Originally Posted By jdurk We will be going to Disneyland twice this year and I am thinking it would save me money in the long run to buy one premium annual pass. If the park is full to capacity, can a premium passholder still get in? Does the premium offer better discounts on hotels than the other passes? Any information would be appreciated. Thank you.
Originally Posted By x Pirate_Princess x If you're going to be going during busy times, I suggest getting there at opening or before, even if you don't have a PAP. If you can at least get in, get your hand stamped, you could still get in if they close it to new entries. You can also get more done in the first hour or two on busy days than the rest of the day.
Originally Posted By Darkbeer I wrote about how the parks react to large crowds recently... <a href="http://www.micechat.com/forums/showthread.php/disney_handles_very_large_crowds-86550.html" target="_blank">http://www.micechat.com/forums /showthread.php/disney_handles_very_large_crowds-86550.html</a> So there is a chance that AP holders get locked out, but Disney does try its best to have the capacity to accomidate AP holders and thoe who have pre-purchased tickets, but if the Fire Marshall says "No more", then that's it.
Originally Posted By Darkbeer Now in regards to AP's, you might not need a Premium. All types of AP holders get the same deals on Hotels and available discounts. MouseSavers.com is a good source of current discounts and offers. So should you spend the extra $120? First thing to do, go to Disneyland.com/AP and check the blockout dates. Would your trips be blocked out. If it is just one day, such as a Saturday, you could either pay $40 for a blockout pass, or plan your vacation so you have something else scheduled for that day, such as visiting another park, the beach, shopping, etc. Since you are looking at hotels, more than likely you won't need the free parking that comes with the Premium. So now we come to the non-Hotel discounts. For most of the Downtown Disney locations, all AP holders get the same discount (usually 10%). Food in the Parks and Disney owned hotels. Deluxe and SoCal AP holders get 10% off most purchases, Premium get 15% off. Park Merchandise is discounted 10% for only Premium AP holders (all other AP's get no discount on merchandise). So that is a lot of food and merchandise to buy to recover the $120 difference in price. MouseSavers.com has a good list of discounts available with an AP. (The Disneyland.com website has the best list, but it is locked, and you must have a password to access it (and only current AP holders get to see it).
Originally Posted By x Pirate_Princess x I think you can see the available discounts for the APs without having to log in. My computer's being tempermental this morning, so I can't load up the page, though. go to : <a href="http://www.disneyland.com/ap" target="_blank">http://www.disneyland.com/ap</a> all the way at the bottom of the page on the left is the blackout calendar. On the right under "discounts" is a link, "view all." That should do it. Good luck.
Originally Posted By x Pirate_Princess x Figures...after I post that, the page loads https://secure.disney.go.com/disneyland/en_US/ap/discounts?name=AnnualPassholderUngatedDiscountsPage
Originally Posted By x Pirate_Princess x Try this: <a href="http://tinyurl.com/2rke4x" target="_blank">http://tinyurl.com/2rke4x</a>
Originally Posted By Darkbeer Hey, they fixed it, YEA! Glad to see they moved it to the Ungated area.
Originally Posted By jdurk Thank you so much for the information. I think I will probably get the premium because we do stay at a property hotel and eat all meals at DTD or one of the parks or hotels. Also, we buy quite a bit of merchandise while we are there. My only concern was when they close the gates but I don't think that will happen when we are there. Possibly a July trip and early December trip. We've been there before during July and had no problem. In the past, it used to be hotel guests got in even if gates were closed but that may not be the case anymore. Thank you!
