Future Annual Pass Benefits?

[Octobers Fade]

Express entrance would be really nice, we all know the routine just let us in. Another nice one would be express security entrance during HHN.

They have one... well kind of.... get there before they close (stay and scream) and you avoid that BS.

 

[MrRoamer]

That is a perfect idea in theory, unfortunately work has this nasty schedule thing that keeps popping up. I think they would get a little upset if I left at 3 every Friday.

 

[Bobharlem]

Not Universal, but Disney quietly dropped at least two AP discounts this month. The 50% discount for the mini golf went to 15%, and the boat rental discount of 30% also went to 15%. There may be other cuts, but that's all I've heard other.

 

[Brian G.]

Not Universal, but Disney quietly dropped at least two AP discounts this month. The 50% discount for the mini golf went to 15%, and the boat rental discount of 30% also went to 15%. There may be other cuts, but that's all I've heard other.

WHAT?!?!? That was my favorite perk of the AP.

 

[Obi Ubamba]

Plastic AP passes would be insanely nice to have again, these new paper ones are pretty garbage. I've only had my latest reprint for maybe a year and a half and almost every time I go to the park they tell me I can get a replacement for free. The wax one that I had before that lasted for at least 4 years and met the washing machine more than a few times. It is a little faded but in better shape than my new one.

I still have my original red AP from 12 years ago. It is still in decent condition is in better shape than the AP passes that other members of my family own. Maybe one of the loyalty benefits could be the printing of a special, customized plastic AP pass?

 

[gator]

Universal if you're reading this: WE ALL WANT PLASTIC AP CARDS!

Amen! ray:

 

[Macfr3ak]

universal if you're reading this: We all want plastic ap cards!

yes

lets start an AP movement on twitter! LMAO

 

[GAcoaster]

They should offer a plastic card version as an upcharge like SW/BG do.

 

[Macfr3ak]

problem with the upcharge is i feel as if i pay enough to cover 1 cheap plastic card that is certain to last longer than a cheap paper card.. or we can just embrace the future and go virtual taking advantage of NFC and or RFID and or QR codes with a nice mobile app and a great AP section on the app your pass can be in the app with your picture and match your fingerprint at the turnstile.. with iOS Android and even windows phones using these technologies i would love to see Universal start to upgrade their systems for something like this... beats the hell out of having to wear a bulky band :ears:

 

[MrRoamer]

Using NFC/RFID with a phone would be really cool, the big problem I see with it is that I have had my phone die at the theme parks a lot more times than anywhere else. Not sure if it is because of the way the buildings are made or what, but they really do tend to eat batteries pretty quick.

 

[fryoj]

Yeah, thats a valid point. If your phone dies, can't park hop or ride HE. What if you rent a locker in one park and your phone dies in the other. besides that, I LOVE the idea.

 

[jh32488]

Some of these have been mentioned:

Plastic Passes - i ordered 1 day 1 park disney tickets and THOSE were plastic. It's beyond frustrating. Also an up charge for those would be a slap in the face.
Free Hotel Parking - MINIMUM at the universal/non loews hotels/hotels not eligible for YouFirst Rewards. (also don't tell me i get a comp room upgrade when staying on site and forget to mention it excludes hard rock)
Lower the time for free express on premiere passes - after lunchtime would work. but 4pm is way too late. if it was around lunchtime my girlfriend would upgrade her pass. but now its just an unused perk for me because we use single rider.
Late nights for passholders - disney does extra magic hours. universal could do this. Universal closes too early anyways.

 

[figment1986]

RFID could be so simple... just give you magical tracking bands

Id love to have plastic with my photos... Ironic if you had a photo and still have the same AP file that photo is on file. (I saw mine when entering the park last time come up on the screen)

 

[Kevin38]

They should offer a plastic card version as an upcharge like SW/BG do.

Let me choose favorite ride logo as a back or background and i would pay for a hard plastic card.

If labor cost is too high I am sure someone could sell a ATM style machine that would do this.

