On our 2007 trip, we bought 10 day passes with no expiration, thinking we would save alot of money on a future trip since it's cheaper per day the more days you have on your pass. We used 5 days on that trip, leaving us 5 more for a future trip, which we ended up taking a year later. However, for all this money I thought I would be saving by having those 5 days pre-paid at a lower price (and factoring in the 100 or so bucks that it cost for the NE option), I forgot to take into account that I would have to spend another 70 bucks or so per person for my wife and I to get one day passes in order to qualify for the dining plan. That wiped out most of the savings. Now, did we save some money by doing it that way? Yes, but only a minimal savings. I can't remember now how much it was. But buying a 10 day NE ticket, then buying a 1 day pass the following year DID turn out to be slightly cheaper, all totaled, than buying a 5 day pass each year. But the savings weren't significant enough to warrant doing it that way again, or recommending that someone else do it.
Now I suppose if you weren't using the DDP on either trip, that may be another story, since you wouldn't have to fork out the money for a 1 day pass that you might not even need, just so you can get the dining plan on the second trip. So if you don't plan to use the DDP, then it may be a good move to buy the 10 day NE option...PROVIDED that the remaining days on your ticket is all that you need for your next trip. Once you have to start buying second tickets to cover the rest of your days for that second trip, then you're no longer saving money. Or, as someone else said, if you are a local and you like to take alot of 1 or 2 day trips, then you can save some good money that way, too.
