Pros and Cons of Having a Disney Annual Pass

You are obviously a Disney fan, you have probably visited a Disney Park and enjoy what the House of Mouse has to offer. You might be the type of person to visit more than once a year or even better, you might live within driving distance to a Disney Park that having a Disney Annual Pass makes sense. A good rule of thumb is that if you visit a Disney park more than 10 days a year an annual pass might make the most sense for you.

So what should you consider when making the decision of purchasing and committing to an Annual Pass? Here’s the break down of the pros and cons.

Pros

Take the time to smell the roses: We all know that a Disney trip usually entails you and your family waking up early in the morning to rope drop and go,go,go. Trying to catch all of the attractions and shows as humanly possible in a day to get the most bang for your buck. With an Annual Pass you will be able to relax a bit, and take in the smaller details of the parks, a more relaxed touring plan will mean a better attitude going in and coming out of the parks.

Flexible dates: with an Annual Pass your calendar might open up to give you more dates to work with, knowing that you have a year’s worth of ticket. Finding better airline rates or hotel rates where you will have more options to choose from.

All the Discounts: the discounts might not be as impressive, usually only 10% or 20%, but at the end of the trip they do add up. You get discounts on hotels, food, water parks, merchandise, tours, special extras. Make sure to always let your sever or Cast Member know that you are an AP and ask to see if the offer discounts.

Free parking: If you are driving to Walt Disney World you get free parking and that is huge. Current parking rates are $25 for regular or $45 for preferred parking. That’s a good amount of Mickey bars.

Cons:

Price: If you are an out of state annual passholder you must pay for your AP in full and only have a number of available options of passes to choose from. If you are a Florida resident there are more options and a monthly payment plan that helps the initial cost. Again, rule of thumb if you visit WDW more than 10 days a year an Annual Pass will make financial sense but it does require a big upfront payment.

Fastpass Availability: as a Walt Disney World resort guest you are able to prebook your fastpasses 60 days in advance, that does not happen if you are not staying on property, with an annual pass you can book them only 30 days in advance making the very popular attractions hard to get. Keep in mind that you can have an annual pass and stay on property to still take advantage of the 60 day prebooking.

So it really comes down to personal preference and financial sense. It is not an easy decision and it will take you and your family sitting down and crunching numbers, but it is good to know that you have the option of becoming an Annual Passholder.

To view the different available Annual Passes for Walt Disney World click here

For a list of Annual Passholder benefits click here