AP--Break even point?

[daisyduckie]

I've been thinking about getting an Annual Pass, but I'm a bit lost when trying to figure out if it is really cost effective or not. How would you go about figuring that out? I'm getting confused thinking about AP room discounts, and park hopper costs per day vs AP costs. And would you figure the Tables In Wonderland discount in too?

I'm really hoping someone can say "Well, if you spend 13 days at a moderate you will break even" or something like that. Or am I crazy?

 

[sxeensweet]

I've been thinking about getting an Annual Pass, but I'm a bit lost when trying to figure out if it is really cost effective or not. How would you go about figuring that out? I'm getting confused thinking about AP room discounts, and park hopper costs per day vs AP costs. And would you figure the Tables In Wonderland discount in too?

I'm really hoping someone can say "Well, if you spend 13 days at a moderate you will break even" or something like that. Or am I crazy?

Figure it out by how many days of park tickets you will use not any discounts you "might" get as those can be taken away at any time. We get one every other trip and get about 28-30 days of park entry because we do 2 trips almost exactly a year apart do its definately always worth it for us. Even one trip it's worth it to buy it because we usually stay 2 weeks at a time. We are not renewing this time because we won't be back until late 2017 but when we buy it then we will get 14-28 days out of it. Plus now with the photo pass downloads it makes it even more worth it to us.

 

[Master Yoda]

First and foremost, never include any other benefit in your initial calculations other than admission. Not only can those perks be yanked away at a moments notice, but things such as room discounts are not always available and are often duplicated in a promotion that everyone can get.

If you are real close on breaking even on admission alone, you can start to include perks that will get you over the top, but I would personally never include room discounts. They are just too unpredictable.

The easiest way to get started is to look at your typical annual trip length and ticket purchase. If you can make that trip twice in the same calendar year simply double your ticket price, compare the two and go with the lesser of the two.

 

[sxeensweet]

First and foremost, never include any other benefit in your initial calculations other than admission. Not only can those perks be yanked away at a moments notice, but things such as room discounts are not always available and are often duplicated in a promotion that everyone can get.

If you are real close on breaking even on admission alone, you can start to include perks that will get you over the top, but I would personally never include room discounts. They are just too unpredictable.

The easiest way to get started is to look at your typical annual trip length and ticket purchase. If you can make that trip twice in the same calendar year simply double your ticket price, compare the two and go with the lesser of the two.

Yep well put as always Yoda!

 

[daisyduckie]

Thanks everyone for the quick response!! Apparently I was over-complicating things.

 

[sxeensweet]

Thanks everyone for the quick response!! Apparently I was over-complicating things.

Haha! I do that a lot. Your very welcome!! Always glad to help.

 

[Master Yoda]

Thanks everyone for the quick response!! Apparently I was over-complicating things.

For most people the break even point is around 11-12 days worth of admission. You can tweak combination of tickets you purchase to make it more or less, but for most people spending, 13 or more days in the parks will result in an AP being a wise investment.

 

[DisneyFans4Life]

I have always figured the price of a one day ticket plus parking.

The below example is for a FL resident:

To get into MK ($105) plus park hopping (which the AP allows you to do at an extra $25), you are spending $130. Throw in an additional $20 for parking and you're looking at $150 just to walk in the gate. So $150 is your starting point. Yes I know other parks are only $97, but for this example, I'm going with the price that is higher. Yes...I also know you can buy multiple day tickets which makes the price per ticket a bit cheaper, but that makes things too complicated to figure out which package to select.

Disney Platinum Plus Pass - $729 - the break even point for this pass is 4.86 times
Disney Platinum Pass - $649 - the break even point for this pass is 4.32 times
Disney Gold Pass (for FL residents and DVC members only) - $549 - the break even point for this pass is 3.66 times
Disney Silver Pass (for FL residents only) - $389 - the break even point for this pass is 2.59 times

Each of these passes offer something a bit different, from black out dates to no black out dates and access to the water parks.

Basically...if you're a FL resident and plan on visiting WDW at least 5 times in a 12 month period...an AP is totally a good investment!

 

[sean4066]

we are going on or fourth year with passes and they renew in early December and by May we are waaay ahead. Of course we only live three hours south so it's easy to take off Friday evening and stay for the weekend.

 

[Po'Rich]

I have always figured the price of a one day ticket plus parking.

The below example is for a FL resident:

To get into MK ($105) plus park hopping (which the AP allows you to do at an extra $25), you are spending $130. Throw in an additional $20 for parking and you're looking at $150 just to walk in the gate. So $150 is your starting point. Yes I know other parks are only $97, but for this example, I'm going with the price that is higher. Yes...I also know you can buy multiple day tickets which makes the price per ticket a bit cheaper, but that makes things too complicated to figure out which package to select.

