Annual Passholder Discounts? Worth it?

[KAT1811]

We are planning on traveling back to Walt Disney World in November and are planning to stay at the Grand Floridian. Our projected travel dates are November 6 - 16. I have a few questions:

1.) Do they traditionally offer annual passholder discounts during those dates?

2.) Is it worth my getting an annual pass for the discounts?

3.) What types of discounts could I possibly see? What have they offered in the past?

4.) Are passholder discounts only good on room only reservations or do they offer package specials?

Any and all information I could get regarding annual passes and their benefits (and drawbacks) would be greatly appreciated.

[FlaTinkRAMESAM]

We are planning on traveling back to Walt Disney World in November and are planning to stay at the Grand Floridian. Our projected travel dates are November 6 - 16. I have a few questions:

1.) Do they traditionally offer annual passholder discounts during those dates?

2.) Is it worth my getting an annual pass for the discounts?

3.) What types of discounts could I possibly see? What have they offered in the past?

4.) Are passholder discounts only good on room only reservations or do they offer package specials?

Any and all information I could get regarding annual passes and their benefits (and drawbacks) would be greatly appreciated.

1. We've only had passes since June 07, but I recall there being discounts on room only reservations during that time. I wouldn't call them substantial though.

2. I wouldn't get a pass just for the discounts. The discounts are really not that great in my opinion, but we more than paid for our pass in trips the first month we got them.

3. The most notable discounts is the $20 off the Disney Dining Experience, but I am pretty sure that is only open to Florida residents... someone clarify this for me. 10% of at World of Disney at DTD, 10% off at Lego, etc. The restaurants @ DTD are discounted too. it is typically 20% off during lunch M-F and 10% @ dinner. Some are just 10% regardless. Noodle Station @ MK was recently added as a discounted CS restaurant. A lot of the TS restaurants in Epcot are also discounted with the AP. There are PI discounts, the mini golf discount (which my friends and I use regularly), Disney Quest, water parks, etc. There is a site somewhere that lists the complete discounts.

4. From my understanding discounts on rooms are for room only reservations. You can't book packages with an AP discount and I have never seen a discount for AP holders for packages. I think the idea is that with the AP you already have your tickets, so packages are a bit redundant...

Are you planning on coming to WDW again within a year that you would be able to use the passes again? Have you figured out what the cost would be for 10 day tickets for each person in your party versus the cost of an annual pass for each person in your party? Additionally, discounts on rooms are not guaranteed, and you need a pass in order to get those discounts, so you are gambling with that aspect. If no discounts, or ones that are not substantial enough to provide your break-even point or be worth it over a package aren't available, then is it still worth it for the passes if you aren't getting the discount or a big enough one to make up the difference?

[KAT1811]

3. The most notable discounts is the $20 off the Disney Dining Experience, but I am pretty sure that is only open to Florida residents... someone clarify this for me.

It is open to FL residents and annual passholders


4. From my understanding discounts on rooms are for room only reservations. You can't book packages with an AP discount and I have never seen a discount for AP holders for packages. I think the idea is that with the AP you already have your tickets, so packages are a bit redundant...

That would make sense wouldn't it! Oops! :blush:


Are you planning on coming to WDW again within a year that you would be able to use the passes again? Have you figured out what the cost would be for 10 day tickets for each person in your party versus the cost of an annual pass for each person in your party?

We would not be back within the year. We go once a year for at least 11 days. Only one person in your party needs to have an annual pass in order to reap the discount benefits so I would only be purchasing one, everyone else would have the 10 day passes. The cost is not too much more than a 10 day pass would cost me.

I was wondering more about what the room discounts look like? 10%, 15%, 20%, etc.? Keeping in mind that we are staying 10 nights the discounts could add up quite fast.

[sillyolbear]

In terms of what the discounts actually end up being--I think they vary by time period. I believe InfoCentral used to have a historical listing of discounts that could give you an idea.

But as the previous poster, I wouldn't get an AP just for the discounts as they aren't guaranteed to be offered.

[faline]

The only time we stayed at the Grand Floridian, we had an annual pass. While annual passholder discounts were available for other resorts, none were available for the Grand Floridian. We ended up using a AAA discount for our room only reservation. Bottom li ne - don't get an annual pass for room discounts. Get one if it makes sense based on the number of days you will be in the parks. Any other perks are just gravy.

The Dining experience discount card is available to all passholders. It provides 20% off food and drinks at participating locations - not $20 off.

You can get the full description of passholder discounts here (http://intercot.com/themeparks/tickets/annualpass/default.asp).

