Ticket Dilemma - April 2026

[ray3127]

Family of 4 (2 adults / 2 kids) are booked for a split stay in April.

Sat - Tues at Cabana Bay, planning to hit Volcano Bay & Epic
Tues - Fri at Hard Rock, planning to hit IOA / Studios

We booked the hotels back in July at an AP rate. The AP rate was an incredible savings, and even moreso now (prices have spiked a lot that week).

The plan was to buy whatever combination made the most sense; either all 4 APs, or simply 1 AP and 3 individual tickets. But, if I understand things correctly:
- Current APs don't include Volcano Bay.
- It remains to be seen whether or not they'll roll out an AP that includes Epic.

I realize that I should just wait it out at this point, but we are DVC and used to having things locked down way in advance!

Worst case: things stay the same as they are right now, right? If that's the case, I'll have to (1) buy a 2-park AP, (2) buy "fill-in" tickets for VB/Epic for the AP-holder, and (3) buy the other 3 people 4-park-hoppers.... right?

Surely, there will be some resolution that addresses at least one of the two issues above?

 

[georgina]

Family of 4 (2 adults / 2 kids) are booked for a split stay in April.

Sat - Tues at Cabana Bay, planning to hit Volcano Bay & Epic
Tues - Fri at Hard Rock, planning to hit IOA / Studios

We booked the hotels back in July at an AP rate. The AP rate was an incredible savings, and even moreso now (prices have spiked a lot that week).

The plan was to buy whatever combination made the most sense; either all 4 APs, or simply 1 AP and 3 individual tickets. But, if I understand things correctly:
- Current APs don't include Volcano Bay.
- It remains to be seen whether or not they'll roll out an AP that includes Epic.

I realize that I should just wait it out at this point, but we are DVC and used to having things locked down way in advance!

Worst case: things stay the same as they are right now, right? If that's the case, I'll have to (1) buy a 2-park AP, (2) buy "fill-in" tickets for VB/Epic for the AP-holder, and (3) buy the other 3 people 4-park-hoppers.... right?

Surely, there will be some resolution that addresses at least one of the two issues above?

No one can say for sure what is going to happen, although a lot of people are not expecting APs to include Epic for a while.

I did not even know they were no longer selling the 3 park APs that included Volcano Bay! Are you planning to go more than once? A 1 day VB ticket may be more cost effective than a multiday that includes it. It is very easy to go over from CB though, I used to have the 3 park AP and loved going for a few hours.

I assume you are aware of the blockout dates in early April for the 2 lower level AP's.

We are all navigating this mess together. Those of us with AP's are not happy that the new tickets allow hopping between all the parks.

 

[ray3127]

No one can say for sure what is going to happen, although a lot of people are not expecting APs to include Epic for a while.

I did not even know they were no longer selling the 3 park APs that included Volcano Bay! Are you planning to go more than once? A 1 day VB ticket may be more cost effective than a multiday that includes it. It is very easy to go over from CB though, I used to have the 3 park AP and loved going for a few hours.

I assume you are aware of the blockout dates in early April for the 2 lower level AP's.

We are all navigating this mess together. Those of us with AP's are not happy that the new tickets allow hopping between all the parks.

Thank you for the reply. Sound pretty terrible right now.

Hah! Sure didn't know about the blockout dates.

So, the Seasonal and Power Passes are actually useless to me as tickets, because we are going early April. Wife's a teacher, our dates are locked to her spring break.

They aren't even selling Premier right now, which is the minimum we'd need.

How's this for an absolute worst case:
- Buy FOUR 4-park hoppers to actually use.
- Buy a Seasonal AP, just for the hotel discount (and then discounts/perks on site, too).

The AP hotel rates saved us over $1,200 when booking, so it would still be a good deal.

However: I've read that they sometimes don't even check to see if you even have an annual pass? Is that right? Could we just buy four regular tickets ahead of time, then buy an AP once we're there if needed?

 

[georgina]

Thank you for the reply. Sound pretty terrible right now.