Disney Platinum Plus Pass - $729 - the break even point for this pass is 4.86 times
Disney Platinum Pass - $649 - the break even point for this pass is 4.32 times
Disney Gold Pass (for FL residents and DVC members only) - $549 - the break even point for this pass is 3.66 times
Disney Silver Pass (for FL residents only) - $389 - the break even point for this pass is 2.59 times

Each of these passes offer something a bit different, from black out dates to no black out dates and access to the water parks.

Basically...if you're a FL resident and plan on visiting WDW at least 5 times in a 12 month period...an AP is totally a good investment!

Using the single day price is flawed unless you go sporadically. If you go sevaral days in a row, then the cost is much less (making a AP even less of a deal). At 10 days, the price is $365 per ticket. Add $64 for the park hopper and you're still only at $429. So, unless you stay for more than 10 days (or have a series of single days), the only AP that is worth it is the Silver Pass (which is only available for FL residents).

 

[DisneyFans4Life]

Using the single day price is flawed unless you go sporadically. If you go sevaral days in a row, then the cost is much less (making a AP even less of a deal). At 10 days, the price is $365 per ticket. Add $64 for the park hopper and you're still only at $429. So, unless you stay for more than 10 days (or have a series of single days), the only AP that is worth it is the Silver Pass (which is only available for FL residents).

While I agree with you, I specifically said that you can get cheaper day tickets if you buy a multiple day package. My example was only made as a base to give the OP an idea of how beneficial an AP can be. We don't know how frequent the OP goes/is going to go or they are a FL resident or not.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

I think it all depends on your mindset with an AP and factoring in the total cost. There's the school that says well I have this AP so I want to get my money's worth so I'm going to force myself to go more. The other school says well I go x amount of times per year anyway so let me weigh the options.

I don't renew until early next year but will be on the $550 pass when I do. I walk through the parks about 30 times a year so it's about $18 a pop for park admission (which includes parking). Which sounds really good until you Factor in about $75 a person for food and another $50 to $100 per person for hotel depending on moderate or deluxe (for a family of 4) and the true cost of my AP is between $143 and $193 per day. I stay at 4 Moderates and 4 Deluxes every year so my true cost is $168 per day for myself or $672 per day for the family.

When factoring in your break even you have to evaluate how many times you are really going to use the pass vs feeling an obligation to have to use the pass. In my case it more than works out as it saves me about $20 person per day vs average admission cost of a 10 day pass (as I am going anyway). When you spread that out it is about a $600 annual savings per person or $2400 annual savings for the family.

 

[Monty]

The way I do the math is simple:

If you're planning two trips within a year, two four-day Hopper tickets @ $393 cost more than a Platinum Pass @ $749.

On a single trip, anything over 11 days straight with Hopper tickets a Platinum Pass is cheaper.

One could argue not paying for Hopper or on a single trip only paying for it on one of the two tickets you'd need.

If you like driving to the parks then factor in $20/day without either an AP or a resort stay.

 

[DisneyFans4Life]

I think it all depends on your mindset with an AP and factoring in the total cost. There's the school that says well I have this AP so I want to get my money's worth so I'm going to force myself to go more. The other school says well I go x amount of times per year anyway so let me weigh the options.

I don't renew until early next year but will be on the $550 pass when I do. I walk through the parks about 30 times a year so it's about $18 a pop for park admission (which includes parking). Which sounds really good until you Factor in about $75 a person for food and another $50 to $100 per person for hotel depending on moderate or deluxe (for a family of 4) and the true cost of my AP is between $143 and $193 per day. I stay at 4 Moderates and 4 Deluxes every year so my true cost is $168 per day for myself or $672 per day for the family.

When factoring in your break even you have to evaluate how many times you are really going to use the pass vs feeling an obligation to have to use the pass. In my case it more than works out as it saves me about $20 person per day vs average admission cost of a 10 day pass (as I am going anyway). When you spread that out it is about a $600 annual savings per person or $2400 annual savings for the family.

I like your example because you include hotels. I only live about an hour away, so we got around 30 times a year just for day trips. We may stay on property for more than 2 nights a couple times a year.

I'm in your first school where I want to go as many times a year to make each visit cost less. But, I'm also lucky in that I don't have to pay for hotels every time and we can pack a lunch at home and bring it with us if we so choose. With that said, I don't count food in the cost of a pass because you have to buy food regardless if you go to the parks on an AP or a day ticket.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

I like your example because you include hotels. I only live about an hour away, so we got around 30 times a year just for day trips. We may stay on property for more than 2 nights a couple times a year.

