Tickets question

[jimim]

Hey guys. Might try universal in November.

Question. Trying to load tickets to see price. I got a 5 day both parks per day pass.

The express pass. You add it per day? Not for all 5 days? Is it worth it overall. Just wondering. I’m thinking u have to add it per day when u pull up the prices. If so gets exspensive pretty quick I’m thinking.

So certain rides aren’t included. I know that already.

Thanks so much. If staying on property are thier perks there? We will prob just use our dvc reservation we have already but was wondering that also.

 

[JenBush]

Unless you are going thanksgiving week, with 5 days at universal you probably won’t need express pass to ride everything. If you stay on property at universal they have early entry like at WDW. If you stay one night at a premier universal hotel you get two days of express pass which is usually a great deal and saves you money over buying express pass separately.

 

[jimim]

Ok cool. Yes thanksgiving week. We were only going universal. Ok so I’ll do 5 day. Can u add express say a week before or day before as an add on. Man if u got that pass for say 5 days that can get pretty crazy. Lol

I’ll use my dvc reservation. Thanks for info about hotel for 1 night. That’s very good to know.

 

[jimim]

I might just buy season passes. The one that is 2nd from top. Give me free self parking. 1 hr early assess for thanksgiving week minus the weekend. No bid deal. I got no black out dates. And express pad use after 4. We are night park people at Disney anyway. We are an in early out early back in late but now that will prob have to change with driving to and from park from akl over at Disney.

 

[truetink]

My apologies for tagging on to this thread with another question. We usually do one preferred pass and other seasonal ones for my family but we would all need 3 park preferred annual passes this year because of the timing of our travel. With the price increases, the blackouts during our travel, and the lack of AP hotel discounts - I was wondering if it is possible to just buy 3 park 5 day park-to-park tickets and if somehow an AP hotel discount does appear, we can upgrade one of them to premier annual pass once we get to Universal. I'm trying to avoid upgrading if there are no other benefits (don't need the parking and would have to spend over a $1000 to make the 10% discount valid). If that is possible, is it only possible in person or can that be done online or over the phone?

 

[jimim]

My apologies for tagging on to this thread with another question. We usually do one preferred pass and other seasonal ones for my family but we would all need 3 park preferred annual passes this year because of the timing of our travel. With the price increases, the blackouts during our travel, and the lack of AP hotel discounts - I was wondering if it is possible to just buy 3 park 5 day park-to-park tickets and if somehow an AP hotel discount does appear, we can upgrade one of them to premier annual pass once we get to Universal. I'm trying to avoid upgrading if there are no other benefits (don't need the parking and would have to spend over a $1000 to make the 10% discount valid). If that is possible, is it only possible in person or can that be done online or over the phone?

I thought preferred pass has no black out dates? Only certain days u can’t do the 1 hr early entrance to the parks?

 

[truetink]

I thought preferred pass has no black out dates? Only certain days u can’t do the 1 hr early entrance to the parks?

It doesn’t (other than Volcano Bay). That’s why I’d have to buy all preferred this year instead of one preferred and the rest seasonal (because of seasonal’s block out dates). Sorry for any confusion.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

And express pad use after 4.

After 4pm Express is only with the top tier annual pass.

The free parking on the top 2 AP tiers is a wonderful benefit if you're parking in the garages. Overall the APs are a good deal.

 

[jimim]

It doesn’t (other than Volcano Bay). That’s why I’d have to buy all preferred this year instead of one preferred and the rest seasonal (because of seasonal’s block out dates). Sorry for any confusion.

No problem. I’m universal challenged. Lol. This is our first trip ever other than Disney. I’m trying to get it all straight.

 

[jimim]

After 4pm Express is only with the top tier annual pass.

The free parking on the top 2 AP tiers is a wonderful benefit if you're parking in the garages. Overall the APs are a good deal.

Yah I miss read. I really think we are going to get the 1 tier down. A 5 day pass is about 800 less than the 4 season passes. So figure 200 in parking for the week. The rest we will prob make up in food discounts over 7-8 days down there. I might not even go to Disney springs to some of our typical places. I’ll keep my money at universal to get our money worth if we get passes. I said let’s try a day or 2 without express pass and if we find it’s hard we will buy the express pass while down there for a day or 2 if needed. Does my thinking sound reasonable. For real cause I literally just started reading this morning.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

The only thing to think about is the likelihood of the EP prices increasing (drastically) as your dates approach. If you are okay using single rider lines, that will give you lots more ride time with minimal lines. With 5 days, I personally would not spend the money to buy EPs - but we use single rider lines a lot.

You can also keep an eye on AP rates at the premier hotels - can be a cheaper way for EPs for 2 days especially if there are 3+ in your party.

You can also sneak in another trip on the same AP next year!

 

[jimim]

The only thing to think about is the likelihood of the EP prices increasing (drastically) as your dates approach. If you are okay using single rider lines, that will give you lots more ride time with minimal lines. With 5 days, I personally would not spend the money to buy EPs - but we use single rider lines a lot.

You can also keep an eye on AP rates at the premier hotels - can be a cheaper way for EPs for 2 days especially if there are 3+ in your party.

You can also sneak in another trip on the same AP next year!

We can sneak in an extra trip for sure. I got a lot of dvc points not currently being used. Only reason we are looking into this is cause I gave up my season passes during Covid and well I can’t get em back right now. Figure kids are getting older and like coasters so I guess now is better than later. I think 5 days to cover what we want is doable. I got to learn more about the rides and what ride wait times are like and when to hit what ride.