Annual Passes and Perks

DiSnEyF@n

DiSnEyF@n

Well-Known Member
I was wondering what the perks are for the basic annual passes?? Thinking about buying them next summer. What type of discounts are related with being an annual pass holder?

Does anyone have any experience with them?

Also, I see that you can get special pricing for when you go to purchase them again the following year? Has anyone had any experiences with this?

Thanks so much for all your help :)
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
disney4life2008

disney4life2008

Well-Known Member
Are you referrring to the real 365 AP or a resident only AP? I have a 365 AP so these are my thoughts:

The biggest perk for me is that I can travel to WDW anytime I want all year long and go to any park and as many parks as I want in one day and not worry about restrictions. I also get free parking. Outside of that - the other parks are the deep discounted resort rooms. One year I managed to get Sports for like $48 night in January. But I am not sure those even exist anymore. You also get shopping and dining discounts but nothing too major.When you renew your pass - you get a discount
 
Upvote 0
luv

luv

Well-Known Member
It's all listed in the little book they give you. It's also online at the Disney site and maybe here on Magic, somewhere.

Aside from park admission, you get some merchandise and hotel discounts as well as miscellaneous recreational stuff. Tours and dinner shows are sometimes discounted, as are some nights of hard ticket events like MNSSHP. I can't keep it all straight and any time I pay for anything related to any park, I ask if there is a discount with the pass. Parking, too. Can't forget parking! (Seasonal passes don't get parking.)

Having an AP also allows you to buy a TiW card.

The renewal rates are different than buying it new. If you don't go all the time, it may or may not be cheaper for you to skip the renewal price and pay full price later on. You have to figure that out. Renewals are done 30 days before to 30 days after the expiration date.

APs are an investment. I get the Florida resident rate and even that is not cheap!
 
Upvote 0
dreamfinder

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
My suggestion, don't look at the perks. They are subject to change at any time and may or may not be available to you. Do your break even based on the number of days you will visit. If you get merchandise discounts, or can get a room discount, all the better. But neither is guaranteed.

The renewal rate is basically 12 months, for the cost of 11 months. So if you won't use it within the 30 days of expiration, you may do better off to buy anew, and then have the extra time on the end for another trip.
 
Upvote 0
StarWarsGirl

StarWarsGirl

Well-Known Member
All merchandise comes with a 10% discount. Some stores (the one in Japan is one of them) do not take it, so you can check for sure. There is also a discount on some recreational activities, such as miniature golf. Your booklet will have the exact details.

The perk is that I can vacation year-round. I don't have to worry about wasting a day on my pass if I only go in for a few hours. If we plan the trips carefully, we can get several trips in with them. I will have done 3 trips of 9-15 days on my pass by the time I'm done with it. If you buy the premium (I have it because they offered it to DVC members for the same price as the regular one) you can also get into the waterparks, Disneyquest, and Wide World of Sports. They will offer you a lower price to renew usually then what you originally paid. I don't know the exact details, but I believe it varies
 
Upvote 0
LizC

LizC

Well-Known Member
I have gotten an AP 4 out of the last 5 years. Basically it depends on how many days you will be going throughout the year. I would base my decision on that if I were you, that is what I do. Compare the cost of regular tickets vs. the AP. Don't let the extras factor in to your decision.

The TIW card is huge for us. I would definitely recommend getting one if you eat at table service restaurants, it even discounts alcohol. ;) The room discounts are nice, although I am not sure that they are that much better than the regular discounts. The discounts at the shops are small, not a reason to buy a pass, but a nice extra.

Good luck!
 
Upvote 0
mbtohill

mbtohill

Well-Known Member
We bought "regular" AP's in Oct when we went to F&W, knowing we were going again for 8 days in May. I ran the numbers and for the cost of 2 adult 8 day park hoppers and the 2 day MYW tickets plus 8 days of parking in May compared to 2 adult AP"s I think I remember saving about $20. And as my wife always says $20 is $20.

And since we still have time on our AP's we have decided to do F&W AGAIN this October before they expire!!! :)

Also Tables in Wonderland is a nice perk for our family. We eat lunch and dinner at the parks every day and that 20% discount adds up pretty quick.

