While a recent Universal Orlando Resort survey garnered a lot of excitement in the fan community when it presented various options for an Epic Universe Annual Pass, that wasn’t the only thing Universal was exploring feedback on. After asking guests about a wide variety of Epic Universe Annual Pass options, Universal also wanted to get some feedback about other ideas for their current Annual Pass offering. One idea that stood out to us from the options we’ve seen floating around is a “trial rate” discount on a Universal Annual Pass for current Walt Disney World Passholders. Here’s what we know.
Universal Considers Annual Pass Discount for Disney World Passholders
In a survey to guests, Universal Orlando has thrown out the idea of offering a discount on an Annual Pass to Universal Orlando Resort for guests who currently have an Annual Pass to Walt Disney World.
Presented as the “Disney Status Match” perk, Universal was seeking feedback on allowing “Walt Disney World Passholders [to] purchase a Universal Annual Pass at a discounted one-year trial rate”.
No other information was offered on the idea, but it is an interesting one. As Walt Disney World and Universal battle for the casual tourist’s attention, there is also a battle for the attention of devoted Annual Passholders, especially as pass prices continue to rise.
Currently, Walt Disney World Annual Passes range in price from $489 for the lowest-tier pass up to $1,629 for the highest-tier pass. All Walt Disney World Annual Pass tiers offer access to the four Walt Disney World theme parks, and most of the passes have some blockout dates.
Over at Universal Orlando Resort, there are “2-park” passes and “3-park” passes. The third “park” is the Volcano Bay Water Park, so we’ll leave that out of the discussion for now.
Universal’s cheapest 2-park pass is $425, just $64 cheaper than Walt Disney World’s cheapest pass – and Disney offers two more theme parks! Universal’s most expensive pass currently sits at $905, a full $700+ cheaper than Disney World’s top-tier pass. That’s more in line with what we’d expect in terms of a price disparity ratio.
It’s interesting to consider what discount Universal may offer if it were to roll out the “Disney Status Match” perk. Right now, Universal is wrapping up a “3-months free” offer on all their Annual Passes. Offering 15 months for the price of 12 works out to be a roughly 25% “discount”. We’d imagine that a Disney Status Match would have to at least start at 25% off.
If you’re a Walt Disney World Annual Passholder, what level of discount would Universal have to offer to get you to bite on a “Disney Status Match” promotion? Let us know in the comments below or on social media!
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com for not only the latest Disney Parks news, but also news, photos, and info from great offerings Outside the Bubble!
The biggest difference is that the Disney Annual Pass allows free parking with the annual pass. That’s a $35 savings each visit. The Universal Annual Pass does not include parking so it costs an additional $35 per visit. I wish Universal would include free parking with the Annial Pass, that is the reason I personally got rid of my Universal Annual Pass because of the extra parking costs.
Most of the Universal Annual Pass tiers include discounted or free parking – just not the lowest tier
Keeping in mind the most premier (most expensive pass) at Universal includes free Valet parking and express pass after 4pm.