3 major parks and 1 or 2 water parks. The annual pass just desn't make sense for us. We are going to buy the MYW 10 day Premium ticket with no expiration. This costs $414.29 and $369.56. This gives us 10 major park days and 5 plus features ( for us we'll use them as water park days). This ticket allows park hopping as well. We will be able to use this over probably the next 3 years or so. For our family it makes so much more sense. I guess my advice is to really run the numbers very carefully. The Magic Your Way tickets can be customized to fit your needs and in many cases offers the best deal. AP's do offer other discounts so you really need to factor that into your decision as well. If you use the AP discounts to save on room rates then the AP might make more sense. I know the dining plan is another consideration. We stay in suites when not doing DVC Resorts so the AP does us no good as suites are not discounted. Hope this helps someone out. We were all set to buy the PAP until I really took a good hard look at the numbers and really did an honest asessment of our vacation habits. Good luck and happy travels.

Annual pass works for me but I see for you it might not...BUT go to mousesavers.com they have a link to ticketmania and I think the 10 day pass with no expire 5 water parks is around 360 or less and sign up for their news letter it usually comes on the 15tand you can get a mousesaver discountfor less. I don't know how to send a link but what I want to I will try to email it to you. Carol

 

[granmanh603]

OOps I did something wrong but just wanted to tell about discounted tickets at ticketmania....I just had my son purchase the 10 day from their and they are very good. Quick delivery but you can also get them sent to the hotel.

 

[lisaviolet]

Interesting. There are so many different ways of looking at this.

I still have PH's from 1999 so they have covered numerous trips over the years. So I could spread a MYW 10 day for years....no problem.

While I was dreaming about the DVC I started thinking about the AP and I'll never forget the response by a DVC member. He wrote, "Lisa everyone has written about the cost....sometimes it is not about the cost....it is such a wonderful feeling arriving at WDW and walking into Epcot and grabbing something to eat...nothing like it for me"

Well he is correct. I bought an AP last trip and to walk in to have dinner and watch illuminations from our table was wonderful. I would never have experienced that on a MYW..... Unfortunately, I would have stressed myself out and said I just can't "waste" a day on my pass.

It changes how you visit the parks. Now.....I don't think I'll be purchasing an AP every year. I can't afford it. Probably will do AP/old PHs/MYW/AP. Unless I get addicted of course.

 

[littlestar]

I second Ticketmania for the 10 day hopper plus tickets with no expiration. Sign up for Mousesavers newsletter and you can get those tickets for $353 (with tax and delivered). Big savings over that $414.29 figure, especially if you're buying multiple 10-day tickets.

We bought annual passes for me and my husband and the 10 day MYW's for the kids through ticketmania.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We have purchased PAPs since we started going. Except for the Buy 4, Get 7 we got a few years back. But at that time our PAPs were expired and we hadn't gotten new ones yet.

We have never renewed our PAPs and manage to get at least three or four trips out of one pass. Each trip about 7-10 days. Creative planning. Our PAPs expire in early Jan and we probably won't be back to WDW until Mar 07, so we'll get new ones then. And plan at least three trips on those new passes. We're getting four trips of our current PAPs.

 

[Beca]

I am one who will wholeheartedly agree that AP's may not be the "best" route....but, I love mine so much....I just don't care!!! There are so many benefits to AP's. We used to arrive and plan on going to DTD the first night just to "kill time". It was nice, but we felt like we were just waiting for our trip to begin. Well, now we arrive and head into Epcot for a bite to eat and to kick off our trip by watching Illuminations....it makes a WORLD of difference.

Also, I think just "knowing" that I have an AP makes me vacation differently. I know I can come and go, and just go into a park for an hour or so without feeling that I am "wasting" a ticket. This is great with a little one. There have been so many times where we would head to a park, and after an hour or so, our dd would say she was tired, or just not feeling well and wanted to return to the room (she gets sick a lot in WDW). Before we had AP's we would get frustrated by the "wastefullness" of this...now, we just go back and "hang out"!!

Plus, we LOVE the discount of the DDE. Granted, we only need one person to have an AP, but we like keeping everyone on the same "plan".

And finally...the most IMPORTANT aspect of owning DVC and having an AP....it makes additional trips SOOOO affordable (as long as you don't count the "add-ons" that you will eventually need ). But, seriously....if you find yourself needing a "Disney fix", you can "find" just enough points for a studio, grab a cheap flight and head on down!!! It's so easy to do when you can say to yourself, "Well, the rooms are paid for, and the passes are paid for. We just need airfare and a little spending money....let's go!!!!"

AP's are the BEST....just from an emotional perspective!!!



Beca

 

[JimC]

Agree that what works depends on how you use your time. It comes down to cost per day for the parks, the DDE card and resort codes, then the other perks in that order for us.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I can understand how APs wouldn't be the most cost effective if you only go to the parks 3 days out of 16, but most of us don't do that. We have been buying APS for nearly 10 years, and it definitely makes the most sense for us. Like Deb and Bill, we learned early on how to get the most out of them. We purchase an AP, go 2-3 times within the 366 days they are usable, and then take about 13 months off from Disney and start the process over again. For example: our last DVC trip was the first two weeks of December 2004. Our next trip is Dec. 31-Jan. 10, so we will have been in our "non-AP" year. We have our new vouchers in hand and will be activating them Dec. 31st. We will then have a second trip early March and another long trip in December 2006. Usually our APs include about 28 or more park days, and we don't feel bad if all we want to do is hop into a park for a dinner. I would never do that if I was paying more than $10 a day for a ticket.

 

[mom2rb]

We bought our APs last December. We knew we were going back this September so it made since. Then DH got an unexpected bonus. It was so easy to go to DW. We already had the tickets and the points. This trip in September was extended due to Rita. We stayed three more nights without a problem. We even used the AP rates to book the extra three nights. We ended up with 30 days this year. Now we don't plan on going back for 15 months, but we will buy the APs again.

 

[Poohgirl]

Sorrt, I get it now...

 

[jade1]

We like it (AP) for going in the night of arrival for a night show or dinner-and any other evening we are there, as well as the AM of departure. We even do Fantasmic the night we get back from US. Plus we schedule at least 2 trips on it. Commando days are over for us, AP makes it easy.