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momuvseven
01-03-2006, 11:24 AM
We have managed three trips since April and we never get enough Disney however this has been an unusual year for us that we could come so often. Each time we bought four-five day passes for each of us with the baby being free. This coming year two kids are turning nine and the baby is turning three so they will be paying more. We are already planning a trip for April and would like to do more. It takes us about ten hours drive each way from our home in Nevada.
So for those in the know would it make sense for us to buy the annual passes at $229 not knowing for sure if we would use them on more than one trip (where there's a will there's a way LOL)? Do they begin with the first date of use or the day of purchase? I would like to buy them online if possible. They seem to be offered this way on the Disneyline website.
We are getting kind of tired of shuffling around the various resort area hotels. Are there alternatives? I goofed and bought on priceline this morning and ended up five miles away in Garden Grove. It has been about twenty plus years since I tried to drive and park at Disneyland. Any recommendations regarding parking and should I buy one pass to include parking?
Thanks for any hints.

mumuvseven, soon to be mumuveight

ameryth74
01-03-2006, 11:42 AM
Since the 5 day hopper is only $10 less... I would say the passes are a no-brainer... with one exception to think about... with the deluxe pass there will be some blackout dates... check the calendar to see if those blackout dates would interfere with any of your planned or possible trip dates before you buy.

SteveK
01-03-2006, 11:49 AM
I believe that the pass starts from the first day you actually use it, not the day you purchase it. Think of the cost on a per day basis for the pass. Take the total cost and divide it by the number of days you would visit the park. If that's cheaper than a 5 day pass or X # of single day tickets (or any other ticket alternative), then it makes sense. The way we figured it, we'd only have to use our deluxe passes like three times to make them pay out.

If you're staying close to the park when you're down here, I wouldn't buy the parking. There are shuttles from alot of the hotels to the park that are free and you can walk from some of the closer ones. If you plan on just coming down for a day here and there, I'd add the parking since it's $10 or $11 now (I think).

Not sure about hotel alternatives. Personally, I'd find a hotel I really like and just stick with that one. There are so many close to the park...lots within easy walking distance that there has to be a couple of good ones.

Good Luck!

Darkbeer
01-03-2006, 11:54 AM
If youare coming in APril, there are a Blockout days to worry about due to Easter.

The best thing to do is buy the Advance Purchase tickets (Kid free with Adult Purchase ticket) at Getawaytoday.com.

If two adults are going, then you need two of those tickets, and one ticket for the third kid.

This way you avoid blockout days, and get an Early Entry.

If you think you will be coming back for another visit, then upgrading to an AP on the last day would make sense.

Bolivar
01-03-2006, 12:12 PM
I pretty sure you can cancel your priceline hotel.

Your mistake wasn't as bad as the one I made last year. We stayed two days in San Diego and three in Disneyland. After driving down from San Francisco after work we arrived at the hotel in San Diego at 2am only to find out that I had booked it for February instead of March. Not only had we already paid for rooms we didn't use, but all the hotels were sold out.

potzbie
01-03-2006, 12:13 PM
Do you want a per-day breakdown?

***

Per DARKBEER's posting, Disneyland increased its price of admission.

For ADULT / CHILD:

Two Day ParkHopper $116/$86 = $58.00 / $43.00 per day.

Three Day ParkHopper $169/$139 = $56.33 / $46.33 per day.

Four Day ParkHopper $199/$169 = $49.75 / $42.25 per day.

Five Day ParkHopper $219/$189 = $43.80 / $37.80 per day.

***

Let's ignore the $$ for parking, since that is optional, and can be amortized separately.

Annual Passports are $229 (for non-Southern California residents) as the lowest priced starter, i.e., "Deluxe, without parking."

Spread out $229 over the days you go to DL/DCA.
Here is a table, in DAYS.

1 = $229.00 per day
2 = $114.50 per day
3 = $76.33 per day
4 = $57.25 per day
5 = $45.80 per day
6 = $38.16 per day

So, for FIVE DAYS, you are better off with a FIVE DAY PARK HOPPER.
($43.80 is better than $45.80 by a margin of two dollars.)

For a sixth day onward, you are better off with a DELUXE ANNUAL PASSPORT.
($38.16 beats the 5-day Park Hopper's $43.80.)

***

Is there a catch?
Yes!--Blackout days!

