Questions about annual passes

[disneymomma2010]

Please tell me all you know about annual passes. Do you have them? Are they worth it? What exactly are you paying for? ( Does the cost cover just the park tickets and then you have to pay for the hotel seperatly?) I saw that they offer hotel discounts during certain dates for passholders, are those dates ever during free dining dates, and can you even use free dining when you are a passholder? :confused:
Just trying to find a way to make our trip more affordable so we could go to the world more often! :mickey:
Thanks for any help!:thumbsup:

[Daisy'sMom]

Our annual passes comes with perks such as discounts at hotels, events, restaurants. For instance we are going for a week in Oct and got 42% off room. We then thought about free dining, but to that we would have had to say goodbye to discount and purchase a two day ticket. Instead we kept the discount and purchased QSD. I don't think there was discount with that. We also have a 10% off merchandise with the AP at certain retailers.
Living in Florida allows us to visit WDW on a one day basis. Our AP gives us free parking which is a great thing since parking is so expensive now.
We also get to preview certain rides and events. We love our APs.

[joonyer]

Generally speaking, an AP is not going to save you a lot of money unless you plan to visit the parks more than 10 days per year. Individual savings depending on room (discounts may vary)

The Annual Pass entitles you to unlimited admission with park hopping privileges to the 4 Main Parks for 12 months with no blockout dates*. You also get complimentary parking in the theme park lots as well as other passholder benefits (hotel discounts etc. Complimentary use of WDW transportation system - monorails, ferryboats, and motor coaches - is included. *Except activities/events separately priced (does not include MSSHP, MVMCP, etc.)

The Premium Annual Pass entitles guests to unlimited admission* with park hopping privileges with no blockout dates to the Magic Kingdom® Park; Epcot®; Disney's Hollywood Studios; Disney's Animal Kingdom"! Theme Park; AND
Disney Quest, Disney's water parks: (Blizzard Beach & Typhoon Lagoon) and ESPN's Wide World of Sports"! complex, as well as complimentary parking in the theme park lots and other passholder benefits (room disocounts, etc.) Complimentary use of WDW transportation system - monorails, ferryboats, and motor coaches - is included.*Except activities/events separately priced(does not include MSSHP, MVMCP, etc.)

The free parking is a nice perk if you stay off-site, but if you stay at a Disney Resort, you get free parking anyway.

You are not eligible for free dining using an AP, as mentioned above, you must purchase an MYW package for that.

[disneymomma2010]

wow thanks for the info. Maybe i should wait and get annual passes in a few years when i know we could afford to go more than once a year. Right now we are on a can we even afford to go once a year? type of lifestyle. I also really love going during free dining plan. I know some people hate it but we would never eat at the ts restaurants without it because it would cost us too much and we really enjoy it, not to mention all the other free food!

[dnickels]

Like others have mentioned, the annual pass really only starts to make financial sense if you're taking multiple trips per year or a very very long trip. The room discounts for passholders right now are up to 45% but that's only because visitation is down and Disney is doing just about anything to get folks in. I wouldn't buy an annual pass with the plan of getting 40% discounts with it every year.

If things are tight and you still want to go what about picking up some part time work? I see you're a SAHM and your kids are 6 so they must be in school for at least a few hours a day right? Just a thought, hope you can make some visits happen! :thumbsup:

[kms1066heb]

I've had the Fl Premium Annual Pass since June and it has already paid for itself. I go to WDW several times a month, sometimes for just a few hours, get discounts on merchandise and restaurants, free parking, and discounted room only reservations. I just booked room only for the Night of Joy weekend and, with the AP discount, was able to stay at a Moderate at an unbelievable discount.

An annual pass is so worth it!