UK 14 day, 3 Park Explorer ticket - upgrade to annual pass?

[LK81]

Hi,

Does anybody have any recent experience in upgrading a UK 14 day, 3 Park Explorer ticket to a Premier or preferred annual pass when on site?

I would like to know how much it costs to upgrade? Trying to figure out whether it is more cost effective to buy 2 14 days passes for our 2 trips or upgrade to an AP.

 

[Ross Kratter]

How much are the 14 day tickets? Universal's APs are not very expensive. A Non-Florida resident 3 park Premier is about $855, Preferred $560, Power $510, Seasonal $450.

 

[LK81]

Hi Ross, the 14 day 3 park explorer ticket is around £265 which is roughly $360 including tax. So the 3 park premier is more than twice the 14 day ticket by about $190 once you've added in tax. I'm planning on going twice so I might just about be able to justify it for a single ticket because of savings on dining and merch. I'll be stopping in Universal hotels, and not driving so the early entry and free parking are not relevant. The Express pass after 4 would probably not get used as the rest of the family wouldn't have it.

I was interested in the upgrade costs to see if it is likely to be worth doing the upgrade when on-site and if it was actually a reasonable cost to upgrade, i.e. a small amount above the cost of buying the second 14 day ticket before the next visit then I might consider upgrading the rest of the tickets as the express pass after 4pm would become a useful perk on the other tickets.

 

[Ross Kratter]

Hi Ross, the 14 day 3 park explorer ticket is around £265 which is roughly $360 including tax. So the 3 park premier is more than twice the 14 day ticket by about $190 once you've added in tax. I'm planning on going twice so I might just about be able to justify it for a single ticket because of savings on dining and merch. I'll be stopping in Universal hotels, and not driving so the early entry and free parking are not relevant. The Express pass after 4 would probably not get used as the rest of the family wouldn't have it.

I was interested in the upgrade costs to see if it is likely to be worth doing the upgrade when on-site and if it was actually a reasonable cost to upgrade, i.e. a small amount above the cost of buying the second 14 day ticket before the next visit then I might consider upgrading the rest of the tickets as the express pass after 4pm would become a useful perk on the other tickets.

Wow, I didn't realize how inexpensive that 14-day ticket is! Those UK offers are pretty great.

 

[LK81]

Wow, I didn't realize how inexpensive that 14-day ticket is! Those UK offers are pretty great.

Yes we do get some pretty good offers, we just have to fly 4000 miles to use them. Brits tend to take longer breaks so for us a 14 day ticket is more important. Prior to covid the average UK trip length in the US was over 12 days and 21+ days isn't unheard of. Our summer trip is 23 days split between Universal and WDW.

 

[rangebob]

Normally it is the cost difference. Estimated around $200?

 

[cfoxga]

Hi,

Does anybody have any recent experience in upgrading a UK 14 day, 3 Park Explorer ticket to a Premier or preferred annual pass when on site?

I would like to know how much it costs to upgrade? Trying to figure out whether it is more cost effective to buy 2 14 days passes for our 2 trips or upgrade to an AP.

If you can get an APH rates at the resorts, then getting one Annual Pass could make sense. While those rate appear to be tougher to get during busy seasons, they might save you more than $200 (especially for long stays). The extra discounts for the Preferred Pass would probably cover the upgrade from Seasonal ($110)...