To go on a black-out day will cost a Deluxe Annual Passholder an extra $30 for the privilege of going on a Saturday or holiday (for instance).

If you include a Sat./Sun. weekend, then you must add the $30 + $30 costs in the calculation.
You would then be out-laying $229 + $60 for a seven day full week, or $289.
And if you do the math:
$289 / 7 days = $41.28 per day.

Close. -- But $41 is a few dollars greater than the ideal MON-FRI situation.

Thus, to save money, if you can go to DL/DCA on Monday thru Friday, at least six days (i.e., two visits of any day combination of: 5 + 1 or 4 + 2 or 3 + 3), then you are better off with an Annual Passport.

But wait! If an Annual Passholder can save money on food or merchandise, then it might work!

Now, if you can use the DISCOUNTS which are available to ANNUAL PASSHOLDERS, and save at least two dollars on souvenirs or on food in DL/DCA, then a FIVE DAY visit becomes dead even between the Park Hopper vs. Annual Passport.

And if the price breaks even, then the extra perqs of the Annual Passport become the tie breaker.
Namely, the quarterly newsletter, which is free, comes to you as an Annual Passholder, not as an ordinary Park Hopper.

(Can you save two dollars in one or two purchases? Yes. -- a $20 meal at list price becomes 10% cheaper, namely, two dollars cheaper, when the AP discount is applied.)

How's that?

lauramaynot
01-03-2006, 12:22 PM
If youare coming in APril, there are a Blockout days to worry about due to Easter.

The best thing to do is buy the Advance Purchase tickets (Kid free with Adult Purchase ticket) at Getawaytoday.com.

If two adults are going, then you need two of those tickets, and one ticket for the third kid.

This way you avoid blockout days, and get an Early Entry.

If you think you will be coming back for another visit, then upgrading to an AP on the last day would make sense.

What he said. Buy the parkhopper and then upgrade before you leave. Where are you in Nevada? We are in Boulder City and from here it is about 4 1/2 hour trip one way. I have actually gone down there and come home the same day, spending as much time in the car as we do at the park (yes everyone thinks were crazy!) As far as the parking option, I think you should get it on at least one of your passes. This year we might even opt for parking on two of our passes since we often go with other families and that way one of us can ride in with the second car. Buy the AP's and then think of the perk...you HAVE to come back. Win/Win situation.:D

Darkbeer
01-03-2006, 12:33 PM
I talked about the DISCOUNTED ParkHoppers that are offered thru April 27th...




Three Day Advance Purchase (January thru April) $119/$119 [$39.67 a day]

Three Day Advance Purchase (Kid Free with Adult {2 tickets} Jan thru Apr) $149 [$24.83 a day]

Four Day Advance Purchase (January thru April) $139/$139 [$34.75 a day]

Four Day Advance Purchase (Kid Free with Adult {2 tickets} Jan thru Apr) $169 [$21.13 a day]

Five Day Advance Purchase (January thru April) $149/$149 [$29.80 a day]

Five Day Advance Purchase (Kid Free with Adult {2 tickets} Jan thru Apr) $179 [$17.90 a day]



So since they need kids tickets, the Free Kids ticket is the best deal, and a LOT less a day!!!

hlbtimes2
01-03-2006, 12:34 PM
Do you want a per-day breakdown?

***

Per DARKBEER's posting, Disneyland increased its price of admission.

For ADULT / CHILD:

Two Day ParkHopper $116/$86 = $58.00 / $43.00 per day.

Three Day ParkHopper $169/$139 = $56.33 / $46.33 per day.

Four Day ParkHopper $199/$169 = $49.75 / $42.25 per day.

Five Day ParkHopper $219/$189 = $43.80 / $37.80 per day.


How's that?

Its good, except it doesnt seem to take in to consideration the current special for free kids. If they bought two adult tickets, two of the kids would be free. That would greatly reduce the total for park hoppers.

edit to add- yeah, what darkbeer said. lol

pisces
01-03-2006, 12:34 PM
SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT:

They can't block you on the day you purchase the Annual Pass, whether it's an offical block out day, or not. ----This was told to me by a Cast Member at the Disneyland Hotel (who was trying to sell me an AP as a way to upgrade my park hopper).

So, consider carefully, the exact day of purchase.

