2020 Annual Pass dilemma

lulubell.f

Miss Laura Forster
Joined
Dec 1, 2017
Hey y'all!

Can anyone weigh in on whether or not it's worth it for a Canadian to get a 2020 AP? Has anyone done that math on it and knows at what point it's not worth the cash?

Thanks ☺️
 
I think the basic info (nothing to do with being Canadian) is that if you know you will be spending more than 10 days inside the parks within a year it becomes worth the money. If you book onsite resorts using the AP discount then it adds to the value.
 
I think the basic info (nothing to do with being Canadian) is that if you know you will be spending more than 10 days inside the parks within a year it becomes worth the money. If you book onsite resorts using the AP discount then it adds to the value.

Thanks for the reply! I know that's the general rule of thumb, I was wondering if, with the conversion rate being what it is, the recommended nights would be higher. ☺️
 
With the date based tickets, it really depends on the time of year you’re planning to travel and if you want or need hoppers. Also the Canadian tickets offer some good deals right now.

The AP holds less appeal to us this year since the big price increase last year.
 


With the date based tickets, it really depends on the time of year you’re planning to travel and if you want or need hoppers. Also the Canadian tickets offer some good deals right now.

The AP holds less appeal to us this year since the big price increase last year.
Yes it was kinda huge and I hope they don't jump up again like that this year! I was looking into annual passes but with my broke college student budget, I might be priced out until I've got a good job somewhere 😭
 
Thanks for the reply! I know that's the general rule of thumb, I was wondering if, with the conversion rate being what it is, the recommended nights would be higher. ☺
IMO, the exchange rate doesn’t really come into play because you’re paying it whether you buy an AP or any other tickets. If you know now when you are travelling this year I would suggest pricing out the CAD discount tickets that would cover all your trips.
 


I think the basic info (nothing to do with being Canadian) is that if you know you will be spending more than 10 days inside the parks within a year it becomes worth the money. If you book onsite resorts using the AP discount then it adds to the value.

That used to be true, but after the last AP price increase and the change to date-based ticketing it isn't even worth getting an AP for a single 10 day trip anymore (caveat: I don't factor in restaurant or merch discounts because those require me to spend MORE in order to save anything, plus those are perks that are never guaranteed).

A 10 day parkhopper in June (one of the more expensive months) is $641 USD with tax.
An AP Platinum pass is $1192 USD with tax.
It's cheaper to buy a 10 day pass than it is to buy an AP, if you're taking one trip.

AP starts to work in your favor when you plan on taking multiple trips over the course of the year. If you're taking a minimum of 2 trips, they'd have to be 5 days each to break even on the AP. If you're taking 3, they'd need to be a minimum of 3 days each. Then you need to factor in the additional cost of travel, lodging and food over multiple trips to figure out if that "break even" is even worth it.

Long story short, it's much less cut and dry than it used to be. Your best bet is to look realistically at how many trips you plan to take in a 12 month period, and price out the park hopper tickets for the year against the cost of an AP. If you were planning to go anyway, you were going to spend on the travel/lodging/food regardless. If you have to ADD trips to have an AP make sense, start looking at those extra costs to determine if it's really worth it for you.
 
We are AP holders and find that the discounts more than "pay" for our AP. We are Air Miles collectors so we usually get a 7 day ticket by redeeming our Air Miles and then pay to upgrade. We upgraded in November and have already used our pass for a 10 day trip, have another 10 day trip planned in March, and a few days before and after our cruise in August and November. For our upcoming stay in March, I was able to save almost $600 off our room with the AP discount (rack rate to AP discount). Also, remember an AP gets you Memory maker for the entire year and 20% off merchandise and some meals. For us, the AP works, for others it may not.
 
I think the basic info (nothing to do with being Canadian) is that if you know you will be spending more than 10 days inside the parks within a year it becomes worth the money. If you book onsite resorts using the AP discount then it adds to the value.
It is no longer this simple. It really takes finding the time to run the numbers.