Hah! Sure didn't know about the blockout dates.

So, the Seasonal and Power Passes are actually useless to me as tickets, because we are going early April. Wife's a teacher, our dates are locked to her spring break.

They aren't even selling Premier right now, which is the minimum we'd need.

How's this for an absolute worst case:
- Buy FOUR 4-park hoppers to actually use.
- Buy a Seasonal AP, just for the hotel discount (and then discounts/perks on site, too).

The AP hotel rates saved us over $1,200 when booking, so it would still be a good deal.

However: I've read that they sometimes don't even check to see if you even have an annual pass? Is that right? Could we just buy four regular tickets ahead of time, then buy an AP once we're there if needed?

I think the Preferred AP does not have those dates blocked out. The lower level ones are also blocked out from US on Mardi Gras concert days also, but those are on weekends.

You could always try, you are able to show an AP after checkin, just tell them you haven't purchased tickets yet.

If you do end up buying a seasonal AP, it does give you 10% off at all dining locations at CB (including Starbucks) and 10% off food & non-alcoholic beverages at the Kitchen at hard Rock.

 

[Mamabun]

I’m only one data point, but the one time I booked an AP rate without an AP (I was planning to upgrade one of our tickets when we got there), the very first thing they asked me after seeing that I booked an AP rate was my AP number, and they wouldn’t check me in until after I went over to the customer service desk to upgrade. I’m not pushy at all, and didn’t ask if I could do it later, and maybe they were just trying to be nice and save me future hassle, but it didn’t feel that way.

 

[ray3127]

I think the Preferred AP does not have those dates blocked out. The lower level ones are also blocked out from US on Mardi Gras concert days also, but those are on weekends.

You could always try, you are able to show an AP after checkin, just tell them you haven't purchased tickets yet.

If you do end up buying a seasonal AP, it does give you 10% off at all dining locations at CB (including Starbucks) and 10% off food & non-alcoholic beverages at the Kitchen at hard Rock.

Right, but they don't appear to be selling Preferred at the moment (unless I'm missing it, which is entirely possible!).

I’m only one data point, but the one time I booked an AP rate without an AP (I was planning to upgrade one of our tickets when we got there), the very first thing they asked me after seeing that I booked an AP rate was my AP number, and they wouldn’t check me in until after I went over to the customer service desk to upgrade. I’m not pushy at all, and didn’t ask if I could do it later, and maybe they were just trying to be nice and save me future hassle, but it didn’t feel that way.

Thanks! Good to know. I thought I saw a couple posts in passing referencing this, so thought I would ask.

Hopefully they come out with an AP that makes good sense for us! Worst case, we spend $425+ to save $1,200+.

 

[Mamabun]

I’ve seen in other threads people saying they’ve never had to show their AP, but I wonder if they booked their hotel through the website while they were logged in, which probably would have attached their AP to the reservation automatically. But I don’t know.

 

[MamaKate]

I’ve seen in other threads people saying they’ve never had to show their AP, but I wonder if they booked their hotel through the website while they were logged in, which probably would have attached their AP to the reservation automatically. But I don’t know.

Interesting. Even when I've been asked to see my AP, I just recall them glancing at it and not notating the number. Maybe this is something new. When did you go? Which hotel was it?

 

[Mamabun]

I believe it was July 2022, and it was RPR. Like I said, there was zero chance an AP had ever been associated with the reservation or our account because we had never had an AP at Universal to that point. I’d be very curious to know if anyone who had never had an AP like us ever got the discount. I could easily believe that they would check you in without asking for it, that may have just been a team member looking out for us, not wanting us to forget and get billed the regular day-of rate (which is what is supposed to happen). But I just can’t imagine they would actually give you the discount when your stay was over if an AP was never linked to the stay. It would be silly for their system to allow it to happen. And I still strongly guess that everyone saying they’ve never been asked for it did somehow have their reservation linked to their account, even if they never specifically entered or showed their AP number. BUT, there’s a lot of poorly coded software out there, and theme parks seem to gravitate toward it, so who knows?