Upgrading APs for Epic Universe in 2025

[whiteness]

We are considering getting Universal Studios Orlando APs now using the "get 3 months free" promotion so that, when it is time to renew, we will be able to add Epic Universe to our APs at a discount to what it would normally cost non-passholders. If we activated a pass in March, it would be up for renewal in June 2025, which is approximately when Epic Universe is slated to open.

Is it likely that Universal will give existing passholders any preferential treatment when the new park opens? For example, passholder previews, discounts or etc?

We currently have Disney World APs, but were seriously considering "switching allegiance" when Epic Universe opens. At least for a year or two. We don't really need APs for both resorts until then, but it might be worthwhile depending on what additional consideration, if any, Universal will give existing APs when the new part opens.

As an aside, does anyone else wish Disney would sell "EPCOT only" APs? That's probably all we'd want or need after Epic Universe opens.

 

[Jessem1133]

We won't know that until much closer to the parks opening date

 

[Smugpugmug]

No one knows anything as of right now. Everything is pure speculation and rumor.

Also yes, I would love an Epcot only AP. Like you, I plan on dropping my Disney AP next year but would be interested in an option for an Epcot only one.

 

[bbeagle]

Is it likely that Universal will give existing passholders any preferential treatment when the new park opens? For example, passholder previews, discounts or etc?

I would guess that Universal might give pass holders something like a preview night or $10 off per day.

It's very unlikely that EPIC will be part of the AP program when it first opens. The parks will be crazy busy, and there is no reason to allow APs to work in EPIC when the parks will be overflowing with people willing to pay $100-$150/day to go there. Probably for the first year or so.

The APs will just work for IOA and US, not EPIC.

 

[saskdw]

I would guess that Universal might give pass holders something like a preview night or $10 off per day.

It's very unlikely that EPIC will be part of the AP program when it first opens. The parks will be crazy busy, and there is no reason to sell APs for that park initially when the parks will be overflowing with people willing to pay $100-$150/day to go there.

The APs will just work for IOA and US, not EPIC.

I'm pretty sure there will be an option to add Epic to your AP for a cost.

 

[DoryGirl1963]

Could definitely see them not having an AP or Express Pass option at all for Epic for a while after opening

I would guess that Universal might give pass holders something like a preview night or $10 off per day.

It's very unlikely that EPIC will be part of the AP program when it first opens. The parks will be crazy busy, and there is no reason to allow APs to work in EPIC when the parks will be overflowing with people willing to pay $100-$150/day to go there. Probably for the first year or so.

The APs will just work for IOA and US, not EPIC.

Agree that this is the most likely scenario - no APs or Express Pass for a while - something like 6 months to a year - after opening (excepting Helios maybe.)

 

[bbeagle]

I'm pretty sure there will be an option to add Epic to your AP for a cost.

APs are a way to add people to the park when they can't fill the park with people purchasing day tickets. I bet there will even be a lottery or some type of queue or reservation system to get tickets to Epic in 2025.

With all the demand, it would be an incredibly stupid move for Universal to allow APs to access Epic in 2025. They will lose tons of money, and make the experience worse for everyone.

 

[saskdw]

APs are a way to add people to the park when they can't fill the park with people purchasing day tickets. I bet there will even be a lottery or some type of queue or reservation system to get tickets to Epic in 2025.

With all the demand, it would be an incredibly stupid move for Universal to allow APs to access Epic in 2025. They will lose tons of money, and make the experience worse for everyone.

If they take the arrogant Disney style approach of maximize profits right now it will impact them down the road IMO.

 

[bbeagle]

If they take the arrogant Disney style approach of maximize profits right now it will impact them down the road IMO.

Universal maximizes profits just like Disney. Their ticket prices are the same or more than Disney. Food prices same. Express-pass prices are much more expensive. The ONLY thing cheaper at Universal are the APs.

For someone out-of-town like me, who can only go once a year, therefore APs don't fit into my equation, Universal is more expensive than Disney.

 

[Smugpugmug]

Universal maximizes profits just like Disney. Their ticket prices are the same or more than Disney. Food prices same. Express-pass prices are much more expensive. The ONLY thing cheaper at Universal are the APs.

