How to Decide if a Universal Studios Annual Pass is Worth It

I am a huge fan of memberships and annual passes so it makes sense that I would consider a Universal Season Pass too!  We’ve purchased memberships for all sorts of places like zoos, science centers, amusement parks and botanical gardens.  In most cases, if you visit these places just two times during the year, you get your money’s worth—Universal is no exception. 

Comparing Costs: Tickets vs. Annual Passes

Before deciding on what’s best for your family, do your homework.  Compare the price of tickets to that of an annual pass.  Depending on the number of days you plan to spend at Universal, an annual pass may be a cheaper option right out of the gate.  In most cases though, an annual pass will cost you a bit more; however, it will likely more than pay for itself in just two trips.  Check out how we saved!

Annual Pass Options

Universal has both 2 park and 3 park Annual Passes. Two Park includes Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios, whereas the 3 park adds on Volcano Bay. There are also four tiers of passes, Season, Power, Preferred and Premier. 

The Season pass is the lowest tier, which has the least extra “perks” and the most blockout dates, while the Premier pass is the top tier and comes with lots of extra perks an no blockout dates.  You can see a full breakdown of what is included for each pass on Universal’s website.

Since we’re from Ohio and knew we wouldn’t be using our passes during the blockout dates, the lowest, two-park, tier was the best value for our family.  What I really like about Universal’s Season passes is that the START DATE is the date your tickets are ACTIVATED, which is your first day in the park.  It’s NOT the day you purchase them!  So the sooner you buy them, the more likely you’ll save since the cost of annual passes do increase throughout the year.

For our family, the cost of a full year of Seasonal Passes was about $518 more than purchasing 5-day passes.  That’s about the cost of 1 day at Universal for our family.  Paying just a little more allows us to come back to the parks again and again for the next year, which is a win in my book!  Plus, that cost even included one of the higher-tier, Preferred passes, which gives us extra perks like free parking and 10% off food and merchandise!  Read on to see how we saved even more as annual passholders.

Annual Passholder Benefits

Extra perks are pretty common for most memberships and Universal offers some great ones!  No matter what tier of pass you have, Universal Passholders get special hotel rates.  There are eight hotels on property, including value, moderate and premium options.  We saved several hundred dollars on our trips throughout the year by getting these cheaper rates.

We have stayed at seven of the eight Universal Hotels and I can tell you that all of their hotels are fantastic.  I would highly recommend staying on-site if you can because you get quick, easy and free transportation to the parks, PLUS early entry to at least one of the parks each day. 

Annual Passholder: Preferred Pass ADDED Benefits

Remember I mentioned that we purchased four Seasonal Passes and then just ONE Preferred Pass?  Although the Preferred Pass was about $100 more, it more than paid for itself in parking alone!  Preferred Passholders get free parking (ONCE PASS IS ACTIVATED), at Universal’s Citywalk which is the hub to both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure.  Daily parking is $27, but we paid nothing when we had a rental car because we used our Preferred Pass!

The other huge benefit of the Preferred Pass is food and merchandise discount.  With the Preferred Pass, you save 10% on almost all restaurants and retail shops in Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Citywalk and even some of the shops and restaurants in the hotels.

Ten percent may not seem like a lot, but it adds up FAST!  For our family of five, we spent anywhere between $150-$200/day on food.  We typically ate a light breakfast at our hotel, grabbed lunch at a quick-service stand and had a sit-down dinner.  Over the course of five days, we saved between $75 and $100 with our Preferred Passholder Discount.  Plus, our kids all purchased some souvenirs so we saved 10% for those items too.

Where to Stay

Universal has plenty of options when it comes to accommodations.  There are three Premium resorts, three Moderate resorts and two Value resorts.  We’ve stayed at all but one of them and they all have something to offer.  Since our family focuses on budget travel, let’s start with the Value Resorts.

VALUE RESORTS: Surfside & Dockside

Surfside and Dockside are Universal’s newest resorts and they are a great option for larger families!  We can still get away with staying in a room with two queen beds; however, having a third bed is really ideal for our family.  Surfside and Dockside both offer suites with two queen beds, a fridge, microwave and dining area PLUS a separate bedroom.  At non-peak times, these rooms are extremely affordable.  We went in December 2022 and paid $110/weeknight and $168/weekend night in the suite.

