Ticket vs. annual pass... seems too good to be true

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When we go in November we got these 3 park unlimited tickets which are good for unlimited use during a 14 day period starting the first day you use it. We are only there for 7 days but it was cheaper than buying 7 days worth of tickets. Undoubtedly this cost more than an Annual Pass. Could we go to the window and upgrade on day 1? They should give us a refund, lol! I know that won't happen but could we upgrade those tickets and not pay anything? I'd probably upgrade on the last day to be safe and not get blocked out of anything, we already have free Express because of the hotel.
 
I may try to upgrade on day 1 of use inside the park and see what they say. This way I can also use the discount on food while in and out of the parks. My on worry is the AP have black out dates in July when I'll be there for the new water park. Guess we will see how this works out assuming I can get the Explorer tickets
 
We upgraded our 2 park, 3 day tickets (purchased from Undercover Tourist) to seasonal passes when we were in the park during our February 2017 trip and they refunded us $10 per ticket.
 
Oh, wow. I may try to upgrade on the first day, then. If we can get the Premiere or the level below then we can not worry about blockout dates. I don't need free parking or the express after 4pm because we will stay in the resorts offering Express. I just don't know if our 3 park Unlimited tickets are some kind of "special" ticket that is not eligible for upgrade. I am going to call later today to find out. If I upgrade on day 1 we can save a good bit on all of our food for those 7 days.

I am mad at myself for not having upgraded on our last trip but I never in a million years thought 3 day park to park would be as much as an Annual Pass.
 


The new water park has black out dates for all of July for most APs. This only leaves the top tier AP which is crazy expensive. I do wonder what the Universal Explorer ticket (3 park) to PremierAP would cost... The food discount would help offset the cost. I guess only 1x ticket would have to be upgraded since I'd pay for my families meals.
 
Called Universal here is my breakdown

Explorer 3park tickets cost is $309
Premier 3park AP (Since I'm going in July) $689.
Difference $380.

Even if I did it for my ticket for the discounts I'd have to spend $2000 on food and merchandise to break even...(My Lowes Portifino is at a conference rate so no AP discount).
 
This is our first visit to Universal, so I have lots of questions! Does the free parking for the preferred AP pass work for on site hotel parking? We will be staying at RPR in December and driving down. Do you have to call for the hotel discounts or do they post them, and do they usually have them available around mid December?
 


This is our first visit to Universal, so I have lots of questions! Does the free parking for the preferred AP pass work for on site hotel parking? We will be staying at RPR in December and driving down. Do you have to call for the hotel discounts or do they post them, and do they usually have them available around mid December?
The AP perk of free garage parking is once your AP has been activated.

The hotels have their own parking lots and there are no ap discounts for hotel guests parking

Check the sticky
(APH Rates Are Currently Available...)

for hotel ap discounts


The UO website has a section for other types of hotel discounts such as the SMSM/stay more, save more rates
 
The AP perk of free garage parking is once your AP has been activated.

The hotels have their own parking lots and there are no ap discounts for hotel guests parking

Check the sticky
(APH Rates Are Currently Available...)

for hotel ap discounts


The UO website has a section for other types of hotel discounts such as the SMSM/stay more, save more rates
Can you try pasting that link again? It is not working when I click on it. Thanks!
 
Can you try pasting that link again? It is not working when I click on it. Thanks!

It is not a link but the title of the sticky in the hotel forum.

The stickies are set up by topics.


There are 4 forums for the UO sections of the disboards.
The second forum is about hotels
 
I also called to find out about our 14 day unlimited pass for the 3 parks. It is indeed upgradable. However, the tickets weren't as much as I expected. About $590 total for two of us. I would have to come out of pocket for the upgrade and I don't know that we would save enough on dining. If we knew we would go back, it is a no-brainer but we aren't sure. We will probably upgrade and consider it insurance in case we do make it back within the next year. It is insane to think that the 14 day unlimited pass for 3 parks costs us less than our 1 day park to park with unlimited express did during Christmas. Their pricing is so strange and I will never understand it but it sure doesn't keep me coming back for more. Now I know to just get the AP and stay at the resorts offering Express. Then you can always go back again at the last second and it will feel like a cheap trip.
 
At first glance it seems obvious that for the same price the AP would be better than an extended ticket. When I found out that the seasonal AP was actually slightly cheaper than our regular tickets (although there aren't any sales on for our tickets yet--too far out) it seemed obvious, especially when you factor in the hotel discount. And that way we could pop into the park on the morning of our MVMCP and maybe even on our day of departure. But then I started to look at the fine print. The hotel discount isn't really a discount so much as a separate rate structure--we are already paying about $180 a night at RPR and apparently it is unlikely that the AP rate will go below that. Then the weekend we are there would likely be blacked out at USF because of the Christmas concerts. Sure we could always go to IOA instead those days, but then we wouldn't be able to do HE those days and we'd have to work out a schedule to make sure we get everything in and don't feel gipped not being able to go to USF those days. And it already starts to feel like something we have to plan. Plus I think I'd actually like to be able to go to the concert...
 
Definitely the way I'll be going! Thank you to the several folks that shared recent experiences. Really helps me feel good about our choice!
Has anyone done this same approach with the 3 park tickets (that include Volcano Bay) ? We are going in August and considering adding that - not sure if it can work.
 