Me? I'm very much Park Hopper person, all the way. The Park Hoppers have worked for me. I go during peak periods, and don't want to deal with block outs. On two separate trips I've managed to snag great deals on Park Hoppers from the hotel front-desk.

But, then I only go once-a-year.

K & S
01-03-2006, 03:59 PM
We have managed three trips since April and we never get enough Disney however this has been an unusual year for us that we could come so often. Each time we bought four-five day passes for each of us with the baby being free. This coming year two kids are turning nine and the baby is turning three so they will be paying more. We are already planning a trip for April and would like to do more. It takes us about ten hours drive each way from our home in Nevada.
So for those in the know would it make sense for us to buy the annual passes at $229 not knowing for sure if we would use them on more than one trip (where there's a will there's a way LOL)? Do they begin with the first date of use or the day of purchase? I would like to buy them online if possible. They seem to be offered this way on the Disneyline website.
We are getting kind of tired of shuffling around the various resort area hotels. Are there alternatives? I goofed and bought on priceline this morning and ended up five miles away in Garden Grove. It has been about twenty plus years since I tried to drive and park at Disneyland. Any recommendations regarding parking and should I buy one pass to include parking?
Thanks for any hints.

mumuvseven, soon to be mumuveight

I would follow the advice to buy the APs the last day of your trip. If your admission into the park is covered by the APs, you may be able to budget in more trips.

My sister and her husband get a parking permit on one of the kid's APs, that way the parking is covered no matter which parent takes the kids to the park.

infinite
01-03-2006, 06:18 PM
I think we might live near each other. WE are about a 10 hour drive away, too in Reno Nevada.

We have annual passes, purchased in September and they have almost paid for themselves already. We went for 5 days in September, we are going for 5 days in two weeks (they will have more than paid for themselves then) , we have plans to go again in March and September for about 5 days each.

If you are planning to go as often as we do, annual passes may be worth it. However if you plan on going during Spring break, those days may be blocked out.

How often do you think you will be visiting in the next year?

DatabaseDiva
01-03-2006, 10:54 PM
We have had annual passes since 2000. We had Deluxe passes the first year, and then switched to Premium. We bought them the first year because we were taking a long trip. Once we had them, we started flying down for long weekends. We average 3 or 4 trips per year. Parking is included with a Premium pass. We also get a 10% discount in the shops, and 15% in the sit down restaurants.

We have stayed at many hotels around the area, but our favorite is the Sheraton. They have a very good loyalty program. It is worth checking into if you stay there often.

momuvseven
01-04-2006, 08:14 AM
We live in Fallon, Nevada about an hour east of Reno so it takes us about ten hours to get there with stops and traffic, weather etc.

We usually buy the parkhoppers and package from Get Away Today. That means the evening we get there and the day we leave we don't enter the park because we don't want to use a whole day ticket for a few hours. With annual passes it looks like we could go ahead and enter for those few hours. The only blockout days I see are I think all the Saturdays and a week at Christmas. We could live with that.

We are coming down for spring break which for us is April 16-24th. We used to come in March and always seemed to be there the same time as the cheerleaders and football players. That was a bit of a mess with hormone charged teens overrunning the park and hotels LOL.

Other than the drive Disneyland is a reasonable family trip for us. DH works alternate weeks (7 12 hour shifts) and generally has every other week off depending on how often he gets called for overtime. We shop for cheap hotels and pack most of our food into the park. We spend about $50 a day in the parks for the splurge of our choice. For the kids that most often means cotton candy or ice cream from the carts and for my dh the chicken dinner at the plaza or Pizza Planet.

We always have a great time and we feel safe in the area.

$229 a year seems like a great deal and I think we can get there at least three times in a year for a week each time.

We used to just come once every few years but more and more we just find we like going to DL better than any other vacation spots we have tried.

I think we might be able to get a free parking pass from Triple AAA but not sure if we have to buy parkhoppers from them to do so.

Thanks for all the advice! I love Mouseplanet!

hlbtimes2
01-04-2006, 09:01 AM
Personally, I would probably take advantage of the kids play free special, then upgrade the 3 hoppers you bought at the end of the trip to a/p's. Then buy the other 2 a/p's on your next trip. That way you have the cost split up. It would put renewal dates at different times of the year as well. Some people might not like that, but I would. It would be much easier for me to come up with 1/2 the money at one time and the other 1/2 later- rather then the over a grand at one time.