Annual Pass holder discount?

kkendle

DIS Veteran
Joined
May 19, 2011
Hello....been a while since my last visit to Universal. I am planning a visit for Jan 2018....likely Jan 4-7. I know the passholder discounts on rooms are not out yet but wondering what they might likely be at that time? I was looking at the rates online for Royal Pacific and they are 479/night for my dates. I am considering getting the annual pass....specifically for the room discount. I will not likely be returning to use the pass again, so would just be for the discount.

We like to stay onsite for the express passes and the early entry. I am wondering thought if it is really worth the extra price of the annual pass over the ticket (about $40 difference) for the room discount. If express won't be needed at the time of our visit then staying at an offsite hotel is an option.

Opinions? Thank you!
 
first of all, you don't need to have an annual pass to book the APH rate

you can wait until (and if) APH rates are released for your stay (prob. 3 or 4 months out) do the maths, and then get your AP. As long as you show a valid AP during your stay, you're good to go.

your best bet would be to book at the current rate (SMSM or Seasonnal) to lock a price in, then get your rate adjusted when (if) APH becomes available. Then get the AP if needed.

APH discount could be anywhere in the 10 - 30% range. But the AP discount might also not get you a better price overall. It will depend on the type of rooms that get discounted. For example, you could get an AP discount on a Water view, but not on a standard. So the end price will not be as low as you could imagine by making simulations right now, but you could end up with a view for slightly less than a standard.

there is no way of knowing if, and what, will be offered, if anything is offered at all.
 
Thanks for the reply. I knew I didn't need the annual pass to book the reservation but just wondered if anyone knew what the rates usually are during that time frame. I would just need a standard double queen room...I never go for the upgrades. The $479/night price now makes me think that best case scenario the discounted rate would be more than I want to pay. I was thinking we booked a discounted rate...same type room a couple of years ago around $200 but maybe that was a nice dream I had....haha. I will definitely wait to book anything.

If I were to go ahead and buy the ticket now..I was going to buy a buy 2 get the 3rd day free for $262.62, I could upgrade to the annual pass at the park if I decided to go ahead with the room reservation right?
 
I would just need a standard double queen room...

currently, I'm looking at dates for my upcoming stay (august) , and at RPR for the dates selected, APH only covers king suites at $328 + tax discounted rate (reg. $469) no standard.
that's a 30% discount but as mentionned above, the APH might not cover the type of room you're looking for.

If I were to go ahead and buy the ticket now..I was going to buy a buy 2 get the 3rd day free for $262.62, I could upgrade to the annual pass at the park if I decided to go ahead with the room reservation right?

yes but there's no way of knowing how much they'll give you for your tickets towards the purchase of an AP
 


Good points. Any idea how crowded that time frame is? I looked at a crowd calendar and they are estimating low. Maybe we won't need express. Maybe Cabana Bay will have some lower rates and we would at least get early entry. I have never been there or taken the shuttle bus but I would hope they would have an early one for the early entry.

Thanks again.
 
We are looking at 1/5/18-1/8/18. I wasn't too concerned with the crowds and was also considering CBBR as we stayed before and my boys loved it. Once they announced the Harry Potter Christmas event which ends 1/6, I started questioning everything. I'm hoping that with Christmas and New Years over, people won't have the desire to go and all who wanted to see the HP xmas will already have gone...
 
We are looking at 1/5/18-1/8/18. I wasn't too concerned with the crowds and was also considering CBBR as we stayed before and my boys loved it. Once they announced the Harry Potter Christmas event which ends 1/6, I started questioning everything. I'm hoping that with Christmas and New Years over, people won't have the desire to go and all who wanted to see the HP xmas will already have gone...

I didn't know the Christmas stuff was still going on until the 6th. Hope that doesn't affect crowds much since we are most likely staying offsite due to the price. We are spending 6 days at Disney afterwards and decided to do Universal first because of the marathon going on at Disney. We figured that would affect the crowds there. Good luck!
 


That sounds high. We checked in to RPR 1/10/16 for 7 nights at $161 per night. Stay More Save More rate.
 
That sounds high. We checked in to RPR 1/10/16 for 7 nights at $161 per night. Stay More Save More rate.
The longer you stay, the lower the rate. Stay more save more is often cheaper than the AP discount. I'm there one night in January. RPR is listed as $454 per night right now. Too rich for my blood. I'm at Cabana Bay but am hoping for an AP discount.
 
That sounds high. We checked in to RPR 1/10/16 for 7 nights at $161 per night. Stay More Save More rate.
Maybe closer to the time they will offer a better discount. $479 is way too high for me but I would definitely do it for $161.
 
OP Checkout last year's date & rate thread for an idea of what others wound up paying that time frame.
 
OP Checkout last year's date & rate thread for an idea of what others wound up paying that time frame.

Thanks...I did just did that. Hopeful there will some kind of discount. Wanting to go Jan. 4-7-17. The next weekend is a better rate when I look now but looking to avoid the Disney marathon crowds so doing Universal first.
 
We are booked at the Portofino for 1/1/18-1/6/18. We are expecting (or at least hoping) APH rates to be available later in the year. We have traveled during this time frame several times before and have always had APH rates become available for that time period.
 
We are booked at the Portofino for 1/1/18-1/6/18. We are expecting (or at least hoping) APH rates to be available later in the year. We have traveled during this time frame several times before and have always had APH rates become available for that time period.
Do you remember about what you paid before? Maybe I should go ahead and book it...can always cancel.
 
Do you remember about what you paid before? Maybe I should go ahead and book it...can always cancel.
It was in the low 200's per night. Our current reservation is $441 SMSM. I will be thrilled if the APH rate goes down to the 200's again.

edited to update our actual Jan 18 rate after looking at my dashboard.
 
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It was in the low 200's per night. Off the top of my head, our current reservation is for the high $400s/night. I will be thrilled if the APH rate goes down to the 200's again.
I hear ya! RPR is $479/night for our dates right now. Difficult to justify that price.
 
I stayed at rpr the past two January's
And found rates were better after the first week

Jan 7 is when my rate dropped

4 years back started reservation January 3 and nothing for ap out for it

If I remember correctly, ap rates came out late October that year
And room rates were better around the 6-7
If those dates fall on Friday or Saturday, wait to Sunday to start for a better rate
 
I stayed at rpr the past two January's
And found rates were better after the first week

Jan 7 is when my rate dropped

4 years back started reservation January 3 and nothing for ap out for it

If I remember correctly, ap rates came out late October that year
And room rates were better around the 6-7
If those dates fall on Friday or Saturday, wait to Sunday to start for a better rate

Thanks for the input. I was booking the Universal days on the front end of the trip....we will arrive Thurs. Jan. 4th and was planning on being in the parks Fri, Sat. and Sun and then going to Disney for the rest of the week. I was doing that to avoid the marathon crowds at Disney but then realized that the next weekend was MLK weekend. We would likely only be there on Sat. for that weekend. Do you think it would be better to switch it around and go to Disney the 4th-10th and then going to UO the 11th, 12th, and 13th? That would be a Thurs-Sat....and also MLK weekend?
 

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