New to AP and have questions!

[Daisybell911]

We just left our awesome four day honeymoon trip to Disney and my DH has been bitten by the Disney bug! YAAAAAAY! He decided that we had to have AP and are now going back at least twice this year (again, YAAAAAAY!)

He really wants to book the dining plan but if I am reading it correctly, we have to buy the full MYW package, is that correct? If we do that, can we buy tickets for two days as non park hoppers, apply those tickets to the price of next years AP and use our AP for our four day trip? I don't know if that's even allowed and I don't want to break the rules.

I have so many questions about how to use AP and get the most bang for our buck. Any other tips that I should know? Can I use the discount at the Disney Store online or at home in Maryland? Any help would be much appreciated!

 

[Robo]

can we buy tickets for two days as non park hoppers, apply those tickets to the price of next years AP and use our AP for our four day trip?

Yes.

However, if youre looking for "bang for your buck" i'd do some serious calculations about what the dining plan can and can't offer in "savings" for a party of two.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

You can book the dining plan without having to buy park tickets, as long as you're staying onsite and not going during free dining. You have to call to book the reservation though.

 

[CarrieR]

As for the dining plan, you *can* book it as a ticketless package... but you're almost definitely better off just using your AP discounts at restaurants. Depending on how many days you're going, and how you'll be eating, Tables in Wonderland might make sense. (Pretty much all TSes - excluding holidays - along with QSes at the values, POFQ, and AK minus Satuli are 20% off with TIW.)

 

[Daisybell911]

I'm going to definitely look into those. We were there for two whole days and two half days and still dropped $850 on food for two. I'm surprised how fast those food bills can run up but I love me some table service!

 

[AngiTN]

AP holders can book the dining plan when they book their room online if you book a room with an AP discount.

It is no savings mind you but you can do it

 

[Daisybell911]

AP holders can book the dining plan when they book their room online if you book a room with an AP discount.

It is no savings mind you but you can do it

I may have to call. I'm trying it but I selected the no ticket option and it won't give me the option to select a dining plan. it tells me Ihave to book a MYW package

 

[bryanb]

I may have to call. I'm trying it but I selected the no ticket option and it won't give me the option to select a dining plan. it tells me Ihave to book a MYW package

Unfortunately, AP discounts on rooms are limited in availability. You might have to be flexible with your dates and/or your resorts in order to find a "room-only" AP rate online... which will let you book the dining plan.
I didn't realize it was possible to call and make that happen, but that's great to know.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[AngiTN]

I may have to call. I'm trying it but I selected the no ticket option and it won't give me the option to select a dining plan. it tells me Ihave to book a MYW package

You must book the AP discount room in order to add on a dining plan

Word of advice, 99% of the time you will safe money if you will just take the amount you'd spend on the dining plan and go purchase gift cards to use, and apply those towards room charges

 

[CarrieR]

I'm going to definitely look into those. We were there for two whole days and two half days and still dropped $850 on food for two. I'm surprised how fast those food bills can run up but I love me some table service!

I don’t even know how someone does that! LOL! I would have spent about $150 (just me) in that time.

$750 on TS & the limited QS I spent above is the break-even point for TIW. So if you are typically TS-heavy eaters, and especially if you drink alcohol with those meals, I bet TIW is going to be your best bet.

Honestly - I would go back and run through how you spent your food money, maybe put it in a spreadsheet.
*Go through it and see what would have been covered by the DDP, subtract that out, and add in the DDP cost.
*Go through the original numbers again - for TS meals, multiply the menu cost by 1.032 to get the total (tax, tip, and out the door.) The QS is... .852? I think. Add in $150 for the cost of TIW.
*Go through a final time and look at which restaurants had an AP discount available and apply that.

Whichever is cheapest - do that for your next trip. If it’s close, look at the TIW price *without* the $150 added in to project savings for your third trip (since you’ll have already purchased the card.)

