Universal AP / Annual Pass activation for use at Epic Universe for discounts?

[tony67]

MY REACTION UPON READING IT:
Well, poop.

This is something they probably needed to updated with the addition of Epic.
Its not an issue that will go away even when they add Epic to the APs as not everyone will buy an AP with Epic - but they may go for a day.
I am sure most will but the cost may be a factor on that.

Been a headache buying AP holder single day tickets without an active pass (You cant).
So you buy an AP but you cant buy single day Epic tickets with AP pricing. At a minimum you should have been able to buy them in the same transaction.
You go to Epic first and you cant get your food and merch discounts without an active pass.
For hotel discount I don't think its an issue as long as you have a physical pass - as I said earlier they have never asked me for it and on my last visit it was not active when I checked in so it was not in my account.

When I was there it was during previews so the park opened an hour later than it does now so I was able to go over to IOA for 8AM opening and then head to epic. FYI: Buses from the hub to Epic don't run as often that time of day as the ones from the hotels so that is another headache.

 

[ruthies12]

Not sure if you needed all the passes activated, you said one was preferred and the rest seasonal. My suggestion would be for the person with the preferred pass go to the park to activate on the pool day and everyone else can stay at the pool. I don't know if that works for your specific situation though but good luck, hope it's not too much of a pain!

 

[CAPSLOCK]

I'd never be able to do a pool day all day with a fresh new AP while on Universal property... you might think about going over for an hour or two, grabbing lunch/dinner at CityWalk and just popping into a park for a few hours. The evening hours should be low crowds and glorious.

 

[DisneyMom93]

Not sure if you needed all the passes activated, you said one was preferred and the rest seasonal. My suggestion would be for the person with the preferred pass go to the park to activate on the pool day and everyone else can stay at the pool. I don't know if that works for your specific situation though but good luck, hope it's not too much of a pain!

Oh good idea. I didn’t even think of that. But then I feel bad because I put it under my husband’s name I think. I’ll have to check which one of us has it. Thanks.

 

[DisneyMom93]

I'd never be able to do a pool day all day with a fresh new AP while on Universal property... you might think about going over for an hour or two, grabbing lunch/dinner at CityWalk and just popping into a park for a few hours. The evening hours should be low crowds and glorious.

Ha. Yeah that was the first thing my daughter said when I told her we had to go to the turnstile. We will be at US/IoA for five days but I still see us wanting to go in anyway. Although we won’t have EPs yet. Again, lots to think about.

I guess we have decisions to make. I’m sure whatever we do will be fun.

 

[DisneyMom93]

This is something they probably needed to updated with the addition of Epic.
Its not an issue that will go away even when they add Epic to the APs as not everyone will buy an AP with Epic - but they may go for a day.
I am sure most will but the cost may be a factor on that.

Been a headache buying AP holder single day tickets without an active pass (You cant).
So you buy an AP but you cant buy single day Epic tickets with AP pricing. At a minimum you should have been able to buy them in the same transaction.
You go to Epic first and you cant get your food and merch discounts without an active pass.
For hotel discount I don't think its an issue as long as you have a physical pass - as I said earlier they have never asked me for it and on my last visit it was not active when I checked in so it was not in my account.

When I was there it was during previews so the park opened an hour later than it does now so I was able to go over to IOA for 8AM opening and then head to epic. FYI: Buses from the hub to Epic don't run as often that time of day as the ones from the hotels so that is another headache.

Yeah, we were not able to get the discounts on the epic tickets because the APs were not activated yet. Maybe I can have that adjusted by the time we go. It’s in January so we have time. Maybe they will have different rules by then.

I guess I understand it having to be activated first because maybe people would buy regular park tickets based on their stays and buy one AP as an extra and use it for many years just to get discounts without actually activating it?

I know we have gotten some really good deals of Buy three days get two days free. Having something that would get us food and Merch and hotel discounts on the side would be great.

 

[tony67]

Yeah, we were not able to get the discounts on the epic tickets because the APs were not activated yet. Maybe I can have that adjusted by the time we go. It’s in January so we have time. Maybe they will have different rules by then.

Yeah they have been good about that - I got around 25 back per ticket. Id be surprised if there was not an AP with Epic come January that you could upgrade to. Many think it will be sooner so they can test larger crowds, but its all just a guess. It does seem to be one of the biggest complaints about Epic.

I guess I understand it having to be activated first because maybe people would buy regular park tickets based on their stays and buy one AP as an extra and use it for many years just to get discounts without actually activating it?

Yeah - seems like they need a way for you to activate it in the app for cases like yours or people who want to buy Ap tickets or even get Mardi Gras parade tickets - there are many things that you need an active pass for that are inconvenient if you bought a pass but cant activate it and there is no way to activate it.

I know we have gotten some really good deals of Buy three days get two days free. Having something that would get us food and Merch and hotel discounts on the side would be great.

Would be costly as you have to buy one of the better passes and keep it just for the discounts - of course you can eventually activate it and yeah it would save you over time so no real loss for it.


On the positive side you don't need an Activate AP to book rooms and for the most part that is where the big savings are with an AP