If you actually compare similar food items on QS menus, Universal is actually more expensive than Disney. It's a $1-3 difference for various items.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Moreso, charging a premium but allowing the park to become overcrowded is where they will lose loyalty. I don't think there are many people who would complain if they had to buy dated tickets and there was no AP option, and the park was kept at a reasonable level of attendance.

Sure it would be nice to get an AP, but unless it was priced "arrogantly" or it had scads of blackout dates, it would end up diminishing the experience for everyone. I don't see how they could offer Epic APs without it blowing up one direction or the other (or both) - insane price or minimizing the usefulness of the AP won't make them many friends. And I doubt people would be happy if they went the Disney method of selling a few APs and then shutting off sales.

 

[whiteness]

I agree that Epic Universe will be very popular when it first opens. However, I also think Universal seems to want build brand loyalty versus Disney. And I think they will do that, in part, by making their guests/passholders feel valued.

After reading the various opinions in this thread, it occurred to me that Universal could give passholders a limited number of Epic Universe visits per year included in their passes, potentially depending on the pass level. Similar to the free Horror Night pass they give to Premier passholders.

I agree that Universal wouldn't want to allow Epic Universe to become massively overcrowd when it first opens, and ruin everyone's experience. I skipped Horror Nights last year because I personally find the crowd levels unpleasant. Universal obviously makes more money by selling more tickets, food and merchandise, and enough people are willing to tolerate the associated crowd level (otherwise, they wouldn't keep buying tickets.) But it's not for me.

Hopefully, Epic Universe was designed to keep guests from feeling overcrowded even while maintaining high occupancy levels. And, sometimes, a little bit of crowding is OK LOL. I'm really looking forward to experiencing it first-hand.

 

[kbelle8995]

No one knows anything as of right now. Everything is pure speculation and rumor.

Also yes, I would love an Epcot only AP. Like you, I plan on dropping my Disney AP next year but would be interested in an option for an Epcot only one.

Yes i miss that pass. We have gone to the Universal AP. Disney is just too expensive and the planning for it has just gotten to be too much. (This is my personal opinion)

I'm hoping they don't hike up the price too much. Universal has a great selling point if they decide to be the more affordable theme park. It's why we stay at their hotels not Disney. I am really excited for Epic Universe. So I want to go to a three park AP and hope it is reasonably priced.

They could do what they do on newer sections and block the pass at certain times for Epic Universe. My sister has a seasonal pass and certain times of year she may be blocked from one park but she's free to go to another one. I like that about Universal and they could do this at Epic. Block AP there but still let they go to IOA or the Studios but unblock Epic Universe at other times. At Disney when you are blocked YOU ARE BLOCKED. NO parks for YOU.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

when it is time to renew, we will be able to add Epic Universe to our APs at a discount to what it would normally cost non-passholders.

I would treat a Universal AP as just the 2 parks, only make your decision based off of your interest in those 2 existing parks. Don't make a decision based on what you think you might be able to get for Epic (discount, ability to even add on to get access to Epic, etc).

This will prevent you from being disappointed, annoyed, throw criticism towards Universal purely based on the AP program, etc. Then if anything "extra" is announced for existing Passholders it'll be like finding that $20 in your winter coat from last season

 

[Smugpugmug]

Yes i miss that pass. We have gone to the Universal AP. Disney is just too expensive and the planning for it has just gotten to be too much. (This is my personal opinion)

I'm hoping they don't hike up the price too much. Universal has a great selling point if they decide to be the more affordable theme park. It's why we stay at their hotels not Disney. I am really excited for Epic Universe. So I want to go to a three park AP and hope it is reasonably priced.

They could do what they do on newer sections and block the pass at certain times for Epic Universe. My sister has a seasonal pass and certain times of year she may be blocked from one park but she's free to go to another one. I like that about Universal and they could do this at Epic. Block AP there but still let they go to IOA or the Studios but unblock Epic Universe at other times. At Disney when you are blocked YOU ARE BLOCKED. NO parks for YOU.

Universal APs went up last year in price. I 100% expect them to go up again (just like I expect Disney's to go up this year too).

