Annual Passes or No?

I'm resale so I am only eligible for the Incredipass (out of state). So, that's what we have but I only have it for my spouse and I since we go more often than the whole family. Thankfully, Disney came out with the Celebrate America passes which are not annual passes but they act like them in the sense of tickets (unlimited visits with some blackout dates). But, without those passes, we usually just buy discounted military tickets (daily tickets).

I do buy the Sorcerer's Pass for my son & I. For the past two years, it has been well worth it for us. My son probably makes 2-3 small trips with me. i last year spent 2 1/2 weeks in just September. It's so nice not to worry about hopping to another park.

I live in North Carolina. I don't care about the last 2 weeks being blocked out. For us, it's worth it.

Im obviously a different animal, because of the content we collect for the show….but even if that weren’t the case, we would still be AP holders (Sorcerer). We don’t go at busy times , so the Incredipass doesn’t make sense for us, but we go to the parks A LOT and did even before I was on the show. I justify it by saying every time we go, every day just got a little bit cheaper lol

It is pretty easy to calculate whether an AP is worthwhile, even ignoring the discounts you get you can easily take the number of days you attend the park and divide it by the cost of the pass.

For example, with the DVC Sorcerer Pass the renewal rate is currently $929 (plus tax). Lets say you usually come to Disney World for 2x trips a year at 5 days each for a total of 10 days. That works out to $92.90 per day.

If your 5-day tickets are more than $464.50 per ticket ($92.90 times 5), then it is cheaper to buy an AP. For a random date (I picked May 1st), a 5-day ticket on UnlockedMagic.com is $662.65.

Currently there is a promotion for a non-parkhopper 4-Day "Magic" ticket and it costs $460.22 from UnlockedMagic.com for June 1st.

Just to give you an idea -- 2 trips generally make the AP worthwhile.

In addition, you can add PhotoPass for the whole year for just $99 and you receive additional benefits such as 20% off shopping, 10% off Table service dining - similar to Direct DVC benefits, but you also qualify for things like the VIPassholder Days with 40% off table service restaurants this summer.

You also can now take short weekend trips or last minute trips without worrying about needing tickets.

Travel day but you're not flying out until the evening? It can still be a park day.

IMHO the AP is a no brainer for us - but we are down in Orlando at least once every 3 months and sometimes as often as once a month, even if it is just for 2-3 days, it adds up and like Jeff said, my cost per park day is pretty cheap.

Sorcerer Passes. We come several times a year, my son and I. My wife can't come as often, but even if she only comes for two weeks it saves money on tickets alone. But then there are the AP room deals, which as long as we have fewer DVC points than we need for how often we go (something I am working on remedying every year, since we buy our contracts with cash) will be valuable for booking other Disney resorts at up to 40% off, depending on the promotions. Then there's all the other fun AP stuff, but from a financial standpoint, those two alone have made it possible to go more often without feeling the pinch.

My husband when we would go skiing, would always calculate the cost per run. He would tell me...go on another run, it just gets cheaper! Now that he is gone, I still think about that...with the AP I've calculated our cost.

I just renewed my wife’s and my AP this afternoon. We’re doing the Soringtime Surprise this weekend and have at least one more trip planned this year. Hands down worth it for us. My wife said that maybe she wound t renew hers and just buy single park tickets. My son said go ahead and let us know how you plan on spending the rest of your AK day 😜. He’s a teenager so naturally he knows everything and this I did agree with him on. Last year AA cancelled her afternoon flight and rebooked her on a late evening flight so she and my son get an extra park day.

We just finished off getting to the 150 direct pt threshold almost entirely because of the annual pass benefit. We started off 180 points resale, and now are at 250, 150/100 direct/resale split. The Incredipass is hard to justify if you're out of town like us (Chicago). Even two trips a year was under that number typically. The Sorcerer's is a great value, and makes adding on trips a really easy decision.

One of the biggest things for us is the flexibility. We don't love the rope drop approach, we want to have more of a relaxed trip, enjoying the parks and the resorts, but we also don't love doing full days for parks vs resorts. its nice being able to eat breakfast in the room, then swim in the morning, and then get to the park in the afternoon for the rest of the day. Likewise, sometimes we want to do MK early, go into the afternoon, and then come back to the resort for a break, dinner, and just hanging around the place for the evening. (We love the movies outside, etc) Annual passes makes all of this easier to justify. (Monday isn't just 1 of our 2 days we bought at MK, it's just one day of our trip and we can use it how we please!).

