Annual Passes: I'm "On The Fence"

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Wed, 03/14/2018 - 17:20

jrice4760

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Posts: 120

Annual Passes: I'm "On The Fence"

I now have reservations for me and the Mrs. for October, and we'll be there with 2 of our 3 daughters, their husbands, and our 2 grandchildren (their 1st trip!).

We also have tentative plans to go again in February 2019. I'm giving serious consideration to buying Annual Passes.

So, I'm appealing to the vast knowledge of the members of this forum. Should I, or shouldn't I?

I'm aware of most of the benefits (I think), which is mainly in the form of discounts: Merchandise, Rooms (?), Dining.

The cons? Price!

Of course, if I were to purchase the APs, this October and next February wouldn't be the only trips, but those two may be the break-even point.

So, to you good people: Do or don't? And why?

Thanks in advance!

JPR

Wed, 03/14/2018 - 21:54

JoAnn C

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Posts: 6757

Of course you should. Remember you did pose this question to a group of enablers.

Another benefit is being eligible for the Tables In Wonderland card. If you plan on going to a lot of table service restaurants, you should break even with your October trip. The card is $150 and gives you 20% most table services restaurants and some counter service. It includes alcohol. You can use the discount for your whole party (up to 10 people). The annual pass discount is 10% and no alcohol.

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Wed, 03/14/2018 - 21:56

jrice4760

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Posts: 120

JoAnn C wrote:

Of course you should. Remember you did pose this question to a group of enablers. .

Wed, 03/14/2018 - 22:54

Kristen K.

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Posts: 23803

jrice4760 wrote:

I now have reservations for me and the Mrs. for October, and we'll be there with 2 of our 3 daughters, their husbands, and our 2 grandchildren (their 1st trip!).

We also have tentative plans to go again in February 2019. I'm giving serious consideration to buying Annual Passes.

So, I'm appealing to the vast knowledge of the members of this forum. Should I, or shouldn't I?

I'm aware of most of the benefits (I think), which is mainly in the form of discounts: Merchandise, Rooms (?), Dining.

The cons? Price!

Of course, if I were to purchase the APs, this October and next February wouldn't be the only trips, but those two may be the break-even point.

So, to you good people: Do or don't? And why?

Thanks in advance!

JPR

Do it. Doooooo eeeeeeet...

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Thu, 03/15/2018 - 00:57

JeffC

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Posts: 4704

Doooooo eeeeeet!! Absolutely!

I think we are going to test out the weekday AP ticket for our first year. At $289 even if we went once for a few days of would pay off, I think. The block out dates are dates we would not go anyway, and I have a ton of vacation so weekdays are not a problem and even if we went for a trip that included a weekend, there are plenty of non park options to keep us occupied. we can decide if we want to upgrade after that.

We never use PhototPass so we wouldn't need that, and we never use the water parks anymore so that isn't important to us.

Thu, 03/15/2018 - 12:27

vwathome

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Joined: 06/14/2016

Posts: 5

We Love our weekday select annual passes! Like JeffC, we don't go during peak times, so black out dates aren't a problem, and we usually aren't there on Sat or Sun anyway, and we can still go to the parks on Friday. There's enough to do (or not do!) at the resorts over the weekends, or there is DS.

GO FOR IT!

Fri, 03/16/2018 - 17:21

drwadadli

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Posts: 82

Like the others have said...ABSOLUTELY you should

My wife and I have talked about this subject before. We figured any 12-month period that we would spend more than 8 days at WDW then and AP is worth it. We talked about going for 2 long weekends and if we do that then we are getting AP's. The discounts on the rooms alone would make it worth while anytime you spend more than 8 days at the resorts over a 12-month period.

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Fri, 03/23/2018 - 16:00

jrice4760

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Posts: 120

drwadadli wrote:

Like the others have said...ABSOLUTELY you should

My wife and I have talked about this subject before. We figured any 12-month period that we would spend more than 8 days at WDW then and AP is worth it. We talked about going for 2 long weekends and if we do that then we are getting AP's. The discounts on the rooms alone would make it worth while anytime you spend more than 8 days at the resorts over a 12-month period.