I've got to run the numbers again in October to see if it makes sense to renew.

P.S. - It's also cool to be driving around Connecticut with are WDW Annual Passholders magnet on our car :)
 
Upvote 0
luv

luv

Well-Known Member
I always saved more using an AP room discount and TiW than I would have with any dining plan. FWIW.

However, once you have an AP, you start thinking about another trip to WDW and you don't think, "It would be way too much." You start thinking, "Well, I wouldn't have to pay for tickets..." and that kind of thinking adds up to a lot of money you hadn't planned on spending!!
 
Upvote 0
lunchbox1175

lunchbox1175

Well-Known Member
luv said:
I always saved more using an AP room discount and TiW than I would have with any dining plan. FWIW.

However, once you have an AP, you start thinking about another trip to WDW and you don't think, "It would be way too much." You start thinking, "Well, I wouldn't have to pay for tickets..." and that kind of thinking adds up to a lot of money you hadn't planned on spending!!
Click to expand...

I agree here, we never do the dining plan because of TiW and it is always very tempting to plan a trip that wasn't planned. For example, my DW is really into Character Hunting, so we were actually able to take a trip this past January for the Long Lost Friends Week...we already had tickets, we got an AP Discount at All Star Sports that was $68 a night, so all we had to do was drive, which from Houston is about 14 hours. We wouldn't have done it if we didn't already have the passes. I will also say that if you use your card everytime for discounts, whether it is for room or food, we have found that the savings actually add up to cover the costs of the passes themselves, so it is like getting your tickets for free.
 
Upvote 0
disney4life2008

disney4life2008

Well-Known Member
I second that AP vacations. When I did not have a AP - I only traveled to WDW once a year. But with my AP I know go about 4 ot 5 times a year, lol. And now that I know how to drive down to Orlando from Chicago in a day that number may increase more, lol
 
Upvote 0
Ariel484

Ariel484

Well-Known Member
dreamfinder said:
My suggestion, don't look at the perks. They are subject to change at any time and may or may not be available to you. Do your break even based on the number of days you will visit. If you get merchandise discounts, or can get a room discount, all the better. But neither is guaranteed.

The renewal rate is basically 12 months, for the cost of 11 months. So if you won't use it within the 30 days of expiration, you may do better off to buy anew, and then have the extra time on the end for another trip.
Click to expand...
luv said:
I always saved more using an AP room discount and TiW than I would have with any dining plan. FWIW.

However, once you have an AP, you start thinking about another trip to WDW and you don't think, "It would be way too much." You start thinking, "Well, I wouldn't have to pay for tickets..." and that kind of thinking adds up to a lot of money you hadn't planned on spending!!
Click to expand...

Yeah, we don't get ours for the perks. We sort of try to plan our trips out and see if getting an AP will be a better deal than buying separate tickets for trips, and for us it has been for the past 2 years (example - we've used our APs for a trip in January and will use them again in September, November and December). There's no way we'd come out ahead buying tickets separately for all of those trips (and, as @luv points out, we almost surely wouldn't go this much without APs :p - we had the January and December trips planned and the AP was already going to be a better deal for those - saved $200 maybe? - , but already having the AP made it that much easier to book the other trips!). I'm hoping an AP room discount will come out for November but am not counting on it.

My favorite thing about it, besides the fact that it's saving us some cash, is getting the TiW card, as other PP have pointed out. We love the Signatures so it makes a lot more sense for us than getting the dining plan. Now that we've had it I'm really not sure I can go back to the non-TiW days of yore...
 
Upvote 0
S

Susan Savia

Well-Known Member
We've always had APs. We go one year in January and the next in February, then back to January the next year. We get two, two week trips in on one AP. Parking is included in the pass as is discounts in some of the stores like Mouse Gear and places in DTD. We like being able to hop and the discounts also help on special tickets like for the Halloween party (we went for the lst time last year). We believe it's well worth its cost.
 
