If you’re a Disney fan, you might find yourself at the parks more than once in a year’s span. If that’s the case, you might want to look into purchasing an Annual Pass.
First of all, why would you want an annual pass? The first reason is simple: instead of buying multiple multi-day passes, you can purchase one annual pass per visitor a year and save big money on park admission.
The second is one that many Disney fans have figured out and taken advantage of: with an annual pass, you receive exclusive discounts. These discounts are good toward lodging, food and even merchandise. So, not only will you save needed cash on your admission throughout the year, you can also use your status as an annual passholder to receive discounted fares throughout the park.
Annual Passes come in three flavors: the Premium Annual Pass, the Basic Annual Pass, and the Florida Resident Seasonal Pass. Obviously, the Florida Resident Seasonal Pass is only available to Florida residents and, unlike Disney’s other passes, black out dates do apply.
The Premium Annual Pass and the Basic Annual Pass differ only in the type of admission they offer. The Basic Annual Pass offers annual admission to the four major theme parks within the resort: the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios and Animal Kingdom.
The Premium Annual Pass offers admission to the four major theme parks as well as admission to DisneyQuest, Pleasure Island and Disney’s two water parks, Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach.
Obviously, if you are only interested in the major theme parks, then the Basic Annual Pass is the way to go. However, if your family regularly visits the water parks or DisneyQuest as well, you’ll probably opt for the Premium Pass. And for those wondering, park hopping is enabled with both the Premium and Basic pass.
Annual Passes can be purchased online at waltdisneyworld.com or at guest relations at any of the park gates or your Disney resort.