Would anybody mind checking my annual pass calculations?
 

I’ve sat down today to do some calculations to decide if it’s worth us getting annual passes for next year, wow what a palaver! Wish it was easier to work out.

Anyway, I’ve got three figures now to work with and I wondered if anyone could sense check it for me?

We are 2 adults 1 child (Disney adult next year) and have 14 day ultimates that cost a total of £1174. We’ll go for the Platinum Plus Pass to include the water parks.

I’ve used today’s spot rate (hopefully the rate doesn’t tank too much between now and August or all my calculations will be worthless :cry:)

I read on another forum that they calculate the cost by using the ap rate before tax, deduct the ‘value’ of your ultimate ticket then add tax to the difference to get the price you pay.

The price I’ve come up with using this method and what I actually paid for my tickets gives me a $ upgrade price of $503.63 pp

The next figures I’ve looked at start with the ap including tax as it’s just easier to work out that way (and I’d one that first before reading about the tax situation for these :erm:)

So I have calculated a figure of $538.33 to break even with what I’ve paid for my current tickets and a figure of $596.95 as the most I’d pay before it would cost the same as buying separate ultimates for next summer.

So I figured if they give me a total price below $1791 for 3 annual passes then it’s worth going for it. We’ll also make savings on top of this with merc discounts and some dining discounts. We’ll most likely squeeze in another trip next May if we have passes, because, why not? You can never have too much Disney :grin:

I realise with three trips and discounts that it’s definitely worth getting the passes, but I want an idea of what I’ll need to pay out in August when we’re there.

It’s so hard to find any prices online, most of what I’ve seen is for dvc members so a different ap to the one we’ll get, or is from 21 day ultimates or to the Platinum and not the plus. I’ve yet to find anyone that has done the same upgrade as us documented anywhere.


Wow, this is a long post :omg: hope someone has managed to stay with me and can give some advice :wavey:

Yes, we have calculated the same way as you taking into account what we have paid for our 21 day tickets and are hoping to upgrade in July when we are there. Hope it all goes to plan for you too.

So I tried to work the same out for September but without water parks and came up to about $50 cheaper so that sounds about right.

Your actual upgrade will ultimately be based in what Disney deems to ne the value of your UK tickets as this can vary widely depend in who or where you go to upgrade. When we have upgraded in the past our UK ticket "value" has never been the dollar converted rate of what we paid in £ but more. Its a bit of a black art to be honest. Have a value in your head that you would be happy to pay then every thing will be fine.

Thanks :D This is why I've done it at the price I think my pass is worth now as like a minimum price. Anything more is a bonus. This then has given me the value I'm aiming for but hopefully can get cheaper

I was told by Disney that they would calculate on the wholesale price of my pass & not what I'd paid, even though I bought it Direct! In that instance I was already £50/ticket down on what they said that I might get. Even on that though an AP should still be cheaper than 2 ultimates, especially the way Disney are now randomly increasing ticket prices- I'm hoping that AP prices don't go up before we buy ours in July!
SD:d:

Also if its wholesale price - is that today's wholesale price or when you booked it as there could be a difference. I got mine back in April 2018 so the chance is by September 2019 when I travel there will have been 2 price increases. I dunno if Disney can work that out or not but this could mean wholesale price is better for me in the end.

I am looking at doing the same in August as we are planning another trip at Christmas but I can only see the value in the Platinum plus ( which we would have to buy due to the Christmas blockout dates on the other annual passes ) if we actually have a third visit as I think it sort of breaks even on two trips compared to the UK ticket prices am I being syndical or is there gains to be had on 2 trips 🤪

Why didn't you just buy an annual pass?
Instead of doing loads of calculations and still coming here to ask for advice?
Gambling on the exchange rate and asking how to save money?

So it might be like me where to get free dining you have to have a 14 day ticket but you know you are travelling again within the next year without free dining so upgrading make sense. That's what I'm doing in September.