Annual Pass - Non FL Resident; Worth It?

[disneygeek90]

It's called the Premier pass, but so much is added in just for DL access that it's almost not worth it.

Yeah, I mean I guess if you are travelling back and forth or live near DL it could be worth it? I believe the 365 day access DL pass is around $1000 these days. So, if you had that and wanted to go once or twice to WDW you could potentially get your money out of it.

 

[danyoung56]

True, and if I lived in SoCal that's probably what I'd do. But living in Dallas, visiting Florida for a few days and SoCal for a few days, it doesn't make any sense for me.

 

[jim1051]

I don't remember exactly,but we were at the world last thanksgiving for 12 days and ap was less expensive than hopper for 12 days.
Worked out well for us, we are headed back on Saturday for another week!

 

[sxeensweet]

I wondered about that. We always go 14 days, but we get the 10 day park hopper and only enter a park those 10 days. We put aside a couple days for Disney Springs (sleep in), and usually have tickets to a halloween or xmas party one of the days (sleep in) and a free day (sleep in). So do you go to a park every day of the two week trip?

Yep usually even if Just for a few hours to go eat or do a few things. Plus like the more flexibility if we switch things around or need to go back a day we didn’t plan on we know we can go every day and not keep a count of our days. But usually always step foot at least a little while every day In a park. Plus we usually try to get 2 -2 week trip starts almost exactly a year apart so then we get 26-28 days from the AP. We then let it lapse until right before our next trip (being at that point we may skip a year etc) and do the cylcle again for 2 trips. We did this before DVC at full AP prices, and now as DVC members we get those really good AP prices that makes it worth it even for a shorter trip, but if not DVC or Florida Resident you need to do Over 10-11 days to really make it worth it.

 

[sxeensweet]

I don't remember exactly,but we were at the world last thanksgiving for 12 days and ap was less expensive than hopper for 12 days.
Worked out well for us, we are headed back on Saturday for another week!

Yep usually doing one trip over 10-11 days the AP becomes cheaper just in admission alone. We always compared prices over the years if going that long and AP’s always won.

 

[NelleBelle]

I believe there is a WDW/DL AP for about $1500.

Yikes! Too rich for my blood!! While it definitely is easier for us to hit DLR than WDW, I do t think we'd be able to go often enough to either to make it worthwhile. And I can't believe an AP TO DL $1000! I love DL, but I'd rather have the WDW AP if travel were not an issue.

 

[drwadadli]

I am debating purchasing an annual pass for 2018. I am not a Florida Resident, so I only have two options really available to me. The Platinum, and the Platinum Plus. I never go to water parks, so the former is the likely option.
I intend to go to WDW in Jan or Feb, April, October, and around December in 2018.

For other non-Florida residents: is it worth it? How many trips would you say you have to make (park days?) to say it is worth the cost?

Going that many times, it would be worth you getting an AP. We (my wife and I) are non-FL residents and any year we travel more than twice within in that year (as long as we stay longer than 3 nights and go to the parks all 3 days), we get an AP. Also with the AP, you should consider that you will get discounts (usually 20%) on food and discounts rooms as well.

 

[Disneyfreak Jen]

The break even is about 10 days. I live in NJ, and bought an AP for the first time last year, activating it on Oct 1, 2016 as part of my 8 day stay at the World. I bought it because I also had a 4 day trip booked for January 2017.

I kept my eye out for lower airfare prices and was able to squeeze in a "last hurrah" trip at the end of April for 4 days.

I didn't renew it because I just got a new job and won't be back at WDW until Fall 2018.

For me it worked out, and I would buy it again as long as I could plan to head down there for at least 10 park days throughout the length of the pass. Look for inexpensive airfare deals and try to pair hotel dates with that, that's what I did.

 

[Driver]

Since they no longer sell the non-expire option, all new tickets expire 14 days after first use, unless explicitly stated as otherwise like with some of the FL Resident tickets. And yes, 2 5 day tickets are more expensive than 1 10, $370 ea vs $440 (no tax included, non hopper). And since the platinum AP is currently $780 pre tax, that is how the breakeven is usually around 10 days.

That's what I was going to mention (no expiration) with a AP you can use it whenever. A regular tickets starts the clock as soon as you go the first day. Plus a regular ticket doesn't get you discounts or free parking ( if you need it)

 

[Pixieish]

I have tons of out-of-state friends who have APs. The general rule I've seen is that as long as you spend 12 days in the parks, it's worth it.

 

[rodserling27]

I have been an AP holder since 2011. I live in Wilmington, Delaware. I am a teacher, so I usually go every spring break, once or twice over a long weekend, and then once or twice in the summer. So, it's worth it to me; however, I am renewing an a cheaper rate. I love the discounts, especially since they've expanded them a few times, and Memory Maker is fun. (I have a whole collection of my friends/family and I making ridiculous faces on Space Mountain.) So I say if you plan to go at least three times in a year for 4 or more days, it's worth it.

 

[Dave B]

Just to clarify, we are going Nov 20-Nov 29th this year, Thanksgiving being on 11/23. We are trying to do a summer baseball tournament in July, which is why I would think of upgrading, but.....

If we upgraded to an AP, I would have to plan my Thanksgiving Trip a week earlier next year, because pass is only good for 365 days from first use? So Nov 20th 2017 thru Nov 20 2018? We go very year for Thanksgiving, but the upgrade would not work in this scenario if we wanted to be able to use for Thanksgiving 2018/ I have heard they give you an extra week or month upon renewal? But not every year? Anyone know about this?