Because these hotels are on Universal Property, you get early park admission and free shuttle service to and from the park all day!  Shuttles are pretty quick too—we never waited more than 10-15 minutes.

Another perk with these two hotels is that you can stay at one, but play at both.  For instance, Dockside has two pools and Surfside has one.  If you’re staying at Surfside, you can walk over to Dockside and swim in their pools!  Just check in with the front desk and they’ll make sure you have access.

Our Favorite VALUE Resort

If I had to choose between the two, I would go with Dockside.  Both hotels are very similar, but I liked Dockside’s set up for their food court dining better.  I feel like we got served quicker than at Surfside.  In addition, Dockside has those two pool options versus the one at Surfside.

BOTTOM LINE: Would we stay here again?

ABSOLUTELY!  These hotels are super affordable and offer suites for larger families.  Their food options are also reasonably priced!  My husband and I aren’t big breakfast eaters, but we like to start our day with something small.  We split a kid’s meal every day!  It came with a biscuit, eggs, sausage and a drink for around $7.  There are plenty of other options too—pancakes, waffles, fruit, pastries, etc. Food is served all-day too so you can grab lunch or dinner at a great price as well!

MODERATE RESORTS: Adventura, Cabana Bay & Sapphire Falls

Adventura, Cabana Bay and Sapphire Falls are moderately-priced resorts and all offer their own unique perks.  Adventura is the only hotel we have not stayed at so I can’t speak to that one, but we loved the others.

Cabana Bay

We’ve stayed at Cabana Bay several times and it’s our kids’ all-time favorite hotel.  It has a 50-60’s theme and offers some fun extras.  You’ll enjoy multiple pools (one with a waterslide), hot tub, lazy river, splash area and fire pit.  Inside offers a bowling alley and arcade, food court dining and now even a Malt shoppe.  Plus, it’s still affordable!  We stayed here in mid-January and paid around $120/night for a larger family room.

The family rooms at Cabana Bay are not as large as the ones at the Value Resorts, but they still offer three beds.  These rooms have two queen beds and a sleeper sofa, along with a kitchenette with sink and fridge making them great for families of 5 or 6. 

Food court dining is similar to those at the value resorts, except there is a bit more offered here.  And no matter which resort you stay at, you can always opt to purchase a reusable cup to use for your entire stay.  The cup gets you unlimited refills for the days purchased.

Since Cabana Bay is a resort property, you can take the free shuttle to and from the park.  In addition, you can also use the walking path to Citywalk or Volcano Bay.  It only takes about 15 minutes to walk to Citywalk–plus you skip the long lines at security.

Sapphire Falls

Sapphire Falls is a gorgeous resort with a beautiful pool.  It’s modern and upscale looking with a restaurant, small food court and bars.  The added benefit to this hotel is that it’s serviced by both bus and boat.  When you’re coming back from a long day in the park, having a boat option just saves on that extra walking, which is a bonus in my book!  This one is a little more than Cabana, but not by much.  We stayed here on a Monday in December and paid $163 for the night.

Our Favorite MODERATE Resort

If I had to choose between these resorts, I’d go with Cabana Bay!  It just has so much to offer for our kids so it’s a no-brainer for us!  However, if my husband and I were doing a trip by ourselves, Sapphire Falls would be my pick!  I love the look and feel of this hotel and I am a huge fan of the boat shuttle!

BOTTOM LINE: Would we stay here again?

HECK YEAH!! These resorts are wonderful!  Plus, you really can’t beat the early park admission and free shuttles.  And as an added benefit, if you stay at any of these moderate resorts, you can play at the others OR the premium resorts!  I am totally down for a day of pool hopping!

PREMIUM RESORTS: Hard Rock, Portofino Bay & Royal Pacific

These three hotels are definitely more costly than the other resorts; however, they offer a really great benefit—Express Passes!  The cost of Express Passes vary, but I’ve seen them around $130/person/day.  For our family of five, one day of Express Passes would cost us over $650—and that’s not including a hotel! 

Hard Rock

We stayed at Hard Rock in December (Sunday) and paid $290/night for our room.  What’s awesome is that when you stay at any of the Premium hotels, you get Express passes for BOTH the Check-in AND Check-out days!  Talk about a HUGE savings!  And you can check in at 6am if you want so you can use your express passes as soon as the park opens, also taking advantage of early park admission!

