Annual Pass Question

[fryoj]

Me and my fiancee are going to be in Orlando here in a couple weeks and I was going to buy the 2 day park to park plus one day free deal. We are also going to be going down in November for a day to see Diagon Alley. I accidentally clicked on an annual pass link and realized that I am better off buying passes for the both of us. My question now is which pass to buy. The power pass blackout dates do not appear to affect any of the dates we are going to be there, so that's not an issue. We are staying off site this time, but will probably stay at Cabana Bay in November for one night, but maybe two. I see that the Preferred pass offers 30% discount on on-site hotels, but will that apply to Cabana Bay as well as it is a cheaper hotel? It says that there is a 10% discount at select restaurants. Does that include the Harry Potter restaurants as that is likely where we will be eating? Are there anything about the passes that I may not know that would greatly affect the decision? Right now, I'm thinking that one Power Pass and one Preferred Pass might be the best way to go, but am not sure.

 

[Mad Dog]

Me and my fiancee are going to be in Orlando here in a couple weeks and I was going to buy the 2 day park to park plus one day free deal. We are also going to be going down in November for a day to see Diagon Alley. I accidentally clicked on an annual pass link and realized that I am better off buying passes for the both of us. My question now is which pass to buy. The power pass blackout dates do not appear to affect any of the dates we are going to be there, so that's not an issue. We are staying off site this time, but will probably stay at Cabana Bay in November for one night, but maybe two. I see that the Preferred pass offers 30% discount on on-site hotels, but will that apply to Cabana Bay as well as it is a cheaper hotel? It says that there is a 10% discount at select restaurants. Does that include the Harry Potter restaurants as that is likely where we will be eating? Are there anything about the passes that I may not know that would greatly affect the decision? Right now, I'm thinking that one Power Pass and one Preferred Pass might be the best way to go, but am not sure.

We're also tourists and that's the way we do our AP's also. That way we can take advantage of the discounts. No sense having 2 preferred passes.

 

[Octobers Fade]

We're also tourists and that's the way we do our AP's also. That way we can take advantage of the discounts. No sense having 2 preferred passes.

Yep, get the full pass, with the beni's, and a cheap ticket if it works for you. You only need one for parking and discounts.

 

[Mockingjay]

I also have a question about annual passes. I know when I bought my preferred pass last fall that you get 10% discount on select merchandise. Does anyone know if this also applies to purchases on their online merchandise store as well?

 

[USO92]

If anyone who knows can answer this question with full assurance please respond!

I have been an annual pass holder this year and the it recently expired a few weeks ago. I did not email them wishing to renew or cancel. I was wondering if that meant my pass was on a month to month payment basis, or if it was expired completely? Here is a piece of the email sent to me...


Dear FlexPay Department,

I would like to update the status to the contract above as listed in the options below. I acknowledge that the initial 12 months on the contract have been (or will be) fulfilled and understand that if I choose to become an Annual Passholder on FlexPay again, I will be subject to the down payment and full 12-month term of a new contract.

Status update selections: (Mark one)
I will complete the first 12-month term of my contract and do not wish to renew my pass at the end of this initial 12-month term.

I have completed the first 12-month term of my contract and am currently on a month-to-month basis. I would like to close my account.

Additional information:
Are you cancelling all passes on this contract? (Yes/No)
If you selected no, please provide the names for the passes you wish to cancel below.



Thanks for any help!

 

[jh32488]

the hotel discounts are only certain dates and aren't the same year to year, ill post them at the end of this post. I would insist that at least one of you gets a preferred pass for the free parking.

Personally i have the premier pass for the express after 4, valet, free hhn ticket, 8 water bottles (also i used my AMEX so i get the basically unlimited free ones in the lounge all year), club access (my girlfriend and i love going to rising star, you get guest access Sun–Thurs), 15% food discount, 20% merch discount.

My girlfriend has the Preferred because of no blackout dates we share my other perks (discounts, parking, etc.)

Cabana Bay:
April 25 – May 22, 2014: Rates from $94
May 26 – June 5, 2014: Rates from $94
August 17 – August 31, 2014: Rates from $124
September 1 – October 2, 2014: Rates from $119

Royal Pacific:
April 25 - May 22, 2014: Rates from $169
May 23 – May 25, 2014: Rates from $204
May 26 - June 5, 2014: Rates from $169
June 6 – June 15, 2014: Rates from $204
August 3 – August 16, 2014: Rates from $214
August 17 – August 31, 2014: Rates from $159
September 1 – October 2, 2014: Rates from $154

Hard Rock:
April 25 - May 22, 2014: Rates from $194
May 23 – May 25, 2014: Rates from $229
May 26 – June 5, 2014: Rates from $194
June 6 – June 15, 2014: Rates from $249
August 3 – August 16, 2014: Rates from $259
August 17 – August 31, 2014: Rates from $189
September 1 – October 2, 2014: Rates from $184

Portofino Bay:
April 25 - May 22, 2014: Rates from $194
May 23 – May 25, 2014: Rates from $229
May 26 – June 5, 2014: Rates from $194
June 6 – June 15, 2014: Rates from $209
June 22 – August 2, 2014: Rates from $219
August 3 – August 16, 2014: Rates from $219
August 17 – August 31, 2014: Rates from $194
September 1 – October 2, 2014: Rates from $189

 

[UK-Trigg]

Useful info there JH, thanks for posting.