I don’t want to push TIW - it’s not right for everyone - but I’m still kicking myself for not buying it our first AP year. It never saved enough on one individual trip, so we didn’t buy - without realizing how easily it would have paid for itself over the course of all of the trips!

This method requires some solid math, but it should give you a good, objective view of what makes the best financial sense. HTH!

 

[AngiTN]

I'll save you the trouble of the math and say that if you and your SO have a couple or 3 adult beverages with each meal, even if it's just once a day, TiW is a better deal than the AP discount 10 out of 10 times. And it's a no brainer to purchase. If you don't drink, or if one of you doesn't drink, it takes math. Drinks? nope, TiW wins

 

[CarrieR]

LOL!!!!

We are not big drinkers in my group (maybe once or twice a trip, and more often from a kiosk than with a meal) so I’ve only ever used the “math method.”

Love the shortcut!

 

[Mama Lo]

You are also not considering the discounts that come with the pass with the dining plan or TiW. See here:

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/passholder-program/passholder-benefits-and-discounts/

I do agree with AngiTN, TiW works out better. The other advantage is once you suck in some of your friends for a trip or two they can reap the benefit of your TiW discount.

 

[AngiTN]

LOL!!!!

We are not big drinkers in my group (maybe once or twice a trip, and more often from a kiosk than with a meal) so I’ve only ever used the “math method.”

Love the shortcut!

We take full advantage of the Mouse doing the driving!

 

[jimim]

I would do TIW also. It always pays for it's self for us and we only do 1 table serve a day for dinner. Still pays for itself. I have completely stopped trying to figure out which places take it for lunch and just pay. all i ever remember is flame tree BBQ but we don't eat there anymore with the other market open now.

 

[CarrieR]

See, I’m totally opposite - I ask for every discount everywhere!

I also love that we’re able to extend the TIW discount to friends - I feel better about dragging our local friends & family to WDW to meet up! Lol!

 

[kniquy]

I agree with PP's that if you have the annual pass the dining plan is not going to save you anything. In fact it makes you eat more, you feel that you have to use all those TS credits, so canceling a reservation becomes tougher when you have already paid for it. You might want to just get a few apps, drinks and desserts, but if you have the dining plan there are no apps and you almost feel forced to each get an entree. Really the only scenario where the dining plan can save a little is -- if you have a few "disney kids" and you are planning on many character meals. The mugs are only a real benefit if you are spending some time at the resort.

One work around would be buying the same amount as the dining plan in disney gift cards from target- with the target red card you can buy disney gift cards at 5% off, then with your AP you typically get 10% at many places = about 15% savings -- much better than the dining plan and more flexibility to dine where you want.

 

[Fuhnuh]

I've found that if you plan in advance far enough and keep an eye on AP discounts (as well as seasonal ones) that we can get discounts for most of our trips. I just changed my Grand Floridian reservation to an AP discount for 4/2/2018 today. Room only works for us because then if any non-dining offers come up, we can take advantage of them closer to our travel dates. If you are going to go several times in the year, the TIW card purchase might be the best way to go. Also remember that you can book AP rates even if you do not have your passes yet, but you may be required to show your card at check in or soon thereafter. We always stop at Disney Springs guest services on our way to the resort to pick up our. Also, if you want to get a annual pass, you need to buy a pass voucher to make your FP+s in advance. I buy them through https://disneyworld.disney.go.com after I log in and the tickets get automatically linked to my resort reservation (after I link it).

 

[LAS321]

We have purchased our APs and want to order our Magic Bands. When I go on My Disney Experience it shows my AP but no place to order my Magic Band. I know you get a Magic Band with your AP but can't figure out how to order it....any suggestions?

 

[AngiTN]

We have purchased our APs and want to order our Magic Bands. When I go on My Disney Experience it shows my AP but no place to order my Magic Band. I know you get a Magic Band with your AP but can't figure out how to order it....any suggestions?

Have you actually used your AP yet? You won't get a chance to order the MB until you have activated and used your AP the first time