Current best deal on buying tickets, then upgrading to APs?

[KalamityJane]

We will be at the parks mid November for 8 days but back again in the next year so I'm considering doing annual passes.

There's 5 of us though What's the best way to save money and ending up with annual passes? I don't mind going through hoops if it will save me a good amount (because even $20 savings per ticket saves me $100 total!)

I'd probably want to upgrade to the 3 park seasonal passes, we never go during blockout dates, and are out of state but my kids LOVE water parks.

 

[macraven]

if you are doing 8 park days this year, and plan to return within 12 months, go with the ap.
compare the types of ap and if you want to only do a higher end one for one adult then do lowest level ap for the other 4.

play around with the numbers to see what works best for you with the dates this year and dates you would go next year.


look at some of the present and recent threads for ways other peeps decided which ap to buy

 

[damo]

Undercover Tourist seems to be the way to go right now. However, they have said that their recent buy 2 get 2 deal that expires in May is not upgradable.

 

[mjhtvchick]

I have been looking around at ticket prices and I have found the best deals on Undercover Tourist using the Mousesavers newsletter rate - you could buy a 3 or 4 day ticket through them and then upgrade onsite. Ut as Damo said - read the fine print, not all tickets are upgradeable.

 

[Lisa0620]

We're going with family in November and they purchased the Undercover Tourist buy 2 days get 1 day free 2 park tickets through the Mousesavers link for $254/ticket with an eye to upgrade to 2 park seasonal AP's. (If you're an ebates member don't forget to go through them to buy at UCT for up to 1% cash back.) From what I've read on here we're expecting the upgrade to 2 park seasonal pass to be $10.65 per ticket. Adding 3rd park to seasonal AP would be $99 + 6.5% tax. So total cost would be $254 + $10.65 + $105.54 = $370.19 per adult ticket. A 3 park seasonal pass through Universal is $383.99 + tax = $408.95. So your savings per adult ticket would be $38.76, or $193.80 total for 5. I would ask when upgrading what it would be to go from the 2 park Undercover Tourist ticket to 3 park seasonal AP and make sure it's less than or equal to $116.19 per ticket, otherwise upgrade to seasonal pass in one step and do 3rd park add on to AP separately. (It sounds like it's pretty variable depending on who you happen to get at guest services so you have to make sure you know what numbers to expect going in.) I'm not sure that this is the best deal out there and the $10.65 upgrade amount is just an educated guess at this point, but it at least gives you a starting point. Good luck!

 

[KalamityJane]

We're going with family in November and they purchased the Undercover Tourist buy 2 days get 1 day free 2 park tickets through the Mousesavers link for $254/ticket with an eye to upgrade to 2 park seasonal AP's. (If you're an ebates member don't forget to go through them to buy at UCT for up to 1% cash back.) From what I've read on here we're expecting the upgrade to 2 park seasonal pass to be $10.65 per ticket. Adding 3rd park to seasonal AP would be $99 + 6.5% tax. So total cost would be $254 + $10.65 + $105.54 = $370.19 per adult ticket. A 3 park seasonal pass through Universal is $383.99 + tax = $408.95. So your savings per adult ticket would be $38.76, or $193.80 total for 5. I would ask when upgrading what it would be to go from the 2 park Undercover Tourist ticket to 3 park seasonal AP and make sure it's less than or equal to $116.19 per ticket, otherwise upgrade to seasonal pass in one step and do 3rd park add on to AP separately. (It sounds like it's pretty variable depending on who you happen to get at guest services so you have to make sure you know what numbers to expect going in.) I'm not sure that this is the best deal out there and the $10.65 upgrade amount is just an educated guess at this point, but it at least gives you a starting point. Good luck!

Thanks!! Also epic thanks for the math I love math and I'm so glad you wrote it all out! I will look into this for sure.

 

[KalamityJane]

Undercover Tourist seems to be the way to go right now. However, they have said that their recent buy 2 get 2 deal that expires in May is not upgradable.

