Hey, it's you-know-who! Yes, unfortunately, you always need to turn them into Universal dollars. I have no idea why Universal can't use the bar strip on the back of the gift cards like EVERY OTHER gift card does, but they don't. You need to get all of your gift cards turned into Universal dollars. I'm not sure if the hotel restaurants accept the U dollars (I think they might not), so make sure they do before buying enough for those.