Hi Lauren! Like you, I'm always looking for ways to save money on my Disney vacations. I have both an Annual Pass and a Disney Rewards Visa, and both of them have helped me stretch my Disney vacation dollars. The main perk of the Disney Visa is that your purchases earn rewards dollars that you can then apply toward your Disney vacation expenses or at places like the Disney Store. (Click
here to see another question in which I discuss maximizing your Disney reward dollars.) The Disney Visa does also offer some discounts on resorts and packages, but usually the public has access to the same Special Offers a few days after the Visa cardholders. Cardholders also receive discounts on tours and some merchandise purchases. A full list of the
cardholder perks in the Disney parks is on the Visa website.
In my opinion, the Annual Pass offers more substantial discounts than the Visa. Passholders often receive discounted resort rates that are better than those offered to Visa cardholders and the public. Passholders also receive discounts at certain shops and restaurants and on some tours and merchandise. My favorite Annual Pass perk is the ability to purchase the Tables in Wonderland card, which gives me a 20 percent discount at lots of restaurants. Compare the
list of Passholder discounts to the cardholder perk list to see which one will save you the most. If I had to choose, I'd pick the Annual Pass. However, if you're not visiting the parks often enough to justify the cost of the Annual Pass, the Disney Visa offers some nice savings too. Since it's usually available with no annual fee, it makes sense to me to have the Visa too so I can use my everyday purchases to earn reward dollars to offset the costs of my Disney vacations.