Annual pass or no?

[MarBee]

We are going for 7 days in November and bought tickets only (using gifted DVC points for hotel-we are not DVC members). We are also going in June for 7 days. I was wondering if it would be better to exchange out tix in for an annual pass before we use them in November, or if it would make more financial sense to get a (possible) room & ticket package for our June trip. This would be for 2 adults & 2 under ten.
Any advice, tips, etc. is welcomed!
Thank you!

 

[Shmily1]

I would get the APs and use the AP discount to book the June trip unless the Bounceback is a better deal. You'd also get the photos now too so that makes the AP not quite as bad of a sting IMO.

 

[Marionnette]

We are going for 7 days in November and bought tickets only (using gifted DVC points for hotel-we are not DVC members). We are also going in June for 7 days. I was wondering if it would be better to exchange out tix in for an annual pass before we use them in November, or if it would make more financial sense to get a (possible) room & ticket package for our June trip. This would be for 2 adults & 2 under ten.
Any advice, tips, etc. is welcomed!
Thank you!

Check those new AP prices. They raised the price about 10 days ago and the cost is pretty high! A regular AP is now $798 with tax. The price is the same for both children and adults.

A 7-day hopper will cost $424.94/$403.64 with tax (adult/child) under the current pricing. It really looks like getting the kids APs will not save you too much money (about $6 each) but the adults will save about $52 each.

There's also the wild card of ticket changes coming. I'm not just talking about price increases. Disney is rumored to have surge pricing coming. That would make June tickets more expensive than they are now. Buying your tickets for June now or else getting the AP would protect you from that change/increase.

If it were me, I would wait until I saw what the bounceback offer is when I arrived in November. You can decide about the AP upgrade then. Don't forget that you can still upgrade tickets that are partially used if you do it within 14 days of the first day of use. The AP anniversary date will be back-dated to the day that the MYW ticket was used.

Note: You may not be able to upgrade to an AP at all if Disney changes to surge/tiered ticket pricing between now and when you take your November vacation. Historically, tickets that were purchased prior to a change, like the one anticipated, are honored for whatever entitlements they held but they cannot be upgraded to any new ticket or have days added.

 

[DeeJ79]

We did the passes because we'll go more than once a year. But good to know on the price surges!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I would do the AP. Cost wise it would be cheaper than buying two 7 day tickets at a total of $848 verse $798 for AP. Plus you some times get 30% discount on rooms with AP. Plus the dinning discounts of 10% - 15%

 

[MarBee]

Thanks so much for your help everyone!
Does anyone know when they typically offer the room deals if you hold an AP?

 

[lovesdumbo]

AP room discounts are usually about 5% better than those available to the general public. AP rooms discounts usually come out later than other deals so I book with a general public discount and then when AP deals come out switch to that if available. I usually a bit more with AP discount.

I have found that Bounceback deals are often the highest. I would check to see what they are when you go in November.

For my November trip (7 nights 11/12 to 11/19) I first booked general public discount on the day it came out 7/24 for a Garden View room at POR. I really wanted a preferred room and kept checking and was able to switch to that on 7/27 for a total of $1,414.34. On 8/5 I was able to switch to an AP discount when they came out for a new total of $1,331.12.

 

[msmama]

AP room discounts are usually about 5% better than those available to the general public. AP rooms discounts usually come out later than other deals so I book with a general public discount and then when AP deals come out switch to that if available. I usually a bit more with AP discount.

I have found that Bounceback deals are often the highest. I would check to see what they are when you go in November.

For my November trip (7 nights 11/12 to 11/19) I first booked general public discount on the day it came out 7/24 for a Garden View room at POR. I really wanted a preferred room and kept checking and was able to switch to that on 7/27 for a total of $1,414.34. On 8/5 I was able to switch to an AP discount when they came out for a new total of $1,331.12.

Sorry, I wanted to clarify. Are you saying that there are AP bounce back offers? Or just the general bounce back offers (any time I've seen them, they've been package bounce backs) are often better?

 

[lovesdumbo]

General public Bounceback. I've only ever booked room only bounce backs. It's often another 5% better than AP but discounts seem to be smaller lately so who knows where they'll be in the future.