What kind of room discounts are available? Is it a standing discount for AP holders, or something that is only offered occasionally?

JPR

Fri, 03/23/2018 - 16:40

Allie

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Posts: 5477

jrice4760 wrote:

drwadadli wrote:
Like the others have said...ABSOLUTELY you should

My wife and I have talked about this subject before. We figured any 12-month period that we would spend more than 8 days at WDW then and AP is worth it. We talked about going for 2 long weekends and if we do that then we are getting AP's. The discounts on the rooms alone would make it worth while anytime you spend more than 8 days at the resorts over a 12-month period.

What kind of room discounts are available? Is it a standing discount for AP holders, or something that is only offered occasionally?

JPR

Annual Passholder discounts get released similar to general public room discounts, except Annual Passholder discounts are released closer to the travel dates and for a higher percentage off. It seems to me that availability has dropped in the past year or so, just like every other room discount.

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Fri, 03/30/2018 - 18:50

drwadadli

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jrice4760 wrote:

What kind of room discounts are available? Is it a standing discount for AP holders, or something that is only offered occasionally?

JPR

Allie wrote:

Annual Passholder discounts get released similar to general public room discounts, except Annual Passholder discounts are released closer to the travel dates and for a higher percentage off. It seems to me that availability has dropped in the past year or so, just like every other room discount.

Allie is correct that they are released similar to general public room discounts. AP discounts tend to be high than general public room discounts. I had use their AP to stay at one of the All-Star Value Resort for $49 a night compared to $140 a night we were staying for.

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Wed, 04/04/2018 - 13:17

jrice4760

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Posts: 120

I did it.

The wife and I are now proud owners of WDW APs.

Now I have to find an economical time to go, carve out time at work to go, and dodge the comments from family/friends who don't "get it"!

Wed, 04/04/2018 - 14:38

Kristen K.

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Wed, 04/04/2018 - 17:32

JeffC

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Woo hoo! Congrats. We will be right behind you

Wed, 04/04/2018 - 18:30

MrHub

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Posts: 9504

jrice4760 wrote:

I did it.

The wife and I are now proud owners of WDW APs.

Now I have to find an economical time to go, carve out time at work to go, and dodge the comments from family/friends who don't "get it"!

Just post lots of pictures of food and you having fun, they will learn to keep the comments to themselves. People don't even say anything other than " When is your next trip?" I have even turned a lot of people at work and they have either gone to Disney or are planning a trip.

Thu, 04/05/2018 - 12:45

drwadadli

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Joined: 07/21/2017

Posts: 82

jrice4760 wrote:

I did it.

The wife and I are now proud owners of WDW APs.

Now I have to find an economical time to go, carve out time at work to go, and dodge the comments from family/friends who don't "get it"!

__________________

Prior: Offsite most every other years from 1972 - 2000

Most recent: Offsite 2001 & 2003 / ASM 2006 / Offsite 2009 / Poly 2011 / POR 2013 / CR 2014 / GF 2015 / Offsite 2017

Fri, 04/06/2018 - 18:02

JeffC

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Posts: 4704

jrice4760 wrote:

I did it.

The wife and I are now proud owners of WDW APs.

Now I have to find an economical time to go, carve out time at work to go, and dodge the comments from family/friends who don't "get it"!

Congratulations!!! We bought ours online last night and are going to Disney Springs tomorrow to pick them up.

Fri, 04/06/2018 - 22:40

JoAnn C

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Posts: 6757

JeffC wrote:

jrice4760 wrote:
I did it.

The wife and I are now proud owners of WDW APs.

Now I have to find an economical time to go, carve out time at work to go, and dodge the comments from family/friends who don't "get it"!

Congratulations!!! We bought ours online last night and are going to Disney Springs tomorrow to pick them up.

yay! to both of you.

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Annual Passes: I'm "On The Fence"