As a lifelong Disney fan, I have visited the Disneyland resort about every other year since I was born. Yet until this year it had never occurred to me to buy an annual pass. My reasons were logical: annual passes didn’t exist when I actually lived in California as a kid; now as an adult it seems a lot of money to come up with at one time ($699 for the premium version when last I checked); I live four states east of California; and I rarely go more than once a year. It would be a waste of my money. Or would it?
Warning: there will be math in this section. As my family and I (husband and two teenage boys) were planning a DLR trip for August of 2014, I had a crazy thought… is there a chance that an AP could be not just a cool thing to carry around but a bona fide good deal? Even if we didn’t go more than once this year?
So I did some research, crunched some numbers, and was surprised at what I found. The abbreviated version is that even for one trip, buying an AP actually SAVED me money when all was said and done. Now I should say that this was a trip we planned and saved for for a long time, and we went a little wild on the budget. I should also say that there are constant rumors about discounts changing or going away, so (as always) buyer beware. Assuming things stay about the same, however, could you benefit from an AP too? Even if you don’t go often? That depends on a number of factors, so ask yourself these questions and go from there.
- How many days will you go to the parks? We were planning to spend three full days and parts of two others, so 5-day park hoppers were our best choice. Considering those cost $305, that means I needed to save $394 somewhere else to make the AP worth the money.
- How many people are traveling with you? As long as the passholder is there to pay, you only need to buy one AP to get the discounts. So the more companions you have, the more savings.
- Where are you staying? Since this was a big birthday trip (one of those that ends in a zero), we splurged on the Disneyland Hotel. As an AP holder, I was entitled to a 10% discount (and often there are even better discounts than that available). Since the hotel cost about $350 a night at that time, my AP saved us about $140 over four nights.
- Will you go to any special events? For my birthday, my husband and I decided to take the “Walk in Walt’s Disneyland Footsteps” tour. We saved 20% on those tickets, and since they were roughly $100 each, that’s another $40 savings.
- Are you a shopper? I definitely am. And since I had been saving for this trip for awhile, I knew there would be merchandise coming home with me. The AP merchandise discount at most places is 20%, so every $100 you spend means $20 in AP savings. Over four days we spent about $500 on merchandise for the four of us (including some awesome limited edition Mickey Ray-ban sunglasses for moi). Total savings there, at least $100.
- Will you drive to the parks? Unlike Walt Disney World, staying at a Disney hotel doesn’t mean free parking, but having a premium AP does, so that means another $17 a day savings. Total savings, $68.
- Where (and how much) will you eat? The AP meant a 15% discount on all our on-site meals. Our most expensive ones were a World of Color birthday dinner at Carthay Circle, at $63.73 each; and breakfast at Goofy’s kitchen, at $59.99 each. Total savings about $73.00. And of course that doesn’t include all the counter service meals and snacks we had (and remember I have two teenage boys). Conservatively, another $40 savings.
So in the end I spent $394 more on the AP than a 5 day park hopper, and I saved myself and my family at least $460. It’s not a huge savings overall, but it is a savings. There are also some side benefits of being an Annual Passholder like “insider information,” event previews, and early purchase opportunities that don’t really have a monetary value. And finally I have the cool pass in my wallet just in case I manage to get myself back to the Happiest Place on Earth before next August. It was worth it for me, and it might just be worth it for you, too!