I'm in your first school where I want to go as many times a year to make each visit cost less. But, I'm also lucky in that I don't have to pay for hotels every time and we can pack a lunch at home and bring it with us if we so choose. With that said, I don't count food in the cost of a pass because you have to buy food regardless if you go to the parks on an AP or a day ticket.

I hear ya. I'm about an hour and a half away and have tried the day trips. I respect your discipline. My day trips (when I did them) started out as day trips and the first few times ended up as day trips. Somewhere though.....I lost my way. I knew I had a problem when one day trip ended four days later.

 

[DisneyFans4Life]

I hear ya. I'm about an hour and a half away and have tried the day trips. I respect your discipline. My day trips (when I did them) started out as day trips and the first few times ended up as day trips. Somewhere though.....I lost my way. I knew I had a problem when one day trip ended four days later.

Discipline? LOL - my wife and I used to pack our lunch, now we do QS lunch and TS for dinner haha. I'm just saying we have that option...not that we take advantage of it. I don't think you lost your way...I think you found it

 

[SMS55]

Disney Silver Pass (for FL residents only) - $389 - the break even point for this pass is 2.59 times

Not exactly. There's usually a Florida Magic Your Way Ticket that gives you 4 days for about $260 with park hopper and taxes. You need more than 4 days to get your money's worth. My brother for example gets that ticket. He goes on two separate weekends for two days each and he's good. We're Disney fanatics so we get the seasonal which is the silver one now. We got 5 days use at the end of August and now we'll get 3 more days in December. I know we'll go again before it expires too. So for us it's worth it.

 

[DisneyFans4Life]

Not exactly. There's usually a Florida Magic Your Way Ticket that gives you 4 days for about $260 with park hopper and taxes. You need more than 4 days to get your money's worth. My brother for example gets that ticket. He goes on two separate weekends for two days each and he's good. We're Disney fanatics so we get the seasonal which is the silver one now. We got 5 days use at the end of August and now we'll get 3 more days in December. I know we'll go again before it expires too. So for us it's worth it.

That's why I prefaced my statement with the fact that I'm basing my figures on a one day ticket to keep things simple. You start throwing in the different multiple day packages amd specials (4 days for the price of 3) and it makes things more complicated.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to how often you plan on going. The more times you plan to go in a 12 month period, the more sense it makes to go with an AP.

 

[harryk]

Not being a Fl. resident - i.e. fly in from Boston - we find the AP to be a great savings. Usually we only stay 7-8 nights, on property. We purchase a pass every 2 years, i.e. get 2 trips south to WDW, which cuts the AP cost in half. We never renew the pass in that it permits us to change our travel dates. We stay at the deluxe resorts and usually visit in December.

 

[Chef Mickey]

I have always figured the price of a one day ticket plus parking.

The below example is for a FL resident:

To get into MK ($105) plus park hopping (which the AP allows you to do at an extra $25), you are spending $130. Throw in an additional $20 for parking and you're looking at $150 just to walk in the gate. So $150 is your starting point. Yes I know other parks are only $97, but for this example, I'm going with the price that is higher. Yes...I also know you can buy multiple day tickets which makes the price per ticket a bit cheaper, but that makes things too complicated to figure out which package to select.

Disney Platinum Plus Pass - $729 - the break even point for this pass is 4.86 times
Disney Platinum Pass - $649 - the break even point for this pass is 4.32 times
Disney Gold Pass (for FL residents and DVC members only) - $549 - the break even point for this pass is 3.66 times
Disney Silver Pass (for FL residents only) - $389 - the break even point for this pass is 2.59 times

Each of these passes offer something a bit different, from black out dates to no black out dates and access to the water parks.

Basically...if you're a FL resident and plan on visiting WDW at least 5 times in a 12 month period...an AP is totally a good investment!

I get that you said Florida resident, but how often are people going for just 1 day? Maybe people that live an hour or less away would do that? Unless you're a person going for 1 day frequently, factoring in 1 day cost doesn't really apply.

I think it's much simpler to just take the ticket costs for your average length of stay and just do math. I have to believe most people are going 4-8 days at a time.

Again, I understand your example was for a Florida resident. I just don't know how many people actually live close enough to literally just pop over for a day. I'm sure there are people, but it is the overwhelming minority.

To me, if you live in Florida, you should automatically have an annual pass, no analysis needed.