On the fence about AP purchase

HLAuburn

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 26, 2005
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A little background:
-we have 2 girls (5 and 9) both thrill seekers who will ride just about anything.
-we live about 2 hours from Universal.
-we've done the Disney APs a couple times, but we are "over it" for now. I think DH might be "over" theme parks in general, but the girls and I could go every day!

So we are headed to Universal for a few days next week and have reservations at RPR. I am still on the fence about whether we should buy the 3 day passes or the FL res APs. We will have express passes, so I think we should be able to do/see everything we want.

Annual passes (including one preferred for the discounts and free parking) would be about $280 more than passes just for next week's visit. That would easily pay itself off in one more visit, but I'm concerned that with 2 less parks to visit than Disney, the novelty will wear off quickly. I know the new HP section opens soon and that sounds great, but is it enough to jusify an AP?

Anyway, just trying to talk it all out here...any feedback would be great!

Thanks!! :)
 
I know the new HP section opens soon and that sounds great, but is it enough to jusify an AP?

Anyway, just trying to talk it all out here...any feedback would be great!

Thanks!! :)
Universal offers great discounts to passholders for park merchandise and food as well as special events like HHN and Rock The Universe. Since you live in FL you would be unwise to have at least one Preferred AP so you won't have to pay for parking when you visit but get the kids the Power Passes...they are cheaper and have blackout dates but that's all they really need at this point. I don't know what you were pricing out but go with a Preferred for yourself and Power Passes for the others.
 
I also live about 2 hours from Orlando and have had a preferred AP since 2003. I have found that when I drive through Orlando on other business, the ability to stop at Universal for even a 2 hour visit is great. Do a few rides, see a show, not pay for parking makes the Preferred AP worth it.

For you, decide if this applies. Also, your girls will have their own passes and they could latch onto other groups (school, girl scouts, visiting relatives, etc) and go on short notice without you. The flexibility is a consideration.

Also, renewal costs are about 75% of a new pass.
 
Universal offers great discounts to passholders for park merchandise and food as well as special events like HHN and Rock The Universe. Since you live in FL you would be unwise to have at least one Preferred AP so you won't have to pay for parking when you visit but get the kids the Power Passes...they are cheaper and have blackout dates but that's all they really need at this point. I don't know what you were pricing out but go with a Preferred for yourself and Power Passes for the others.

Thanks! That is what I priced out - 3 power and 1 preferred (for me). I figured the free parking alone would pay off the difference, not to mention the restuarant/merch discounts.

Not sure what Rock the Universe is, but probably won't be doing HHN quite yet! Sounds a little scary...even for me! :rotfl:

Thank you both for the replies!
 

You are definitely smart to think about the one Preferred for parking. My cousins went with the power pass and have regretted it since. And they did the monthly payments. When they went to upgrade one of them to preferred, they were told (correctly) that they would have to pay off the payments AND pay in full for the upgrade. The could/would not do that, and have continued to pay FAR more for parking than they would have for the upgrade.


You could wait to see if you like the place before making the decision, couldn't you? Are you staying onsite this time? If not, you'll have to pay for themepark parking the first time anyway (you have to have an active AP for parking to be included, so that first visit if you're parking in the lot you'll be paying parking), no different than if you had a normal ticket.
 
You could wait to see if you like the place before making the decision, couldn't you? Are you staying onsite this time? If not, you'll have to pay for themepark parking the first time anyway (you have to have an active AP for parking to be included, so that first visit if you're parking in the lot you'll be paying parking), no different than if you had a normal ticket.

We have all been there. It's been a couple of years and the rides the kids can go on have changed, so I definitely think it will be fun to go next week. We are staying onsite (RPR).

We'd really like to take advantage of the flex pay plan - can you still sign up for that if you upgrade from regular passes to APs? It's not a deal breaker, but it would be nice.
 
Hope it's okay for me to jump in here. I'm new. :rolleyes:

Re: Parking -- Cabana Bay says $10 per day. Do the other hotels charge for parking, also, or is it included?

Confused because OP is staying onsite, but talking about getting Preferred for the parking discount. Thanks!
 
Does anyone know how much of a discount on the on site hotels is with the annual passes?
 
Hope it's okay for me to jump in here. I'm new. :rolleyes:

Re: Parking -- Cabana Bay says $10 per day. Do the other hotels charge for parking, also, or is it included?

Confused because OP is staying onsite, but talking about getting Preferred for the parking discount. Thanks!

Jump right in! :thumbsup2

Parking at the 3 other resorts is $18/night. Parking at the park (assuming you are driving in or staying offsite) is $16 a day. We are staying onsite this trip, but after that and assuming we buy APs, if we drive in for the day or don't stay at a Universal hotel, we would get free parking with a preferred pass.

It's all very confusing! One side note: at the resorts, you pay per night. So in theory, you could park early one day and leave late the next night and still just pay 1 night's parking rate. At the deck, there is no overnight parking and you pay per day.

Hope that makes sense!!
 
Jump right in! :thumbsup2

Parking at the 3 other resorts is $18/night. Parking at the park (assuming you are driving in or staying offsite) is $16 a day. We are staying onsite this trip, but after that and assuming we buy APs, if we drive in for the day or don't stay at a Universal hotel, we would get free parking with a preferred pass.

It's all very confusing! One side note: at the resorts, you pay per night. So in theory, you could park early one day and leave late the next night and still just pay 1 night's parking rate. At the deck, there is no overnight parking and you pay per day.

Hope that makes sense!!

Yes, that makes sense and is very helpful -- thanks! Just one question -- what's "the deck"?

Good to know -- so at Cabana Bay, we are staying 4 nights, so we should just have to pay $40... right? I wondered about that, since we will technically be parked there M-F.
 
Does anyone know how much of a discount on the on site hotels is with the annual passes?

I just looked this up today, thinking of getting the Power Pass for the hotel discount. For our dates, just for standard rooms -- it made a difference of about $17 - 113 (!) PER NIGHT.

I learned here that you can type in "APH" Promotional code on the Universal site to search the hotels and see for yourself, for your dates.
 
Sorry, is "deck" a southern thing?! I meant the parking deck that's for US and IOA, but perhaps "parking garage" sounds more official. :goodvibes

:) It may be... I am Indiana -- born and raised, and I have never heard "parking deck" in my life. lol

Thanks again for the info!
 
:) It may be... I am Indiana -- born and raised, and I have never heard "parking deck" in my life. lol

Thanks again for the info!

Oh my gosh, that's too funny! It never dawned on me that "deck" is a local term, but I googled it and sure enough, they say that's used in the southeat! WHo knew!? I have lived in the SE my whole life, so I guess I don't know any better! ;)
 
on the fence about an AP or the 3 park unlimited pass, what are the black out dates for the power pass?
 





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