[KAT1811]

It sounds like the annual pass isn't a good idea for us. We are planning on staying at the GF and I would really kick myself if I bought the AP for the room discounts and then they did not offer any for GF. I wish we could still get the DDE but if we aren't purchasing the AP then we will not be able to get it.

[faline]

You might still be able to check rates and availability even without having an annual pass in hand. You would need to have an annual pass when you checked in though.

[tys_mommy]

Great timing of your question. My inlaws told us this weekend that they want to do a large family trip to Disney around Thanksgiving. That’s great news normally however we are less than 60 days from our departure from our planned for over a year friends vacation to Disney. I’m thrilled to be going twice in one year as we always assumed we were on a 4-Year plan but now a whole new planning fun gets to begin.

I just did a quick search and annual passes are $579. The 7 day hopper passes are currently $264 so if we go for 2 weeks total (one week each time) it would still be cheaper by $51 to do just normal hopper passes and then make our reservations as we normally would. I was wondering too if there are any other benefits for annual pass holders that I should weigh into my decision before making any changes to our April reservations?

[tys_mommy]

I just did a quick search and annual passes are $579. The 7 day hopper passes are currently $264 so if we go for 2 weeks total (one week each time) it would still be cheaper by $51 to do just normal hopper passes and then make our reservations as we normally would. I was wondering too if there are any other benefits for annual pass holders that I should weigh into my decision before making any changes to our April reservations?


Just noticed I wasn't comparing apples to apples - a normal annual pass (minus the water park options) is only $448 or a savings of $80. HMMMM, could be worth it.

[ThanxForNoticin]

I just did a quick search and annual passes are $579. The 7 day hopper passes are currently $264 so if we go for 2 weeks total (one week each time) it would still be cheaper by $51 to do just normal hopper passes and then make our reservations as we normally would. I was wondering too if there are any other benefits for annual pass holders that I should weigh into my decision before making any changes to our April reservations?

I don't think you are comparing apples to apples here. I believe the PREMIUM AP is $579, which includes entry to all the water parks, PI, and maybe some other spots. The parks-only AP is $448. For a 2 week stay, you probably would save money with an AP, depending how much time you spend in the parks.

[ThanxForNoticin]

Just noticed I wasn't comparing apples to apples - a normal annual pass (minus the water park options) is only $448 or a savings of $80. HMMMM, could be worth it.

You beat me to it!! The important thing is that you are aware of the parks-only price! Have a great trip.

[tys_mommy]

Ok been waiting 40 minutes on hold for Disney – talk about high call volumes. If you have an annual pass but stay on property can you take advantage of EMHs? What if you purchase a 10 day hopper with no expiration as part of a package you can use EMH on the first trip but on your second trip can you take advantage of them as well if you stay on property?

[FlaTinkRAMESAM]

The Dining experience discount card is available to all passholders. It provides 20% off food and drinks at participating locations - not $20 off.

You can get the full description of passholder discounts here (http://intercot.com/themeparks/tickets/annualpass/default.asp).

I should've clarified... APs get $20 off the cost of the card which gives you 20% off at certain restaurants... Thanks for clearing it up for everyone... I type and since I understand what I mean, I think everyone should...lol

[FlaTinkRAMESAM]

Ok been waiting 40 minutes on hold for Disney – talk about high call volumes. If you have an annual pass but stay on property can you take advantage of EMHs? What if you purchase a 10 day hopper with no expiration as part of a package you can use EMH on the first trip but on your second trip can you take advantage of them as well if you stay on property?

Tickets or APs you have don't have anything to do with you being able to take advantage of EMHs (you could get technical with park hopping and what not... but I think you get the idea w/ that: if you don't have the park hop option with a MYW ticket, you have to go to the park offering EMH that day in order to take advantage of it... i.e. if Epcot has EMH for that day, you can't go to MK and then do EMH if you don't have the park hop option...).

As long as you are staying ONSITE you are entitled to EMH. Whether you have AP or MYW has no bearing on your entitlement to using EMH.

[tys_mommy]

As long as you are staying ONSITE you are entitled to EMH. Whether you have AP or MYW has no bearing on your entitlement to using EMH.

Thanks, that's great to hear.

[disneymaster]

I just went to disney in Dec. for about 8 nights. What I don't understand is why people say not to get a annual pass because of the discounts. To me, the discount was well worth it. My tickets to the park ended up costing me less than $200 for the whole trip because I saved about $200 on the room alone! Then, because of the holidays, I bought a lot of things for friends and family. I made a point to shop at the World of Disney store to get my discount there and saved about $35-40 on the things I bought there. Even if I was only going to travel once, I think if you are staying 8+ nights and a discount is being offered at the time of booking, I would buy one.