Another awesome feature of Hard Rock is that you can walk right to Universal Studios in about 5 minutes using the walking path!  They also have boat and bus service, although I’ll warn that bus service to the premium hotels is quite a bit slower than using the boat or walking.

Royal Pacific

Over the summer, we stayed at Royal Pacific.  The cost of our room was about $500/night, BUT we opted for their “Club” level.  All of the premium hotels offer Club level rooms, but they get snagged up fast because they offer some added benefits!

In order to get to the Club floors, you need to use your room key.  Once on the Club floor, you have access to the Club area, which offers unlimited snacks throughout the day, plus breakfast, dinner and cocktails, and a dessert hour later in the evening.  It’s open all day with access to pop, and an espresso/coffee machine, as well as games and snacks.

The Club-level room was about $120 more than a non-Club level room in August, but we were able to easily justify that added cost.  Our family spends about $100 on dinner alone, plus three growing boys can put down some snacks!  We just made sure we ate in the club that entire day, rather than at the park so we got our money’s worth.  Plus, you have access to club level as soon as you check in as well as until 2pm the day you check out! 

I think Club level was a great benefit for our one day stay, but I don’t know if we’d get as much use out of it on subsequent days.  Sometimes it’s easier to just be at the park and since dinner and dessert are served at specific times, I’m not sure we’d make it back to the hotel every day at that same time to use the benefit.

Portofino Bay

My husband and I stayed at Portofino Bay on a trip without the kiddos.  The hotel was beautiful–it’s like a scene out of Italy.  The pool areas were nice and rooms were large. We had dinner at Trattoria del Porto and really enjoyed the patio seating overlooking the water.

Our Favorite PREMIUM Resort

I don’t know which of the three I’d choose—the kids said they liked Royal Pacific the best.  My favorite was probably Portofino–simply for the vibe and decor.   Honestly, they are all nice hotels and offer boat service and walking paths.  I would probably choose the one that was the cheapest for the time we needed!

BOTTOM LINE: Would we stay here again?

YOU BET!  Once we got a taste of having express passes, we’ve added a one-night stay to every other trip this year!  You just can’t beat having two days of express passes!  Although they don’t currently work on Velocicoaster or Hagrids, express passes are still so worth it!  Wait times are pretty short for every other ride, which is such a huge benefit!  If you have only one or two days to spend at the parks, I highly recommend paying the extra and staying at one of the premium hotels just to get the perk!

Value, Moderate or Premium–Which is the best?

Honestly, you really can’t go wrong with any of the Universal hotels!  If you’re really looking to keep your costs low, then the Value Resorts are going to be your best option.  Not only do they offer the most cost-effective prices, but having those larger rooms with a fridge and microwave can save your family even more if you pack lunches and snacks rather than purchasing all your meals.  And having the inexpensive dining option right in the hotel for meals or snacks is a huge bonus.

If you want the best of both worlds, I suggest staying at least one night at a Premium resort just so you have access to those express passes.  We’d likely stay at either Cabana Bay or Dockside for the majority of our trip and then one night at whatever premium resort offered the best price.

Benefits of staying at a Universal hotel

Early Park Admission

Remember, those added perks of onsite hotels may not save you money, but they save you time, which in the end is just as valuable.  Early Park Admission is such an amazing offer.  If you can get your family to get up and get to the parks an hour before the public gets there, you will be amazed at how much you can accomplish before the parks start filling up.

One of the biggest suggestions I have goes against what everyone else will tell you: skip Hagrid’s first thing in the morning!  Because everyone is running straight to Hagrids, the line is excruciatingly long first thing in the morning–unless you’re capable of being in line super early and RUNNING to the line.

As of late, Islands has been the park with Early Park Admission, but sometimes both parks have it.  If you’re going to Islands, I suggest heading to Hogsmeade and riding Forbidden Journey, Flight of the Hippogriff and then Velocicoaster.  You can get these three rides done before the park even opens to the public. 

Then when it does open to the public, do Hulk, Spiderman, Dr. Doom and Skull Island.  Since everyone tends to run to Hogsmeade when the park opens, the rides on the other side of the park typically have shorter lines.

