Ticket/AP questions

[timestwo]

Hey UO experts!
It’s been awhile since I’ve been to UO. I remember that once upon a time, you could buy tickets through a third party vendor and/or discounted tickets directly through UO and get the full value counted toward annual passes. I gather that isn’t the case anymore.

My question is if upgrading on your last day still works if tickets are bought through UO and if the AP start date is still the day you upgrade. In other words, if I pay $400.99 for the full price 3-park, 5 day ticket to start on April 1, I can upgrade on April 5, receiving the credit of the ticket toward to AP, with the AP valid through April 5 of next year (blackout dates excluded since the dates above are just an example).

Bonus question: there are two adults and two tweens. Does it matter if all the tickets are bought and linked to one parent’s account or are they bought separately so that the tweens use their own phone for admission? I assume it’s all done electronically these days, and I don’t know if they will be using their own device or if I use it for everyone. The last time we were there the kids were so young that these sort of logistics weren’t even an option since they didn’t have devices!

Bonus bonus question: one parent and one tween may skip a park day and therefore their tickets may be valid one day longer than the other. In other words, in the example above, persons 3 and 4 may skip a park day on April 3 and so their 5-day ticket would still be valid on April 6. If all the tickets are bought together, can persons 1 and 2 upgrade to AP on April 5 and persons 3 and 4 upgrade on April 6? Is there a way to control for that in one account?

Overall, my goal here is to extend the APs by a few days longer than 1 year, if possible. Thanks!

 

[CAPSLOCK]

The AP expiration date will be based upon the first day you used your ticket. However, Universal APs are good 366 days, so maybe that helps you out? You can upgrade on different days but they'd all have expiration dates based upon your first ticket use anyways, so no real point to that.

You can still get the full value of 3rd party tickets credited towards an AP. The exception is with promo tickets (Universal promos, like Buy 2 days get 3 days free) - if it's a Universal promo, the credit would be Universal's price for your ticket. So, say you bought the Buy 2 days get 3 free from Undercover Tourist for $20 cheaper instead of direct from Universal - your tickets would be worth the full Universal promo price, but not the value of the extra days that were included free. But any valid (not expired) ticket bought through Universal or an authorized reseller can still be upgraded to an AP, and is worth its equivalent Universal value towards that upgrade.

Note if you go to Volcano Bay, you will need to upgrade to the 3 park pass.

Note also, if you're planning on 2 trips for 4 people for several days - you may want to look at upgrading one pass to the Preferred for the discounts - this is especially true if you will utilize the free parking benefit at City Walk.

 

[BostonEd]

So, say you bought the Buy 2 days get 3 free from Undercover Tourist for $20 cheaper instead of direct from Universal - your tickets would be worth the full Universal promo price, but not the value of the extra days that were included free. But any valid (not expired) ticket bought through Universal or an authorized reseller can still be upgraded to an AP, and is worth its equivalent Universal value towards that upgrade.

So, let me throw some hypothetical numbers, and see if I understand:
Price from UT: $380
Price from Uni: $400
Price from Uni for a full non-promo 5day ticket: $500

So, if you were to upgrade the promo ticket, you would get $400 towards the AP cost, correct? It doesn't matter what the 5 day promo ticket is "worth", you paid for 2 days. But you're getting the 2 day Uni value, not the amount you paid UT, right?

 

[BostonEd]

I've got a curve ball I'd like to throw at you. Grab some coffee, this will take a while:

I've booked an AP rate at a Uni hotel. I was probably going to buy three promo tickets for the rest of the family, and buy an AP for myself.

Here's the complication: our trip starts the day before the two cheaper APs can be used. However, we can use the 2/3 day promo tickets on that first day. Could I buy the 2/3 day promo ticket, use it on my first day, then upgrade to the cheapest AP after that, when it is not blacked out?

I will say, even if I need to buy the Preferred pass, I will still come out way ahead with the hotel discount. And so, the transaction I'm describing above is probably simply not worth the effort. But I'm curious.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

So, let me throw some hypothetical numbers, and see if I understand:
Price from UT: $380
Price from Uni: $400
Price from Uni for a full non-promo 5day ticket: $500

So, if you were to upgrade the promo ticket, you would get $400 towards the AP cost, correct? It doesn't matter what the 5 day promo ticket is "worth", you paid for 2 days. But you're getting the 2 day Uni value, not the amount you paid UT, right?

You got it!

 

[CAPSLOCK]

It is my understanding that Universal (and Disney, for that matter) has corrected their system to disallow upgrading to an AP that would have been blocked out on days the ticket was used. But I have no direct experience with that.

Of course, with the Preferred you get lots of discounts to make up for the upgrade somewhat.

 

[LadybugsMum]

Random AP question: is express pass included in APs? or is that an add on?

 

[wdwrule]

Random AP question: is express pass included in APs? or is that an add on?

Express pass, specifically the limited EP, is only included with the premiere tier of AP and it is only available from 4:00 until park closing daily but is still a wonderful perk.

 

[KyGirl]

My husband and daughter and I are going at the end of April. I booked with AP rates- two nights at Cabana Bay and two at Portofino Bay. I bought the pay-for-three-days-get-five-days tickets from Undercover Tourist, even though we will probably only spend four days in the park.

Last time we went to Universal, right before Covid, I upgraded to APs from 4 day tickets and they gave me money back. I have never understood how that happened. Anyway, I was planning to upgrade when we go the first day but not because I’m expecting to come back this year. I’m only doing it for the hotel discounts. We spend most of our vacations camping and/or using our Dollywood APs so this is a once every few years sort of trip for us. From what I’m reading I wouldn’t get money back this time!

So to finally get to my question, should I only upgrade one of the tickets to an AP? Will that be all we need for the room rate? It seems weird for us to be there on different types of tickets but I guess it doesn’t matter. Am I missing something here?

Thanks for your help!

 

[CAPSLOCK]

If you aren't coming back, yes just upgrade one ticket to the cheapest AP that isn't blocked out on your dates. No reason to spend any extra.