 

[MrRoamer]

Free Hotel Parking - MINIMUM at the universal/non loews hotels/hotels not eligible for YouFirst Rewards. (also don't tell me i get a comp room upgrade when staying on site and forget to mention it excludes hard rock)

Please!!!! This is the most frustrating thing about staying onsite.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Some of these have been mentioned:

Plastic Passes - i ordered 1 day 1 park disney tickets and THOSE were plastic. It's beyond frustrating. Also an up charge for those would be a slap in the face.
Free Hotel Parking - MINIMUM at the universal/non loews hotels/hotels not eligible for YouFirst Rewards. (also don't tell me i get a comp room upgrade when staying on site and forget to mention it excludes hard rock)
Lower the time for free express on premiere passes - after lunchtime would work. but 4pm is way too late. if it was around lunchtime my girlfriend would upgrade her pass. but now its just an unused perk for me because we use single rider.
Late nights for passholders - disney does extra magic hours. universal could do this. Universal closes too early anyways.

Love these ideas. One or two hours every Thursday or something on the off peak times would get more people out to the parks.

 

[freediverdude]

problem with the upcharge is i feel as if i pay enough to cover 1 cheap plastic card that is certain to last longer than a cheap paper card.. or we can just embrace the future and go virtual taking advantage of NFC and or RFID and or QR codes with a nice mobile app and a great AP section on the app your pass can be in the app with your picture and match your fingerprint at the turnstile.. with iOS Android and even windows phones using these technologies i would love to see Universal start to upgrade their systems for something like this... beats the hell out of having to wear a bulky band :ears:

They could put in charging stations around the parks like Disney is doing (or did they take those out, haven't been over there in a while), but yes the ticket should be an option of having it on your phone app as well, and can you imagine also integrating Apple's Touch ID to verify the fingerprint right on your phone, not even having to touch the turnstile! Yes that would blow away Magicbands, except maybe in a water park environment. But there's always Lifeproof cases for that, hehe.

 

[Journey_On]

problem with the upcharge is i feel as if i pay enough to cover 1 cheap plastic card that is certain to last longer than a cheap paper card.. or we can just embrace the future and go virtual taking advantage of NFC and or RFID and or QR codes with a nice mobile app and a great AP section on the app your pass can be in the app with your picture and match your fingerprint at the turnstile.. with iOS Android and even windows phones using these technologies i would love to see Universal start to upgrade their systems for something like this... beats the hell out of having to wear a bulky band :ears:

The SeaWorld parks have this option with their app. There are still bugs from time to time with the app, but when it works, it is really nice having your pass on the SW app and just having the parking attendant scan it for parking and then placing it under the reader at the turnstiles for entry. If you're a passholder and purchasing food or merchandise, you can have it scanned for your 10% discount as well.

But yeah, some of you brought up a good point about the battery life on your phone. So it's always good to have the printed copy of your pass, just in case. At least if you used your phone for entry, there wouldn't be as much wear and tear on your paper pass.

 

[Macfr3ak]

OK so im not a cell phone company employee engineer but i am in the networking computer industry and believe the reason behind battery drainage is due to cell phones constantly seeking reception when it can't find any. Comcast has done a great job by providing free in park wifi thats blazing fast putting your phone on airplane mode and turning the wifi on fixes my problem with battery drainage HOW EVER this is not ideal. so, perhaps inserting mini cell towers in their parks are the solution it can be powered by their current Wifi offerings and would almost definitely solve the battery draining phone issues. NOW i also want to add that the cell phone option for a pass is an OPTION and not mandatory.. and would be ideal for entry which is when our passes are most needed as for premier pass holder fast pass after 4 and multi park on same day access there are options for that and a boat load of technologies we've mentioned on the thread that can be implemented in different ways.

As for embracing Apple technologies such as touch ID and such i'm not sure i don't think comcast gets along too well with Apple specially having Disney's Bob iger on their board of directors and Apple Disney relationships have always been very very close.. but hey business is business and customers should always come first so if something that benefits us the customer is available comcast shouldn't turn the option away.

 

[Obi Ubamba]

I've heard from some people that they were doing early entry for AP holders earlier in the year. Are they still doing this for the summer?