The other option is to head over to Universal Studios right at park opening because their lines are also typically shorter since all of the hotel guests are still in Islands of Adventure.  You can easily get a few rides done before the crowds start rolling in.  Usually around 10-11am is when the parks start to get crowded.  So if you can get there early, you can really avoid the crowds and long wait times!

Free Shuttle

And don’t forget about the FREE transportation to/from your hotel to Citywalk! Shuttles are quick and depending on which hotel you stay at, you may have a variety of options from a bus to a boat or even walking path! When you use a park with a boat or walking path, you also skip the long lines at security!

Although some offsite hotels do offer free shuttles, they are typically not as consistent as Universal Studios’ transportation. They may only run at certain times or you need to schedule with the front desk. Universal makes it easy to hop on a shuttle, mid-day, and enjoy some pool time at your hotel. This came in handy on the day we decided to ride water rides! We were able to ride the rides and head back to our room to get changed into dry clothes. No need to use the air dryers!

Booking Tips

When you’re a passholder, you are able to find your special passholder rates by using the UAOP link right off the main page of the Universal website.  And whether you’re a passholder or not, you can always book your hotel as soon as you begin planning your trip. 

There is a deposit of the first night’s room total when booking; however, you can typically cancel your booking up to 5 days before your stay for a full refund.  This is helpful because prices fluctuate and you can always book a new reservation if you find a better price and cancel your original.  I suggest keeping an eye on prices because I’ve been able to re-book several times for a cheaper price!

As a Passholder, you do NOT need to have your pass activated in order to make the reservations for your stay using the passholder discounts.  We booked our hotel months before our stay and were able to take advantage of the passholder rates.  Just be prepared to show your pass when checking in, if asked.

Other Tips

Paying with Gift Cards

Did you know that you can pay for almost everything for your trip with a Universal Gift Card?  Our local grocery store in Ohio is Giant Eagle, which has a fuel perks program that allows us to earn free fuel by shopping at the store.  I have purchased gift cards for most of our trips because I was able to “double dip” and save by earning fuel perks and cash back on my credit card.  You can read all about how I use my credit cards to save money in this post!

I have paid for our hotel, season passes, food and merchandise with gift cards.  When you book your hotel, you’ll pay for the first night’s deposit on your credit card.  Then once you get to the hotel, you can pay for the balance on gift cards. 

If you do purchase gift cards to use on your season passes, just know that you can’t use your gift cards to purchase your passes online—you have to redeem them at the gate. 

Photopass

Photopass allows you to purchase a digital photo package for your trip. This photopass includes both ride photos as well as photos taken by photographers around the park.

As passholders, you also have the ability to purchase a photo pass that lasts for the ENTIRE year.  It’s around $150, but you can only purchase it at the park.  Just don’t forget to show your Preferred Pass to save that extra 10%! 

When we went in the beginning of 2022, there weren’t very many photographers out—other than at the front gate.  However, by the end of 2022 when we went at Christmas, there were quite a few photographers scattered throughout the parks.  For us, we like to get a few good pictures of the five of us.  I am always snapping pictures of the kids, but we rarely get pictures of all of us.  This package allows us to capture those moments so it’s something I splurge on.

Seaonal Offerings

We loved getting to see the parks during various seasons.  Mardi Gras was a blast!  We’re foodies so the food tasting was right up our alley; plus, the parade and overall vibe made it even better.  Passholders could also take advantage of discounted food gift cards, which was a nice benefit.

And who couldn’t love Christmas with the Grinch?!  Meeting the Grinch was on my bucket list so I was over the moon when we had our chance.  And Earl the Squirrel was so adorable too! The shows and decorations just added to the holiday atmosphere making it one of my favorite times to go.

Military Families

When we went on our last trip in December, my sister and nieces decided to meet us there.  My brother-in-law is in the Air Force and Universal offers an amazing deal to Military families so I suggested my sister check it out.  You’re able to get a year+ pass for an incredibly low price with hardly any blockout dates.  You don’t get all the same Passholder perks like free parking or discounted food, but the price of the pass is significantly less, which more than makes up for it.