Ryan's point about travel days is big in my mind too. How cool it is that our upcoming trip,(where we'll get into BLT at 7pm) can start with us popping into MK to grab a treat and see the fireworks. Additionally, we'll leave BLT for the airport around 4pm, and we can easily pop in to MK for breakfast and a couple last minute rides before the sad march home ha!. All in all, I think the Sorcerers pass is great. There may be years we know we aren't going to Disney, but for a short trip, and maybe we'll opt to not renew a year and then get back in, etc. But overall, I'm a fan.

I agree on the rope dropping. Not going as often, makes you feel like you have to be there every minute. Having AP, allows us the grace to go back to our resort and rest, swim, enjoy! I have gone to the parks before and only did one thing! Before having DVC and an AP....that would have never happened.

This was why we bought direct. Right after buying, we picked up five Sorcerer's Passes, with $2500 savings. We only need to buy them one more time in the next 40 years to make it worth the higher price vs resale.

We try and rotate our trips from WDW to Disneyland in cycles (using banking and borrowing to our advantage). For us, we like to take our time, and at the price of 8 day tickets, the passes were just a bit more. If we make two long 14 to 15 day trips spending at least 8 or 9 days at WDW and another quick trip to Universal up the road (also getting APs there), it's worth it. We usually do one summer trip and one spring trip in that annual cycle. If flights were cheaper we could consider sneaking in a holiday trip to WDW in November in the future.

Sometimes the math is the magic. ✨ The pass quietly picked up the tab. 🎟️

We already had Annual Passes when we went into DVC. After purchasing 250 points at the Polynesian, we became eligible for the Sorcerer Pass, which changed the math.

For the three of us, the Sorcerer Pass saved about $500 per person compared to the Incredi-Pass. That savings alone covered most of our annual dues for the year, which completely reframed the decision. Instead of seeing Annual Passes as an added expense, it felt like we were offsetting a cost we already had with DVC.

If you’re planning multiple trips, or even one longer stay, it’s worth stepping back and looking at the full picture. The overlap between DVC and Annual Pass benefits can be more meaningful than it first appears.

Arguably the best benefit going Direct has going for it. Made the plunge this year and bought Sorcerer passes for all the reasons Ryan C listed above.

I currently have a Sorcerer Pass. I have three six night stays planned within a twelve month stretch, so it makes sense this year. I will have to see if I do enough stays in the next twelve months to renew it. It is truly a year by year decision, based on plans that year.

Ryan C mentioned the Photo Pass addition for $99. I think that is one of the true bargains to be had in all of WDW!

We do the Sorcerer pass. Very worth it for us. Besides the possible cost savings, it gives us real flexibility. We dont have to worry about park hopping or if we have enough days left on a ticket. We just go. We also pay with points. I know not the best use of points, but it works for us as we always seem to have a few points at the end of the year. We also go to DLR, but never could justify the cost of a Magic Key pass. Would be great if we had something like the Sorcerer Pass at DLR.

My family has the Sorcerers Pass! More than anything it gives us peace of mind to be able to just up and go if we decide to do "quick trips" while also giving us the flexibility to enjoy the parks how we desire once we get there. After a week long stay and multiple quick weekend trips for us, it pays for itself in the end!

We live in Ontario, Canada so unfortunately we don’t get to travel to WDW more than once a year.

The Sorcerer’s Pass was great for us when we had two trips within a year and had 14 park days total because the cost was less than park hopper tickets. Being able to add on the Memory Maker to the AP at a lower cost was a huge benefit to us.

We will definitely buy AP’s again if we have 2 trips in a year.

I've had a Sorcerer Pass (or Gold Pass before that) since before I was a local, and I wouldn't upgrade it. Even being so close to Disney doesn't make it enticing to go during the holidays thanks to the crowds.

We had one for many many years but gave it up in 2024, we watch our grandchildren and now that they are full time in school can not get away as much so not worth it.

We live in Maine and did the Sorcerer's Pass this year. We wished we had done it during our first trip and saved even more, but it will still be worth it this year as we have another week-long trip planned for December. We will play it by ear each year, but we honestly love the convenience as much as the savings. It probably sounds silly or like Disney Math, but it's already paid for, so if you only want to go to the park for a couple of hours, no big deal! We snagged a Beak & Barrel reservation during our last trip so we went to MK for just a couple of hours to hit that reservation, catch a parade, and try out McKim's Mile House (our first visit). The Annual Passes give us the freedom to go when we want, and we don't feel like we "lost money" if we don't go. We never plan to go during a busy or blacked out week, so we are happy with it!

