Annual Pass Dates

[lumberman]

I would assume the annual pass lasts for one calander year. Is there a special date that it begins on or is it from date of purchase? And if it is from date of purchase do most members try to lapse vacations to take advantage every other year? Thanks.

 

[Credit Man]

It lasts one year from the activation date. This year we activated our pass on 07/22 and will get three vacations from it with the last day being 07.18/08.

 

[drusba]

Note that if you were to buy now over the phone, you get a voucher for the pass. You don't get the AP until you show up at a park and go to guest services to get it and it is then that your one-year period begins. Renewals are different in that they start as soon as the prior one ends regardless of when you first use the renewal pass.

 

[Disney MAINEiac]

we activated our pass on 2/16/07 on the back of the pass it is printed "valid through 2/16/08". the last day of use availability will be 2/16/08. 1 year and 1 day after activation.

 

[lumberman]

So is it cheaper to renew or allways buy new?

 

[drusba]

A renewal costs substantially less than a new pass but that is not necessarily the determining issue. Trip plans may lean towards letting one expire and buying a new one later. For example: if you have an Aug to Aug pass and go this Aug, but next one is not planned until Oct 08, and one after that is Sep 09, it would make sense to let current one expire and buy new one in Oct 08.

 

[DVC Grammy]

So is it cheaper to renew or allways buy new?

We never renew; instead, we try to get 3-4 trips out of each AP.
For example, our last APs expired in May. Since we don't go to WDW during the summer, I've purposely scheduled our annual F & W trip to be in November this year. We'll get our APs then and they'll be used for Nov. '07, and then Jan., May, and Oct. '08. Four trips off one AP !
We do the same with our DDE, which makes our trips to WDW the least expensive vacations we take (especially now, with CRO changing their hotel pricing.)

 

[disneynutz]

So is it cheaper to renew or allways buy new?

We also plan our vacations and buy new. Why pay for months while you are home? Disney loves it, but I think the Mouse has big enough pockets.

 

[lumberman]

I was reading my Portable Perks and I see the price on the AP is $334 for adults but below that it shows the savings is $100. So what do DVC members pay? $334 or $234? Below that it has Premium AP for $434? Then what does the Premium get you? Thanks

 

[DebbieB]

$334 is with the $100 savings. The price has gone up, so it's more than that now.

 

[dianeschlicht]

So is it cheaper to renew or allways buy new?

Because of the distance we come, we too only buy new rather than renew. It just seems a waste to have a pass renew when we might not use it for 4-6 months.

For example: Our last AP was activated May 10. We used it for 10 days in May, we will use it for 12 days in November, and we will use it another 10 days in March. Then we will let it expire and purchase a new one for our December '08 trip.

 

[byoung]

A renewal costs substantially less than a new pass but that is not necessarily the determining issue. Trip plans may lean towards letting one expire and buying a new one later. For example: if you have an Aug to Aug pass and go this Aug, but next one is not planned until Oct 08, and one after that is Sep 09, it would make sense to let current one expire and buy new one in Oct 08.

I agree here.

 

[Disney MAINEiac]

So is it cheaper to renew or allways buy new?

We only make one trip per year to escape the winter in Maine. So we mix up our travel dates and get two trips on one annual pass. so we let them lapse and only buy passes every other year. This year we went 2/16 - 3/2 in 2008 we go 2/7 - 2/17. Don't have any cost for tickets this year, so our tickets cost us about $175 per year. much cheaper than a length of stay or 10-day park hopper every year.

 

[uncw89]

I have an Ap that expires 11/10/07, we are going 11/8-11/13. we may not go back til Nov. 2008, should I renew? I have some old tickets I can use...but there is always a good possibilty we could go back before next Nov. we usually go for Super Soap. If I renew, the renewal date would still be 11/10, not change to 11/11, right
Thanks!

 

[disneynutz]

I have an Ap that expires 11/10/07, we are going 11/8-11/13. we may not go back til Nov. 2008, should I renew? I have some old tickets I can use...but there is always a good possibilty we could go back before next Nov. we usually go for Super Soap. If I renew, the renewal date would still be 11/10, not change to 11/11, right
Thanks!

If you renew you are paying for December, January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, and October. Dates that you will not be at WDW. Why a AP? Unless there is some perk that makes it worth it for you, a regular ticket would be more cost affective. Our rule of thumb is to get a minimum of two trips from each AP and we don't renew.

 

[pcparamedics01]

So is it more cost effective to buy the AP or the no exp ticket?

 

[Mike]

So is it more cost effective to buy the AP or the no exp ticket?

It depends on how many days you plan to visit the parks in the 366 day window

 

[pcparamedics01]

It depends on how many days you plan to visit the parks in the 366 day window

Well maybe once or twice a year.

 

[DebbieB]

I've had AP's since 1998 and have never renewed, at least not since they changed it to be effective on the expiration date (at one time they did allow a renewal that was affective with activation not renewal date). I usually only buy every 18 months by planning my trips accordingly.

For example, my last pass:
April, last week, 2006
June 2006
October 2006
April, 3rd week, 2007

My pass expired on the day I left in April. I just ordered a new voucher before the price went up, I will activate it when I get there in December.

 

[Mike]

Well maybe once or twice a year.

pcparamedics01 - it depends on how many days you will be in the parks - not how many times you will visit. Before the new pricing structure, I believe the breakeven point was 9 days. If you were going to be in the parks for more than 9 days then the AP was the cheaper option. I am not sure how that has changed since the introduction of the new pricing structure. I have not run the numbers as I purchase an AP every 2 years and get 2-3 vacations out of each one (4-5 weeks). But it should be an easy enough thing for you to figure out. Determine how many days you will be in the parks in that 366 day window and then, after taking into account any available discounts, determine what the most cost effective ticket media is. If you are going to be in the parks 10 or more days I suspect the AP is the way to go - especially if you get the DVC discount of $100 per AP. But you will have to look at the options yourself for youe situation. And don't forget that, for an apples-to-apples comparison, you will need to add the park hopping and no expiration options.