I highly suggest taking a look at this option if it applies to you.  They are typically valid from Veteran’s Day through December 31^st of the following year.  So depending on when you’re planning to go, see when makes the most sense to buy it!  My sister bought hers in early December of this year and has until the end of 2023 to use it as much as they want!  You can see all the details about the pass here.

What to bring to the park

Fanny Pack

Now that our kids are older, we no longer have a stroller to carry all of our stuff.  And the last thing I want to do is carry around a backpack all day!  My new go-to is a fanny pack!

Listen fanny packs are making a comeback—and even if they weren’t, I’d still wear one at the park!  First off, most rides allow three-prong fanny packs to be worn, which means you don’t have to worry about finding a locker to stash it when you ride.  Second, you can fit just about everything you need—phone, keys, money, etc.   

On rides that don’t allow you to bring bags, Universal does have free lockers to use while you’re waiting in the queue line.  However, these lockers are pretty small so they won’t hold anything much bigger than a fanny pack.  If you need a larger locker, you’d have to purchase those for each ride or leave your backpack in a locker at the front of the park.

Re-Useable Cup + Cupholder

We also carry our Universal re-useable cup and cupholder.  It’s important to stay hydrated so whether you carry a Universal cup or one of your own, you can fill them with water at any of the Coca-Cola freestyle machines for free. 

Re-useable cups cost around $17 initially and give you unlimited pop and Icee refills for the day at kiosks around the park and in Citywalk (note that these cups are different than the hotel ones).  If you want to get unlimited refills on subsequent days, you can get your cup reactivated for around $10.

The cupholder is a super-helpful addition and one that I highly recommend.  The cup fits nicely inside and there is a strap that allows you to wear it like a crossbody.  I ordered ours from Gambuca Designs, which has a variety of designs to fit your style.  Use code: EVERYWHERETHEYROAM to save 5% on your order!

Phone Lanyard

My phone is my camera when we’re at the parks. I don’t want to lug around my digital SLR at an amusement park so I use my Google Pixel 6 for photos. It’s takes amazing pictures and lets me quickly remove people from the background! I bought this lanyard from Amazon so I didn’t have to worry about dropping it. This is seriously been one of my favorite purchases yet!

Season Pass Lanyard

Lanyards are great for keeping your season pass, photopass and hotel key/express pass readily available. I purchased these lanyards from Amazon, which work perfectly. It saves me from having to search for these items in my fanny pack. Plus, you can wear your lanyard on every ride.

Extras

Some additional things I keep in my fanny pack include medicine, sanitizer, sunglasses and the cheap plastic ponchos if rain is expected.  And if your phone dies quickly, I would suggest bringing a small power bank so you always have a charge!  And since I am always cold, I usually have a light jacket or sweatshirt either on or wrapped around my waist! Even on the hottest days, those indoor line queues get COLD!

BOTTOM LINE: Would we buy Annual Passes again?

We TOTALLY would! Although our annual passes were about $518 more than tickets, they were more than worth it.

Let’s take a look at what we saved on just our FIRST trip of the year by using our Passholder discounts. Our Passholder discount, saved us about $150 on our 3-night hotel stay at Cabana Bay. Plus, we saved another $150 on food and $100 on parking with our ONE upgraded Preferred Pass. That means the extra $518 we spent on our season passes, only ended up being about $118 extra when we factored in our additional savings.

Plan a second trip and watch those savings continue to add up!

Our Second Home

We love to see new places, so we typically don’t take the same trips over and over; however, we had a blast this year at Universal.  It became a second home for us. Prior to this year, we went to Universal in 2019. When you go somewhere for the first time, you want to see and do everything, and become exhausted in the process. This year was so much more relaxed for us, plus, we experienced things we didn’t even know existed.

We also got to watch our kids really grow and face their fears.  My oldest son started out riding just the smaller rides on our first trip.  We tried all week to get him on the coasters and even on the days he mustered up the confidence to ride, he ended up chickening out. 

On our second trip, he finally faced fear head on, making Velocicoaster the first ride of the day!  After that, he was SOLD on coasters and rode them all! I’m sure it won’t be long before we’re planning another trip to Universal!

Ready for your trip to Universal?

I hope you and your family have as much fun as we did!  If you’re interested in more tips on planning your Universal vacation, check out this post!  And if you like to eat, this post will fill you in on the restaurants we enjoy! Let us know if you have other tips to share!