Thx for the help

 

[dreamfinder]

Just to clarify, we are going Nov 20-Nov 29th this year, Thanksgiving being on 11/23. We are trying to do a summer baseball tournament in July, which is why I would think of upgrading, but.....

If we upgraded to an AP, I would have to plan my Thanksgiving Trip a week earlier next year, because pass is only good for 365 days from first use? So Nov 20th 2017 thru Nov 20 2018? We go very year for Thanksgiving, but the upgrade would not work in this scenario if we wanted to be able to use for Thanksgiving 2018/ I have heard they give you an extra week or month upon renewal? But not every year? Anyone know about this?

Thx for the help

An annual pass is only good for the 366 days from activation so if you activate on Nov 20 '17, it will still work on Nov 20 '18. They have occasionally run a promo to give 13 months for 12 on renewal, but I believe that last ran last year, I don't recall seeing info about it currently being an offer. But yes, you would need to shift your trip the following year to be the week earlier to get both trips on the same AP.

 

[Michaelson]

I haven't seen anyone mention the simple action of free parking when you get an AP. You just show it at the gate, and they wave you through. That's $20 a day....and a 10 day visit, that's $200 right there in savings....

 

[Dave B]

An annual pass is only good for the 366 days from activation so if you activate on Nov 20 '17, it will still work on Nov 20 '18. They have occasionally run a promo to give 13 months for 12 on renewal, but I believe that last ran last year, I don't recall seeing info about it currently being an offer. But yes, you would need to shift your trip the following year to be the week earlier to get both trips on the same AP.

Thank you

 

[iPirate]

Thank you everyone for your insight into all of this. Also, it's great to know I am not the only one who wondered.
Looks like I am getting myself an AP for XMas this year.

 

[General Hux]

I am debating purchasing an annual pass for 2018. I am not a Florida Resident, so I only have two options really available to me. The Platinum, and the Platinum Plus. I never go to water parks, so the former is the likely option.
I intend to go to WDW in Jan or Feb, April, October, and around December in 2018.

For other non-Florida residents: is it worth it? How many trips would you say you have to make (park days?) to say it is worth the cost?

I just spent a half day doing the math on this. 1st conclusion: it depends on your desired trip length and cost. Here are my stats and perhaps it will help you get an idea of how to run the numbers for your situation:
1. We like to have a 2-week trip, preferably 12-14 park days, but we can go as low as 10. This is an important factor for us because if we buy tickets, there is no way we would go over the 10 day ticket, as it would be a huge jump in price for the extra days. So if we did tickets, it is limiting us to the 10 park days per trip, and that means we would be less likely to take days off to hang out at the pool and such, which we like to do.
2. For my family of 8, we stay off property and get 2 rental cars ($40/day in parking without an annual pass). For 12 park days, this means an extra $480 for parking per trip.
3. We currently have a pass, and we do use the discounts for food and merch. If there are 20% off restaurants, we do that. So I came up with an estimate of how much that saved us for our average trip. It was a few hundred dollars. (keep in mind that for items #2 and 3, you only need one AP to get these discounts in general)
4. The grandparents sometimes do surprise trips with a couple kids. Having annual passes for the kids means that might happen more often, as the grandparents would not have to pay for their tickets. (not a huge factor, but worth considering for us).
5. If you have a few kids under age 10, tickets are cheaper, AP is the same for all ages. Not a big deal but worth factoring in.
6. We don't do water parks, so that wasnt a factor for us.

The most important consideration then is how often we will go. I put all the monetary factors I just listed into a spreadsheet and compared a 10 day trip with tickets to APs. Obviously, for a single trip in a year, the APs were not worth it. But for us, the break-even point was going 1.4 times per year. At that rate, it would not make a difference in money to buy tickets or APs. We generally go 1.5 times a year (my desire is to go 2 times), so the passes ARE worth it for us. But our next trip is in December, and the passes expire in Feb. Afte that we will not be back until the fall at the earliest. So even considering the renewal discount, it is not worth it for us to renew in Feb. We will get passes again when we go in late 2018, because I know for a fact I will be going in 2019 for Galaxys Edge at least once.

So as you can see there is a lot of math and other considerations. If you can use excell it will help! Hope this has been helpful!

 

[PrincessRiot]

I live in the UK and I wouldn’t be without my annual pass!!!

 

[TraderSam]

I am debating purchasing an annual pass for 2018. I am not a Florida Resident, so I only have two options really available to me. The Platinum, and the Platinum Plus. I never go to water parks, so the former is the likely option.
I intend to go to WDW in Jan or Feb, April, October, and around December in 2018.

For other non-Florida residents: is it worth it? How many trips would you say you have to make (park days?) to say it is worth the cost?

So asking if it's worth it is going to give you subjective answers, because you're asking opinions. So here's mine:

This is our first year with APs and this will be our third trip, with another planned early 2018 to take advantage of the extra month we got when we purchased. We've loved it. It's a completely different mindset in the parks - not rushing to get everything done because we have more time to spend there and we're not "burning a ticket" if we don't do everything. We're also within driving distance, so getting there is not a huge ordeal. The AP discounts are great (merchandise and dining), and the exclusives are a neat little perk, but they didn't drive our decision. The Memory Maker is a huge perk that definitely saves you time and a chunk of change.

Before you buy, consider two things: Go to Sam's or Costco and buy enough gift cards to cover the cost of your APs. You can use them to purchase anything Disney. Both Sam's and Costco sell the Disney gift cards at a 5% discount. And if you've able to pay it off in the same month, use one of the credit cards that offers quarterly rewards at different merchants. We have a credit card that offers 5% cash back at wholesalers in the fourth quarter, so we bought our APs at a 10%+ discount when you combine the initial discount with the cash back.