Can Costco 3-day Universal Studios Tickets be upgraded?

[madelyn]

Saw these tickets this past week at our North Austin Costco. Approx $145 for a 3-day park to park ticket. Originally thought that we would get annual passes for our family of 5. 1 of the annual passes that allows merchandise and hotel discounts and free parking and 4 of the cheapest annual passes. We were wondering if we could buy the Costco tickets now and get a major part of the ticket expense out of the way (also not sure if we will get a percentage rebated back on our Costco AMEX card) and then upgrade them once we get to the park. The last time I checked, they allow you to break up the FL resident annual passes into payments if purchased on-line but non FL resident cannot break the cost of the cheapest annual pass into payments.

 

[phamton]

Yes, they can be upgraded to an annual pass. The cheapest annual pass does not have free parking though. You can upgrade to the Preferred AP or the Premier AP if you want free parking and discounts on food and merchandise. You can not upgrade it to a pass that requires monthly payments though. You can only use the upgrade to purchase the pass in full, not on a payment plan.

 

[macraven]

not sure i can answer your question.

but, if you pay $145 for a UO pass, you can upgrade the pass to the preferred annual pass at guest services at the parks.

you would get the $145 credit towards the AP upgrade.

 

[madelyn]

Thanks for the quick answers. The plan is to upgrade one pass to a preferred AP and the rest to power APs. Looks like the on-line preferred AP price w/ tax is $279 w/ tax and the power AP is $205 w/ tax. So the upgrade price at the parks will be the difference between what was paid for the Costco ticket and the annual pass price so approx $134 for the preferred AP and approx $60 for each power AP? And can the upgrade be done on any day or does it have to be done on the first day? Although it would make sense to upgrade to the preferred AP ASAP to get free parking and discounts.

Yes, they can be upgraded to an annual pass. The cheapest annual pass does not have free parking though. You can upgrade to the Preferred AP or the Premier AP if you want free parking and discounts on food and merchandise. You can not upgrade it to a pass that requires monthly payments though. You can only use the upgrade to purchase the pass in full, not on a payment plan.

 

[macraven]

yes, you pay the difference of what you originally paid to the current ap price.

if you are going to upgrade to a preferred pass, do it early so you can benefit w/ the perks that come with it.

10% discount off of food and merch in the parks, carts excluded.


you will have to pay for parking the first time you go.
once your ap is activated, free parking in the lot after that.

 

[OrlandoInformer]

Yes, they can be upgraded to an annual pass.

Just wondering how you know this for certain?

 

[damo]

Just wondering how you know this for certain?

Phamton is a TM dealing with situations like these.

 

[macraven]

Phamton knows everything...........................

 

[macraven]

there are quite a few TM's that post information on these boards.

they don't always announce that they are, but many of the regular posters know who they are.

 

[damo]

If someone on this board gets incorrect advice and it ends up costing them hundreds of dollars then it is their own fault. What is said on a message board should never be used a concrete proof of anything. This is not the Universal Orlando Customer Service board and should never be used as such no matter who is handing out the information. Everyone here is just giving their own unpaid advice - none of which is endorsed by Universal.

 

[damo]

Madelyn, the free advice that you've received is given to the best of our knowledge. It is given in good faith with good intention but please be advised that there is always the possibility that it is incorrect. To be absolutely certain, you should contact Universal guest services.

I honestly don't think we need to put this disclaimer at the bottom of each post. This is, after all, a free trip planning advice board. Nobody here is collecting any money for their services. We all do it because we like to and because someone helped us in the past.

 

[macraven]

Madelyn, the free advice that you've received is given to the best of our knowledge. It is given in good faith with good intention but please be advised that there is always the possibility that it is incorrect. To be absolutely certain, you should contact Universal guest services.

I honestly don't think we need to put this disclaimer at the bottom of each post. This is, after all, a free trip planning advice board. Nobody here is collecting any money for their services. We all do it because we like to and because someone helped us in the past.

so true damo.

many of us answer questions on the boards based on our personal experiences when we were in the same situation.

any newbie to the darkside can call UO and talk with guest services over specific needed info.
some do that, and some go to message boards.

if any advice posted is so far out or incorrect, mods usually post to clarify it.

the information that is shared here is basic stuff.

 

[Metro West]

There is no need to have to clarify where someone works. As Damo and Raven stated, this is a free board and those of us who are regular posters try to give the best advice we can and to the best of our knowledge.

This thread is closed.