The dec. trip I have been talking about was my first solo trip and I didn't know how things would go so, went I bought the ticket I thought I would only use the pass twice in the year. We are going this summer in June so after this trip, my pass will be more than paid for. Then, because I loved going solo, I will be traveling again in Sept. or Oct (depends on when I can get a discount). For that trip, I will be visiting the parks for free, getting discounts on my rooms, some food, and most items bought.

For your trip, I would book JUST the room (you can buy ticket whenever you want) with MJ. Then, if a AP discount comes out, your MJ agent will let you know. At that point, have them change the rate to the AP one and buy your tickets. Have a great trip!!

[KAT1811]

For your trip, I would book JUST the room (you can buy ticket whenever you want) with MJ. Then, if a AP discount comes out, your MJ agent will let you know. At that point, have them change the rate to the AP one and buy your tickets. Have a great trip!!

That is what I was thinking of doing. I would love a discount and we are going for 10 nights at the GF. I figure that I can always add my tickets on later, we are not doing the dining plan. My theory is that if they do offer an AP rate for the GF during our time frame I will get an AP when they release the dates and then book the promo. I would hate to buy the ticket and limit myself (no water parks or PI features) and then find out that they are not offering any discounts at the GF (DH insists on the GF for "his" trip, I'm letting go of the WDW reins a bit for this trip so he can try it his way).

Anyone know if they offer discounts at the GF? I read one of the posts that said that they were not offering a discount at the GF during one period. Is this common practice to exclude the GF?

[Taja]

That is what I was thinking of doing. I would love a discount and we are going for 10 nights at the GF. I figure that I can always add my tickets on later, we are not doing the dining plan. My theory is that if they do offer an AP rate for the GF during our time frame I will get an AP when they release the dates and then book the promo. I would hate to buy the ticket and limit myself (no water parks or PI features) and then find out that they are not offering any discounts at the GF (DH insists on the GF for "his" trip, I'm letting go of the WDW reins a bit for this trip so he can try it his way).

Anyone know if they offer discounts at the GF? I read one of the posts that said that they were not offering a discount at the GF during one period. Is this common practice to exclude the GF?

They offer discounts at resorts where the bookings are lower than they anticipated. The GF tends to be quite popular, so it's possible it wouldn't be included during your travel dates. There's no way to tell in advance.

If you are an AAA member (or if you aren't yet, but are willing to join if it will save you money!) ask if an AAA discount is available during your dates. No guarantee, but it's worth trying! It's usually about 15%, although I've heard of 10% to 20%. You will need to provide an AAA card at check-in and they may ask for your membership number when booking. I can't remember if they asked for mine last year or not.

[busterthebronco]

we just saved $1,000.00 on our spring break trip.
we go more than once a year so we use our passes lots.
we are not too picky about where we stay so we can pick discounts that are the best.
mostly i like the freedom to come and go from the parks anytime for any amount of time.
pop in to ride space mountain before bed.
go to BB at 3:00 and swim for a couple of hours.
go to the WS at epcot for dinner.
its like you own the place!

[KylesMom]

I just went to disney in Dec. for about 8 nights. What I don't understand is why people say not to get a annual pass because of the discounts. To me, the discount was well worth it. Unfortunately, A/P rates have been spotty for the last couple of years. We've been A/P holders since 2002, and the last time we were able to take advantage of A/P rates for our select resort and time of travel was 2005. Advisors on Intercot are just trying to give the best advice they know how - which means not recommending something that's not guaranteed. It averts alot of controversy and "you gave me bad advice" later.


You might still be able to check rates and availability even without having an annual pass in hand. You would need to have an annual pass when you checked in though MJ gave us the best advice a few years ago - they got us a AAA rate on a room-only base room rate well before A/P rates came out so that we were guaranteed some type of discount, and then if A/P rates would have been available, they would have booked them for us. Unfortunately, A/P rates didn't become available, but we still were able to get a AAA room-only discount rate and were also able to purchase the DDE with our A/Ps. Since we get two trips out of one A/P for 30 days' admission in the parks (one late summer, the next trip early the next summer), the room discounts would truly have been "gravy" for us.

The A/P isn't for everyone - but it has saved us alot of cash in park admission. Not so much the last couple of years in room discounts, however. If you're a Disney Visa holder, many of the same discounts are available to you. :mickey:


You will need to provide an AAA card at check-in and they may ask for your membership number when booking. I can't remember if they asked for mine last year or not.
Nope, you don't have to provide at booking.