Considering AP's (we've had them many years, but.....)

[DunkinNut]

Hi everyone! I'm just too pooped to think Disney for myself and hoping some of ya'll can help me sort out my Disney-Brainstorm (not so much a "storm" I guess - LOL).

We have purchased and are going on the Disney Fantasy on April 2 (2 weeks away). We are heading down the day before to have dinner at The Boathouse (we have ressies). Now, because we booked with Southwest - we COULD change our flights and go even a day earlier (30th/pm) for a little extra pre-cruise Disney fun.

ONE memeber of our party has an AP that expires on April 3. So...I'm thinking...If we are even considering getting AP's - shouldn't we do it while hers is still active? Wouldn't we get a discount? On all of ours or just hers? Hmmmm.... Also...I'm guessing the AP would have done nothing for us discount wise on the cruise (only booked a few weeks ago)?

But he MOST impoartant part...If we get AP's now...what will we have "just missed" when they expire a year from now and some more new stuff has been completed at the parks? With so much going on at Disney SPrings, AK and HS (or whatever they are about to change the name to)...I would really hate to plop down the dough for 4 adult AP's (with hoppers) and then something big gets completed right after....ya know?

HELP ME THINK....what am I missing? TIA

[VWL Mom]

So you're considering 1 day now, correct? Do you have any other trips planned this year? If not, I'm not sure why you would want to lay out $3000 ($749 (plus tax) per ticket) now for a trip you may be considering next April. IMO it's too far in advance to take any of Disney's expected opening date seriously.

Your friends ticket expiring has no effect on you, only on the AP holder. That ticket is a bit less by renewing rather than buying fresh. There are no AP discounts for friends and family.

[DunkinNut]

Oh goodness - I was not very clear. So sorry - see, I told everyone my brains were shot! Too much planning - not enough brain cells. : ) We only have 1.5 days to spare for the trip coming up in April because of the cruise - BUT - we would go back at least 2-3 times over the course of the year if we got AP's (we are in Georgia). BUT....on the other hand - I don't want to get them if all the "good" new stuff is coming after April 2017 when the AP's would expire. If that makes more sense. I should quit being lazy and go see when the projected dates are for Avatar, Star Wars stuff....etc. My other curiosity was would the AP's have helped us get a better rate on the cruise OR could they still? I'm doubting that - but worth asking. My travel agent said we booked so late there were NO discounts, but I still wonder.

So you're considering 1 day now, correct? Do you have any other trips planned this year? If not, I'm not sure why you would want to lay out $3000 ($749 (plus tax) per ticket) now for a trip you may be considering next April. IMO it's too far in advance to take any of Disney's expected opening date seriously.

Your friends ticket expiring has no effect on you, only on the AP holder. That ticket is a bit less by renewing rather than buying fresh. There are no AP discounts for friends and family.

[Basket Mommy]

AP holders get no cruise discounts, to my knowledge. Something new Disney has added as a perk for AP holders is FREE PhotoPass pics, as if Memory Maker is built into the APs now. That's for all levels of AP (Gold, Premier, Premium). And the pics don't expire for 365 days. So that to me is a perk worth buying APs for. You can always renew them for less than it would be for buying a new AP. There is ALWAYS going to be something new at Disney.

[DizneyRox]

When is the next trip? I wouldn't burn an AP for a few months by only using it one day, if you're that close, you may get 3-4 trips out of it by leveraging a full year vs 10 months.

When we did them we would start them as late as we could and often were back the next year until the day it expired or later. We would do an every other year thing to maximize the value.

As mentioned the only 'discount' would be the renewal. I believe you mentioned someone else was a CM? They might be able to save you a couple bucks (literally that all the CM discount is). But there no discount on passes for having one.

Do the math on those tickets, the price is steep. If the many trips are shorter, if may be cheaper to do multi day tickets. Although it would be close for 3 shorter trips even. Only 2 and you may be hard pressed to get value unless the trips are longer.

[Lindslou]

There are some cool things that will be new for this year: evening show at AK, new Soarin', new Frozen ride at Norway, completed Disney Springs. So there's an argument for using it this year to see new stuff too.

[DizneyRox]

There are some cool things that will be new for this year: evening show at AK, new Soarin', new Frozen ride at Norway, completed Disney Springs. So there's an argument for using it this year to see new stuff too.

Again, though, if you're going back in a couple months, why not just see them then. Unless you expect them to break shortly after opening and not be fixed like they did with Everest.

There's plenty to do without actually entering a park for a few days. I'd guess you can easily spend a week on property without having the need to enter a major park.