I feel like Epic will not be included with APs so for now I'm fully expecting to have to pay for park tickets. That's why I'm not renewing my Disney AP - that money will go towards Epic.

 

[kbelle8995]

Universal APs went up last year in price. I 100% expect them to go up again (just like I expect Disney's to go up this year too).

I feel like Epic will not be included with APs so for now I'm fully expecting to have to pay for park tickets. That's why I'm not renewing my Disney AP - that money will go towards Epic.

When they opened Volcano Bay they advertised as a third park and you could it have it added to the pass. They might block them during certain periods. Keep in mind that a Disney pass that does all the Preferred AP does at Universal is well over a thousand dollars. So I'm comparing a Preferred to an Incredipass. They do go up but think that Disney pass is at least double what a Universal one is.

At this point we don't know. But if they didn't do it for a park Universal advertised as a third park why would they do it for Epic. They might give AP holders an earlier entry during the soft open. I'm basing all of this on how they have carried out policy in the past.

Part of the reason I love my Universal AP more than Disney is also because I feel appreciated. And I feel that Universal appreciates our Business. Now blocked during the busier times that I could deal with but to be completely blocked, I'm not sure how I would feel.

This is all conjecture at this point. We can't really know what Universal would do at this point

 

[Smugpugmug]

When they opened Volcano Bay they advertised as a third park and you could it have it added to the pass. I don't think that they would do that to their AP holders. They might block them during certain periods. Keep in mind that a Disney pass that does all the Preferred AP does at Universal is well over a thousand dollars. So I'm comparing a Preferred to an Incredipass. They do go up but think that Disney pass is at least double what a Universal one is.

At this point we don't know. But if they didn't do it for a park Universal advertised as a third park why would they do it for Epic. They might give AP holders an earlier entry during the soft open. I'm basing all of this on how they have carried out policy in the past.

Part of the reason I love my Universal AP more than Disney is also because I feel appreciated. And I feel that Universal appreciates our Business. Now blocked during the busier times that I could deal with but to be completely blocked, I'm not sure how I would feel.

This is all conjecture at this point. We can't really know what Universal would do at this point

Yeah, I'm just bracing myself for the worst case scenario so that I won't be upset/disappointed. No one really knows what they're going to do. I will say that I've received surveys from Universal last year pertaining to park reservations. I assume they were trying to gauge guest feedback about that for Epic?

 

[kbelle8995]

Yeah, I'm just bracing myself for the worst case scenario so that I won't be upset/disappointed. No one really knows what they're going to do. I will say that I've received surveys from Universal last year pertaining to park reservations. I assume they were trying to gauge guest feedback about that for Epic?

Prepare for the worst and Hope for the best.

 

[weather_lady]

We already bought (paid in full, so they don't get activated until first use) 2-park Seasonal APs under the current "3 months free" promotion, with no intention of activating/using them until we visit for the first time after Epic Universe has opened (hopefully by August 2025 -- when our onsite hotel stays are already booked).

I'm not really expecting any big passholder perks relative to Epic Universe: in fact, I suspect that even more typical perks, like discounts on rooms at the non-Epic hotels, might be in short supply, as Universal responds to the overall surge in attendance. (This has always been the case before: we could easily find APH hotel discounts when we visited during less-popular times of year, but very rarely when we visited over the popular February break week, and no matter what time of year it was, getting restaurants and other vendors to honor other advertised APH perks was often hit-or-miss.)

However, my reasoning for buying the APs now is: we know we'll want to visit Universal more than once in the year after Epic opens and will want those trips to be multi-day stays, so it makes financial sense to be passholders again to save money on tickets (and hopefully, possibly, on our hotel stays as well). If we're able to upgrade our APs to 3-park APs (to include Epic) later on -- with price bridging -- then we'll save a little money by having bought them early. If we have to pay full price to upgrade them (no price bridging), or if Epic is offered as a standalone ticket that we can't use an AP for anyway, we're essentially in the same position we'd have been otherwise, but we'll still have those extra 3 months for the other 2 parks.

In short, if you can easily afford to do it now, there's no harm in buying the APs ahead, so long as you're paying in full -- with FlexPay, they'd be activated immediately, too early to be of much use at Epic.