Annual Pass Questions

[Yodasnuggs]

I have been considering getting an annual pass, but I had a few questions that I can't seem to find specific answers to on the Disneyworld website. I tried doing a search here but could not find anyone that had asked my questions, or at least not as one group of questions. I apologize if I am bothering anyone by posting a topic that has already been covered, but I really cannot find what I am looking for. Anyway...

1. Is it annual as in, for the entire year of 2005? Or if I purchased an AP today, would it go from 2/15/05-2/15/06?
2. Is it worth it if I intend to use it basically entirely for hotel discounts? I have seen on the boards that you can get "up to 45% off", but does this happen often enough to warrant getting the pass for this reason?
3. I was looking at the pass the just covers the theme parks, I assume this is a park-hopper style pass, is that correct?
4. Are there any other discounts or benefits aside from the obvious hotel discounts and non-stop park access? (I really don't know what else I could be asking for, but figured I would check).

I think that is everything. Thank you to anyone who can help me, and again I apologize if this information is sitting right in front of my face and I can't find it.

 

[kengels]

1. Is it annual as in, for the entire year of 2005? Or if I purchased an AP today, would it go from 2/15/05-2/15/06?
2. Is it worth it if I intend to use it basically entirely for hotel discounts? I have seen on the boards that you can get "up to 45% off", but does this happen often enough to warrant getting the pass for this reason?
3. I was looking at the pass the just covers the theme parks, I assume this is a park-hopper style pass, is that correct?
4. Are there any other discounts or benefits aside from the obvious hotel discounts and non-stop park access? (I really don't know what else I could be asking for, but figured I would check).

1. Correct, the pass starts to age when you start using it (02-15-05 - 02-15-06)
2. It is a good way for non-Florida residents to get great resort discounts. You also get dinning & shopping discounts as well as free theme park parking.
3. You can get a deluxe pass that will allow you to get into PI, water parks, and Disney Quest. Yes you can hop from one park to another, do all 4-parks in one day!!
4. Discounts, attraction previews, pins, shirts

 

[Jackobark]

My wife and I got APs last year and saved big time on our hotel. There are so many places to get food and mechandise discounts all over the entire resort. Sine we saved so much we are going again in September before our passes expire. Trust me between the hotel discount and park admissions, the pay for themselves in a few days.

 

[Moustronaut]

1. The annual pass (AP) is good for 365 days starting when you first activate your pass.

2. Room discounts are not guaranteed, They are also limited in availability so even if they are available at that time, you may not be able to get exactly what you want. Like I've never been able to get a standard discounted room at Wilderness Lodge… but then I'm not much for planning ahead. Recently, AP discounts have only been good for check-ins from Sunday through Thursday and blacked out for Friday and Saturday check-ins. Some people have found discounts for the weekend, I have not been so lucky. But yes, you can justify the extra cost of an Annual Pass by the savings you'll see on a room. The break even point is for stays between 4-7 nights depending on where you are staying.

3. The regular AP is a full park hopping ticket for the 4 theme parks. You can get the Premium Annual Pass (PAP) for additional unlimited admission to the two water parts, Pleasure Island, Wide World of Sports, and DisneyQuest.

4. Each year the discounts change a little. I'm doing this from memory so don't quote me on these exact amounts. There's 10% off lunches at selected restaurants. 10-15% discounts on tours in the parks. Free parking on Disney property. 10% discounts on water craft rental. The ability to participate in the Disney Dining Experience program. Annual Pass holder pin. Ability to attend annual passholder previews of new attractions. Discounts are also available on golf, water park tickets, and DisneyQuest (assuming you don't already have a PAP).

 

[s25843]

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=48947&highlight=annual+pass+discounts

 

[Yodasnuggs]

Great, thank you all so much! I think I am going to seriously consider this!

 

[barnum42]

Another good link for info:
http://www.allearsnet.com/pl/apass.htm

 

[tigger1968]

One of the big things for us is that we plan our trips based on the expiration of our passes. We usually go once a year, so we try to make one trip in October, then go in September the next year. No tickets to buy. We explained this to some friends that go every year and buy park hoppers every year, and it was amazing to see the light bulb go on when they figured out what they could save just on theme park admissions. And yes, if you plan it right, you can sometimes find room discounts that make getting an AP worth it for that reason alone. Plus, I like the passholder gear you can buy! :animwink:

 

[ClemsonTigger]

Just to give you one more thing to consider...
If you buy an AP, consider getting a Disney Dining Experience card. With the AP discount it's $50. For that you get 20% off of almost all food purchases. If you tend to have sit down meals rather than casual pickup, this can be a real benefit.

 

[kengels]

One of the big things for us is that we plan our trips based on the expiration of our passes. We usually go once a year, so we try to make one trip in October, then go in September the next year. No tickets to buy. We explained this to some friends that go every year and buy park hoppers every year, and it was amazing to see the light bulb go on when they figured out what they could save just on theme park admissions. And yes, if you plan it right, you can sometimes find room discounts that make getting an AP worth it for that reason alone. Plus, I like the passholder gear you can buy! :animwink:

O yeah...almost forgot another perk, if you renew your passes before the anniversary/expiration date there is about $28.00 decrease in price on each pass.