Should I become an Annual Passholder?
Hello everyone!
(this information and pricing was current as of 09/2018, park tickets and annual pass prices may no longer reflect most up to date price)
Today I decided to talk about something that I know is something a lot of people who visit Walt Disney World think about. If you are a Disney lover who has considered purchasing an annual pass but have never purchased one- this is the blog post for you! I am going to break down the pricing for options, and go over how you can decide if an annual pass is right for you, or which annual pass you should purchase.
Before we begin, if you are not an annual passholder, there are a few questions you should first ask yourself to help you make your decision:
1. How many trips do you make to WDW a year? How many days will you spend in the parks in that year? (Disclaimer- most passes would require you to visit twice in order to save money)
2. Do you park hop?
3. Do you visit the water parks?
4. Will you visit WDW around Christmas, New Year's Day, or Easter?
5. Do you stay on Disney property while visiting WDW?
6. Are you a DVC member or Florida resident?
7. Do you dine at WDW theme parks or restaurants around WDW?
8. How much do you typically spend on souvenirs?
9. Do you purchase memory maker to be able to download park photos?
10. Do you stay off property (or make day trips to WDW) and drive your own vehicle to the Disney parks?
Now. I am going to break down a few of the different options for passes.
First, and probably most popular, is the Platinum Pass. This option is $849 (+tax) and includes all four WDW parks with no blackout dates. With this option, you get Memory Maker which gives you access to download all of your photos, 20% off dining and merchandise at MANY locations, discounts on resorts, and free parking!
The next option is the Platinum Plus Pass, which is priced at $949 (+tax) and includes everything in the Platinum Pass PLUS access to ESPN's wide world of sports, both WDW water parks, and golfing. If you are a lover of water parks and/or have children who do enjoy water parks this may be a great option for you! **ALSO, Disney on occasion offers a deal where you can get this pass for the price of the Platinum pass. Definitely keep your eyes open, because you can purchase it and activate your pass up to one year later!**
Finally, I want to go over the option for the pass that I have. I have the Gold Pass which is currently only available for DVC members or Florida Residents (I own a DVC membership). This pass is priced at $589 (+tax), include access to all four parks, free parking, Memory Maker, and the 20% off discounts, plus discounts on resorts. The only downside to this pass is that it DOES have blackout dates around Christmas, New Years and Easter. Since I do not plan on visiting during those times, it does not matter much for me.
**If you are a Florida Resident and not yet an annual passholder, definitely check out the Disney website because there are many other options just for Florida residents that I am not going to get into here**
So, lets work out the dollar amounts and figure out what you need to do for these annual passes to make sense!
First, the Platinum Pass.
Sample vacation (price for one person's tickets vs Annual Pass):
-If you visit WDW twice a year, and purchase two four-day tickets with Park Hopper, you will spend $910 per person. This more than covers the cost of the Platinum Pass! Not figuring in the Memory Maker, parking, and 20% off discounts! At this point if you stay for any days longer, your pass is more than paying for itself. You can stay twice for 5, 6, 7, 8, or even more days without paying any extra for tickets! ALSO, if you stay on property, Disney often offers Annual Passholder DISCOUNTS on their resorts. You can get up to 30% off the standard rate of hotel rooms. This is another way to make your money back and have the AP pay for itself.
Second, the Platinum Plus Pass.
Sample vacation (price for one person's tickets vs Annual Pass):
(this information and pricing was current as of 09/2018, park tickets and annual pass prices may no longer reflect most up to date price)
Today I decided to talk about something that I know is something a lot of people who visit Walt Disney World think about. If you are a Disney lover who has considered purchasing an annual pass but have never purchased one- this is the blog post for you! I am going to break down the pricing for options, and go over how you can decide if an annual pass is right for you, or which annual pass you should purchase.
Before we begin, if you are not an annual passholder, there are a few questions you should first ask yourself to help you make your decision:
1. How many trips do you make to WDW a year? How many days will you spend in the parks in that year? (Disclaimer- most passes would require you to visit twice in order to save money)
2. Do you park hop?
3. Do you visit the water parks?
4. Will you visit WDW around Christmas, New Year's Day, or Easter?
5. Do you stay on Disney property while visiting WDW?
6. Are you a DVC member or Florida resident?
7. Do you dine at WDW theme parks or restaurants around WDW?
8. How much do you typically spend on souvenirs?
9. Do you purchase memory maker to be able to download park photos?
10. Do you stay off property (or make day trips to WDW) and drive your own vehicle to the Disney parks?
Now. I am going to break down a few of the different options for passes.
First, and probably most popular, is the Platinum Pass. This option is $849 (+tax) and includes all four WDW parks with no blackout dates. With this option, you get Memory Maker which gives you access to download all of your photos, 20% off dining and merchandise at MANY locations, discounts on resorts, and free parking!
