Universal raises price of higher tier APs

[naman1221]

Saw this posted elsewhere..glad I bought mine last month prior to the price jump. We are activating next month on our trip.

The Preferred for out of state went from 539 to 629.

The Premier for out of state went from 739 to 905.

https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/us/tickets-packages/annual-passes/promo

 

[chad_1138]

Gotta pay for the new park!

We are from Indiana, and bought Premeir last summer (activated middle of July). Coming down in June to get a 2nd 10 day trip out of them. Won't be renewing (not because we don't love UO - we do! - but we won't be able to be back for a few years). Probably get them again after Epic is open for a year and do a couple trips.

 

[mamapenguin]

Saw this posted elsewhere..glad I bought mine last month prior to the price jump. We are activating next month on our trip.

The Preferred for out of state went from 539 to 629.

The Premier for out of state went from 739 to 905.

https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/us/tickets-packages/annual-passes/promo

Me too. I bought last weekend for my trip next month. People were speculating that this might happen to coincide with WDW resuming AP sales to the general public. I paid $754.99, with tax it was $804.06

 

[HashberryOTG]

To be fair, new gate, I get it and expected it. Seeing the actual numbers is a little painful though. That's quite a jump.

 

[Lynne G]

I just renewed my out of state premiere and laid $804.50, a few minutes ago. I end next week. Was going to wait until May to pay, as have 30 days after expiration to get that 20 off deal. Glad I got in before they raised the price.

 

[Chi35364]

Wow! I feel like just a few yrs ago a preferred pass was like $450. USO just keeps raising it every year. getting out of hand! This is a fairly large jump. $90 for Preferred.

 

[Skywalker3]

Ugh. Procrastination has burned me agsin. Been meaning to buy APs for my son and me all this past week, since we bought our Disney APs finally last Thursday..... Waited too dang long. Bummer….

eta, just plunked down the extra money and bought them, in case they do this again before June, Ha! knew they'd have some sort of response to Disney finally selling them again...
woulda, coulda, shoulda .....

 

[Squirlz]

Glad I renewed in December! I had to choose to renew so we would be covered for next December's trip, or roll the dice and hope it didn't increase before I bought new. So since I did renew I booked an 8-day birthday trip for September!

 

[keishashadow]

The Preferred for out of state went from 539 to 629.

The Premier for out of state went from 739 to 905.

https://www.universalorlando.com/web/en/us/tickets-packages/annual-passes/promo

anyone know the new renewal prices for 2 park? Don’t think we have to renew any until July, probably should check

we only need the 2 park APs, no interest in VB Nor concerns re parking as we stay onsite & pay for parking at the hotels.

Have often bought the lower tier U ones if we won’t be visiting during the black out dates. spur of the moment, if we do, just upgrade at GS.

other times we just buy one preferred for dining discount & the rest stay seasonal.

can’t remember which is AP lowest tier to get:

1. the hotel discount

2. dining discount (doesn’t really matter much to us as we mostly eat offsite), for others a good perk.

if it helps lessen any pain here , I’ve just purchased a sorcerer pass renewal at WDW…$867. Need to pick up another in a few days. Ouch.

However, It does appear as tho U is starting to challenge the market. Will be very interesting to see how this plays out once the new park opens.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

All APs get the same hotel discounts.

You have to bump up to the Preferred for the typical food/merch discounts. Although there are a few misc places that have discounts for lower tier, or occasionally during AP appreciation there may be discounts for lower tiers (they also increase the discount for the higher tiers to keep it fair).

 

[drenalin'junkie]

IME, the higher the pass tier the more swag and benefits.
That being said, it may take a few trips to recognize and savings.
We save quite a bit over other tiers in all parks with UO being better than DW but not as reward heavy as SW/BG.
Disney started prioritizing out of town inclusive visitors over AP and FL residents a few years ago and it was a disincentive to go as often.
We typically spend around 30 days in parks a year and saving are always more than the initial ticket price. Were going anyway so maximized ROI is a bonus.

 

[HopperFan]

UGH. DS#2 keeps his Universal constant. DS#1 and I rotate a few years with, a few without. We expired last summer and I was looking to get again this summer. NOPE, I think this was my sign. (We get Preferred because with parking it makes sense).

To be fair, new gate, I get it and expected it. Seeing the actual numbers is a little painful though. That's quite a jump.

Yeah well this is just the easement of what will likely be a HUGE jump with the third gate. I would guess the rate will jump up closer to Premier prices. If you are like us with multiple brand annual passes, folks might have to make a choice between them. Especially those of us who are not local and can't go randomly & regularly.

 

[shh]

pondering stepping down to seasonal pass to save some cash, since we don't live locally. Am I hallucinating or did they allow seasonal holders to attend the Dec holiday concert (Manheim Steamroller) for the first time last year (2022)? Normally that's blocked out for seasonal - but if they're going to start allowing it, we wouldn't miss much else.

 

[AuroraluvsPhillip]

Yeah, I was planning to upgrade my seasonal to preferred next month, as that's what I had prior to the pandemic and I really liked the discounts. But now, I probably won't. Guess they're figuring all the Disney converts will pay because it's still less than Disney AP's.

 

[greeneyedchick]

UGH. DS#2 keeps his Universal constant. DS#1 and I rotate a few years with, a few without. We expired last summer and I was looking to get again this summer. NOPE, I think this was my sign. (We get Preferred because with parking it makes sense).


Yeah well this is just the easement of what will likely be a HUGE jump with the third gate. I would guess the rate will jump up closer to Premier prices. If you are like us with multiple brand annual passes, folks might have to make a choice between them. Especially those of us who are not local and can't go randomly & regularly.

We buy 1 preferred for the parking privilege and the lower tier for everyone else.

 

[HopperFan]

We buy 1 preferred for the parking privilege and the lower tier for everyone else.

We did that once, but the block out dates didn't work for us at the time. I think now we could probably work with the Power Pass. It will be interesting to see if EPIC has more block out dates than the other parks.

 

[iona]

Wow! I feel like just a few yrs ago a preferred pass was like $450. USO just keeps raising it every year. getting out of hand! This is a fairly large jump. $90 for Preferred.

You’re not wrong - in August 2020 it was $464 (and it was 15 months for the price of 12).

 

[keishashadow]

Yeah, I was planning to upgrade my seasonal to preferred next month, as that's what I had prior to the pandemic and I really liked the discounts. But now, I probably won't. Guess they're figuring all the Disney converts will pay because it's still less than Disney AP's.

We have a winner!

Can’t blame them swinging for the fences on the price increase. If too many regulars balk might add on an extra month or three extra promo to ‘save face’

 

[wdwrule]

Looks like they just started saving face a little from this article: (apparently if you spend a certain amount on qualifying merch, you’ll receive a digital coupon to use the following day… now through July 15)

https://twitter.com/x/status/1650602789792260101

 

[mamapenguin]

I hope this is available next month. I need to replace a well loved Hogwart’s hoodie and I’m sure there’s other stuff that I will need…
I just read the dates: yay!!