Do you buy annual passes?

[iftravel]

Just noticed that DVC owners can buy discounted annual passes at $999 pp. Curious if anyone is taking that and made it worth for you.

 

[Terry D]

We are not DCV owners but do have annual passes, at the full rate of around $1,400 annually. We timeshare in Orlando 3-4 weeks per year so it is worth it to us. I believe the break-even is about 10 park visits. It depends on whether you are buying multiple one day passes or full 7 day passes. Other benefits include 20% discount on merchandise.

 

[chriskre]

I buy the annual pass but the Pixie Dust pass which is for Florida residents.
It's only $400 a year so well worth it for me, but it has blackout dates and is only good Monday to Friday.
I prefer to go to the parks on the weekdays anyway when it isn't as crowded since I don't want to wait in long lines.

We ended up buying a Universal Annual pass this year because for FL residents it was $400 as well and includes
weekends and has less blackout dates so on the weekends we just head over to Universal.
For us to upgrade to the weekend pass it would have been another $400 for Disney only so now we have the
best of both worlds and Disney has lost half our usual money spent on trips to Universal.
I imagine they don't care but oh well.

Half of our stays are in off-site timeshares and half DVC.
Some stays are split stays like this past week with a Wyndham Cypress Palms/ DVC-BLT stay.
I don't mind moving and the points are lower during the week anyway in DVC.
It's nice to have options.

 

[bnoble]

I do not buy an AP unless I know that I have enough planned visits to make it work. I'm ordinarily a one-trip-a-year person, and while an AP makes the second trip cheaper, it doesn't make it free.

 

[dioxide45]

I buy the annual pass but the Pixie Dust pass which is for Florida residents.
It's only $400 a year so well worth it for me, but it has blackout dates and is only good Monday to Friday.
I prefer to go to the parks on the weekdays anyway when it isn't as crowded since I don't want to wait in long lines.

We ended up buying a Universal Annual pass this year because for FL residents it was $400 as well and includes
weekends and has less blackout dates so on the weekends we just head over to Universal.
For us to upgrade to the weekend pass it would have been another $400 for Disney only so now we have the
best of both worlds and Disney has lost half our usual money spent on trips to Universal.
I imagine they don't care but oh well.

Half of our stays are in off-site timeshares and half DVC.
Some stays are split stays like this past week with a Wyndham Cypress Palms/ DVC-BLT stay.
I don't mind moving and the points are lower during the week anyway in DVC.
It's nice to have options.

We have the same Pixie Dust AP for WDW. We looked into Universal Annual Passes and, well, passed. According to what I found you still have to pay for parking at Universal Orlando. That can cost quite a bit if you go fairly often. It seems to make the Florida Resident Universal APs a lot more expensive than those at WDW.

 

[DanCali]

We have the same Pixie Dust AP for WDW. We looked into Universal Annual Passes and, well, passed. According to what I found you still have to pay for parking at Universal Orlando. That can cost quite a bit if you go fairly often. It seems to make the Florida Resident Universal APs a lot more expensive than those at WDW.

I am not sure it's 100% fair to say that because the math reverses on the higher end passes.

For example, if you get the 2-Park Preferred Universal Annual Pass for Florida Residents it costs $530+tax and has no blackout dates and parking is included after the first visit (when you activate the pass). In terms of access, that beats the WDW Sorcerer Pass which still shuts you out 3 weeks out of the year and costs almost double.

 

[TheHolleys87]

We maintained APs at WDW for several years when we were making more than one visit to Orlando. We routinely looked at the dates we expected to be there and calculated how much it would cost to buy regular tickets for those visits. If the regular tickets cost the same or more than renewing the APs, we renewed the APs. When we came to a point that we knew we wouldn't visit WDW at all in the coming year, we let them lapse. I don't expect that we'll be visiting more than once a year now, so I don't think we'll be buying new APs - but again, we'll compare the cost of regular tickets (plus parking, if we'll be staying offsite) to the cost of APs and make our decision based on that.

