Question for Annual Passholders

[LD92599]

We're thinking about WDW for Spring 2008. I'm trying to find out the benefits, if any, if I was to purchase one annual pass and then buy the remaining tickets, book the room, etc based upon it. Do AP holders get discounts? It would be 2 adults and one child. Might be 3 adults + 1 child.

I'm just starting our research - DH & I have been been on DCL a few times and now that i'm checking costs + airfare i'm wondering how the heck we did that LOL!!!


Laura
Mom to Will

http://b4.lilypie.com/BhyBm5.png

[egoldber]

We've had annual passes two years now. In those two years we had trips planned for at least 10 park days, which is about the break even point for annual passholders just on tickets alone.

AP holders also get hotel discounts which are usually a bit better than a AAA discount.

You can look here for more discounts:
http://www.mousesavers.com/wdwtixadvice.html#ap

We are DVC Members so we do get discounted annual passes.

With an AP you can buy the Disney Dining Experience card which is well worth it for us since we prefer not to use the Disney Dining Plan.

http://www.mousesavers.com/diningexperience.html

[Momof3Labs]

You can book the discounted AP rooms without an AP as long as you have one purchased when you check in, so I'd at least wait and see if you can even get an AP room discount when you are there. And it has to be an adult AP to book a discounted room; children's APs won't work. It gets more complicated if you want a package since everyone needs to be on the same package, tickets and all. Here's a link with an (old) analysis on AP benefits:

http://www.mousesavers.com/packagevsap.html

Keep in mind that you can probably get room-only discounts without an AP, so factor that into your cost-benefit analysis!

[egoldber]

"You can book the discounted AP rooms without an AP as long as you have one purchased when you check in"

Absolutely. In fact, its to your benefit to wait until you actually arrive and are planning to enter the park to buy the AP. That way you get the most bang for your year.

You can buy an AP at any park ticket window or Guest Relations desk, including the ones at Downtown Disney so you don't have to do it at a park ticket window. You cannot buy an AP at your hotel though.

Buying it so close to park entry does complicate getting the DDE card if you want one, but there are ways around that. :)

[AddiesMom]

You can now buy AP (regular and premium) vouchers at most Disney stores so you can lock in the price. It is a voucher that never expires and once you turn it in to Guest Relations the clock starts ticking. Last year the prices went up the first weekend in August so we just bought all of ours for Jan 08-09.

You can also get some good discounted rates with the Disney Visa card and similar merchandise discounts at World of Disney at Downtown.

[egoldber]

Oh right. I always forget about the Disney Store because we can't buy ours there. They don't do the DVC discounted AP at the Disney Store. :)