To AP or not AP?

[blistex]

We've got a family trip planned in Feb 2020 with 5-day park hoppers ($545) and now a 3-day hopper for Nov 2020 ($450ish). Add Memory Maker to that and the AP comes out just a smidge cheaper, plus gives us extra discounts while in the park and free parking if we stay off-property in Nov. I would only get one for myself as I'm the only overlap between the guests in the two trips.

However, I'm afraid that if I get an AP it will be burning a hole in my pocket and the next thing I know I'll be planning extra trips down to Orlando, costing far more in the end than the, what, maybe $300 best-case cost-savings? WWYD?

 

[randumb0]

I'd get the AP

 

[No.1000]

I vote AP, but it most certainly will "call" you back to the World when you are away.

 

[BebopBaloo]

I'd get the AP. At least for us, it's hard to plan quick getaways, so even though I constantly see my AP card and am constantly wondering how to go about getting down for a weekend...it's really hard to make it happen.

 

[Jax1023]

We just got APs. Suddenly I’ve got 3 week long trips and 3 weekend trips planned with the likelihood of adding more. I live in PA. Hooray for southwest miles

 

[kiford]

We planned to go down a couple of times per year so the AP does make sense for us but I was actually surprised at the level of the discount compared to what I expected, plus it enabled us to get TiW which has got us an ever larger discount. I estimate that, after paying for TiW, we save about $50/day between the two of us. We haven't done or spent anything that we wouldn't have normally done or spent so it's been a very good value for us. Whether you're able to resist more trips - well, can't help you there; we buy it knowing that we're planning for multiple trips so we've simply given into the dark side. It does, however, make you feel like you haven't wasted your ticket if you just decide to go into the parks for dinner, for a couple of hours or skip entirely to spend time at the resort or go to Disney Springs. That has made for enhanced trips for us, although if only one family member gets it, you unfortunately won't get that benefit.

 

[gharter]

Each year, we look at the number and lengths of the trips and see which is cheaper. We try and stagger the trips so we get 3 out of each AP so it does save us money. But it also makes trying to take an extra trip easier as does DVC.

 

[cps17]

AP allows you to not fret over sleeping in and "wasting" a day, rain outs or other ways that single day tickets aren't used to their fullest. It's a sunk cost and as others have said, you'll find excuses to visit more often too.

 

[CastAStone]

We've got a family trip planned in Feb 2020 with 5-day park hoppers ($545) and now a 3-day hopper for Nov 2020 ($450ish). Add Memory Maker to that and the AP comes out just a smidge cheaper, plus gives us extra discounts while in the park and free parking if we stay off-property in Nov. I would only get one for myself as I'm the only overlap between the guests in the two trips.

However, I'm afraid that if I get an AP it will be burning a hole in my pocket and the next thing I know I'll be planning extra trips down to Orlando, costing far more in the end than the, what, maybe $300 best-case cost-savings? WWYD?

I think the takeaway from everyone's posts is that if you get it, you will absolutely spend more money than if you don't. But maybe that's what you actually want to do?

 

[L_MD]

I feel like even if it comes out only $50 cheaper than buying tickets, AP is the way to go. MemoryMaker, merch and dining discounts, the possibliity of snagging an AP discount for a room...it's all extra $.

As for burning a hole in your pocket...you'll have to try to exercise some self-control, which I know is really hard when it comes to WDW trips.

 

[LizGirl]

AP! It will def burn a hole in your pocket but that's the fun of it! You can have much more relaxing trips.

We typically have an "on" AP year, saturate with trips, skip a year and then repeat. Our running joke is that the "savings" is costing us more money but we all enjoy touring this way.

 

[Mango7100]

We just got an AP over Labor Day weeekend and even though it was a big chunk of $$ up front for 3 of us our last trip was more relaxing. I didn’t stress about squeezing every hour out of the day to get the most bang for our buck with tickets. We had never had park hoppers before and loved it. We went to AK the day we got in for 2 hours to ride FOP and Safari—never would have done that if purchasing a 4 day ticket. on our 5 day trip we saved an extra $170 in parking fees and 10% dining discount (I didn’t even include memory maker because we never have bought it and wouldn’t have so I can’t count that as a true savings). We are planning a 4 day trip in January and a week in either spring or summer before it expires. That being said, we are now stopping in for two days on our way to the beach over fall break because we have the AP—so there is unplanned trip for Disney to make more money

 

[bkoehl]

It will definitely make you want to go more!

 

[kwdw]

Maybe you can be a better person than me and resist - but I ALWAYS go at least twice more than I planned when I buy an AP - hence costing me a TON more overall because of things like airfare, hotel rooms, and food for those extra trips! It definitely burns a hole in my pocket!!!!

At least I can say over time I have learned to keep the cost of trips down - I'm smarter about room discounts, rental cars, grocery delivery, what to buy - so my cost per day average has definitely gone down. Seriously - an AP just guarantees you'll spend MORE money at Disney than you would have without it in a year!

 

[V.I.N.CENT.]

You can always buy one AP for the discounts, save money by not buying the others. Would reduce the temptation to revisit. I purchased one for the discounts, difficult for us to travel so I don’t see going again.

 

[Jen4400]

However, I'm afraid that if I get an AP it will be burning a hole in my pocket and the next thing I know I'll be planning extra trips down to Orlando, costing far more in the end than the, what, maybe $300 best-case cost-savings? WWYD?

This is exactly what happened to my family last year when we got annual passes. Our annual trip turned into four trips in one year....zero regrets. I'd go for the AP.