Upvote 0
deanaandrich

deanaandrich

Well-Known Member
Whether you get an annual or a seasonal pass, it's a win-win situation. I've been a seasonal passholder for 30 straight years. I live only 40 minutes away. I've got no desire to stand in long lines during the summer and a week off at Christmas and Easter doesn't bother me, so saving half by getting a seasonal works for my family. We get annual waterpark passes to supplement for the summer months and its only 100 bucks. Even though annual passholders get more discounts at stores and restaurants, I've never been declined a 10% discount when I've asked. Plus we have a tiw card, so that typically takes care of parking throughout the resort and parks. The renewal costs a little less but nothing much. There is always monthly payment plan too. So whatever your budget, go for it!
 
Upvote 0
sbkline

sbkline

Well-Known Member
If you go every year, around the same time of year, the AP can save you alot of money on park admission if you plan such that your two annual trips fall within the same one year period. I bought APs for my wife, my son and I after our 2011 trip, with the intention of using them for our 2012 and 2013 trips. I activated the AP on April 13, 2012, which made it expire on April 13, 2013. So I planned our 2013 trip two weeks earlier such that our last day in the parks was April 13 2013. That saved around 500 bucks, give or take, vs the price of seperate admission for each of those trips.

To beat the most recent price increase, I did the same thing. A couple weeks ago, I ordered APs for all 4 of us (my daughter was over 3 on our last trip so we need to buy her park admission now, too). I paid $2444 for the 4 APs. I plan to activate our APs on June 4, 2014 for our next trip, and the 2015 trip will be two weeks earlier, with our last day being June 4. Just on those two trips alone, the AP saves us over $600. In addition, we are always talking and hoping to go for Christmas sometime, so I am wanting to sandwich a Christmas trip in between those two trips. We would only need 3 day passes, but 3 day passes for the four of us would be over $1200. Based on 2014 prices, the APs would save us over $1900 compared to buying park admission seperate for each of those three trips.
 
Upvote 0
DiSnEyF@n

DiSnEyF@n

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
mbtohill said:
We bought "regular" AP's in Oct when we went to F&W, knowing we were going again for 8 days in May. I ran the numbers and for the cost of 2 adult 8 day park hoppers and the 2 day MYW tickets plus 8 days of parking in May compared to 2 adult AP"s I think I remember saving about $20. And as my wife always says $20 is $20.

And since we still have time on our AP's we have decided to do F&W AGAIN this October before they expire!!! :)

Also Tables in Wonderland is a nice perk for our family. We eat lunch and dinner at the parks every day and that 20% discount adds up pretty quick.

I've got to run the numbers again in October to see if it makes sense to renew.

P.S. - It's also cool to be driving around Connecticut with are WDW Annual Passholders magnet on our car :)
Click to expand...

I like your wife's "$20 is $20." - I am with her on that!! lol
Thanks for the tips :)
 
Upvote 0
DiSnEyF@n

DiSnEyF@n

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
LizC said:
I have gotten an AP 4 out of the last 5 years. Basically it depends on how many days you will be going throughout the year. I would base my decision on that if I were you, that is what I do. Compare the cost of regular tickets vs. the AP. Don't let the extras factor in to your decision.

The TIW card is huge for us. I would definitely recommend getting one if you eat at table service restaurants, it even discounts alcohol. ;) The room discounts are nice, although I am not sure that they are that much better than the regular discounts. The discounts at the shops are small, not a reason to buy a pass, but a nice extra.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

I've been reading everyone's posts and trying to figure out what a TiW card is?!?!?! I am assuming it has something to do with discounts of some sort, but what does it stand for?? Thanks :)
 
Upvote 0
dreamfinder

dreamfinder

Well-Known Member
DiSnEyF@n said:
I've been reading everyone's posts and trying to figure out what a TiW card is?!?!?! I am assuming it has something to do with discounts of some sort, but what does it stand for?? Thanks :)
Click to expand...

Tables in Wonderland. Its 20% off most TS dining, (and some CS as well). It does include a mandatory 18% tip at the TS locations (20% at V&A's). You can get full info here -> http://tablesinwonderland.com/ Only available to APs, FLRes, and DVC.
 
Upvote 0

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom