Will the prices increase next year, though? I don't follow price hikes for Disney tickets, but it seems increases happen relatively frequently in which case I would try and purchase before the hike.
It makes a lot of sense to purchase before the hike.
I am trying to decide whether to renew, or to purchase a new AP now, and activate it next December.
I currently have the 13 month gold, which I upgraded to platinum plus for free, with the same end date. It expires in April 2018. So I could renew the Platinum Plus next year. That would give me 2 trips, or about 13 days, on my AP. (December and March)
Or I could skip the renewal and buy a new Platinum Plus (before current deal expires), which I would activate in December, and possibly get three trips out of (December - March - December - about 20 days).
It depends on the renewal pricing, but it is probably better for me to buy the new pass rather than renew.
If I throw Universal into the equation, then buying a new AP makes even more sense. I could front load a trip to Universal in December, then initialize the DIsney AP, and get three trips out of it.
I am trying to discern what Disney is trying to achieve with the AP promotions:
1) Are they trying to promote TRIAL of the AP. This theory would say that they are trying to get a lot of people who have never had an AP to try it, with the hopes that they will buy at full price in the future.
2) Are they trying to promote LOCK-IN. This theory says that people with an AP are much more likely to stay in the Disney Bubble. We would like to go to see Universal and Harry Potter at some point, but Universal can run $1000 per day for 2 people who just buy tickets, and much more if you stay in their hotels to get their fast pass equivalent. So if you already own a Disney AP, it seems psychologically more difficult to spend that money when I’ve already paid for the parks and water parks at Disney. Not to mention having already paid for lodging.
Depending on the marketing aim of the AP, we will see what kind of future deal Disney offers.
Note: I will have the same issue as the OP. If I end up not going in December, I could miss the activation window and just apply the price to a future purchase.