Hi Casey,
How exciting that you have 15 days worth of Walt Disney World fun planned during the next year! Annual passes for your family certainly seem to make sense, especially with the extra benefits just announced for passholders during the
45th anniversary celebration.
Not only would the passes give you unlimited park-hopper admission to all four theme parks for 13 months instead of 12, you would get other benefits as well, including free standard parking, a 20 percent discount at 45 Walt Disney World restaurants, a 10 percent discount at other select restaurants and a 20 percent discount at all Disney owned and operated
merchandise locations. Passholders usually get a 10 to 20 percent discount on special events and tours. And the resort discounts can be as much as 35 percent.
You can find a complete
list of benefits and discounts here.
If you don't think it's cost-effective to buy annual passes for the entire family, you might look at buying one just for yourself to get the benefits -- as long as you are the main person who will be paying. ID is required for discounts and parking.
We've been passholders for 20 years and figure our break-even point is four to five days in the parks. Because we spend as many as 30+ days a year in the parks, the annual pass is well worth it for us.
Thanks for your question. Please let us know if we can help in any other way as you plan your two Walt Disney World vacations this year. Enjoy!
Wilma