Disney World Annual Pass Price Increase

Hello, everyone! Today we MUST talk about the Disney World Annual Pass price increase to see if it is still worth it or save money. Let’s get right into it…

For those of you who read my blog, you know that I’m a huge fan of the Annual Pass because it can actually save you money. However, the Disney World Annual Pass price increase just happened. Overnight the cost of the pass jumped over $200 USD! The question remains…. Can the Annual Pass still save you money?

The Rivers of Light show in Disney’s Animal Kingdom is beautiful!

Let’s Do a Little Math (all prices include tax)…

The new cost for the Disney Platinum Annual Pass is $1,191.74 USD. This Pass includes the following perks:

  • Admission to all 4 theme parks without blockout dates
  • Ability to Park Hop (visit all 4 theme parks in 1 day)
  • PhotoPass downloads
  • Up to 20% off dining
  • Up to 20% off select merchandise in store or online at ShopDisney.com
  • Standard theme park parking

The cost for a 10- day ticket (the highest multi-day ticket Disney will sell for a single stay) is $907.05 USD that includes:

  • Ability to Park Hop
  • Flexible dates option (no date restrictions)
  • PhotoPass downloads

On the old pricing system, the 8-day ticket (with Park Hopper, flexible dates, and PhotoPass) was enough to warrant the Annual Pass. However, now you’ll need to plan to visit The World for longer than 8 days every year. For instance, the difference between the 10-day ticket and the Disney Platinum Annual Pass is $284.69 USD. Can the discounts on dining, merchandise, and parking given to Annual Passholders make up, or better yet surpass, the $284.69 USD difference?

Can the Annual Pass Save You Money Now?

My calculations tell me there are a few instances that may still make the more expensive Annual Pass worth it. These are:

Can you visit Mickey Mouse and save money with the Annual Pass?

1. You Plan Vacations Around Exclusive Passholder Resort Discounts

Special discounts on Disney resorts are available to Passholders during certain times of the year (usually the slower seasons). For example, Passholders can receive up to 45% on Deluxe resort stays. My family and I received this discount during our last trip to The World. That’s a huge chunk of change.

Let’s consider a strictly hypothetical situation (this is just an example)

A family of 4 (2 adults and 2 children [ages 10+ yrs]), decides to stay at The BoardWalk Inn from 2/23/20- 3/4/20. The cost for a standard view room during that time is $557.60 USD. Thus,

  • A regular ticket holder would pay $5,567 USD
  • An Annual Passholder would pay $3,057.80 USD (after the 45% discount)

The Annual Pass would save you a whopping $2,509.20 USD on the same exact room! That definitely makes the Pass worth it. Here’s the catch, Disney usually releases the Passholder resort discounts only a few months in advance. These are not guaranteed, so you can’t necessarily count on them. Just keep that in mind!

Disney World Annual Pass Price Increase

2. You Purchase a lot of Official Disney Merchandise

The Annual Pass will give you 20% off official Disney merchandise purchased in store or on ShopDisney.com for an entire year. If you purchase upwards of $1,500 USD in Disney merchandise every year, then with the Pass discount, you can save $300 USD. You would not get that discount if you only had the 10-day ticket. Thus, you’ll save about $15.31 USD having the pass as opposed to the 10-day ticket ($300 USD merchandise discount- $284.69 USD difference to buy the Pass = $15.31 USD).

3. Finally, You Travel to Disney World More Than 10 Days in a Year

The numbers I calculated above are all based on the 10-day ticket. This is the highest multi-day ticket Disney will sell for a visit to The World in a single stay. Thus, if you plan on visiting Disney World more than 10 days, it will be worth it to consider the Annual Pass.

For example, here’s what you’d pay for a ticket (including Park Hopper, flexible dates, and Memory Maker) if you visited Disney World twice for 6 days each time during a single year:

  • Cost for first 6-day ticket: $872.97 USD
  • Cost for second 6-day ticket: $872.97 USD
  • Cost for all 12 days ($872.97 USD x 2) = $1,745.94 USD

Here’s what you’d save if you purchased the Annual Pass instead:

  • Amount saved with Annual Pass ($1,745.94 USD tickets – $1,191.74 USD for Pass) = $554.20 USD

In this case, you would definitely save money by investing in the Annual Pass as opposed to purchasing the multi-day ticket.

Keep This in Mind…

Unfortunately, the increase in Annual Pass prices will not be worth it for a lot of people, especially if you do not plan on visiting The World for 10 or more days in a year. However, remember, only 1 person in your family needs the Annual Pass for you to receive the benefits of the dining, merchandise, and resort stay discounts and complimentary theme park parking. Always do the math to see if the Annual Pass is right for you!

I can’t stress this enough… remember to always do the math to see if Disney discounts are worth it. I hope this information helps you decide if the Annual Pass is right for you!

In case you missed it, be sure to read more about Disney World’s transportation systems!

Until next time… cheers!!

2 thoughts on “Disney World Annual Pass Price Increase”

  1. Thank you for sharing great posts. All info. you share here, is quite helpful. Beautiful blog specially for Disney lovers and helpful for all who love travelling. We can find everything about Disney here. Love this post & blog. 🙂

    Reply

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