AP or 10 day no expiry park hoppers?

[disney junky]

With increased opportunities for trips to WDW, DW and I are debating the merits of both. With the DVC discount, the AP seems like the way to go, but I don't know exactly if it will be a better buy than the 10 day no expiry park hopper (DD gets a small discount), but the price is still a great deal more for the 10 day than the AP. Help me think this through....
Renewals are less for the AP and non existent for 10 day.
Using a day with the 10 day is still a full day used.
DD can occasionally get us in as CM but it's not something we expect or seek.
We don't really know how often we'll go (with a second home now in Orlando), so it's hard to look at the AP in terms of how often we'll use it.
What am I missing?
What are other AP benefits that would apply that I can't think of?
Any and all input is invited.

 

[wildernessDad]

How many days are you going to the parks in a year?

 

[hellerjw]

I haven't purchased an AP before (although I plan to for our upcoming stay) but a few benefits to the AP that I don't think apply with the 10-day NEPH are:

- DVC discounted pricing
- $20 discount on the DDE (10-20% discounts at many restaurants)
- Cash resort stay discounts, depending on availability
- Merchandise & recreation discounts
- Unlimited use for a year, not just 10 days worth

And of course, the main disadvantage I can think of is that it expires.

You can get a good explanation of all the AP benefits here: http://www.allearsnet.com/pl/apass.htm

 

[spiceycat]

I would go with AP - just because you can know visit when you stay off-site - it comes with free parking.

that is $10 a day (soon to be $11 or $12 - US/IOA has raised their prices - WDW will soon follow)

you can also just go to Epcot for a meal without worrying about using your pass.

look at the florida resident passes too - their seasonal pass is a GREAT bargin.

i think the discount for DVC only applies to the annual pass and is much less - than the regular annual pass(out of state).

http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/flresidents/ticketsLandingPage?id=FLResTicketsLandingPage

 

[disney junky]

How many days are you going to the parks in a year?

That's what I don't know. I can see us spending a lot of time in Orlando, but I can't exactly answer that.

I do know that if I get a 10 day, I'll think a lot longer about going over just to view the fireworks whereas I'd probably consider that with an AP.

 

[I'mNoPrince]

We are doing Aps every other year .

Getting our 2 main trips in June (late one,then ealry before expires) then a few smaller trips.

The thing I like is I can just go where I want when I want and not have to worry about is it going to waist a day on my ticket.

This year we will end up with 25 days total when it expires at the end of June so we came out on top for sure. The money saving on the DDE helps as well as room only discount on our long Oct trip.

Now this year if we do go down in the Fall/Winter we will hit one of the party's and do US/IOA for the rest of the trip.

In June of 08 we will start all over again.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

We love the flexibility of APs, which is why we own them at both WDW and DL. Admittedly, we do plan our WDW trips so that we stay about 20 nights in each AP year and, due a AAA promotion, we got $5 back for converting our 3 day DL pass to an AP.

My best advice would be for you to try one ticket option and, if it doesn't meet your needs, try the other next year!

Best of luck -- Suzanne

 

[goofy4tink]

I have had an AP for several years now...as did my now 13 y/o dd. But, my dh doesn't go as often as we do, so last May I got him the non-expire 10 p/h. He used it for 3 days last May, 1 day in Jan, he'll use it for 5 days in August and still have 1 day left. My dd, now that she is older, will be getting her own non-expire 10 p/h for August. I can't plan on at least once yearly trips for her anymore due to school now. So, while they are more expensive, they just work out better, in the long run, for dd and dh.

 

[TenThousandVolts]

We use the 10 day non-exps because it fits with our vacation habits better- if I were you I would go with the AP, I think you will get your $$$ worth being in Orlando frequently.

 

[disney junky]

We love the flexibility of APs, which is why we own them at both WDW and DL. Admittedly, we do plan our WDW trips so that we stay about 20 nights in each AP year and, due a AAA promotion, we got $5 back for converting our 3 day DL pass to an AP.

My best advice would be for you to try one ticket option and, if it doesn't meet your needs, try the other next year!

Best of luck -- Suzanne

wow...your best advice is the best advice....
Thanks.

 

[R Dog Walt]

We do both. This year we bought the AP and have 3 trips planned. We hope to get 21 days in at the parks this year. I like the flexibility of going to the parks for a little while and not feeling like we've "wasted" a day.

On other trips, we've only gone to the parks like 2-3 days of a 7 day trip and tried to hang out and enjoy the resort and the water parks more (still have a million "plusses" from the old park hopper plus days!). We always buy a new 10 day PH NE when we hear the ticket prices are going up. We know we'll use them some day. Right now, even though we have the annual passes, we still have 14 days each between our multiple MYW 10 day PH NE tickets.

Next year, probably won't go more than once so we won't renew the AP.

I really don't think you can go wrong either way.

 

[Muushka]

We also do both. We had APs last round of visits. I got 4 visits in that 1 year AP. But with the price increase (even with our $100 discount) we carefully consider the APs.

We are going late Sept/Oct for 7 days and 5 days at Christmas this year. We will get the 10 day non-exp passes for these trips because:

1. We are trying out SSR this Sept and will also be at ASMu a portion of the trip. It will be hot, and the parks will not be as convenient as they are while at other DVC resorts so
2. We will be doing water parks much more than we usually do. We will add on the plusses to the 10 days passes (at a minimal cost) and that (for us) changes a 10 day pass into a 16 day pass (we don't do water parks and theme parks in the same day).


We bought the AP vouchers prior to the last price increase, and we will probably use them in 2008.

But I really wish Disney/DVC could come up with a plan for DVC members where they could opt-into a AP plan and have it be part of membership fees. They could always count on a revenue and I would not have to play the "AP or Ticket" game. When we have APs we always stay on-site and Disney is assured of our $$. When we have tickets, we will often go off-site. Win win situation.