 

[noreenkate]

It’s pretty pathetic but I have theme park AP not just at Disney but most parks east of the Mississippi

- we do get use out of our DVC sorcerers passes more than just during our points stays. My son has to travel for work a month to Tampa every year so we bop into Epcot ect for just dinner & or day trips on the weekends

There is a pretty helpful google sheet for determining cost effectiveness…

Worth It To Upgrade to Disney Annual Pass?

Worth It For Me To Upgrade to AP? Is It Worth It for Me to Upgrade to a Disney World Annual Pass?,You can only change values in RED cells. Annual Passes to Buy,,Total Annual Pass Base Cost,If Bridging Tickets: Enter <a href="https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/admission/tickets/theme-parks/">DISN...

jjt.page.link

 

[dioxide45]

I am not sure it's 100% fair to say that because the math reverses on the higher end passes.

Perhaps it does, but for us it really doesn't. Universal's lower end pass is more expensive than Disney. I can easily work around blockout dates by being a FL resident.

 

[noreenkate]

Perhaps it does, but for us it really doesn't. Universal's lower end pass is more expensive than Disney. I can easily work around blockout dates by being a FL resident.

Agree it’s really an individual thing My oldest uses FL resident tickets- financially it makes sense vs block out dates ect. Because me and my youngest are out of state 2park Premiere makes more sense and the benefits definitely outweigh for us the DVC sorcerer

 

[chriskre]

We have the same Pixie Dust AP for WDW. We looked into Universal Annual Passes and, well, passed. According to what I found you still have to pay for parking at Universal Orlando. That can cost quite a bit if you go fairly often. It seems to make the Florida Resident Universal APs a lot more expensive than those at WDW.

True but with us one of us upgraded the pass for $99 so we get the free parking and the rest of us just tag along.
There are 4 of us. The parking is only $16 with the pass. You pay $30 for the first day and then you get 50% off after that so it's $16.
Yeah it's a ripoff but this is how we are working around it for now.

 

[iftravel]

It takes two trips a year to break even on tickets.. 20% off F&B is nice - does it apply to resaurants in DVC resorts?

 

[bnoble]

Disney's list of AP discounts:

Annual Passholder Discounts | Walt Disney World Resort

Unlock exclusive benefits and discounts with the Walt Disney World Passholder Program. Enjoy special perks and magical experiences throughout the resort!

disneyworld.disney.go.com

 

[rickandcindy23]

We have the same Pixie Dust AP for WDW. We looked into Universal Annual Passes and, well, passed. According to what I found you still have to pay for parking at Universal Orlando. That can cost quite a bit if you go fairly often. It seems to make the Florida Resident Universal APs a lot more expensive than those at WDW.

We have AP's for Universal but we usually get a hotel night to get Universal Express for two days. It's expensive but worth it to us. I don't ride roller coasters, but the kids do, and I watch the littles while they all ride the coasters.

To book the hotel, usually Loew's Royal Pacific, I use our Chase points through the Chase portal. It's not a terrible use for points. Some weeknights can be as low as $300 or 20,000 points. Rick has the pass that covers parking, which is not really much more than the power pass I have.

I won't go to Universal at hot times of year, like this trip (we are here at OKW now). I cannot stand Universal when it's 93 degrees. I can take a little Disney in the morning but leave at lunch.

 

[elaine]

We just debated this for upcoming trip. But WDW has started running "deals"-summer 3 days/3parks @ $89/day. That's plenty for us (and 5 yr old grandson). We used to buy AP, esp for teens. I recall cringing when I had to pay $599 per kid! Now, we'd have to have at least 2 big trips planned to "break even" on the DVC pass at $999, so no go for us since Covid.

