Up to 6 months free on annual pass?

[1GoldenSun]

We are not renewing our Disney APs this year and instead are going to get Universal passes for the first time. I haven't even been to Universal in over 10 years so I'm very excited! But I have a few questions about purchasing passes.

The Universal site touts "up to six months free on annual pass." What do they mean by this? Does it mean that an additional three or six months is tacked on at the end of the year (depending on the pass you buy), or does it mean that they are essentially "not charging" for three or six months of the pass, in that I'm just paying a cheaper rate for the same 12-month pass than I would normally (a discount). I can't find an explanation of this.

Also, how much is parking at Universal? I would probably get the cheapest pass for my husband and children, and get the one with the free parking for me. There is a substantial difference but it would probably be worth it.

The pass with the parking included--the Preferred pass--also includes discounts on food and merchandise. Is this on everything, or do only limited vendors accept it? At Disney, you get the AP discount mostly just at table service restaurants, so it would be a huge savings to get it everywhere. Does anyone know how much the discount is?

 

[Suprachica79]

Good choice getting the Uni passes, they’re great value! The additional time is tacked onto the end of the pass, for example, my wife and I both got the preferred pass in December and they are good until June of 2020!. For the seasonal and power passes, you get an extra 3 months, for preferred and premier you get 6 months.

A word of caution on seasonal passes - there are a lot of block out dates. If there is a concert at Universal studios that day, you cannot go into the Universal studios side, you have to go into Islands of Adventure. This means for Mardi Gras, every Saturday for about two months is not available, during Christmas most weekends will be unavailable, etc. if you never pls to attend during those periods or you miss weekends anyways then it’s no problem, but if not, you may want to consider the power passes for the rest of the family.

Parking is $25 a day so it takes 4 days for the preferred to pay for itself in parking alone. Preferred passes also get 10% off just about all Merch and food in the parks and at city walk so those savings add up quick as well. I think a few select places do not take it, but the vast majority do.

Any other questions, please feel free to ask!

 

[jerseygal]

We purchased the preferred AP passes for our Dec trip. A win, win, FREE parking, is $25 daily, free 6 additional months, 18 months total, used our 10 percent discount practically everywhere, in parks, Citiwalk restaurants, so many places, merchandise,very happy we purchased,hotel restaurants!

 

[1GoldenSun]

Ok so you actually get the extra months tacked onto the pass! Thanks everyone!

It sounds like it would be worthwhile for us all to get the Premier passes. Even considering the extra three months it's more expensive than the seasonal pass, of course, but not by much, and no blackout dates sounds great. And any way you look at it, it's soooooo much cheaper than Disney APs!

Edit: I meant to say Preferred, not Premier.

 

[1GoldenSun]

I just did the math and for my family of four to all get Universal Premier passes would cost exactly half (before taxes, so actually less than half) what one Disney Gold (for the photopass) and three Silver APs would cost. Granted, there is a lot more to do at Disney, but also, a TON of dates (including the entire summer) are blocked out at Disney.

Does anyone know what the discount amount is?

Edit: Again, I meant to say Preferred, not Premier. I don't think Premier is worth it to us.

 

[Spike101]

The first thing I'm doing when I get to the resort is upgrading my 14 day ticket to a preferred AP, the balance to pay is really small and totally worth it for the benefits, early admission and discounts etc.

And the extra 6 months is an added bonus, as by hook or by crook I fully intend on returning within that 18 months, thank god for the bags of overtime at my job round Christmas season!

Spike.

 

[jerseygal]

If you want to save some money, we considered only one of us buying the preferred and the other power but we both got the preferred. If one of you had preferred and you were all together, you only need 1 preferred parking pass to eliminate the $25 parking pass. Both preferred and power get 18 months total, but only preferred gets the 10percent discount on merchandise and food I believe. No big deal if you are all together. Also, from recollection. think preferred gets early entry but power does not, not one hundred percent sure on this though.

 

[bumbershoot]

Remember you have to buy and activate (first use) them by April 4.

 

[Suprachica79]

If you want to save some money, we considered only one of us buying the preferred and the other power but we both got the preferred. If one of you had preferred and you were all together, you only need 1 preferred parking pass to eliminate the $25 parking pass. Both preferred and power get 18 months total, but only preferred gets the 10percent discount on merchandise and food I believe. No big deal if you are all together. Also, from recollection. think preferred gets early entry but power does not, not one hundred percent sure on this though.

The power only gets 3 additional months, the preferred and premier get 6 months.

 

[jerseygal]

The power only gets 3 additional months, the preferred and premier get 6 months.

Thanks for the correction! That must have been the reason after analysis we decided to both buy the preferred, the extra 3 months versus power was important to us.

 

[Suprachica79]

Thanks for the correction! That must have been the reason after analysis we decided to both buy the preferred, the extra 3 months versus power was important to us.

No problem! My wife and I both got the preferred as well, we could have gone preferred for one and power for the other but I wanted the renewals at the same time and same discount.