We went to Disney for 9 nights (8 park days) in December 2018 and then an additional 10 nights (8 park days) in September 2019. Even with those 2 trips totaling 16 park days it was still not worth it to us to purchase Annual Passes. It basically depends on when you travel, what type of other discounts you can get, etc. We don't tend to purchase a lot of souvenirs so even with the discount that did not swing things in favour of Annual Passes.

We always travel during Free Dining and stay at Pop which is a value resort. Saving the cost of eating (our 2 trips we had 19 days of meals included in our packages) was more beneficial to us than purchasing Annual Passes.
 
I think the basic info (nothing to do with being Canadian) is that if you know you will be spending more than 10 days inside the parks within a year it becomes worth the money. If you book onsite resorts using the AP discount then it adds to the value.

It does when you take into account the Canadian discount on tickets currently.

We went for 7 days in the fall, and are going for 10 days in February. We did the thorough math and with the canadian discounts we did it so one of us got the annual pass (me) and my husband did 2 separate tickets. This way we benefit with the photopas and discounts, but still saved on his ticket.
 
I had a Canadian 6 day discounted ticket - as I was planning one trip with a friend. That changed to two trips when my family decided they wanted to do a trip, so I decided to upgrade to AP. Then the huge price jump happened less than two weeks before I was going to upgrade. I still did it. But two trips, turned into 4 😂 I figured with the price increase, 3 trips was now break even vs buying the discounted Canadian tickets. All trips are off site, so free parking is awesome. I love having Memory Maker for the ride photos. Then with the 20% off merch, it makes that conversion rate less painful. Trip #3 is in 5 days, #4 in April. (#1 was in July, #2 in Sept)
 
I did the math and decided we were saving money with the APs. That has since turned into a third trip, and a fourth in the works ... because the tickets are “free” so why don’t we go again ;) so, I have saved no money with the AP :(
 
I’m doing the Disney Math now also to figure out what to buy. I have 2 trips planned of 10+ days each. Aug & Nov. So 2 Canadian 10 day hoppers (one with plus option) or AP. It used to be cut and dry. If you had two trips an AP was the way to go. Now it’s not that easy. Ugh. I have one 10 day hopper + already. Have to figure out soon if it’s worth buying another Canadian hopper (without + option) or use my ticket when we go in Aug to upgrade to AP.

Can‘t even check prices now, WDW web site keeps crashing.

edit: was able to get on web page without crashing, it’s $272 more to buy an AP with water park than 2 Canadian tickets. For my August trip I’ll be wanting water parks so stuck with Platinum plus AP Option. I don’t think the 20% merch discount will make up for $272 price difference. And although photo pass is nice, but if I wanted I’d buy it for $199.

I don’t understand why or should I say I don’t think it’s fair that WDW makes non-Residents purchase the most expensive AP, and doesn’t give us the option of the lower tier APs Like Universal. With Universal AP you can pick lower tiers.
I think I know why- its a WDW price grab making people furthest away that go less, making them buy highest tier. :sad2:
 
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Can you purchase the 10 day pass for a first trip and update to annual pass before you leave?
As another poster said, yes. If you're going to upgrade to an AP, keep in mind the following (copied from Robo's ticket thread here ):
A ticket can be upgraded while at WDW:
Before the guest uses that ticket to enter a park -or-
After
that ticket has been used to enter a park (or parks)
No later than close-of-business on the same day that the last asset of the ticket has been used.
 
I upgraded my tickets I got for a 5 day trip in December to an AP. I found the discounts more than made up for the cost. That being said I didn't save any money because now I will have flown down for 4 trips by the end of May and have at least 2 more planned for the fall. If I didn't have an AP I probably would have gone once or twice this year.
 
I upgraded my tickets I got for a 5 day trip in December to an AP. I found the discounts more than made up for the cost. That being said I didn't save any money because now I will have flown down for 4 trips by the end of May and have at least 2 more planned for the fall. If I didn't have an AP I probably would have gone once or twice this year.

Its very true, once you have annual pass, more trips tend to happen. I am always keeping my eye out for trips of a couple days here or there if I get a cheap flight. We spend more than we would without the passes but we also get our money's worth. We will have had ours for 2 years and plan to let all of ours expire in Sept except one. We will take a break till the following year and buy them for all of us again.
 

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