Out of curiosity is this info available elsewhere or did ou source it yourself? I only ask as I've looked for APH discount dates before and never managed to find the info.

 

[MrRoamer]

Are you including the express after 4 as one of the perks you are able to share. If thats the case how many people can you get in.

The annual passes are the one thing in my opinion universal needs to work on. They aren't really clear enough on discounts and the hotels are rarely much better than resident rates and city walk access should be included.

 

[jh32488]

Useful info there JH, thanks for posting.

Out of curiosity is this info available elsewhere or did ou source it yourself? I only ask as I've looked for APH discount dates before and never managed to find the info.

I got it from the annual passholder page. you need an annual pass to login to that page.

- - - Updated - - -

Are you including the express after 4 as one of the perks you are able to share. If thats the case how many people can you get in.

The annual passes are the one thing in my opinion universal needs to work on. They aren't really clear enough on discounts and the hotels are rarely much better than resident rates and city walk access should be included.

nope express was not part of the etc at the end.

 

[MrRoamer]

Drat that's what I thought. Oh well thanks for confirming.

 

[freediverdude]

Email from the cancellation dept

Yes they sent me this email also, after I asked about it on the phone. What you have to do is decide whether you want to continue having the pass (if so, each monthly payment from now on will be 1/12 of the current pass price, but you're no longer in a contract and can cancel at any time, it's month-to-month), or go ahead and cancel, and you won't be charged any further and the pass will expire. Then once the pass expires you would have to buy a new one if you wanted to get another one again. I know the email they send is confusing. Just email back stating exactly what you want.

A third option is, if you want to renew and are able to pay for the whole purchase price in a lump sum, you can get a significant discount. This option can be done on the website on the passholder page.

 

[Vyrus]

If anyone who knows can answer this question with full assurance please respond!

I have been an annual pass holder this year and the it recently expired a few weeks ago. I did not email them wishing to renew or cancel. I was wondering if that meant my pass was on a month to month payment basis, or if it was expired completely? Here is a piece of the email sent to me...


Dear FlexPay Department,

I would like to update the status to the contract above as listed in the options below. I acknowledge that the initial 12 months on the contract have been (or will be) fulfilled and understand that if I choose to become an Annual Passholder on FlexPay again, I will be subject to the down payment and full 12-month term of a new contract.

Status update selections: (Mark one)
I will complete the first 12-month term of my contract and do not wish to renew my pass at the end of this initial 12-month term.

I have completed the first 12-month term of my contract and am currently on a month-to-month basis. I would like to close my account.

Additional information:
Are you cancelling all passes on this contract? (Yes/No)
If you selected no, please provide the names for the passes you wish to cancel below.



Thanks for any help!

I've had my annual pass with Uni for over 5 years, and I've never called to renew, it just automatically renews for me. The best part of the UNI AP though is that you stay on whatever price you signed up on. So I have the Preferred Pass but with 5 years ago price, and it hasn't changed one bit.

So if you want to stay an AP just let it keep deducting from your account and it won't go anywhere.

 

[MrRoamer]

I've had my annual pass with Uni for over 5 years, and I've never called to renew, it just automatically renews for me. The best part of the UNI AP though is that you stay on whatever price you signed up on. So I have the Preferred Pass but with 5 years ago price, and it hasn't changed one bit.

So if you want to stay an AP just let it keep deducting from your account and it won't go anywhere.

I'm in the same boat, I've had my pass on monthly auto-renew for at least 10 years. Would a full price renewal still be more worth it than just leaving it as is? They just sent a letter saying that it was getting ready to expire.

 

[freediverdude]

To clarify, you get that email if you have a "do not renew" request on your account, which apparently I did (either by mistake or had forgotten about it).

 

[SMatP]

I was wondering, I just picked up my premier annual pass and all of the fine print regarding the express states "One time per attraction." I just wanted to know if that is literal or if it means 1 time for each ride for each day?

 

[jh32488]

I was wondering, I just picked up my premier annual pass and all of the fine print regarding the express states "One time per attraction." I just wanted to know if that is literal or if it means 1 time for each ride for each day?

one time each ride each day after 4 pm

 

[Miketheboss]

Did they just raise all the annual pass prices? Premier pass is now $434.

 

[IAmFloridaBorn]

Did they just raise all the annual pass prices? Premier pass is now $434.

Premier Pass for Florida Residents is $384! and $434 for non FLorida Residents. Been that way for a while.

 

[Miketheboss]

I have another question. With a preferred pass, how much do you end up saving with your hotel stay.

 

[agentj]

It really depends on how long you stay, when you book and changing prices can make a difference. We are staying 8 days in August at Portofino. When I booked,it was over $20 less with my APH discount I checked today and the APH Price is $209 vs $218 without the discount. I booked a couple of months ago and I am paying $218 WITH the discount. Occupancy is less tan expected so they lower the regular price.(since I'm Lowes Platinum I can't rebook because I would not get my suite upgrade-none left.) I also have 5 days booked in AUGUST and as of now its $17.00 less with my discount. As you can see, it really depends on a lot of variables. Sometimes we have saved $30.00 per day with the discount. We still find it a good benefit.