Annual pass hints

I will be travelling with two young adults, DD24 and DS21. I am sure that will utilize the discount on drinks and cocktails.

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The UK 14 day ticket is £400 per person and as part of the package I have free memory maker. I wonder how they would calculate the value if I bought on AP on arrival? Should I ask the concierge at AKL to do the calculation as soon as I arrive? What sort of discounts do AP holders get for hard tickets such as MNSSHP? Does that discount only apply to the AP holder or could I buy tickets for the rest of my party at a discounted rate? Sorry to hijack your thread @ryan1. Your other thread has me thinking about DVC now too!:fearful:

First, always ask if there’s a discount. I have found that Disneyland CM’s usually ask but WDW CM’s rarely do. Next, when I travel with friends who don’t have an AP I pay for souvenirs and sometimes the room and they pay me back - that way we all get a discount. This also comes in handy for events and tours (like the Fantasmic dinner at Disneyland).

Also if you find a good travel agent that can come in handy too - we booked room only through my favorite agent (Debra Gordon - used to be with MEI travel) and she waited until the AP discount came out then rebooked and saved us 15%. Easy peasy!

You should also check online (or ask at the parks) for AP events and discounts – for example this year Disneyland has had an “AP corner” with some photo ops and pins & stickers as well as the chance to buy limited edition merch. My husband’s Pixar Fest shirt is awesome. Not sure what’s up at WDW but I’ll find out this weekend. Yay!

Also be sure to get the numbers of all your ride photos for download and use PhotoPass photogs whenever you can – we usually make a fun collage of our trip and have also used Disney pics for holiday cards.

I got the Premier AP this year because I already had 2 trips to California planned and a conference in Orlando came up, so it will more than pay for itself without all the other extras. What I haven’t calculated is how much it costs me in “Wow, plane tickets are cheap I should go to Disneyland…” dollars.

Anyhow, when in doubt, ask!

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I recall a discussion a year or more ago about how the UK tickets are valued - but I think the result was that people reported several different $values ended up being applied by CMs and there was no obvious answer.

I tried searching here in the forum for that discussion, but no luck. It might have been in chat.

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Thank you for trying.

I recently purchased an Annual Pass for myself, but not for my other three family members (wife and two kids).

I will be doing a total of 10 or 11 park days with the pass. Two days were in September (off site stay) plus the Halloween party on a separate day and then eight days next June (on site).

Here were my reasons for purchasing:

  • The tickets for the two days in September was going to cost me about $200, maybe a little more. The eight day hopper for next June is about $485. That’s $685 right there.

  • Memory maker is $169. It’s included with the AP. So I didn’t have to get it for September and won’t have to get it for next June.

  • Parking for the two park days in September was included. Would have been $44.

  • Souvenirs in parks are discounted 20%. I figure that will save me at least $40 to $50 based on what we typically allow the kids to spend.

  • AP room only discount. We will use this for the June trip. I expect the AP discount to be slightly better than the published discounts. If we stay at a deluxe as planned, the savings could be several hundred dollars.

  • We did receive a slight discount on the MNSSHP tickets in September for having the AP. Also enjoyed a few dining discounts as well for table service meals.

All in all, I’m going to come out ahead by getting the pass.

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Do you remember what the discount was? Did you have to buy at the gate?

It’s $5 I think. Only selected nights.

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Bought in advance. We went on a Tuesday. Saved $10 I think.

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I played around with 2021. If we planned a follow up trip in, say, September or October 2021 after our December 2020 trip, then the Annual Pass looks like it could save us about $500 over all. Without that second trip, though, it doesn’t really save anything. I’ll have to wait until we’re closer to decide if doing a trip in 2021 makes sense. We already have planned a vacation in 2021, but actually doing a tour of Michigan (the touristy kinds of things that people in their own state often neglect to do). So, making a second trip in the same year might not be possible. But I also realized that a second trip at that time MIGHT not be so expensive because my DD will be in college by then, which means it would just be myself, my wife, and our youngest son. That puts the trip to Disney (tickets, travel, accommodations) at about $2500 for six days. Might be doable.

This…we have used it for Wild Africa Trek and saved I believe 20%.

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