Amongst the Disney fandom, a Disney World annual pass seems to be the ultimate coveted accomplishment. It gives you the freedom to visit the parks whenever and how often you want. With an annual pass, gone are the days of rope drop to park close and in with the days of casually going into Magic Kingdom for a quick ride on Tron and a dinner date at Liberty Tree Tavern. Annual Passholders have bought freedom to come and go at Disney World as they please, and to some that is worth the high sticker price.
Now this setup is a no-brainer for Florida residents. If I lived in Florida, you better believe I would be an annual passholder and I would be going to Disney World every opportunity I had. I can imagine no better Friday night than watching the fireworks over Cinderella's Castle or celebrating a friend's birthday by drinking around the world in Epcot. However, Florida residents already get amazing ticket deals, just by having proof of residency in the sunshine state. They also get a heavily discounted annual pass price over non-Florida residents. The real question we are left with is if it is worth it to be an annual passholder if you live anywhere other than Florida.
Some people consider being a passholder as some type of status indicator. To them, it does not matter if the price is worth it. They just want bragging rights. However, most people want to know if the math adds up to make the high sticker price of an annual pass financially worth it.
What does a Disney World annual pass cost?
In 2023, an annual pass to Disney World costs $1,399 for all guests who reside outside of Florida and are not vacation club members. At first glance, this may seem high, but I was actually surprised at how low the price was. For $1,399 you can visit Disney World parks as many times as you want for a full year.
How many days do you have to visit a Disney World Park to make the price worth it?
In 2023, a one-day park hopper ticket costs $234. If you were to take one day visits to Disney World (really only a viable option if you live just over the border of Florida), you would have to visit 6 times during the year to make it worth it. However, park hopper tickets get cheaper the more days that you purchase at once. For example, if you took a 5-day trip to Disney World, the 5-day park hopper ticket would cost $700. That means that you would have to take a 5-day vacation to Disney World twice in one year to make it worth it.
Other Considerations...
You may feel like a few 5-day vacations to Disney World are totally doable, and just think, the 3rd vacation would be free! (girl math) However, take the time to factor in the other costs that would be associated with traveling to Disney World multiple times a year. When you live out of the state of Florida, the only expense to visiting Disney World is not just the park ticket (another advantage that Floridians have).
First, there is the flight plus transportation to and from the airport. The airfare is often one of the most expensive parts of a trip. Depending on where in the world you are traveling to Disney World from, you could potentially be paying $600 or more on flights. This quickly eats up the "savings" of having an annual pass.
Second, there is the Resort. If you plan on staying on Disney property, which is really recommended in order to fully utilize the convenience and freedom of the annual pass, be prepared to pay the high sticker prices that Disney charges for their resorts. The cheapest resorts are the value resorts, which average around $125-$180 per night. That is going to be another large cost to consider, if going to Disney World for multiple vacations per year.
Third, there is food and drinks. A 5-day vacation in Disney World requires a lot of spending on food and drinks. If you eat three meals a day, that is 15 meals that you will have to purchase along with snacks, water bottles, slushies, etc. This adds up QUICK. Also, keep in mind that if you are taking multiple vacation a year to Disney, you may not be so casual with your spending and might think twice about the three snacks you are having each day.
Extra Pros and Cons for Annual Passholders
1) Discounts- Passholders get discounts on lots of things across Disney World. They get 10% off at the majority of restaurants, 20% off on the majority of merchandise, and discounts on activities like minigolf and the Behind the Keys tour. This could help cut down on the "extra expenses" I mentioned above.
2) Park Reservations- Passholders still have to make park reservations if going to a park prior to 2pm. As of January 2024, Disney is removing the park reservation system for date-specific ticketed guests. This is something that popped up during Covid and has not been removed until now, much to the chagrin of Disney guests. Starting in January, Disney guests can go to a park in the morning without needing a park reservation. However, annual passholders will still have to make a reservation for any park they'd like to visit prior to 2pm, when park hopping becomes admissible. They will always need a park reservation, no matter the time of day, to attend Magic Kingdom on a Saturday or Sunday.
3) Blackout Dates- There are certain dates blocked out, where passholders are not permitted to use their annual passes on. These are usually peak dates that a lot of guests are expected to visit the parks, such as holiday time periods.
4) Parties & Special Events- Passholders cannot utilize their annual pass to attend after-hour parties or events (ie Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party). However, passholders to get a discount to purchase a separate ticket to these events.
5) Free Parking at the parks.
6) Exclusive merchandise or food that can only be purchased by showing your annual pass.
Real World Example:
The airport near our house offers direct flights to Orlando for an average of $60 each way. For hypothetical sake, let's say that a roundtrip ticket to Orlando costs $120. I will admit that this is a sweet deal, and much lower than a lot of people will pay to fly to and from Disney, so take that into consideration.
This airport offers flights every Saturday and Wednesday. We like to do the Wednesday to Saturday option because it is a nice little getaway to Disney without taking up too many vacation days. That means that for a trip like this, we would need a 3 day park hopper ticket, which would cost $511. We would have to take 3 of these mini trips to just break even with the annual pass cost and the 4th trip would be when we started to see savings.
However, for the 3 trips we would also pay a total of $360 in airfare ($120 per trip), approximately $1,500 on the resort (a value resort at $500 per trip), and $1,350 in food ($450 per trip, calculated at approximately $150 per day). That totals $3,210 in extra expenses beyond just the park tickets.
To me, it is difficult to see that being worth it. The whole draw of the annual pass (at least in my opinion) is having the freedom to come and go from the parks as you please and go as often as you would like. This really seems like more of a benefit for residents of Florida, as they do not have to stay in a Disney resort (depending on where they live in Florida) and do not have to fly in. Non-residents have so many extra costs associated with going to Disney that it makes it hard to see an annual pass as worth it. Additionally, depending on how much vacation time you get from work, you may use up all of your vacation time trying to make the annual pass worth it. You may be left with no time for any trips to other destinations, and no time off for events like weddings or holidays. It depends on your priorities, but it just isn't adding up to me that an annual pass is worth it for guests living outside of Florida.
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