Disney World has a new Annual Pass system, and we’re here to help you decide if becoming a passholder will save you money!

The passes can be expensive, and they might not even be worth it if you won’t use them often enough. So today we’re taking a look at how many times you need to go to Disney World in a year to break even on your Annual Pass. 

Right now, Disney World has suspended the sales of most annual passes. If you are a Florida resident, there is one you can still purchase, but you’ll need to be sure its limitations work for you. Read on, so you will know which pass you want to buy when sales resume!

Disney Incredi-Pass

Let’s start off with the big one! The Disney Incredi-Pass is the most expensive Annual Pass of the four and features the most perks. It’s also the only option if you’re not a Florida resident or DVC member. With the Incredi-Pass, you can use your pass every day of the year with no block-out dates. Each of the other passes has certain block-out dates (which means passholders cannot visit the parks using their Annual Pass on those days), so this is a big benefit.

Remember that Annual Passholders still need to have Park Pass Reservations if they want to enter a park. The reservations are free to make, and Incredi-Pass holders can have up to 5 park reservations at any given time.

Other benefits include free parking and discounts on dining, merchandise, and more in the parks and hotels.

On average, Disney World Park Hopper tickets cost about $108 per day if you buy tickets five days at a time since prices for Disney World tickets decrease when you buy them in bulk. We chose 5 days at a time because Incredi-Pass holders can hold 5 park reservations at a time.

At $108 per day, you would need to visit Disney World for about 12 days each year to make the price of $1,299 break even. So if you’re planning on visiting Disney World for 12 days or more total in a year, this pass would be worth it! The Incredi-Pass is available to anyone, just note that the monthly payment option is only available to Florida residents.

Click here to see the pros and cons of the new Annual Pass system

Disney Sorcerer Pass

The Sorcerer Pass is the second most expensive pass and is available only to DVC members and Florida Residents. It features 5 park reservations at any given time (like the Incredi-Pass), free parking, and discounts on dining, souvenirs, and more.

Unlike the Incredi-Pass, this pass does have block-out dates. All of the block-out dates for the Sorcerer pass are around the holiday season. For 2022, these dates are November 23rd through the 26th and December 17th through the 31st. If you buy this Annual Pass and want to visit during those dates, you would need to buy separate tickets.

With the Sorcerer Pass, you can hold up to 5 park reservations, so we’ll continue to compare ticket prices using Park Hopper tickets bought 5 at a time. Like we mentioned before, Park Hopper tickets average about $108 per day right now if you buy tickets for 5 days at the same time. That would mean you need to visit the parks for about 8 days in a year to make the $899 price tag worth it.

If you think you’ll spend 8 days or more in Disney World in a year and you live in Florida (or are a DVC member), this might be the best pass for you! Other passes are less expensive, but they’ll also have more block-out dates.

Click here to see an in-depth look at the block-out dates for the Annual Pass!

Disney Pirate Pass

The Disney Pirate Pass is the third most expensive pass and is only available to Florida Residents. This pass allows holders to have 4 park reservations at any given time, and it also offers free parking and discounts on dining, merchandise, and more. There are some block-out dates for this pass at peak times and around some holidays.

Note that this pass has quite a few more block-out dates than the Sorcerer Pass has. Where the Sorcerer Pass only had block-out dates around Thanksgiving and Christmas, there are several weekends through the year that are unavailable to Pirate Passholders. These dates include around the holidays, for a few weekends in the summer and fall, and for half of April 2023.

If you want to visit during the block-out dates and you have a Pirate Pass, you’ll have to pay for a separate ticket.

With the Pirate Pass, you can hold up to 4 park reservations, so we’ll be looking at the cost of buying 4 Park Hopper tickets at one time. These tickets cost $127 per day (note that they are more expensive than buying Park Hopper for 5 days at once since Disney reduces the per-day price when you add more days). At this cost, you need to visit for about 5 to 6 days in a year before you break even on the $699 price of the Pirate Pass.

With many weekends still open and most weekdays available, this could be a good option for Florida residents. If you’ll spend a week or more total in Disney World in a year, the Pirate Pass is worth it.

Click here to see how the prices for the new Annual Passes compare to the old ones!

Disney Pixie Dust Pass

The Disney Pixie Dust Pass is the least expensive annual pass of the bunch and is only available to Florida Residents. It is also the only Annual Pass you can buy right now. This pass allows holders to have 3 park reservations at any given time and also offers free parking, and discounts on dining, merchandise, and more!

Here’s the important thing to consider when buying this pass: You cannot use it on weekends. It will get you into the parks Monday through Friday only and has block-out dates during peak times and around holidays. If you’re able to visit the parks during the week, though, it might be worth it since this pass is the cheapest option at just $399 per year (plus tax).

With the Pixie Pass, you can hold up to 3 park reservations, so we’ll look at Park Hopper prices when buying 3 tickets at a time. Park Hopper tickets average about $131 right now if you buy tickets for 3 days. That means you only have to visit Disney World for about 3 days before you break even on the Pixie Pass.

Although the whole no-weekends thing might make it difficult to get your money’s worth with this pass if you work during the week, you only need to visit 3 times in a year in order to make the Pixie Pass worth it.

Click here to see what Annual Pass options you have if you don’t live in Florida!

Why It Might Take Even LESS Time

You can make these passes worth the money even faster if you take advantage of all the perks you can get with the Annual Pass. If you go to the parks often, discounts on things like dining and merch that go as high as 20% should also be part of your calculations.

Plus, there are also exclusive deals for Annual Passholders looking to book a room at a Disney World Resort Hotel that could help make an Annual Pass worth it. Keep in mind that only one member of your party has to be an Annual Passholder for you to get the hotel, dining, and merchandise discounts. So, it may make sense for someone in your party to have a pass, even if you aren’t planning repeat trips.

Another big perk that comes with the Annual Pass is exclusive ride previews! Annual Passholders and Disney Vacation Club members sometimes get to check out new rides BEFORE they open to the public. Passholders have been offered previews of the new Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind coaster at EPCOT! Some Disney guests would consider this perk priceless.

And there are some souvenirs and snacks that are ONLY available to Annual Passholders. You’ll have to show your pass to get access to these exclusive items, which might make the passes more valuable if you love to collect certain items.

You can add extras like water park admission and PhotoPass downloads to your Annual Pass. Keep in mind that those perks will only be worth what you pay for them if you use them, so think about whether you realistically will get your money’s worth before taking the add-ons that will up the price you’re paying for your annual pass. If you don’t plan on visiting Disney World’s water parks, you’ll probably want to skip that addition!

For example, buying prints or digital downloads from PhotoPass costs $18.95 for 2 4×6 photos or 1 5×7 photo. Memory Maker (which gets you unlimited downloads of PhotoPass pictures) costs $69 per day. And the Annual Passholder option to add PhotoPass downloads to your pass costs $99 per year.

So if you would normally buy more than 5 photos or would want Memory Maker for more than 1 day in a year, it would be worth it to add the PhotoPass option to your Annual Pass. Otherwise, you can skip that add-on!

That’s how you can break even with a Disney World Annual Pass! We’re always keeping up with the latest Disney news, so stay tuned for more and check out our guides for more info on how to maximize your Disney trips!

Click here to read about the add-ons for Disney World’s Annual Pass!

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What do you think about Disney World’s Annual Pass system? Let us know in the comments! 

The post When Do You Break Even With Disney World’s Annual Pass? first appeared on the disney food blog.