Interesting - this is the ticket details on the buy 2 get 2 - and it has upgrades allowed. I'll call up UCT and see for sure. They need to take that part off the website if they are not upgradeable.
https://www.undercovertourist.com/o...-day-park-to-park-plus-extra-day-free-ticket/

 

[damo]

Interesting - this is the ticket details on the buy 2 get 2 - and it has upgrades allowed. I'll call up UCT and see for sure. They need to take that part off the website if they are not upgradeable.
https://www.undercovertourist.com/o...-park-to-park-plus-2-extra-days-promo-ticket/

Your link doesn't take me to undercovertourist.com

The promo ticket I am talking about that they said was not upgradable ..... I'm just reporting what someone else said, so you are smart to call and ask.

Ticket Details
Admission to one of the following theme parks for each day of the ticket - 4 Days (1 Theme Park per day; no Park-to-Park access):

• Universal Studios FloridaTM
• Universal's Islands of AdventureTM
• Universal's Volcano BayTM

Ticket is valid for any four (4) calendar days during a seven (7) consecutive calendar day period, which includes the first day the ticket is activated.
The 7 days are activated on the first day the ticket is used either at a Universal CityWalkTM venue, Universal Studios FloridaTM, Universal's Islands of AdventureTM or Universal's Volcano BayTM. The days do not have to be used consecutively.

This ticket also includes seven (7) consecutive calendar days of admission to select live entertainment venues of Universal CityWalkTM, which commences and includes the first day any portion of the ticket is used. At participating Universal CityWalkTM venues that require a party pass, you will provide your ticket to be scanned for entry.
Redemption
Real Tickets - Go straight to the gate and onto the rides. No will call exchange necessary… it's ok to smile. The Frog Family likes to get hoppin'!

E-Tickets - Please print your E-Tickets and take them with you! Otherwisethe Front Gate will tell you to stand in line at Guest Services! You must present a valid photo ID or credit card matching the lead guest name for identity verification at the gate.

Availability
Daily.

Refund Policy
365-day return policy - 95% of the item(s) order amount will be refunded back to you. Yup, we are friendly frogs. The 5% fee will cover the delivery, handling and the processing fees associated with accepting payment and fulfilling the order. The tickets must be unused, unsigned and not damaged. Expired tickets, or any ticket not currently sold on this site, are non-refundable. Please contact our customer service team so we can give you instructions to make the process run smoothly.

E-Tickets: This E-Ticket is non-refundable.

Expiration
Ticket expires on May 17, 2018 or 7 days after first use. You will activate the ticket upon entry into your first Universal Orlando® Resort Theme Park or one of the paid entertainment venues of Universal City Walk®. Days do not have to be used consecutively.

 

[KalamityJane]

Does the link work now? Not sure why it wasn't working before.

I contacted them and they confirmed it wasn't able to be upgraded, and will be fixing the website to reflect this, since it shows this
Changes
Upgrades: Please do so at the attraction/guest services window.


Under the link.

 

[KalamityJane]

Oh that link says continue to undercover tourist - if you click that, it takes you to the ticket page. I'm assuming that is a disboards thing because it worked fine first and now is doing that viglink thing.

 

[Lisa0620]

Thanks!! Also epic thanks for the math I love math and I'm so glad you wrote it all out! I will look into this for sure.

You're welcome, I put it all in a budget spreadsheet for my SIL which makes it easy to check. I wish Uni was more predictable with upgrade costs, that's always the big unknown. We went with the one day free ticket because there were posts about the 2 day free tickets having wildly different upgrade costs. (I suspect it may have been just the difference between people who bought from Uni website in which case there's no cost bridging, and those who bought from UCT or elsewhere. In our case I didn't want there to be a big surprise cost to upgrade since my SIL prefers to pay more up front and have it paid off than get hit with a big cost when we're down there, so the one day free tickets seemed like the safer choice.) I hope you're able to find a great deal!

 

[KalamityJane]

If we do the tickets to upgrade to annual passes, can we use flex pay on the rest (assuming it is a flex pay annual pass?)

 

[damo]

If we do the tickets to upgrade to annual passes, can we use flex pay on the rest (assuming it is a flex pay annual pass?)

I don't believe so.