Should You Buy a Disney World Annual Pass? (2025)
If you visit Disney World frequently, you’ve probably asked yourself at some point: should I buy an annual pass?
While some situations may be a no-brainer, such as locals who want the flexibility to visit frequently, out-of-state visitors should consider a few things before purchasing an annual pass.
Types Of Disney World Annual Passes
There are four different levels to the Disney World Annual Pass. Let’s consider what they have in common and what sets them apart (besides price).
Benefits
Disney World offers four levels of annual passes, which have similar perks. Additional options, such as photo passes and water park access, can be added to any pass for an extra fee.
Included in any annual pass:
Free parking
Discounts on dining (most sit-down Disney restaurants)
Discounts on merchandise
Freebies like magnets and special experiences
These are the benefits we enjoy the most often, though you can find an exhaustive list on their website. The main differences between the levels are the blackout dates.
Blackout dates
Current blackout dates can be found on Disney’s website. But here’s a recap.
The most expensive option: The Incredi Pass has no blackout dates, including Christmas Day.
The Sorcerer Pass has 16 days blocked out, all around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Cash and I have had this pass and the blackout dates didn’t bother us a bit. We didn’t care to visit those days anyways because crowds are very heavy during that time. I was pleased that I was still able to attend around other holidays, like the 4th of July, when they do a special fireworks celebration.
The Pirate Pass has 62 blackout days, around most major holidays.
The Pixie Dust Pass is incredibly affordable, though it's valid only on weekdays and typically blacks out most major holidays. This pass has been absolutely perfect for us in our current stage of life! Since Cash isn't a fan of crowds and is homeschooled, and I have unlimited vacation days, it truly fits our lifestyle. We love keeping our weekends open for friends, but I really enjoy being able to take a spontaneous weekday off to meet out-of-town friends, catch the fireworks, or just pop down for a few rides in the evening.WHERE YOU LIVE MATTERS
Not every pass is available to everyone. You have to be a Florida resident or an elligible DVC (Disney Vacation Club) member to purchase anything except the Incredi Pass. The Sorcerer Pass is available to eligible DVC or Florida residents, while the Pirate and Pixie Dust passes are for Florida residents only.
Another huge benefit to living locally is that Disney offers monthly payment plans through their Florida Resident Payment Program. You’ll make an initial down payment of $205 per pass; then you can pay the rest off month to month. You don’t have to make a new down payment when you renew, and they give you a discount. Your monthly payment may go up or down depending on your plan, but not by much.
After How Many Visits Will the Pass Pay For Itself?
Then numbers here get really tricky, which is why you’ll rarely see a direct answer to this question. I pulled some estimates and input the data in the chart below for easy reference. These numbers are loosely based on the lowest ticket prices, starting at $109/day. Of course, sometimes that number goes down when you book packages of multiple days in a row- but it goes way higher than that when you go one or two days at a time, like most locals do. For simplicity’s sake, this works well as a rule of thumb. You should also factor in things like merchandise, food discounts, and parking.
Take Your Schedule Into Account
The other consideration you need to make is based on your schedule. If you’re a Florida resident with kids in school and you work a M-F job, you should only consider getting the Pixie Dust Pass if you have a flexible work schedule or are okay with visiting mainly in the evenings.
Pro tip: You can add the water park option for $99/person to any pass, which doesn’t have blackout dates, no matter your pass. So you could get the Pixie Dust Pass with Water Park and Sports Option at $469+99/person and take your kids to the parks through most of the summer and to the water parks on weekends throughout the year for a great price.
Add-On Options
There are two add-on options that you can add to any annual pass: PhotoPass Downloads and the Water Park and Sports options. We have both.
PhotoPass Downloads
The Photo pass is $99/year, and you only need to add it to one pass. Disney offers ride photos for free when you purchase Lightning Lanes, which was previously a pretty big perk of buying the PhotoPass. I still think this add-on is worth it for the Disney photographer photos. I love having the ability to get professional pictures of BOTH Cash and me at the parks- I know I’ll treasure them forever. The other benefit is that they are very loose with sharing this feature, so I can also download photos for all my friends when they come to visit.
Water Park and Sports
I wish I had gotten this add-on sooner. It’s $99/per person per year, and each member of your family needs it. However, it grants you year-round access with no blackout dates, no matter your pass level, to Disney’s two water parks- Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach. It also includes one free miniature golf game per day to their four courses after 4 (and offers significant discounts for friends). There is also a more vague ESPN Wide World of Sports admission benefit, but I haven’t figured out exactly how that works, as it excludes many big-ticket events. You even get to golf for free on their 9-hole Oak Trail golf course, or use it to play foot golf, a benefit I used for Cash’s birthday party one year. This small add-on offers a lot of benefits!
Ultimately, many factors could come into play, but annual passes are worth a look if you are a Florida resident (or DVC member). If you live out of state and love to visit often, the Incredi Pass could save you money and offer extra perks.
How the Numbers Play Out For Us
In 2024, we had the Sorcerer pass with the Water Park and Sports option. I had the Photopass added to my pass only. The total for all of that if we bought it today would be $2455. We made 25 trips to the parks, so we spent an average of $49/per person, per day for everything. We got 20% off many of our meals and merchandise, and were able to play free mini golf and visit the water parks. I definitely saved money, while getting lots of extra perks- parking alone would have been $750 without our passes.
If you’ve enjoyed this post and are planning a Disney World vacation, I’d be thrilled to help you book your trip. If you prefer to handle the planning yourself, be sure to download my "Essential Guide to Disney World" to make sure you catch everything!
This post has been updated (July 2025) since it’s original publish date.