UOAP Worth It For One Trip?

[FatalBubbles]

Hi Everyone,

My wife and I (and now daughter) have been going to Universal once a year or every other year for about the last decade. We live in Pennsylvania so I've never considered an annual pass as an option.

However, we are considering taking my parents with us next trip and would be beneficial to skip some lines with them as they are older. Our preferred hotel is SF which obviously doesn't have express pass. I see the seasonal pass is $425 per person and the blackout dates don't apply for when we typically go (October). It appears to have express pass after 4PM and discount on hotels.

It seems like buying an annual pass as our "tickets" and getting express after 4PM and a discount at SF would be a winning option for us. Typically are there for 4-5 days.

Am I missing something here or would this work out like I think it would?

Appreciate any feedback.

 

[Brian G.]

Hi Everyone,

My wife and I (and now daughter) have been going to Universal once a year or every other year for about the last decade. We live in Pennsylvania so I've never considered an annual pass as an option.

However, we are considering taking my parents with us next trip and would be beneficial to skip some lines with them as they are older. Our preferred hotel is SF which obviously doesn't have express pass. I see the seasonal pass is $425 per person and the blackout dates don't apply for when we typically go (October). It appears to have express pass after 4PM and discount on hotels.

It seems like buying an annual pass as our "tickets" and getting express after 4PM and a discount at SF would be a winning option for us. Typically are there for 4-5 days.

Am I missing something here or would this work out like I think it would?

Appreciate any feedback.

I know a lot of out-of-town folk where this math makes a lot of sense for them, too. My only advice, if you choose this path, is to make sure to return before the pass expires next year to maximize the benefit.

 

[MrBlonde]

Hi Everyone,

My wife and I (and now daughter) have been going to Universal once a year or every other year for about the last decade. We live in Pennsylvania so I've never considered an annual pass as an option.

However, we are considering taking my parents with us next trip and would be beneficial to skip some lines with them as they are older. Our preferred hotel is SF which obviously doesn't have express pass. I see the seasonal pass is $425 per person and the blackout dates don't apply for when we typically go (October). It appears to have express pass after 4PM and discount on hotels.

It seems like buying an annual pass as our "tickets" and getting express after 4PM and a discount at SF would be a winning option for us. Typically are there for 4-5 days.

Am I missing something here or would this work out like I think it would?

Appreciate any feedback.

Hey! Northeast here so I feel your pain.

Couple things to consider about APs:
1. If you want the hotel discounts, you only need 1 person to have the AP.
2. If you're looking for Express after 4 PM, each person would need the Premier pass, not the seasonal. That's the most expensive one so that adjusts your make/break points SIGNIFICANTLY.
3. If you want Express for your party, I'd suggest looking at Royal Pacific/Hard Rock/Portofino. Those include express for all guests of the hotel. It might be cheaper to do regular tickets + those hotels vs. Premier passes for express after 4 and SF.
4. I assume you know this but 4 PM in October you're gonna have issues with the studios closing soon for HHN, which makes your idea sub-optimal (in my opinion).

Like @Brian G. said, when I get APs, I make sure I get them and last me 2 trips. Like go late October and buy the AP for that trip, then next year go in September/early October so I have the benefits and one less thing to buy.

 

[FatalBubbles]

Hey! Northeast here so I feel your pain.

Couple things to consider about APs:
1. If you want the hotel discounts, you only need 1 person to have the AP.
2. If you're looking for Express after 4 PM, each person would need the Premier pass, not the seasonal. That's the most expensive one so that adjusts your make/break points SIGNIFICANTLY.
3. If you want Express for your party, I'd suggest looking at Royal Pacific/Hard Rock/Portofino. Those include express for all guests of the hotel. It might be cheaper to do regular tickets + those hotels vs. Premier passes for express after 4 and SF.
4. I assume you know this but 4 PM in October you're gonna have issues with the studios closing soon for HHN, which makes your idea sub-optimal (in my opinion).

Like @Brian G. said, when I get APs, I make sure I get them and last me 2 trips. Like go late October and buy the AP for that trip, then next year go in September/early October so I have the benefits and one less thing to buy.

Thank you for the feedback. I totally missed that ONLY the most expensive AP gets the express after 4PM. With that in mind I will need to redo the math to see if it is still cheaper than doing a premier hotel with regular tickets. We just greatly prefer SF over the premier hotels so I thought I had found a workaround.

I did know Studios closes a little early during HHN, but thanks for bringing that up. I need to wait and see what all happens with the park and APs as well.

 

[Mad Dog]

I've had AP's for 9 of the last 13 years. I live out of state in Pittsburgh. Definitely worth it, even though we pay more than Floridians, if we vacation twice a year. If I was going once a year I'd do a multi day pass with a stay at a Deluxe hotel with Express free. They almost always have a ticket deal, unless its a holiday season. I've done the multi pass deals before I became an AP.

 

[MrBlonde]

Thank you for the feedback. I totally missed that ONLY the most expensive AP gets the express after 4PM. With that in mind I will need to redo the math to see if it is still cheaper than doing a premier hotel with regular tickets. We just greatly prefer SF over the premier hotels so I thought I had found a workaround.

I did know Studios closes a little early during HHN, but thanks for bringing that up. I need to wait and see what all happens with the park and APs as well.

Universal right now has buy 3 days get 2 free tickets, so that would be an opportunity for savings vs buying annual passes. If you don't think your APs will cover multiple trips, I'd just get day passes. You can always upgrade them when you're at the park too.

Studios usually closes around 5 PM on HHN nights, so you'd only get about an hour of the express access, but if you focus on Islands those days, you can make it work around that.

 

[FatalBubbles]

Universal right now has buy 3 days get 2 free tickets, so that would be an opportunity for savings vs buying annual passes. If you don't think your APs will cover multiple trips, I'd just get day passes. You can always upgrade them when you're at the park too.

Studios usually closes around 5 PM on HHN nights, so you'd only get about an hour of the express access, but if you focus on Islands those days, you can make it work around that.

We have always gotten some kind of a deal on tickets like you mentioned. Express pass for one day is a wild cost for the three of us. Looking at at least $500 it seems. So if the math for the AP doesn't work out then sadly we will probably abandon SF for the more expensive hotels.