Multi step approach to buying power passes...does this work?

Cuchman · Aug 1, 2015

Hi folks,
I'm planning tickets for our upcoming UO trip and am having trouble working out details. First time to the dark side....
I think I want the power passes for my family of five (not traveling on any blackout dates, five possible partial park days planned). If I am reading info correctly from other posters, I think the best way to go is to buy 3 or 4 day park to park tix from undercover tourist and upgrade them to power passes when I get to the resort.
Does that make sense? It's looking like I should get the 3 day p2p passes from UT for $209.39. If universal credits me their full value of $239, I'm coming out the most ahead trading them up for the $255 power passes....at least I think. Can anyone tell me if this will work and how/I should do it?
I'm not trying to "cheat" anything here, but if there is a legitimate opportunity to get more for my dollar, I'm all for it.
Thanks in advance for helping a UO newbie.

damo · Aug 1, 2015

Yes, that is legitimate. Use your tickets at least once and then go to guest services INSIDE the park and get an upgrade to an AP.

macraven · Aug 1, 2015

as long as the darkside is doing the upgrading that way, you are good to go.

don't upgrade at guest services outside the park.

thr33boys · Aug 4, 2015

Cuchman said:
Hi folks,
I'm planning tickets for our upcoming UO trip and am having trouble working out details. First time to the dark side....
I think I want the power passes for my family of five (not traveling on any blackout dates, five possible partial park days planned). If I am reading info correctly from other posters, I think the best way to go is to buy 3 or 4 day park to park tix from undercover tourist and upgrade them to power passes when I get to the resort.
Does that make sense? It's looking like I should get the 3 day p2p passes from UT for $209.39. If universal credits me their full value of $239, I'm coming out the most ahead trading them up for the $255 power passes....at least I think. Can anyone tell me if this will work and how/I should do it?
I'm not trying to "cheat" anything here, but if there is a legitimate opportunity to get more for my dollar, I'm all for it.
Thanks in advance for helping a UO newbie.

I'm very interested in this as well but I have some questions...

Would it be more savings to purchase UT's 3 day for the price of a 2 day and upgrade that ticket once inside the parks or do you think they'd only give you credit for the 2 day ticket?

damo · Aug 4, 2015

thr33boys said:
I'm very interested in this as well but I have some questions...

Would it be more savings to purchase UT's 3 day for the price of a 2 day and upgrade that ticket once inside the parks or do you think they'd only give you credit for the 2 day ticket?

They will give you credit for what your ticket says. So if it is a 3 day ticket, they will credit you for three days.

thr33boys · Aug 4, 2015

damo said:
They will give you credit for what your ticket says. So if it is a 3 day ticket, they will credit you for three days.

Thanks so UT 2 days plus 1 day free ticket, will only count as a 2 day ticket if I try to upgrade it?

johde · Aug 4, 2015

thr33boys said:
I'm very interested in this as well but I have some questions...

Would it be more savings to purchase UT's 3 day for the price of a 2 day and upgrade that ticket once inside the parks or do you think they'd only give you credit for the 2 day ticket?

The 3 day for the price of 2 that had an expiration date only gave credit for 2 days. I don't think Universal is offering those right now. The 2 day + 1 free on their site right now, I think should be credited as a 3 day. If it isn't, you're only out a few cents at most compared to buying the 3 day. The 3 day is $10 + tax more expensive than a 2 day at the gate. And on UT. The 2+1 is $11.17 cheaper than the 3 day. It's probably worth the risk.

Expanding on what Damo said, I purchased what was advertised as a 2 day + 2 free (A ticket Universal doesn't normally offer). When I went to the park and got the ticket what printed out was a 4 day ticket. I got credited with a 4 day ticket when I upgraded. The 2+1 tickets they offered this spring (that had an expiration date) printed out as 2+1 and you got credit for the gate price of a 2+1.

That's a long answer to say it depends, but there's a good chance you'll get credit for 3 but there is a small chance it could be 2.

damo · Aug 4, 2015

thr33boys said:
Thanks so UT 2 days plus 1 day free ticket, will only count as a 2 day ticket if I try to upgrade it?

