AP vs. PH Help me decide!

[magicjasb]

We are going to be staying at BLT from 7/31-8/11. I was going to purchase 10 day PH for the trip. MJ just put the summer discount on my already discounted (PIN) reservation and saved us another $500! Looking at AP's, they would cost us about $1000 more for my family. What I am trying to decide is if it is worth it. We usually go to Disney once a year, as long as money is okay. I was thinking of buying the Tables in Wonderland card, also, since we will be there with our inlaws for part of the week. We usually like to go in August (since I am a teacher), so I know we would have to go before August in 2011 to use it again. Also, if we did that, when would we renew it? Or, would we not buy it again until the following year. Any advice would be great!:mickey:

[DizneyRox]

Actually, if you get an AP for the upcoming trip, it would expire on 7/31/2011, so you would need to go before then, OR renew, which takes the savings out. You would be one trip per AP.

You probably won't save $1065 with the Tables in Wonderland so I'm not sure I would go that route.

You COULD only have one person get the AP (an adult) and that person could then get the TiW card. That's probably your best bet.

I'll mention though that it seems teaching jobs are being eliminated left and right, depending on your seniority, next year might get tough... Just some food for thought... I know a few districts around here are eliminating 50-100 teaching jobs for the 2010-2011 school year, I gotta imagine next year will be even tougher. Base your park ticket decision on guaranteed use of park admissions, not possible discounts or maybe future trips.

Getting off topic though...

[CanadianWDWFan]

What we do is buy the AP and use it for two trips. We almost always go in the summer for two weeks. So this past summer we bought the AP and went at the end of August. This upcoming summer we are going at the end of July. Therefore our upcoming trip this summer is covered for park passes with the AP we bought in 2009. Then for our trip in 2011 we would by a new AP. We don't renew since the renewal expires 12 months from the time of renewal and we would ony get one use out of them.

You mentioned the Tables in Wonderland card. This is one of our favourite discounts at WDW. We get a great room rate, either AP, AAA or Disney rate, park passes are covered and we get discounts on our meals.

We looked at all the angles and decided that the AP was the way to go for us.

[faline]

Since you're thinking of getting a 10 day park hopper, I'm guessing that you were not planning to go into the parks on two days of your trip - probably your arrival and departure days.

If you buy the 10 day pass with park hopper option, the current cost is $310.60 or $31.06 per day. If you buy an annual pass and use it for ten days, it costs your $52.08 per day. If you go into the park(s) with your annual pass on your arrival and departure days (12 park entrances), your cost drops to $43.39 per day - still considerably more than the per day cost of the 10 day park hopper. In fact, at a cost of $31.06 per day, you will need to enter Disney parks at least 17 days before you break even. If your plans over the next year exceed 17 park entrance days, then the annual pass will be the right option for you.

[Melanie]

MJ just put the summer discount on my already discounted (PIN) reservation and saved us another $500!

Just curious because I'm sure there is something I'm not aware of here (maybe DVC related), but I thought you couldn't stack discounts? :confused:

[SBETigg]

Wow, Linda, that was an impressive rundown of the options. Well done!

[magicjasb]

Thank you. I am planning on the 10day PH only because that was the most that was offered. We were initially only going for a week, but just added days to the trip. If we had tickets, we would probably go into the parks on all 12 days, even if just for dinner, because we have family coming at the beginning and family coming at the end of the trip. We usually go to Disney every summer, so I am thinking we would use them again. I just don't know if it would be silly, especially if something came up and we couldn't go again. We would get the Tables in Wonderland card, and have enough ADR's that I think we would save about $600 over the whole week.

[magicjasb]

My discount wasn't stacked, it was just a better discount than my original PIN.

[faline]

Wow, Linda, that was an impressive rundown of the options. Well done!

Thanks, Sherri!

[faline]

Thank you. I am planning on the 10day PH only because that was the most that was offered. We were initially only going for a week, but just added days to the trip. If we had tickets, we would probably go into the parks on all 12 days, even if just for dinner, because we have family coming at the beginning and family coming at the end of the trip.

Well, if you went to the parks all 12 days that certainly changes the equation. If you needed to buy a 10 day plus park hopper, your cost is 310.60. If you buy another 2 day plus park hopper, you need to spend another $218.14 for just those 2 days! That's a total of $528.74 which exceeds the cost of the annual park hopper and makes the annual park hopper worthwhile. Plus 12 days of park hopping tickets would equate to a per day cost of $44.06 vs. $43.39 for the annual pass.

Now, if you buy the 2 day pass without the park hopping option and plan which days you only plan to be in one park to use those, you can reduce your cost to $476.76 (10 day ticket with park hopper and 2 day without) which would be a daily park entry cost of $39.73. At this rate, you would need to enter a park a total of 13 days on an annual pass to break even. The extra savings with a Tables in Wonderland card might still push the decision towards an annual pass even without another trip on the annual pass.

[KAT1811]

You COULD only have one person get the AP (an adult) and that person could then get the TiW card. That's probably your best bet.



That would be my advice too.

Keep in mind that if you have a package deal then all of the guests in the room must have the same tickets.

We have APs and love them. We also have the TIW card and love it!!! Especially because we do a lot of TS dining and we like wine and the like so with the 20% off extending to alcohol as well we really get a great deal. For instance I ordered a $50 bottle of wine on our last trip but instead of it costing me $50 after the TIW discount it only cost me $40.

They also list AP discounts so I would check and see how that would effect your reservation. You may be able to get a better deal by getting an AP room only rate, buying one AP, then purchasing the other people in your party's tickets separately, and getting TIW.

Good luck!!!