 

[rickandcindy23]

We just debated this for upcoming trip. But WDW has started running "deals"-summer 3 days/3parks @ $89/day. That's plenty for us (and 5 yr old grandson). We used to buy AP, esp for teens. I recall cringing when I had to pay $599 per kid! Now, we'd have to have at least 2 big trips planned to "break even" on the DVC pass at $999, so no go for us since Covid.

There are 7/12 2 bedrooms at OKW still showing on II for exchange. I see those with my Marriott studios and no upgrade fees from studio to the 2 bedroom. I just won't go in that heat. There is no way I could walk around. I would need a scooter with a fan and an umbrella.

 

[ljmiii]

Just noticed that DVC owners can buy discounted annual passes at $999 pp. Curious if anyone is taking that and made it worth for you.

Unfortunately, Disney no longer offers discounted APs to DVC members. Instead they now allow us to buy the 'not-actually-an-AP' Sorcerer Pass.

And yes, I used to buy discounted APs for our family. Then when our kids headed off to college shifted to just buying Sorcerers Passes for me and my wife.

 

[Huskerpaul]

This option is only available to those who bought DVC direct or are grandfathered in as "blue card" owners. I bought resale a few years ago and get no DVC perks.

 

[noreenkate]

This option is only available to those who bought DVC direct or are grandfathered in as "blue card" owners. I bought resale a few years ago and get no DVC perks.

depending on how often & when you travel to Orlando you still might use our of the incredi-pass

When Is a Disney World Annual Pass Worth It? – Out of State Edition | TouringPlans.com Blog

You don't live that close to Disney World, but you're thinking you might want an Annual Pass anyway. Never fear, Touring

touringplans.com

 

[rickandcindy23]

The Incredi-pass is what we have right now because we went to Disney over the holidays. It was a waste of money.

 

[Gwendyc]

This option is only available to those who bought DVC direct or are grandfathered in as "blue card" owners. I bought resale a few years ago and get no DVC perks.

Yup, we are in the same boat. I have a SeaWorld AP. I like their food festival concerts and the kids like the Sesame Street section. Some years we have had Universal passes. The Disney APs are just too expensive.

 

[ljmiii]

The Incredi-pass is what we have right now because we went to Disney over the holidays. It was a waste of money.

I would agree that the only reason to go to Disney the week of Christmas to New Years is because you have no other option.

That said, we did it twice during the eight or so year span when our only options were the President's Week, Easter Week, and Christmas breaks. It isn't as bad as many people say...you just have to manage expectations, seek out (comparatively) low crowd activities, and be willing to forgo four hour wait times. And I can tell you that visiting EPCOT the morning of Jan 1st was a joy!

 

[iftravel]

I would agree that the only reason to go to Disney the week of Christmas to New Years is because you have no other option.

That said, we did it twice during the eight or so year span when our only options were the President's Week, Easter Week, and Christmas breaks. It isn't as bad as many people say...you just have to manage expectations, seek out (comparatively) low crowd activities, and be willing to forgo four hour wait times. And I can tell you that visiting EPCOT the morning of Jan 1st was a joy!

So true. So many flights (on east coast) and so many timeshares to choose even during holidays, cheap, easy and family fun. If there is no where to go, Orlando or somewhere in FL is always a backup plan.

 

[rickandcindy23]

Magic Kingdom was dead today. We went for extra magic half hour, and they really didn't rope drop until exactly 8:30. Left at 11 AM and rode everything we wanted to ride. Rick rode Tron for the second time this trip. I just rode the Peoplemover while he rode Tron. There was never a line for the Peoplemover, so they let me stay on. The temperature climbed to about 97 degrees this afternoon, and we were glad to leave early and be out of the heat and back at OKW for the heat wave. We ate cauliflower pizza in, but we ate on the balcony. Love this balcony.

 

[kanerf]

I have been buying them for about 20 years. If you visit several times a year as I do, they are well worth the cost. I am a DVC owner and take advantage of the discount to purchase and renew. You cannot do this on-line. You must call DVC Member Services.