After 2+ weeks in fancy Palm Beach, we are back in the Orlando area at our favorite Margaritaville Resort. It’s the 5th year in a row we’ve snowbirded in Orlando for the month of February.

This year, we’ve decided to try something new. We’ve always liked the theme parks here and we’ve now invested in a Disney Annual pass.

Normally, we pay as we go, just buying day passes as we need them. On the surface, it probably seems like that makes more sense than buying a full year’s pass when we are only here for 5 weeks.

Here’s what we’re thinking …

Financially, the payout for the non-resident annual pass is reached at about 8 visits. Most years we go to the parks about 6x when we are down here snowbirding, so I think we are in the ballpark.

Additionally, some years we’ve come back to Orlando other times of year – like Christmastime – and spent a few days at the parks. Z visit of two like that would definitely put us into the black.

Beyond the dollars-and-cents, another consideration for us was the ease of being able to zip in and out of a park as we wish. Without feeling like we have to squeeze activity into every minute of the day, when we are there. Now we can casually go in, see an attraction, have dinner, watch a show, and simply exit.

When we are here, we stay just 4 miles from the Disney Main Gate and could even conceivably just go for an afternoon walk around the World Showcase at EPCOT. Easy come, easy go. I think that would be fantastic.

The longer view is we are still looking at properties in the area and our stays in Florida will likely become much longer in the future. With a Florida address, the payout for a pass is just 5.5 days. That’s an easy decision at that point.

What would you buy an annual pass or season tickets to? A sports team? A concert series? A country club membership?

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