First, let me explain myself. We were Disney people, living on Long Island. We became the typical NY AP holders. Odd year trip in August, even year trip in July. One AP, two week long trips, two different summers.
Disney had set up a mock DVC at the Roosevelt Field Mall. After some investigating, we bought into DVC. Did not change our plans much.
Then, a job change brought us to Charlotte NC. Disney was now just an 8 hour drive. Our annual trip changed into 4-6 trips per year. I swear my wife had us move to the south side of Charlotte just to be that much closer to WDW.
Anyway, we continued being a family of AP holders (the DVC discount played heavily here), TiW and of course Disney Visa holders.
Whenever we went to Disney, I would do two things. First, anyplace we spend any money, I would fan out the DVC, AP, TiW and Disney Visa cards and ask if any of these got us a better cost. And I would do it every time,. You start to learn things, like s a soda bought on the street there would be no discount, but one bought in the Emporium or any other ”Shop”, you would receive a discount.
The other thing I would do is save every single receipt and create a spreadsheet when I got home. I would list every charge from when we left home, gas, food, hotel, merchandise, parking, tolls, etc. I would put each of them in the spreadsheet, with all of the columns being a separate discount (not just the Disney discounts, but any coupons, any $50 gas cards for $40 from Publix, any Hilton Discount I may get via work or otherwise). Yes, I know, I have a problem.
But that would at least in the end let me know exactly what we were doing, and if it was worth it. Several years ago, I would say the TiW was the biggest value, especially when we would go multiple times a year. The AP used to have a 20% merchandise discount, and I believe the Premium Plus Pass still does. That “Free Parking” was a $25 a day savings.
My personal opinion is that the AP would probably be worth it for one person in the group. As was mentioned previously, for a 7 day trip, that is $175 in parking savings alone. But I would strongly suggest if you do get the AP, keep track of all your spending, and spreadsheet it out when you get home. You will then know if you did come out ahead, and if so by how much.