APs but I live several states away...hmmm?

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Another Canadian AP holder here. My mom, my best friend and I all have them and go down twice a year, once in April/May and again in Nov/Dec. This was one of the best things we ever did.
 
Biggest problem with APs, though, is once you have them, you suddenly want to start working in "extra" trips. I mean, since you already have the tickets, why not run down there for Food & Wine or Christmas time ... I mean, the tickets are usually the most expensive part, right ?

Northeast PA resident here and yep, that is a problem! I'm going for a quick trip just for Food and Wine next week. I wish the cost of TIW hasn't gone up so much but we do a lot of TS restaurants.
 
You will spend more money with an AP as you will buy more merchandise because of your discounts and you will take extra trips
 
OH resident and solo traveler chiming in to agree that an AP is totally worth it. I bought my first AP in Oct 2015 and used it for 3 trips (Oct, Feb and Sept). I didn't renew because the renewal discount wasn't worth burning up months of the pass with no trips planned, but I bought my second and current AP in May. So far, I've used it for a long trip in May, a short birthday weekend in Aug and a few days in Sept that followed 5 days at Disneyland. I have another trip planned for late April. The May and April trips alone would save me money on tickets, so the Aug and Sept trips were bonuses. And honestly, I wouldn't have done Disneyland and Disney World in a single week if it weren't for the AP, as I dropped more than $400 on DLR tickets, but spent $0 on WDW. So I had the extra money to spend on flights and hotels.

It's just nice to be able to spend as much time or as little time in a park as I want, without ever having to do the math and try to determine if I'm getting enough value for each visit. So if my flight arrives at 5pm and Epcot closes at 9, I don't have to "waste" a day if I want to pop in just for a snack and Illuminations. Or if I have to catch DME at 2, I still have time for a few hours in the MK without wondering if it's "worth it". I already know that I spend enough full days in the parks to more than break even, so I see the freedom to have partial days as an awesome perk.
 


AP holder in Buffalo, NY! :thumbsup2 Just a warning, though. AP's make you "find" cheap flights and plan more trips!!:laughing:

Yup! AP from Syracuse, NY area. 8 days in August, just added 7 days in December and 7 already scheduled in May! You may find yourself checking cost of flights from any airport within 3 hours though...
 
AP holder in Buffalo, NY! :thumbsup2 Just a warning, though. AP's make you "find" cheap flights and plan more trips!!:laughing:
AP holder in Oklahoma. This was so true for me this year. My pass expires on November 2 and I have been four times this year including a July 4th trip planned less than a month out. Dangerous for sure!
 


NYer here... this is the first year I got an AP and it's been sub a magical year :-) I took two long weekend trips and one week long trip so far. And I have one more week long trip planned for next month. I love the freedom of park hopping or not feeling like we need to do rope drop to close every day to maximize value. I feel like I got to enjoy the parks more if that makes any sense...

And the extra discounts and memory maker has been a big bonus.
 
When I had AP it was just about determining if we would have at least 2 trips of at least 4 days (in the park) each. The cost of tickets for 2 vacations was so close to an AP we figured getting the AP would just get us a few extra perks and encourage us to squeeze a 3rd trip in before it expired. Some years we've had it, some years we haven't. It just depends on how many times we *know* we will be able to go within 12 months of the initial trip on the pass.
 
Thank OP here, for everyone who said that after purchasing APs your try and find cheap flights and work in an "extra" trip, that's so true...haha, I was thinking "would be nice to do a 3 day weekend around Christmas" hahaha
 
I live in Illinois and my husband and I have APs. He'll have 2 trips and I'll have 3-4. :) I fly using miles. I probably won't renew it though; next year we plan to do other things.
 
We have AP's and we live in New Hampshire. We make sure to get in 2 lengthy (10 night trips) with our tickets within that year and it's very much worth it to us after the initial cost.
 
We got AP's once we started making 2 six or seven day trips per year from New Hampshire. Basically it came down to the math. The AP's saved us a few dollars. Once we shifted to longer off site visits the math got even better. Free parking also adds up.

We found we didn't make extra "quick" trips once we had the AP's. We are not big travelers so when we make the effort to get on a plane we tend to stay for more than just a couple of days.
 
We budget $4,000 a year for vacations (for 2 of us) that $4,000 has to cover everything on our vacation except for flights (I have a ton of SW points)
I have always wanted to stay at the Grand Floridian but has never fit into our budget. I have come up with an elaborate plan to do disney 2 years in a row, within 12 months and combine the budgets.
The first year (looking at the second week of december 2019) we will buy the AP ($1,650) and stay at a cheaper hotel. Will probably rent DVC points at the boardwalk villas. ($1300 for the week) The second year we will rent points agaian at the GF because our tickets will already be paid for. ($2,100 for the week).
The numbers are rough and can change slightly but it will cost roughly $5,000 for 2 weeks (1 week per visit) and the passes. The budget will be a little tight with only having $1,500 per week to cover all of our expenses but I think I can make it work by buying discount gift cards.
 
We always buy photopass
We always buy hoppers.
We do usually do the dining plan but are starting to feel maybe its not worth it anymore.
Thoughts?

Should we purchase APs or just do 2 vacation packages?

These days you have to eat the most expensive item at the most expensive option every meal to reach that save up to XX% advertising. If you mix in lighter fare you are likely paying more for DP than if pay as you go. If you get APs most restaurants are 10% off and you can add Tables in Wonderland for $150 and then most restaurants are 20% off.

Only one person in your party needs to have an AP to get the discounts. Same for TiW.
 
Was bouncing around the idea of buying APs for Christmas but trying to figure if its worth it. We live in Jersey, we are trying to go twice this year, my husband and my 2 daughters.
One trip would be 5 nights/6days at a value or Mod in april/may
Our other trip would be 7 nights/8 days @ a deluxe in Aug/Sept/or Oct.

We always buy photopass
We always buy hoppers.
We do usually do the dining plan but are starting to feel maybe its not worth it anymore.
Thoughts?
Should we purchase APs or just do 2 vacation packages?


I'm in Jersey too and did an AP this year. Went for a week in august and going in december for another week. Most likely going to book a short trip for may too since it won't cost much (we have southwest airlines vouchers due to the last time they royally screwed up our flight and caused a 6 hour delay). Even without that third trip the AP is definitely worth it. Discounted rooms, the free photopass and the 10-20% off restaurants basically means it pays for itself!
 
We live in northern Va and I just bought APs for our family of 4 a couple days ago and it is already saving us some $. We originally had reserved Pop Century for 4/13-4/20 with Park Hoppers but with APs we cancelled that and re-booked a Pop Century preferred room (vice Standard previously) under a Passholder promo and saved $140 compared to original reservation. We used their summer AP promo to book AoA for 5 night end of June again at a good price compared to non AP. We hope to sneak in a long weekend in the fall, 5-6 nights right after Xmas, and then next Spring Break since for us that will end on April 12th and our APs will expire on April 13th (since they won't start until we activate on 4/13 this year). So we should get at least 27 days or so at Disney at a minimum which should more than pay for it!
 
Before anyone replies to posters who posted over a year ago, closing.
 
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