Annual Pass Discounts

[AugieMorosco]

Planning a trip for late January, early February of 2022 with family. I've never been an AP holder, but assuming that they are available to purchase by then, I'm considering getting one for a year and making several shorter trips in addition to the family trip. Are AP discounts for rooms generally good? Have they historically been relegated to specific seasons or is there usually some kind of discount available for AP holders? Any info is appreciated.

 

[Dave B]

Great question, I would love to know as well as we are thinking of doing the same thing

 

[dmw]

mousesavers has a great list of historical discounts, including AP discounts. Of course, post-Covid, who know what types of discounts (if any) will be offered and when. I think all historical trends are out the window for now.

In 2019 we got an AP and planned four trips in which we could use the AP. During that year with the AP we only found one time where the AP discount was better than what we could get from Disney during the times of the year with special deals. As with all discounts Disney offers, AP room discount availability is limited.

For us, the AP saved us $$ on park tickets, so any other discounts/benefits were bonuses. BTW, AP does get you a discount for water parks, even if your AP does not included the water park admission.

 

[AugieMorosco]

mousesavers has a great list of historical discounts, including AP discounts. Of course, post-Covid, who know what types of discounts (if any) will be offered and when. I think all historical trends are out the window for now.

In 2019 we got an AP and planned four trips in which we could use the AP. During that year with the AP we only found one time where the AP discount was better than what we could get from Disney during the times of the year with special deals. As with all discounts Disney offers, AP room discount availability is limited.

For us, the AP saved us $$ on park tickets, so any other discounts/benefits were bonuses. BTW, AP does get you a discount for water parks, even if your AP does not included the water park admission.

I agree that historical trends are out the window. Thanks for the insight on the room discounts. As I was reading up on the benefits I saw that AP does not appear to get discounts on park tickets for others. Is that accurate?

 

[buckeyegator]

first of all, if you drive ap saves you on parking, it is free. next, most restaraunts offer a 10% discount on food, also, ap good for merchandise discounts. as for rooms, they are usually 5-10% cheaper with ap rather than disney visa or florida resident.they range from 15-40%, depending on time of year and the type of resort, value, moderate, deluxe.i have had one for about 20 years, no real complaints.plus, the more you go the cheaper each visit is, just makes it feel good to go and be feeling you are getyting in fopr half price, just my 2cents.

 

[ppet]

Great question!, My wife and I are thinking along the same lines. Get an AP for a longer trip with extended family and then use it for multiple 3 or 4 day trips.

 

[dmw]

I agree that historical trends are out the window. Thanks for the insight on the room discounts. As I was reading up on the benefits I saw that AP does not appear to get discounts on park tickets for others. Is that accurate?

correct - AP does not entitle you to discounts on park tickets for others. But... I seem to recall we were able to get a discount for special events (MNSSHP). I do know that I was able to use the AP discount for the behind the scenes tours for our daughter who did not have an AP. Maybe some of those who have had APs longer might be able to confirm the special event discounts.

 

[buckeyegator]

FYI, there are several types of ap passes, for florida residents we have the silver pass, which has black out dates for about 25% of the year, mainly summer from july to mid-august and from mid december to early january. plus, those are really busy times so we do not mind. we go about 10-12 times a year, with usually 2 or 3 multiday visits, so it averages us about 50.00 a visit.

 

[buckeyegator]

here is a roomrate example. we are going down mid-april, allstar movies at a 30% discount. be aware there are only a certain number of rooms available for each resort at the discount, so book early, plus, like said before, mousesavers is the go to site to see about discounts and when and how much they are./

 

[AugieMorosco]

This is all very helpful. The feedback and info is appreciated.

 

[Raxel7851]

We’ve been AP holders for the last 5-6 years. We live in the Mid-Atlantic area and try to visit 3-4 times a year. Since we’re retired it’s easy for us to make spontaneous plans unlike when we were both working. Last year they were offering AP discounts of 40% on Disney merchandise. You do get a smaller discount normally. I was checking some rates today and there’s a 30% discount for everyone and an AP discount of 35%. But like some have mentioned the main draw of the AP is the park ticket savings if you can go often enough.

 

[Animal_Kingdom_09]

If they bring back Tables in Wonderland, AP's can buy that card. If you drink alcohol, TiW includes your beverage total when calculating your discount. Discount is 20%, auto gratuity is 18%, so it is a better discount than the AP discount, unless you normally do not tip.

If you do not drink, it probably isn't that much of a benefit.

The AP discount at restaurants, to the best of my knowledge, does not include adult beverages.