We (Family of 5) all have the Sorcerer's Pass. The math works out because of how often we visit. It also makes our trips more relaxed. A lot times we will go straight into the park once we arrive just to walk around.

I'm always thinking about it. I live in California and would only get the Sorcerer's pass if I were going to do more than one visit per year. I'm thinking about maybe going in April next year and March the following year, which would make the pass worth it. I've only bought one park per day tickets in the past and I think I would like to park hop once in a while - giving the Sorcerer's pass the edge.

For those who only visit once per year, one way to take advantage of the Sorcerer Pass is to use the pass for your once a year trip and then schedule your next trip less than 12 months away, even 11 months and 3 weeks. So you get 2 trips out of 1 Sorcerer Pass, don't renew and start all over with your next trip. It would still likely save you over buying 2 separate batches of tickets (depending on how long you go for) and you get the advantages of having the pass for both trips.

In the event that another trip comes up in between those 2 trips - you still can use the annual pass to go! :)

We are locals (live about 20 minutes from the parks) and currently have the Florida Resident version of the Sorcerer Pass. We don’t like being in the parks when they are insanely busy, so the blackout dates around Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve don’t really bother us. We are strongly considering downgrading to the Pixie Pass or at least the Pirate Pass and then get Universal Passes to spice things up a bit. We most often visit the Disney parks on weeknights after work and it’s usually Epcot to sample the latest festival food offerings or to see the free concerts. Once in a while we go to the other parks, more so when friends and family come to town.

We live in the UK and come for 2 weeks at a time. We can buy 14 day tickets for £545 (that’s down to £435 for a summer offer. We are going May and August this year so the Sorcerer pass is still cheaper for us and we are taking advantage of the 40% dining offers😁

Right on. Had the same thought and am trying this plan out this go around. As you mention, having the passes helps with any spontaneous trips.

This is the "bonus" we've found, in addition to saving money. Now we can go more often (or at least my son and I when he is out of school), as long as we can find a good fare/award redemption and a good rate on hotels (like this summer's 40% off). Being able to go to the parks whenever and stay however long is great.

We are out of state and took early retirement. I could dissect the financial calculus 7 ways to Sunday. Our visits to wdw are both random and impromptu. it’s the non quantifiable FLEXABILTY of doing what we want, when we want that makes the sorcerers pass a perfect fit. The meal discounts don’t hurt though.

We buy Incredipass for our out of state family of four. We visit over Christmas and we’re resale owners only, so it works for us. The discount as APs is equivalent most of the time to the DVC discount, which is nice too. We’ve had passes for 3 years and each year we try to go as many days as we can. Usually three weeks but 1-2 of those stretch out to 8 or 10 days if we can swing it. We drive from Ohio 😹

We do the sorcerer pass and bank and borrow points along the way. We’ll use four years worth of points within a 12 month span.

Never thought about this before but this is clutch!

That is exactly our plan. We are new AP holders. Staying this mid-May, then in December, then in April. Then will take a rest until probably December again and buy a new pass for that to start the cycle again.

Here’s where the Annual Pass math gets interesting… 👀

On paper, renewing feels like the obvious win. You’re saving $170, which brings the pass down to $929. Spread that over 12 months and it looks clean at about $77 per month. Seems like a no brainer, right?

Not so fast. Lets use a theoretical example where you decide to go every 5 months and have a Sorcerers pass.

If you’re traveling every ~5 months, you’re not actually using all 12 of those months. Realistically, you’re hitting maybe 3 to 4 “active” months where the pass is doing real work for you.

That quietly drives your effective cost up to about $230+ per month of actual use 😬

Now flip the strategy.

Let the pass expire. Buy new when you’re ready to go again.

Yes, you’re paying full price at $1,099 💸
But now you’re aligning the pass to your trips instead of the calendar.

Each pass covers:

✨ Trip 1
✨ Trip 2 (about 5 months later)

Now you’re using roughly 6 meaningful months instead of stretching across 12.

That brings your effective cost closer to ~$180 per month of real use 📉

Note that if you have another trip planned a month later or are local and go frequently, renewal makes more sense.

Renewal:

💰 Lower upfront cost
⏳ More wasted months

Rebuy:

💰 Higher upfront cost
🎯 Tighter usage, less waste

That $170 savings looks great… until it’s spread across months you never use.

