Is it time for a breakup?
Breakups can be hard, especially if you’re talking about breaking up with your Disney World Annual Pass. The reality is that even with hotel discounts, complimentary magnets, and other exclusive discounts, sometimes there just aren’t enough benefits to keep renewing your annual pass year after year. Also, one Disney World competitor is making it very enticing to switch to their annual pass.
Disney World annual passes seem to be a divisive topic as of late with some very vocal about their intent to not renew them.
Is it time for you to ditch your Disney World Annual Pass for a Universal One? It may be. So, let’s talk about a couple of reasons why you may be considering the switch.
The Cost of Annual Passes
This one is probably obvious, but the cost of Disney World Annual Passes is VERY HIGH. The prices for the different passes are:
Incredi-Pass: $1,449
Sorcerer Pass: $999
Pirate Pass: $799
Pixie Dust Pass: $439
That’s an incredible amount to spend! Also, the Incredi-Pass (the highest level pass) is the only one that is available to non-Florida Residents and non-Disney Vacation Club Members.
Out-of-state Disney Vacation Club Members have access to the Sorceror Pass as well, but the Pirate and Pixie Dust Passes are exclusive to Florida Residents.
One other thing to keep in mind is that if you live out of state, you don’t get access to the flexible payment option (Monthly Payment Program) either, as that’s reserved only for Florida Residents.
Even if the splurge is an option, it might not be worth it. Though an Annual Pass can be great if you are coming to the parks a lot, it takes a number of visits to make it worth the spend. Typically, guests will need to visit at least 6 times (as long as they park hop) or 9 times (if they don’t park hop) to get their money’s worth on the highest level pass.
If you’re completely fine with one trip to Disney World in a year, the Annual Pass might not provide enough value to be worth the major spend.
Now, let’s have a look at the general prices for the different annual passes from Universal Orlando Resort: (Florida residents do have discounted prices)
2-Park Passes
Premium Pass: $905
Preferred Pass: $630
Power Pass: $475
Seasonal Pass: $425
3-Park Passes
Premium Pass: $1,095
Preferred Pass: $740
Power Pass: $585
Seasonal Pass: $525
You can already tell that the prices are more reasonable, and if you were looking for a flexible payment option (FlexPay) but live out-of-state, you’re in luck as they don’t restrict it to only Florida residents.
This all brings us to the next point, and we’re talking about the thrills.
Disney World’s Not Checking All The Boxes
The level of immersion and accessibility for the whole family at Disney World is unparalleled. There’s no question about that. However, there is a distinct lack in the “thrills” department that has been sending Disney die-hards right into Universal’s arms.
Yes, Disney World does have some “thrilling” rides like Expedition Everest at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind at EPCOT, Rock ‘n’ Rollercoaster at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and TRON Lightcycle / Run at Magic Kingdom. But the overall feeling is that the family is where the focus at Disney World is and has been, and the vast majority of the attractions reflect that. This is where Universal Orlando Resort steps in.
When you look at the lineup of attractions at Universal it is impressive enough to give even the most daring roller coasters junkies a pause. You have the high-speed Jurassic World VelociCoaster and The Incredible Hulk Coaster, and we haven’t even touched on what’s happening with the Harry Potter rides like Hagrid’s or Escape from Gringotts. All of these just bring us up to the front door of the veritable mammoth of a theme park that Universal is building right next door! We’re talking about Epic Universe.
Yes, Universal Orlando is building a NEW park, and it’s already living up to its “epic” title. The new park includes a Super Nintendo World, lands based on How To Train Your Dragon, and Harry Potter could potentially make their way to the park. We’ve even just seen that a NEW dual-racing roller coaster is in the works, too!
With all that, Disney World’s got an “EPIC” challenge they’re facing and they’re not oblivious to the changing tides. Disney has announced plans to spend $60 billion over the next 10 years investing and expanding in its parks. But right now, we haven’t seen any concrete plans announced. All we have heard from Disney leadership has been about a number of “blue sky” ideas like a potential addition of a “Beyond Big Thunder Mountain” land in Magic Kingdom that could include Disney Villains IP and concept art of expansions to Animal Kingdom.