The next option is the Platinum Plus Pass, which is priced at $949 (+tax) and includes everything in the Platinum Pass PLUS access to ESPN's wide world of sports, both WDW water parks, and golfing. If you are a lover of water parks and/or have children who do enjoy water parks this may be a great option for you! **ALSO, Disney on occasion offers a deal where you can get this pass for the price of the Platinum pass. Definitely keep your eyes open, because you can purchase it and activate your pass up to one year later!**
Finally, I want to go over the option for the pass that I have. I have the Gold Pass which is currently only available for DVC members or Florida Residents (I own a DVC membership). This pass is priced at $589 (+tax), include access to all four parks, free parking, Memory Maker, and the 20% off discounts, plus discounts on resorts. The only downside to this pass is that it DOES have blackout dates around Christmas, New Years and Easter. Since I do not plan on visiting during those times, it does not matter much for me.
**If you are a Florida Resident and not yet an annual passholder, definitely check out the Disney website because there are many other options just for Florida residents that I am not going to get into here**
So, lets work out the dollar amounts and figure out what you need to do for these annual passes to make sense!
First, the Platinum Pass.
Sample vacation (price for one person's tickets vs Annual Pass):
-If you visit WDW twice a year, and purchase two four-day tickets with Park Hopper, you will spend $910 per person. This more than covers the cost of the Platinum Pass! Not figuring in the Memory Maker, parking, and 20% off discounts! At this point if you stay for any days longer, your pass is more than paying for itself. You can stay twice for 5, 6, 7, 8, or even more days without paying any extra for tickets! ALSO, if you stay on property, Disney often offers Annual Passholder DISCOUNTS on their resorts. You can get up to 30% off the standard rate of hotel rooms. This is another way to make your money back and have the AP pay for itself.
Second, the Platinum Plus Pass.
Sample vacation (price for one person's tickets vs Annual Pass):
-I will start this one off with a disclaimer that unless you and your family will take advantage of the Water Parks or golfing at WDW, OR if you get this pass for the price of the Platinum Pass, this pass most likely will not benefit you as much. If you do visit twice a year and purchase two four-day passes with Park Hopper PLUS (includes water parks) you will pay a total of $960 (+tax), so at this point you'd save more and benefit from the Platinum Plus Pass. If you stay any longer you will save even more!
Finally, Gold Pass (only if you are DVC or Florida resident)
Sample Vacation (price for one person's tickets vs Annual Pass):
-One ten-day ticket with Park hopper will run you $520 (+tax), so even if you are visiting only once a year for a long stay this can come pretty close to breaking even. After you consider the additional savings of memory maker, parking, and dining, resort and merchandise discounts, you will break even.
-Two three-day passes with Park Hopper will cost you $740 (+tax) so at this point if you are visiting WDW twice a year for more than 3 days each time you are saving big time.
To conclude, in addition to park tickets, I want to explain (or reiterate) all of the great savings and benefits that WDW annual passholders get:
-up to 30% stays at Disney resort hotels.
-20% dining at MANY locations around WDW
-20% of merchandise at locations all around the parks, resorts, and Disney Springs.
-Memory Maker (digital downloads of all theme park photos)- a $169 value!
-Free theme park parking (parking at the parks costs $22 per day!)
-Discounts on special events, parties and tours (Keys to the Kingdom, Mickey's Not-so-scary Halloween Party, Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party, and MUCH more)
-Discounts on spa services at many locations.
-15% renewal of your pass within 30 days of expiration (meaning, you don't have to pay full price when your pass is up!).
-V.I.Passholder nights- basically like extra magic hours at the park for AP only!
-V.I.Passholder nights- basically like extra magic hours at the park for AP only!
So, I know this may have seemed like an overwhelming amount of information, and I understand that the prices may seem like a lot of money (especially if you are traveling with a large group or family). I wanted to write out this post to give people the information on how to save. I am not local to WDW but I do travel there on average twice per year. In 2017, I even renewed my pass knowing that I was only doing one long trip of nine days. I renewed my pass anyway (paid around $490+tax), but I made a great decision to renew because tickets would've cost me $510 (+tax). Not to mention I saved SO MUCH on dining and souvenirs during this trip.
If you're not an annual passholder and still considering whether it is worth it, imagine being able to stay longer and have the freedom to park hop without having to pay more for it. I have found that since becoming an AP in 2016, I am so much more inclined to do more trips to get my money out of it. I'd definitely recommend crunching the numbers and comparing the price of a vacation as an AP to the cost of paying for tickets. You'd be surprised by how much you can save!
If you have any questions regarding any of this, feel free to comment below or email me!
See Ya Real Soon,
Katie
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