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Are annual pass holder room discounts consistent
- Thread starter Scuttle
- Start date
dreamfinder
Well-Known Member
Not at all. Especially not lately.
Right there you can see that AKL and the Poly are only 32%. Recent AP discounts have been offering different rates within categories. I think I saw some recently that had different rates for ASM vs the other values as well. It all depends on what they need to fill. Usually there is at least one deluxe in that 40% off range, but not a guarantee. Especially where some recent time periods the only AP discounts went out by PIN.
Right there you can see that AKL and the Poly are only 32%. Recent AP discounts have been offering different rates within categories. I think I saw some recently that had different rates for ASM vs the other values as well. It all depends on what they need to fill. Usually there is at least one deluxe in that 40% off range, but not a guarantee. Especially where some recent time periods the only AP discounts went out by PIN.
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Always 40% or more? No. Is 40% a decent rule of thumb for the deluxe resorts? Somewhat. As of late AP rates seem to be changing more than any other Disney promotion. The percentage off has been fairly consistent but the offers keep coming out later and later (even after general public rates in many cases), available rooms and resorts are fewer, and they have been riddled with blackout dates.
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Not in every case. I just ran some numbers for trips at the end of February and the AP rates are coming in better than the GP rates.
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sbkline
Well-Known Member
I'm curious about this as well, as I am thinking about changing the way we do our annual April trip. So far, we have done the room/ticket package with dining plan. However, on the advice of another knowledgeable poster here, I am contemplating getting an annual pass next time to cover our April 2012 trip and our April 2013 trip (and maybe throw in a shorter Christmas trip in between if we're lucky) getting the TiW card in lieu of the dining plan and hoping to rake in the savings with the AP discount. We're thinking of the Beach Club or Boardwalk for 2012 and the Grand Floridian for 2013. When I compared the price of an AP vs the price of two 7 or 8 day parkhoppers (one for each trip), it looks like the AP is the cheaper of the two, but only by 50 bucks or so, which isn't much compared to the overall price of the trips. So it would be really important to see if I would be better off with the AP discount or the general public discounts, which seem to always be coming out anyway, and it would also be important to know which would save me more between the DDP and the TiW card.
Of course, I also know that I will have to make sure that the first day of our April 2012 trip and the last day of our April 2013 trip are not more than 366 days apart.
Of course, I also know that I will have to make sure that the first day of our April 2012 trip and the last day of our April 2013 trip are not more than 366 days apart.
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dreamfinder
Well-Known Member
Well, you can still take advantage of a GP discount if you are an AP holder. So if AP is cheaper ticket wise, then go for it. You should be able to add the dining plan to your reservation as a ticketless package, but you would pay full price for the dining if you take the room discount (assuming a free dining is even offered).
DDP vs TiW? You would need to do the math yourself. I think the TiW would save you more as the first trip would easily pay for it, so the second trip is pure savings. As long as you eat one or more TS meals a day, TiW usually works out in your favor.
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sbkline
Well-Known Member
The issue would be, for each trip, would I save more using the dining plan, or using TiW? TiW only works on the table service meals and only gets 20% off. The dining plan advertises itself as saving up to 20% (is that what it is now, as opposed to the 33% that they used to boast) on dining, but that's on TS PLUS Counter Service. So if I did save the maximum amount of 20% using the dining plan, I would think that 20% off of CS + TS would equal more than 20% off of TS alone. On our upcoming trip in 7 weeks, I hope to keep track of the dollar amount of all our food and compare the total to what we paid for the dining plan, so I can have a more accurate assessment of how much we save on this trip using the DDP, which will help me in determining whether or not I wish to continue using the dining plan.
Oh, and I called WDW reservations today and asked how much 7 day parkhoppers cost for an adult and for a child, and how much an AP costs for an adult and a child. Turns out that two sets of 7 day parkhoppers (one for 2011 and one for 2012, based on current prices they quoted me) would be around 100 bucks higher per person than annual passes. So I figured up that getting an AP for my wife, my son and myself to use in April 2012 and April 2013 would save 314 dollars. Of course, it would save us a little more than that because the prices will go up this August and next August, so I would most likely end up paying higher prices for the 7 day parkhoppers than what I was quoted on the phone today. But I can buy our APs before the price increase in August and have park admission for the next two trips for 2011 prices.
Of course, the 2013 trip is moot anyway, since the world is gonna end next December. :ROFLOL:
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Monty
Brilliant...and Canadian
- In the Parks
- No
The main advantage to TiW for me is the flexibility to eat and drink what I want and get the savings regardless. With DDP, the "up to" X% savings means that if you order only the most expensive entrées and maximize every cost possible you might save your X%. With TiW, I don't feel that I have to order what I may not want because I want to save money.
APs save you money on multiple trips within the 366-day window as long as you're doing more than 10 days total in the parks. They can also save more with room discounts, shopping discounts, etc... But they can also cost you much, much more is you succumb to the temptation: That ticket burning a hole in your pocket creates an intense desire to plan more and more trips during its tenure, thus ultimately costing $$$$$$ you hadn't planned when you bought it! :lol: {Voice of experience talking here... :wave:}
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slappy magoo
Well-Known Member
I hope you have a series of wonderful trips, but I'm sorry, the idea that you're "hoping to rake in the savings," like an annual pass is a high-yield muni bond, made me laugh out loud.
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sbkline
Well-Known Member
:ROFLOL::ROFLOL:Very true! haha
However, in our case, I know that the only "extra" trip we would possibly take would be a shorter trip over the Christmas season, but we have been talking for quite some time about wanting to go over Christmas someday. So I just see the AP as our prime opportunity to do so and save money on a Christmas trip that we have been wanting to do anyway.
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