So, if you’re a thrill seeker and currently a Disney World Annual Passholder, Disney has their work cut out for them with trying to convince you to stay a Passholder for the foreseeable future.
That’s all we have for the moment. We’ll be sure to keep you updated with more news, so make sure to follow along for more.
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What are your thoughts on ditching a Walt Disney World Annual Pass for Universal’s? Let us know in the comments!
Tom Welsh says
“Should You Ditch Your Disney World Annual Pass for a Universal One?”
= = = = =
NEVER!
Jack says
Disney does not appreciate its annual pass holders. Too many restrictions on park passes and such. Disney in general has really gone down hill the last few years. Universal is just easier to visit and have fun. It’s more fun. Disneys Genie plus feature is a scam. Disney is now charging us for something that once was free and worked well. Bring back the old Fast Pass system and allow annual pass holders to visit any park on any day.
Don Lawson says
We are out of state and have both. The Universal Premier pass gives you 20% discount everywhere and all you do to get is have them scan your annual pass at check out. The Premier pass also includes free Valet Parking. After 4 Express Pass is included. Their express pass has a seperate line. No reservation time or limit on the number of events exist. You get significant discounts to special events such as horror nights.Disney not only keeps raising the prices, but also keeps taking away advantages.
0-PØͲ¸ says
And taking away things like Memory Maker [giving us free DIGITAL photos must have cost them a fortune], reducing all AP “gifts” to magnets, dropping all AP restaurant discounts to 10% when many used to be 20%, all while adding Genie+ charges,ytg isn’t a great way to convince us to pay the upcharge.
Oh, and there’s the insulting and devaluing us in the press by both Bobs, and keeping the Park Pass system JUST for APers.
I’m one of the few who doesn’t actually mind the Park Pass system, and it was the way we’ve been talked about in the press that has made me feel most unwanted and generated the most “hurt” in the continuing break up. I wish they would “hear” that but I don’t have much hope they are listening at all anymore.
There are still things we dearly love about the company, and the World, so this has been a really heart-wrenching time for us. (Okay, for me. More me than my wife.)
Otherwise, as Disney-foodies [we’re on the DFB for a reason! X-D Food IS a theme park!], the reduced restaurant/food discounts were a HUGE loss to exchange for that greatly increased price tag. We can’t take advantage of Free Dining offers, and Tables in Wonderland still hasn’t returned, so at this point I assume it won’t. 🙁
So yep, we were due up in January and we dropped our IncrediPass.
I’ve never actually been to Universal, in all the times I’ve been to Orlando. Looks like it’s time to check it out. Loved that concept art.
Donna Witte says
I was going to do Disney annual pass and universal every other year. Last year I had universal and this year I got the Disney Pixie Dust. But….universal had an offer for 20 percent off plus 3 extra months to renew which I found too good to pass up. So now I have both 😊. For Florida residents with the discounts having both is doable. Each pass is about $450. With Disney I have to go M-F but I have 4 parks. With Universal I have no blockout dates but it only two parks…not into water parks. Each park has different things to love and being a Florida resident who lives within an hours drive why not enjoy both. I assume once Epic universe opens universal passes will be priced closer to Disney.
RandyC says
Thanks for the comparison, DFB. You provided helpful and useful information.
This is certainly something to consider.
Elle says
We are huge Disney fans. We like that Disney has rides for everyone in the family. Not all of us love rollercoasters and Universal has only rollercoasters or baby rides, nothing in the middle. If we were to not renew our AP we def would not buy a Universal equivalent. We don’t care for universal. We might not renew our AP but we will not buy a Universal pass. We’d rather not go anywhere than go to universal. Universal is not a park for our family. Disney is our park. We would prefer to go less often if need be than to be stuck with Universal. We think Disney will eventually come around and add more perks for AP holders and take us more seriously.
Amber says
It would be nice if Disney had a payment plan for non Florida residents. And stop raising the prices all the time. Walt wanted the parks to be affordable for everyone not just certain classes everyone.