New Premier Annual Pass

[phamton]

Did they provide an implementation date?

You can buy them as of right now. I believe the $99 renewal will still be available on the Preferred annual pass. That has not changed with the introduction of the new Premier annual passes.

Just don't know what the Premier annual pass renewal rate will be as it will be a year beofre the first ones sold will need to be renewed.

 

[F-L-A]

That's one expensive AP...

This thing is definitely aimed at tourists. We locals have no use for many of these perks; at least not enough use to splurge the extra money.

Early entry? 99% of us don't even consider going to a park before noon.

CityWalk club access? Most locals would rather go downtown for nightlife.

We obviously don't need onsite benefits.

It makes more sense to buy a Frequent Fear Pass than to spend the extra $100 for the free HHN ticket.

Eight bottles of water? Uhhm... okay.

The free Express is nice, but this isn't Disney were talking about here. On most days, that's only two or three hours of Express access. Not really enough to make this AP worth it. Really, the only perks that interest me are the free valet parking and priority seating.

I figure this won't go over well, because the people who are most likely to buy AP's, locals, can get a much better deal out of the PAP; especially if they already have one and only pay the renewal rate of $99.

 

[Foladar]

I agree with FLA. I figure the biggest perks are early entry, express after 4, and HHN. When I go, Universal isn't open past 7 .. three hours of express? Not really worth it, esp. if you stay onsite (unless they remove that, ugh) .. Early entry? I can't even get up at 9am, let alone earlier. HHN, I usually just pick up the first weekend ticket as AP holder for $35 or so. Otherwise, I'm an FLA resident .. so it works if they remove the benefit from the current AP since I can use my FLA discount(s) too.

 

[Motherfletcher]

Not a clue on what the early entry will mean.

I think it would be kind of hard selling tickets with early entry as a benefit and not having any information to tell the buyer. Early entry through the hotel promos has been somewhat chaotic. People were walking around with a sheet of paper and often couldn't find where to go (Carmen's turnstile!). It will likely be early entry to a single or maybe 2 rides. More than once they have opened the park when the entire park was not ready to open and areas are "roped" off. EE is a perk that we would be interested in. We spend mucho dinero for FOTL now through the hotels and will likely buy in if EE has a measurable benefit.

 

[phamton]

My guess and it is only a guess is that certain days of the year might have it sort of like the AP preview party nights for ROTM. But really I don't have a clue.

 

[robvia]

I figure the opposite, that the locals would want something like this.
A local family would make many visits to the park, and go often after work, getting their money's worth.
So just imagine going during the summer when it's packed, arriving at 5pm, and having express until 10pm.
I'm just wondering how this will effect lines in the summer. Imagine what will happen at 4pm when people flood the express pass line. The stand-by line will slow, and people may get frustrated.
Most people arrive late at 11am, then leave around 4pm tired and worn out from waiting in line. Now just imagine when they're standing in line at 4pm,and all of a sudden, people show up and flood the express line.

 

[phamton]

Universal is considering allowing an upgrade from the other APs to the Premier AP.

 

[psharrock]

My family would consider an upgrade on our AP's if it was available, but would want to know the renewal price in advance.

It would also be better if the FOTL started x hours before closing instead of from 4pm, as other have said in winter that could be as little as 2-3 hours of FOTL access.

Paul

 

[lovetheparks]

Interesting....Subscribing to get the latest when they figure out if they'll upgrade and the renewal price.

I'm one that would take advantage of early entry. Usually by the time the big crowds hit we are ready to call it a day! Also the hotal benefits interest me as we stay a minumum of once/year for HHN.

 

[Motherfletcher]

I'll bump for any new info. The guys at the turnstiles were kind of confused on how it was going to work. Maybe they'll use the far right two turnstiles for the early entry lanes?

 

[JohnnySharp2]

We are from the UK and as we visit every year currently have the 2 park preferred APs, which we have just renewed for $99 each.
This we consider to be excellent value for money, especially with the discounts throughout the parks and the free parking.

We have a young son so although we like the CityWalk area and think it adds to the whole experience of Universal we do not visit any of the clubs/bars etc

Generally as we visit in August we always tend to visit US first thing in the morning for a few hours, this is quite a popular thing for us 'tourists' to do as in effect you miss the worst of the heat and crowds (although as we arrive mid August the crowds tend not to be too bad...)

I do not think therefore we would consider this new pass.

 

[Metro West]

I just renewed my PAP for the $99 rate and I don't usually go to CityWalk that much. I do like the EP + feature but that's not enough for me to spend the extra $$$...at least, for now.

 

[ChrisK]

I inquired about this pass the other day. It's still not 'for sale' according to Vacation Services and they wanted to know where I found out about it.

 

[phamton]

It was in the team members newsletter. The newsletter said to spread the word so it wasn't some big secret. They were hoping to have it out by now but are working on some changes like possibly making it available as an upgrade for those who already have annual passes and also giving an extra hour onto unlimited express. So details are still being worked out.

 

[ChrisK]

The most important thing would not be the upgrade price, but the renewal price. No details on the pass so I guess we are still playing the waiting game. Thanks

 

[phamton]

The Premeir annual pass will be available the middle of July. They're still working out the benefits and the upgrade and renewal prices.

 

[ChrisK]

The Premeir annual pass will be available the middle of July. They're still working out the benefits and the upgrade and renewal prices.

Just wanted to verify that this is still on schedule. Thanks

 

[phamton]

So far it is still planning to be unveiled in July.

 

[psharrock]

Hi Phamton

Just wondering if there is any news on the pass and if its still on schedule for release this month.

Paul

 

[phamton]

No news yet. I'll let you know as soon as I hear anything.