ticket media questions

[KyGirl]

We are planning to be in Universal for our first trip for four days starting Sunday, January 19. I have not bought tickets yet although I was planning to buy them online in the next couple days. I've been holding out hoping that there would be a different deal than the current buy 2 parks, get the 3rd for free because we aren't planning to do the water park. That deal is basically worthless for us. It appears that I'm out of luck on that though.

I just had a sudden realization that should have been obvious though. We have done Disney for years and years and always ordered tickets on Undercover Tourist. They would either come in the mail or email and then I would add them to our MDE accounts. Before the days of magic bands I waited until we got to the hotel and then added the tickets to our Keys to the World. So now I'm wondering, is there any equivalent to this with Universal tickets or will we be carrying around paper with tickets printed from an email? This seems to have disaster written all over it!

Also, we are spending one of the nights at RPR to get the two days of Express Passes. It is my understanding that the hotel key is our express pass. Is that correct? So we need a system to pull out these room keys at every ride?

Is there something that people usually do to help with this problem?

Thanks for any advice!

 

[TommyJK]

The big paper tickets you print at home can be exchanged at guest services for smaller credit card sized ones.

As for ease of use, many people use lanyards to hold their ticket (facing one side) and their room key which is your express pass (facing the other way).

This way you don't need to dig out your tickets when park hopping, or room key for EP.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

For your tickets, exchanging the printed paper for the normal size official ticket at guest services is easiest, as TommyJK said.

You can also upload them to the UO App to carry them electronically, but then it'd be a good idea to have the paper version with you as back-up.

 

[jpkkld]

UC is a great place to buy tickets. We’ve used them every trip for the past 5 years and upgrade to annual passes every other trip.

You can order paper tickets, which will come in the mail. They’re flimsy, waxed paper, but would hold up to water for a bit.

Or you can opt for email tickets. This is what I did for our recent trip. I had access to PDF tickets on line, which I shared with my family members. I also printed duplicates of each ticket, and trimmed them to credit card size. We ended up using the paper versions exclusively (out of habit I suppose) but if they got soaked, we each a had a digital barcode available. And I had paper copies back in the room as backup.

Many folks at USO use a lanyard to hold their documents: ticket (barcode) on one side, Express Pass/room key (barcode) on the other. The ticket is only needed when entering a park (this includes the Hogwarts train). But the EP is used constantly - it get scanned or views multiple times for each ride. not fun to have to take it out of a pocket 20-30 times a day!

The lanyards themselves are also fun - they come in lots of USO designs and each person can pick one that “speaks” to them. We have a collection now, since so many have been used as a gift to signify the next trip.

One thing we do is buy the plastic pockets ahead of time. We get the ziploc style that keeps contents dry. We also wedge our ID and credit card between the 2 passes, so we don’t have to worry about cards falling out of pockets.

 

[KyGirl]

The lanyards themselves are also fun - they come in lots of USO designs and each person can pick one that “speaks” to them. We have a collection now, since so many have been used as a gift to signify the next trip.

One thing we do is buy the plastic pockets ahead of time. We get the ziploc style that keeps contents dry. We also wedge our ID and credit card between the 2 passes, so we don’t have to worry about cards falling out of pockets.

Where do you buy the pockets ahead of time? Then should we wait until we are there to choose lanyards? I found them on universals website but we leave in ten days. Those might not arrive in time.

 

[jpkkld]

We buy the pockets from Amazon, but I remember it took a few searches - they aren’t called “lanyard pockets” or anything easy to guess.

Some folks can get them at their local Offixe Depot or Staples, but we’re in a rural area and our stores don’t carry them. The websites probably have them.

Lanyards can be purchased from the Universal store, Amazon, eBay, Etsy... or buy them there (hotel, Citiwalk, and many park shops carry them) We always like to start our 1st day at park opening, and we wouldn’t want to delay our start for a shopping trip, but other families like to start that way.

 

[KyGirl]

I can't believe I'm asking such a specific dumb question but is it better for the pockets to hang longways or sideways? Does it matter?

Amazon is asking us to choose.

 

[jpkkld]

There are no dumb questions!

We like vertical, but if you have a long lanyard and a short torso, horizontal may be more comfortable.

 

[Bibbidy Bobbidy Boo]

You can also save $11 and go to the Party Store, and they had Marvel superheroes, and Minions ones for one dollar!!! They are $12 in the park!! I already had a pack of the plastic sleeves from Disney days with the paper fast passes, so I attached one to each lanyard for my son and wife who going on Tue, and gave them a couple extras in case they tear.