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Annual passes and Free Dining
- Thread starter draybook
- Start date
We'll be back in March, around the 10th for cheer finals. We usually do 5 days in Disney parks but we stay off site. The tickets only cost us about $480 because of the UCA discount. There's a slight possibility of us going back in April, since we'll have another competition in Destin, but we're not sure yet. If that happens then I could see it being worth it.
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jmcdougall
Member
I'm having the same mental war on this subject. We are going in September for 6 days and have 6 base tickets. My sister and I are planning to go early dec for 3 days to see the lights. My husband and I are tentatively thinking of going in March as he wants to go to the PGA at bay hill for one day and we could spend a couple of days at disney. Based on Sweetpee's comments I think it would benefit me to cash in the 6 base tickets and get an annual pass. I love all the help you get on this site.
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The easiest way to see if upgrading to an Annual Pass is worth it is to figure out the costs of the tickets you will have to buy. The Annual Pass costs $519 + tax, so if you add the costs of the tickets you are planning on buying than that will give you an idea if you want to upgrade. For example jmcdougall with your case you are getting the base tickets for Disney your cost for the 6 day base ticket is $259 + tax ($275.84) and if you go back in December and get a 3 day base ticket that would be another $232 + tax (247.08) which comes to a total of $491 + tax ($522.92). An Annual Pass would only cost you $519 + tax ($552.74) which with taxes included is only around $29.82 more and the Annual Pass would allow you to Park Hop. If you are staying off property for either of those trips than you would have to figure in the cost of parking to your base tickets, while with the Annual Pass you get free parking.
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dreamscometrue
Well-Known Member
I'm quite sure you can upgrade your ticket until midnight of the last day you can use it. Someone on these boards would know for certain though if that's the case.
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jmcdougall
Member
thank you Timeman. And I will save even more if my husband and I make it to orlando in March for the pga tournament. We plan on going to disney for 2 days if that works out.
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PolynesianPrincess
Well-Known Member
We have an AP right now and I figured out that at about the 10 day mark we break even. When all is said and done, we will have used 20 days on the pass. So it was well worth it for us. Also, you get 10% discount on merch with the AP. Plus you don't have to pay for parking which is a plus if you're staying off-site.
We're traveling again in Sept during free dining. Even though we have the AP, we decided to book free dining and we were just going to hold the 2 day base ticket we have to get with the package and use it to upgrade to an AP possibly next year. But we decided after visiting 3 weeks ago that the dining plan is just too much food for us so we're going to scrap that plan and use a room discount and our TIW card. It saves us more money.
So sometimes the AP works and sometimes it doesn't. It all depends on how many days you will get out of it. It took a lot of number crunching and comparisons though to determine which one was best for us.
We're traveling again in Sept during free dining. Even though we have the AP, we decided to book free dining and we were just going to hold the 2 day base ticket we have to get with the package and use it to upgrade to an AP possibly next year. But we decided after visiting 3 weeks ago that the dining plan is just too much food for us so we're going to scrap that plan and use a room discount and our TIW card. It saves us more money.
So sometimes the AP works and sometimes it doesn't. It all depends on how many days you will get out of it. It took a lot of number crunching and comparisons though to determine which one was best for us.
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dreamscometrue
Well-Known Member
We were looking at a similar thing. If you have to buy park passes for the free dining package, but don't use them (just use APs for the parks), do they not have an expiry at all? Could we 'build them' into APs a year or more later?
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I am not sure if this is what you had in mind, but while they will allow you to upgrade a single ticket to an AP, you can trade in multiple tickets toward one AP.
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In this day and age I would not risk it. While the AP has other perks that could add up, the room discounts have really been lacking as of late.
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Great, thanks for the info Yoda! I was looking at the other discounts, such as dining and merchandise, and I just don't see the value for our family.
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PolynesianPrincess
Well-Known Member
Yes, we were planning on not using the 2 day base tickets while we were there and using our APs (they expire in November) and then putting the 2 day base tickets towards an AP for next September. But I think we are going to switch to just a regular discount if it is still available when I call back. The free dining is only about $140 more than room only discount and using our TIW card for food. So basically that $140 more includes our refillable mug and the 2 day base ticket ($13 and $178.92 respectively) But it's just so much food for us.
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luv
Well-Known Member
I have yet to see any package - including "free" dining - that beats the AP & TiW. Throw in merchandise discounts and you very well might. Plus, remember that you only need one AP to get the deals.
Figure out what you want. Run the numbers and see what you come up with before locking anything down.
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