If your trips don’t naturally fit inside a clean 12 month window, the better move is:

👉 Control when your pass starts
👉 Pay for time you actually use

Because in the end, you’re not buying a pass…

You’re buying months of access 🎢

I’ve been an AP holder consistently renewing for the last 5 years but this year I let it expire at the end of March because I don’t have another trip planned until October…and it’s KILLING me! No impromptu trips this summer for me but since I’m out of points until September I guess that’s a good thing. 😆

It all depends on when your next trip is. Our renewals are in June and October and we almost always have a trip planned shortly after that in June and October. So it makes sense to renew. If you tend to travel the same time(s) every year, you'll eventually settle on a renewal that coincides with a trip.

For example, if you don't normally go to WDW between February - May and your renewal date is March, then it makes sense to buy new for your upcoming trip in June which "extends" you through June of the next year - but if your trip the following year is in June, you'd be better off renewing.

If you have more flexibility, you could of course play games and make your trip 1 year late June and then the next year your trip is early June and then don't buy a new pass until your next trip, lets say its October. Sometimes with kid schedules its harder to do that because you're basing it off of when the kids have off from school.

Always good though to do the math and figure out whether its worth it or not if you won't be using the pass shortly after your renewal. With the current prices, it works out to be about 2 months. So if you're up for renewal and you won't use your AP for 2 months after the renewal date, purchase new.

For us we just renewed our APs with Membership Magic Beyond at 65 points per pass. We like that benefit of MMB. Of course we also just inherited a significant number of points from my parents who are now 90 and not in good health and cannot go to WDW anymore. Without those points added to our point total using points to pay for our APs would not work with just the points we bought so I understand this approach will not work for everyone.

Works For Us as well

Thanks for replying @Ryan C and 100% agree that it all depends on your next trip and if you go consistent times each year. I think the main take away is, just don't assume that renewing is instantly the best option. It comes down to what you said, planning out when your next trip will be and then doing the math! Thanks!

Just one other thing to keep in mind with regard to renewing. If you don't renew and there is some sort of world event (like COVID) that causes APs to be suspended for awhile, you may not have the option to get one, at least not for some time. During COVID we chose to renew our APs instead getting our money back and as events turned out I'm glad we did and I know a lot of people who wished they had.

As others have mentioned, being from out of state (Michigan), prior to being a DVC member, we would do the Incredi-Pass and then plan 2-3 trips in that 12 month window. Now that we are DVC members we will just have to watch travel patterns. If we find ourselves doing more frequent weekend trips we may need to keep the annual passes.

I've heard that if you happen to contract a case of Add-on-itis the only cure is the Incredi-Pass. :)

Excellent advise, did this for years when my daughter was small, we would vist the last two weeks of June, the next year the first two weeks of June. Get 4 weeks out of 1 annual pass.

I have contemplated getting an AP many times, but we just don't get out to the parks in Florida enough to make it worth it. Last time I went, I bought tickets from Unlocked Magic (best price!). I think I might enjoy the resorts and restaurants more than the parks so we often do just resort stays on our points, and my daughter goes to college in Florida so we spend time with her. Someday maybe when my husband and I are empty nesters we'll get passes.

I do have a Disneyland Magic Key but I'm local here and get the Southern California pass.

We’re from Louisiana and drive every time. We bought into DVC with a pretty specific plan….to get the sorcerers AP every ~3 years. The 2 years in between we do cruises, national parks, aulani, vero beach, Disneyland. And for the annual pass year, we spend majority of our points and go to Disney world 5-6 times during the year hitting every Epcot festival but planning for different things each trip. We’ve loved this strategy so far. Much more relaxing park days, half days split between parks and enjoying the resort activities, etc.

I'm out of state but live about 4 1/2 hours away. We may do a week long trip every year or so but with the AP we do multiple long weekend trips; or heck we have even done 1 or 2 night quick trips. We've done last minute trips to go for an Epcot festival for the weekend.

We're about an hour away and the Sorcerer pass pays for itself in ~10 visits usually and we go way more than that on average.. plus the water park option is only $100.

AP for many years now. Also renewed with points last year (MMB). Worth it if you are going twice within a year.

Miss the 10 day non-expiry tickets from many years ago.

I still have my non-expiring 10 day ticket I bought in 2009. Still has four water park days on it.

Nice!!

We’ve gotten Sorcerer’s Pass every year since we’ve owned DVC. We are very distant from Orlando, so most trips are fairly long. Each year, I do a comparison with buying tickets and so far, getting an AP at the renewal price has been the same or cheaper, plus you get AP discounts which aren’t always comparable to DVC discounts.

Revenues!!!!