Hey there, Tara. Thanks for stopping by the Disney Parks Moms Panel with your question. I've been a Walt Disney World Annual Passholder for years now and the benefits keep getting better and better.
As a
Walt Disney World Annual Passholder, some of the
benefits include:
- Complimentary standard parking at Walt Disney World Theme Parks
- Disney PhotoPass downloads
- Dining benefits and discounts
- Merchandise discounts
- Sports and recreation discounts
- Tour discounts
- Event and entertainment ticket discounts
Since I only live about 8 hours away, it's nothing for me to hop in the car and drive down for a long weekend. If I'm doing that last minute, we typically stay off property as the
Walt Disney World Resort Hotels are very popular and can be full. So the complimentary standard parking is a huge perk to me and I'm sure you agree, staying off property yourself. At this time, even if you are an Annual Passholder,
Extra Magic Hours is only a benefit for Guests staying at a Walt Disney World Resort Hotel. You aren't able to take advantage of this if you are staying off property. What we do, instead, is avoid the parks that have Extra Magic Hours and try to arrive early at the park that we choose for the day. I find, if we are there early, we are able to still get in a lot of our favorites with little to no wait time before the parks tend to fill up. I'll then make our
FastPass+ selections for about lunchtime when I feel like the parks tend to be their busiest.
I hope this helps answer your question. If you have any others, please feel free to reach out and ask.