Season pass vs Daily Tickets

[JMSisko 0]

At what point (in days) does it make sense to get a season pass instead of multiple day passes. We are not Florida residents and we usually get five day passes. Some years we come 2 times but the last 2 years we have only come once. I've heard occasionally Disney offers more than 12 months for the annual pass, is this true? Are there certain times of year they offer deals?

[h2odivers...Ray 952]

That's somewhat a tough question to answer.  Because it depends on how you disney.   Do you park hop and buy park hopper tickets?   Do you drive to the parks instead of using Disney transportation?  Do you eat at table service restaurants?    Do you buy the photopass?    

If you do hop, drive to the parks, eat at TS restaurants and buy the photopass. Then I would guess your break even point is about 10 days. 

We don't buy park hopper passes. We don't drive to the parks.  But we do buy the photopass and we eat at TS restaurants. So for us the break even point is about 12 days.   

We bought our APs last Christmas because they were having a special.  We got a 13 month pass for the price of the standard 12 month AP.  

 This allowed us to go/ going on

Christmas 2016, 7 days  

May/June 2017, 8 days  

October 2017, 4 days  

Christmas 2017, 7-10 days  

 

I don't know if there is a time of the year they offer deals.  I don't think there is.   

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Keep in mind, when budgeting for annual passes, there is a very good chance that you will visit Disney more often while you have AP's.  Whereas you might be doing the math based on 2 annual trips where you were buying 5 day park hoppers vs those 2 trips with AP's, to be realistic you should budget for at least one unplanned trip if you buy AP's....lodging, meals, transportation, etc.  It just happens.  

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

21 hours ago, DaveInTN said:

Keep in mind, when budgeting for annual passes, there is a very good chance that you will visit Disney more often while you have AP's.  Whereas you might be doing the math based on 2 annual trips where you were buying 5 day park hoppers vs those 2 trips with AP's, to be realistic you should budget for at least one unplanned trip if you buy AP's....lodging, meals, transportation, etc.  It just happens.  

Oh my gosh, yes!  For us, this is so true!!  

[caveat lector 181]

On 7/22/2017 at 9:03 AM, h2odivers...Ray said:

That's somewhat a tough question to answer.  Because it depends on how you disney.   Do you park hop and buy park hopper tickets?   Do you drive to the parks instead of using Disney transportation?  Do you eat at table service restaurants?    Do you buy the photopass?    

If you do hop, drive to the parks, eat at TS restaurants and buy the photopass. Then I would guess your break even point is about 10 days. 

We don't buy park hopper passes. We don't drive to the parks.  But we do buy the photopass and we eat at TS restaurants. So for us the break even point is about 12 days.   

We bought our APs last Christmas because they were having a special.  We got a 13 month pass for the price of the standard 12 month AP.  

 This allowed us to go/ going on

Christmas 2016, 7 days  

May/June 2017, 8 days  

October 2017, 4 days  

Christmas 2017, 7-10 days  

 

I don't know if there is a time of the year they offer deals.  I don't think there is.   

Appreciate this analysis. A possuble confluence of events has me considering this exact scenario.

[JMSisko 0]

Thanks for the response. It's very helpful. I would like to hear other fiends ideas on AP's though.

As for how we typically do Disney, we always buy photo pass, we typically only use Disney transportation, but we only occasionally park hop.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

We always get APs and have a "Disney Year" every couple of years. We like to be very casual park goers with going into a park for a couple of hours in the afternoon, doing our three FP+ having a meal, and just wandering.

It is a HUGE freedom to not feel like you have to make use of your day. Because with day passes once you walk through the gate, that day is gone, and I would feel like I have to stay in the park all day.

We are bringing our grand nephew with us over Labor Day, and he will have a 4-day ticket. We are going to be killing ourselves showing him a good time and making the most of his ticket. I'm already tired just thinking about it :)

[Travisma 1,317]

7 hours ago, mouseketab.....Carol said:

We always get APs and have a "Disney Year" every couple of years. We like to be very casual park goers with going into a park for a couple of hours in the afternoon, doing our three FP+ having a meal, and just wandering.

It is a HUGE freedom to not feel like you have to make use of your day. Because with day passes once you walk through the gate, that day is gone, and I would feel like I have to stay in the park all day.

We are bringing our grand nephew with us over Labor Day, and he will have a 4-day ticket. We are going to be killing ourselves showing him a good time and making the most of his ticket. I'm already tired just thinking about it :)

That is the best reason for getting an AP, if you can afford it.  Just being able to come and go as you please and not be scurrying around day in and day out makes it a much better, relaxing trip.

Now if you want to become a FL resident, it'll be even cheaper to get an AP!  

C'mon down Y'all and join the rest of us crazies living down here! 

[slices 16]

Haven't taken the plunge to get APs yet, keep doing the maths and it's not worth it for me. I think one of the issues for me is that we tend to do about a third of our Disney trips with friends from overseas. This typically means going during gold and silver black out dates. We would need platium passes and even with the resident discounts it's working out cheaper with a couple of three day tickets at the resident rate and the one trip at the full rate.

 

I do wish I could justify passes though for the reasons people have stated.

 

I do have tables in Wonderland though so get some dinning discounts.

 

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