I suggest you give UT a call to see exactly what type of ticket it is. If it is a 4 day ticket, you'll get credited for the gate price of the 4 day ticket.

melidy · Aug 4, 2015

I have been contemplating upgrading myself.

We have two trips within the year over similar dates. We have already purchased 2 day tickets with our package. This year we are going 29th and 30th of October.

So just to be clear, no matter which day we upgrade our annual pass, it would run out at park closing on the 28th right? I'm pretty sure it would, but I'm a first time annual pass buyer so want to be sure...

Next year we were planning on 25-29 before moving on to Disney (checking in on the 30th). So I'm trying to contemplate what to do on the 29th since we wouldn't have park tickets. Is there any kind of annual pass discount to be had for Wet & Wild tickets or anything like that? Or anything else nearby that we should keep in mind?

Thank you.

crazywig · Aug 4, 2015

melidy said:
So just to be clear, no matter which day we upgrade our annual pass, it would run out at park closing on the 28th right? I'm pretty sure it would, but I'm a first time annual pass buyer so want to be sure...

Yes, it would expire 1 year from the day you first used your original ticket.

elaine amj · Aug 4, 2015

Might be nice to have a minigolf/resort/break day

macraven · Aug 5, 2015

the one year time frame would begin when you first used the tickets.
use the ticket to enter the park, get upgraded to ap.
that is when the ticker starts to begin.
but with 2016 having 29 days in feb, you would get another day added in to your pass.

but that won't help you for the 28 oct....

melidy · Aug 5, 2015

crazywig said:
Yes, it would expire 1 year from the day you first used your original ticket.

macraven said:
the one year time frame would begin when you first used the tickets.
use the ticket to enter the park, get upgraded to ap.
that is when the ticker starts to begin.
but with 2016 having 29 days in feb, you would get another day added in to your pass.

but that won't help you for the 28 oct....

That's just as I thought, thank you for confirming!

ilovefh · Aug 5, 2015

This may be a silly question but do they give your credit for the gate price or the online ticket price?

Also, one more question....is there a limit to how many upgrades you can do? DH and I have had APs for years now but DS is now old enough to need a pass. Could we get him a power pass and then if we decide to go during the Christmas blackout dates upgrade him to a preferred AP?

damo · Aug 5, 2015

ilovefh said:
This may be a silly question but do they give your credit for the gate price or the online ticket price?

Also, one more question....is there a limit to how many upgrades you can do? DH and I have had APs for years now but DS is now old enough to need a pass. Could we get him a power pass and then if we decide to go during the Christmas blackout dates upgrade him to a preferred AP?

Gate price. There is no limit to upgrades. They're happy to take your money!

justindt1 · Aug 10, 2015

Would we be able to upgrade to Express passes instead of getting an AP?

damo · Aug 10, 2015

justindt1 said:
Would we be able to upgrade to Express passes instead of getting an AP?

You can always purchase express passes inside the park. Not sure how you would upgrade to an express pass since an express pass isn't an entry ticket.

johde · Aug 11, 2015

justindt1 said:
Would we be able to upgrade to Express passes instead of getting an AP?

There are a few things you could do.
You could upgrade to the multiday tickets with Express Passes included. For multiple days they are cheaper than buying Express Passes for each day separately. You could then upgrade those tickets to Annual Passes. But, I'm not sure what type of credit you'd get. If it would be for the full purchase price or only the admission portion.

You could also upgrade to the Premier Pass. That would give you Express Passes after 4:00 pm once per ride per day.

Lfsdromero · Sep 2, 2015

What if I use my AP discount to buy a 3 day ticket, can that person still upgrade to an AP and get credit for the full gate price of the ticket? Also does anyone know how much a 3 day ticket costs with the AP discount?

damo · Sep 2, 2015

Lfsdromero said:
What if I use my AP discount to buy a 3 day ticket, can that person still upgrade to an AP and get credit for the full gate price of the ticket? Also does anyone know how much a 3 day ticket costs with the AP discount?

Yes. The AP price for a 3 day ticket is still probably more than the UT price. The AP discount is off gate price, so add $20 onto gate price and then take off the appropriate discount (not sure if you have preferred or power pass). Then add in the tax and see how that price compares to UT.

Multi step approach to buying power passes...does this work?

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