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Revbat
06-28-2007, 09:15 PM
I'm considering taking a solo trip December 17 to 21, and was looking at possibly staying at the Grand Californian.

I understand that with an annual pass you receive a discount at the Disneyland properties? What size of discount is it?

Basically I was going to get a 5 day park hopper, but was trying to figure out if it was cheaper to get an annual pass to save on my room.

Also, with an annual pass you receive a discount on food as well?

Are the annual passes good for one year from the date of purchase? or do they have set dates regardless of when you buy it?

Sorry for all the questions, but the disneyland website is somewhat vague about annual passes.

One last question,
What type of whether could I expect in December? Mainly I'm wondering will it be too cold to ride attractions like Splash Mountain or that Grizzly river ride in DCA?

Thanks for any information you all can provide!
I'm anxious to get my trip planned...

emmah
06-28-2007, 11:07 PM
I understand that with an annual pass you receive a discount at the Disneyland properties? What size of discount is it?10% is the normal AP discount. They also have special AP deals at certain times - late november and january, for instance.


Basically I was going to get a 5 day park hopper, but was trying to figure out if it was cheaper to get an annual pass to save on my room.I did this a couple of years ago - there was an amazing deal at the DLH ($89 a night) for APs, so I bought an AP to get the discount.


Also, with an annual pass you receive a discount on food as well?Yes, 10% - 15% if you buy a premium AP.


Are the annual passes good for one year from the date of purchase? or do they have set dates regardless of when you buy it?They run from the day you first use it in the park (so if you buy a voucher before you go, it doesn't start to run until it has been activated in the park.

You'll want to do a full calculation to work out whether an AP will provide you with a net saving or not: how much extra will you save on food and accommodation compared to the extra expense of the pass - especially if you won't use it again.


One last question, What type of whether could I expect in December? Mainly I'm wondering will it be too cold to ride attractions like Splash Mountain or that Grizzly river ride in DCA?the one time I went in December (late nov-first few days of dec) it was not that cold and I went on the water rides and it was ok. i needed a sweater at night while waiting for the fireworks.

BarbD
06-29-2007, 05:16 AM
I’m from Arizona so my perspective of cold may be different :D:D:D
I have been in December and always need a jacket or sweater except maybe 2 to 3 hours midday. To me California is cold lol. I would never do a water ride in the winter there. Splash isn’t as wet as Grizzly so if I did it would be Splash.

I have a premium AP. It covers parking, Discounts at just about any store and food place in Disneyland and DCA. But the Deluxe does not offer all those discounts. They say Deluxe gets discounts at restaurants but I cant tell you how many times we was turned down for a discount when we had deluxe. This year I planned on going two separate special occasions to me but both are block out dates on the deluxe so the price would be the same when you factor in the block out ticket price to the deluxe so we got Premium and it included parking for free. My last trip had a block out day and I had two cars there between my kids and me so we saved parking times two for 4 days. My husband and me both have the premium pass.

Revbat
06-29-2007, 05:42 PM
Thanks for the helpful answers!

So if I buy an annual pass today from disneyland's website, it would be good for one year from the first day I use it (Dec 17)?

If so, that gives me added reasons to get an AP, since it would be much easier to convince myself to make an additional DL trip sometime between APril and July 2008.

A deluxe annual pass isn't that much more than the 5 day park hopper I was going to purchase, and it doesn't look like any of the blackout dates would effect my travel plans. I'd prefer to avoid overly busy days anyway.

As for the weather, I'm from Canada, so my definition of cold is probably much different than yours in Arizona.

VWCat
06-29-2007, 08:25 PM
We went in June and it was jeans and sweatshirts at night. I would imagine December to be the same but cooler,maybe a medium weight jacket,it gets breezy.

Malcon10t
06-29-2007, 08:54 PM
They say Deluxe gets discounts at restaurants but I cant tell you how many times we was turned down for a discount when we had deluxe.
The Socal and Deluxe passes get discounts at all the same restaurants as the Premium. Premium gets 15% while all others get 10%. No one gets discounts at Gibson Girl or Burrbank Ice Cream. No one gets discounts at the ODV carts, which includes the Red Wagon corn dog cart I believe.

VickiC
06-29-2007, 10:46 PM
They say Deluxe gets discounts at restaurants but I cant tell you how many times we was turned down for a discount when we had deluxe.

I have a SoCal Pass and have never been denied a discount at any park or DTD restaurants.

emmah
06-29-2007, 10:57 PM
So if I buy an annual pass today from disneyland's website, it would be good for one year from the first day I use it (Dec 17)?

Yes, that is my understanding. but unless you think the price is going to go up, there is no benefit in buying it so far in advance - now that you can buy tickets online and print out the voucher, you can do it the week before you go, and keep the money in the bank for another six months!

[/QUOTE]As for the weather, I'm from Canada, so my definition of cold is probably much different than yours in Arizona.[/QUOTE]

Yep, I'm from NZ so I have a different perspective on the cold than your average californian or arizonian too...

ATISJeff
06-30-2007, 09:18 PM
The Socal and Deluxe passes get discounts at all the same restaurants as the Premium. Premium gets 15% while all others get 10%. No one gets discounts at Gibson Girl or Burrbank Ice Cream. No one gets discounts at the ODV carts, which includes the Red Wagon corn dog cart I believe.

Hello Everybody,

First time poster, long time reader. I thought I would add my two cents...My wife and I are Premium AP's and we were there the weekend of June 3rd and received the discount at the Red Wagon Cart. Every restaurant & store that we showed are AP's, we always got a discount. The only exception is that you need to spend $10.00 worth of food or merchandise.

splash
07-01-2007, 05:33 PM
We were there in December last year. The week before we went, the weather was in the 80's. Unfortunately, the week we went it was 50-60, so much for shorts weather. Keep watching the weather and pack some pants and shorts, just in case. We were there from the Dec. 13-20.

BarbD
07-02-2007, 07:17 AM
I have a SoCal Pass and have never been denied a discount at any park or DTD restaurants.

We was denied discount at Rancho Del Zoloco with our deluxe pass.

VickiC
07-02-2007, 07:25 AM
We was denied discount at Rancho Del Zoloco with our deluxe pass.

I would have asked to see a supervisor. Straight from the DL website:

Location SoCal Deluxe Premium Days Valid

Rancho del Zocalo 10% 10% 15% Every Day