It is so painful buying those AP's...........

[edk35]

I just ordered ours this morning for a family of 5. Last time we had the PAP's but I just got the regular AP's this go round. Love the AP but man.....................to see that MOOLA leave your acct. IS NOT FUN!!!!!

 

[hellerjw]

It is a little painful parting with that big chunk of money each year (especially as the kids start falling into that 10+ age category) but I rationalize it by knowing we are at least getting our $100/AP DVC discount and that we tend to average around 20 days per year at the parks.

Knowing that it is still the best deal for the number of days we are at the parks. As with DVC in general, you have to use it to make it a worthwhile investment.

 

[erionm]

Lets all hope that this makes it's way to WDW:

Disneyland offering payment plan for Annual Passholders
Dec 15, 2008

In what could be a move to mitigate the ongoing economic situation, Disneyland has announced that they will be offering residents of Southern California a 'payment plan' on the purchase of annual passes.

Residents within the 90000 and 93599 zip codes will make an initial payment equal to the cost of a 1 day/ 1 park pass ($69) and the balance would be spread over the next 12 months with no interest or fees. This option is available on the Premium, Deluxe, Southern California and Southern California select annual passes.

Our take: Let's hope the program is a success and Walt Disney World decides to carry the program in Orlando. Universal Orlando and Sea World already offer this option on their annual passes, and it's not limited to Florida residents.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/news/Theme_P...ering_payment_plan_for_Annual_Passholders.htm

 

[mickeymorse]

Lets all hope that this makes it's way to WDW:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/news/Theme_P...ering_payment_plan_for_Annual_Passholders.htm

I wouldn't mind a payment plan. Just spreads that pain out over 12 months. I hope WDW is thinking about it.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

We go through this every time we renew. It hurts, badly. I agree that the payment plan at WDW would be a very welcomed thing.

 

[edk35]

Lets all hope that this makes it's way to WDW:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/news/Theme_P...ering_payment_plan_for_Annual_Passholders.htm

WOW wouldn't that be great.

 

[hellerjw]

Wow, that would be a great option! I could see this generating a lot of interest, particularly from the DVC crowd who might be on the fence each year about going with a discounted AP/PAP vs. 10-day PH tickets.

 

[Crisgw]

We just bought the 4 of us AP's as well and added the DP for our next week and September trips...ouch!

 

[Brave teacher]

I agree! OUCH! I just bought our first APs about 45 minutes ago.

 

[supersuperwendy]

They don't all have to be purchased all at once right? We are a family of five too and are going to WDW in August and then next January so they make total sense. I was planning on buying them one at a time starting this month. That way it won't hit our budget too hard all at once! Is that a good idea?

 

[Mama of Indybride]

I don't know that I find it very fair that you have to be a So Cal resident to take advantage.

I will try not to be bitter, but we are in AZ, and go to DLR 2 - 3 times a year. AND their AP's are much less expensive than WDW.

Maybe they are doing a pilot project to see how difficult it is to manage?

 

[edk35]

They don't all have to be purchased all at once right? We are a family of five too and are going to WDW in August and then next January so they make total sense. I was planning on buying them one at a time starting this month. That way it won't hit our budget too hard all at once! Is that a good idea?

Well they did for us this time because we added this last minute trip in Jan. and we needed passes but breaking it up will be what we do next time.

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

They don't all have to be purchased all at once right? We are a family of five too and are going to WDW in August and then next January so they make total sense. I was planning on buying them one at a time starting this month. That way it won't hit our budget too hard all at once! Is that a good idea?

No, you do not need to buy them all at once. When you purchase you get a voucher. The voucher then has to be turned into your actual AP at one of the Guest Services at the parks before the clock starts ticking, so you can hold those vouchers as long as you want. I stagger buying our passes through the year and then I always have a voucher on hand when the next person's AP expires. I just redeemed one voucher that I bought two years ago and then I had bought more over the summer before the price increase.

 

[edk35]

No, you do not need to buy them all at once. When you purchase you get a voucher. The voucher then has to be turned into your actual AP at one of the Guest Services at the parks before the clock starts ticking, so you can hold those vouchers as long as you want. I stagger buying our passes through the year and then I always have a voucher on hand when the next person's AP expires. I just redeemed one voucher that I bought two years ago and then I had bought more over the summer before the price increase.

You know you are soooooooooooo smart. I don't know why the heck I never thought to do this. I mean we DVC members should do this....those vouchers are good for a few years right???

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

You know you are soooooooooooo smart. I don't know why the heck I never thought to do this. I mean we DVC members should do this....those vouchers are good for a few years right???

AFAIK the vouchers don't have an expiration date. The longest I've held onto one before redeeming for an AP was a little over 3 years. The CM never batted an eye or asked why I took so long to redeem. Buying four adult PAP's was wearing on the budget...so I finally started buying one every three months and now we have a small surplus. Takes the burden off financially for the next two years now.

 

[deide71]

Yes, it's a good chunk of $$$ all at once, but what adds up even more are all of the trips I book to justify the purchase of the AP's .

 

[*KeepMovingForward*]

Yes, it's a good chunk of $$$ all at once, but what adds up even more are all of the trips I book to justify the purchase of the AP's .

So true! I had persuaded DH to buy into DVC because I said it would save us money.

 

[Tink-aholic]

We bought PAPs last year and used UCT to get their discount and then applied our DVC discount. It went like this:

We purchased 4 of the "best deal" tickets on UCT (we are all over 10). I am pretty sure the savings on each ticket was $54. We then each used one admission (to lock in the discount) and then went straight to Guest Relations. We then upgraded to PAPs and used our DVC discount (it ended up being an additional $12 total to upgrade). We ended up buying 4 PAPs for the gate price of 3.

I have posted this several times, but no one has ever reported back if they had a problem or even if they have tried it. I don't see why more people don't do this.

 

[anonymousegirl]

We bought PAPs last year and used UCT to get their discount and then applied our DVC discount. It went like this:

We purchased 4 of the "best deal" tickets on UCT (we are all over 10). I am pretty sure the savings on each ticket was $54. We then each used one admission (to lock in the discount) and then went straight to Guest Relations. We then upgraded to PAPs and used our DVC discount (it ended up being an additional $12 total to upgrade). We ended up buying 4 PAPs for the gate price of 3.

I have posted this several times, but no one has ever reported back if they had a problem or even if they have tried it. I don't see why more people don't do this.

Tink, please elaborate. You say you bought "Best deals" tickets but for how many days? I need to get my DH an AP for our trip in a few weeks so this might be something for me to try.

 

[MiaSRN62]

I'm getting ready to buy 4 AP's this week....but trying not to think about it right now.......