At first glance it seems obvious that for the same price the AP would be better than an extended ticket. When I found out that the seasonal AP was actually slightly cheaper than our regular tickets (although there aren't any sales on for our tickets yet--too far out) it seemed obvious, especially when you factor in the hotel discount. And that way we could pop into the park on the morning of our MVMCP and maybe even on our day of departure. But then I started to look at the fine print. The hotel discount isn't really a discount so much as a separate rate structure--we are already paying about $180 a night at RPR and apparently it is unlikely that the AP rate will go below that. Then the weekend we are there would likely be blacked out at USF because of the Christmas concerts. Sure we could always go to IOA instead those days, but then we wouldn't be able to do HE those days and we'd have to work out a schedule to make sure we get everything in and don't feel gipped not being able to go to USF those days. And it already starts to feel like something we have to plan. Plus I think I'd actually like to be able to go to the concert...
You could upgrade to the annual pass on the last day of your tickets (when you're already in US for the last time that day if it's a concert day). They would refund the difference in price (if there is one still at that time). Then you could use the AP for departure day if you desired. And you could potentially enjoy a second trip within the year if that is in the cards.
 
Has anyone done this same approach with the 3 park tickets (that include Volcano Bay) ? We are going in August and considering adding that - not sure if it can work.
You can do this with the three park tickets, but ONLY to the three park annual pass (if you enter Volcano Bay, you cannot "downgrade" to a two park pass). Note that the tix that expire in Sept are promo tix and you will not get credit for the full value, only for the cheaper promotional price. This was my mistake when I did it. You want to get whichever tix have the biggest discount and DON'T say promo.
 
You could upgrade to the annual pass on the last day of your tickets (when you're already in US for the last time that day if it's a concert day). They would refund the difference in price (if there is one still at that time). Then you could use the AP for departure day if you desired. And you could potentially enjoy a second trip within the year if that is in the cards.

This is what we did, as we had a concert on one of our days.
 
This is what we did, as we had a concert on one of our days.

So let me see if I have this straight. We are going for 4 park days. Right now the lowest annual pass is less expensive than the 4 day pass. Our first two days will be there on days that were MS concerts last year and we would want to go. So we could book a room now for a good rate. By 4 day tickets whenever we feel like it. Then we wait for the AP rate on the hotel and see if it's lower. If so we book it even though we don't have the AP yet. We use the 4 day pass to get into the park on our first two days so we're aren't locked out of US. Then on day 3 we convert our tix to APs at GS (or can that be done at the resort) . Then we present it to the hotel so they give us the rate. And we get food discounts after that. Do I have that all correct? I assume that once I book the AP rate if I don't convert at least one ticket to AP I would have to pay rack rate on the room? I ask just in case the APs go up in price and it's no longer a rebate to buy them for the whole family. Or something about the terms and conditions change so that we wouldn't be able to go to the MS concert before converting.

I can convert a ticket purchased from UT.

And I assume the first date of the AP would be the first day we entered a park, not the day we converted, correct? So if we go in on Nov 17th it would be good until Nov 16 2019.

Did I get all that right or are there details I'm missing?
 
I can say that while they stress that you will have to show your AP to get the room discount I've yet to had to show mine.
We've stayed at Royal Pacific 3 times, Portofino 3 (or is it 4?) times and Hard Rock once. I was told though, you only had to have it by the time you check out so your plan does work.
And yes, you can upgrade the UT ticket, that's the one I've upgraded (and gotten $10 back) for DGD
We upgraded hers on the first day so I'm not help on the day it is effective.
 
So let me see if I have this straight. We are going for 4 park days. Right now the lowest annual pass is less expensive than the 4 day pass. Our first two days will be there on days that were MS concerts last year and we would want to go. So we could book a room now for a good rate. By 4 day tickets whenever we feel like it. Then we wait for the AP rate on the hotel and see if it's lower. If so we book it even though we don't have the AP yet. We use the 4 day pass to get into the park on our first two days so we're aren't locked out of US. Then on day 3 we convert our tix to APs at GS (or can that be done at the resort) . Then we present it to the hotel so they give us the rate. And we get food discounts after that. Do I have that all correct? I assume that once I book the AP rate if I don't convert at least one ticket to AP I would have to pay rack rate on the room? I ask just in case the APs go up in price and it's no longer a rebate to buy them for the whole family. Or something about the terms and conditions change so that we wouldn't be able to go to the MS concert before converting.

I can convert a ticket purchased from UT.

And I assume the first date of the AP would be the first day we entered a park, not the day we converted, correct? So if we go in on Nov 17th it would be good until Nov 16 2019.

Did I get all that right or are there details I'm missing?

You've got that all correct. AP is activated the first day you use your ticket, not the conversion day. Your plan is a good one! The only thing that is variable is how much you will get for your UT tickets. They have a variety of them that seem to get a variety of different values upon conversion. They all can be upgraded, though, it just varies on how much it will cost you to upgrade.

If you intend on converting to a 2 park AP, don't purchase the 3 park ticket and use it at Volcano Bay. This seems to limit your upgrade possibilities to a 3 park AP.
 
My guess is some guests are asked to show the ap for the hotel discount

Last February and October I had to show my ap and they made a copy of it

And I’m a regular at that hotel and know some of the staff

The power and seasonal ap don’t have the discounts for eateries as the premier and preferred ap

Lower end ap allows discounts for dining at 3 places
One at Cbay, HRC in Citywalk and Island dining room at rpr
 
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