How beneficial are the AP room discounts?

[LMHB]

We are considering purchasing annual passes for myself and one child to visit 2-3 times during the year. Our large family visits once per year (only 2 of us will have the AP) and I wonder how beneficial the discount on the room is with an AP for any of our trips. We usually use room only discount codes off Mousesavers. Also, we would like the annual passes to last as long as possible, so do you actually have to have an AP and have it active to make the reservation? Or is it sufficient to have it when you check in? Seems a waste to buy one months in advance when we make the reservation. Thank you in advance!

 

[Sue M]

You don’t have to activate the AP until you get to WDW. But you can book the AP discount. The discount isn’t that much. Maybe 5% over general public rate. So if they are offering a 25% general discount, AP will probably be 30%
Discounts have been pretty skimpy.

 

[loves to dive]

The AP room discounts are few and hard to get. They tend to be for the higher priced rooms like preferred or better views or concierge. I've had an AP for about 5 years and the AP discount came out better than the general discount and I could find a room once in all that time.

 

[buzznina]

It is not even close to what it use to be, but like Sue M posted, it may get you an extra 5% and it will open up some more rooms, unfortunately not many more You will also get a 20% discount (at least for 2018) at participating stores and food places, and discounts on tours and a few other things.

 

[LYSE]

Don't count on any discounts..you might get some as mentioned but please don't try and factor into any part of your Disney math...at least not for accommodations

 

[HopperFan]

They used to be easy to get, a minimum of 5% more (often had it more than advertised for whatever reason) and felt like each year I saved enough to pay for one of our adult APs.

But they have released fewer and fewer rooms. January I had General Public discount booked. I checked within hours of AP being released and there was nothing for my hotel. Checked for weeks and finally gave up. I check randomly all the time because we can pick up and go ............. slim pickings.

 

[Lynne M]

Moving to the Discount Codes & Rates board.

 

[disneyvoice]

We have taken 4 trips over the past year and were able to get AP rates for every one of those trips for the rooms we wanted, we haven't had trouble getting an AP rate at all. The fact that we get the extra bit of discount and that we don't have to purchase tickets for each trip makes us much more comfortable deciding to stay at deluxe resort. It is definitely worth the price of the AP for us. Then there is at the bonus of AP discounts on some of the restaurants, tours, and merchandise.

 

[PlutoTheDog89]

There are a few motivators for getting an Annual Pass.

We purchased APs last April. Easter will be our last trip as AP holders. After our Christmas trip in 2016, we decided to buy into the AP. We had a big family trip planned for Halloween and we go to Disney every Christmas, so our 8-day trip, plus a 5-day trip paid off. To further the value, we wound up going for Easter.

Don't purchase the AP just to get the room-only discount. There are many more discounts and perks, believe it or not. For starters, calculate the cost of park tickets vs. buying an AP. I think the 5-day park hopper, as well as our 8-day hopper would have costed right around $1k, whereas the Annual Pass costed about $800. Then we booked our Easter trip, as well, which furthered the park value.

Disney was running a promo last year that gave 20% off at most restaurants and stores. We skipped the dining plan for Easter and put the AP discount to good use. Between meals and souvenirs, I'd say we saved right around $100. Not A LOT, but in the grand scheme of things, that's a table service meal!

We skipped Tables In Wonderland because of the 20% promo and the fact that we mostly travel during the holidays (Easter, Halloween, and Christmas/NYE) when the TIW discounts are blacked out.

To answer your question, though...

We were able to get AP room-only discounts for last Easter and this Easter. Last Easter, the deal was so good that we simply couldn't pass it up. We paid $181 a night with the discount. Granted, this was after the construction started, but still! We're staying Yacht Club this time around and paying $499 a night—also NOT BAD for a Deluxe. Both prices were available in February ('17 and '18).

I think it'll depend on when and how you travel. In our case, yes, we saved money on things we would have spent money on (park tickets, souvenirs, etc.) YES, the AP also led to us booking more trips and traveling more frequently. Fortunately, we predominately use Visa and our Southwest card, so we used our points to fly and it didn't get overly expensive. All in all, this year was expensive, but not nearly as pricey as it would have been sans AP.

 

[ClapYourHands]

Does having an AP get you any discounts on additional tickets for family members? My sons and I will likely be going to Disney 2-3 times, but my husband and daughter will probably only make one of those trips. Is there any chance I could get some (probably small) discount on their day tickets if I'm an AP holder when I buy them?

 

[Alabama Minnie]

Does having an AP get you any discounts on additional tickets for family members? My sons and I will likely be going to Disney 2-3 times, but my husband and daughter will probably only make one of those trips. Is there any chance I could get some (probably small) discount on their day tickets if I'm an AP holder when I buy them?

I believe they offered that LAST year, wish they had it this year, since I have an AP now. They also had extra restaurant discounts above the 10%.

 

[Amanda999]

This was the first year that the AP discount (room only ressies) for me was not much. For our April 14-20 trip (using April 14-20 and 15-20, as we straddled AP discount dates) it was only $10 off rack rate at POR, and similar at Pop! (I even tried adding a few days to make it 7 nights total - same result.) Ridiculous. But before 2018 I did book pretty good AP discounts.

 

[OhAmbs]

I'm holding out for AP discounts in late August. We tend to get decent rates (5-10% off the general public) but we also try to go on less popular times.