It has been an interesting few days at Universal Orlando Resort. After Team Member previews at the park, Annual Passholders were among the first to be able to reenter the park, and it was VERY crowded. However, with Friday’s reopening to the general public, social media posts seemed to show a park with a much lower crowd level, which seems to reinforce the idea that Universal Orlando Resort is more of a local attraction than its neighbor, Walt Disney World, and annual passholders will be a key part of keeping the parks going in the weeks and months ahead.
In an effort to keep these local repeat guests coming back over and over again, Universal has announced some truly amazing freebies and discounts just for annual passholders, which will take effect beginning next week on June 8, 2020.
New and returning freebies for Annual Passholders coming soon
Everyone likes a freebie, and Universal Orlando Resort is offering plenty of goodies for annual passholders who visit this summer, including the following:
Free Coca-Cola Freestyle Refilable Souvenir Cup: Passholders who purchase an entrée with Mobile Food Order in the Official Universal Orlando Resort App will receive a free regular Coca-Cola Freestyle souvenir cup and one Coca-Cola Freestyle refill activation for the date of purchase. This freebie is only available until July 5th though, so you’ll have to act fast if you want to enjoy these free cups and drinks.
Free UOAP Monthly Buttons and magnet: Universal is bringing back its free monthly button and magnet perk and will be offering the “Home Is Where The Heart Is” button starting June 8, 2020, at the UOAP Lounge in Universal Studios Florida and Toon Extra in Universal’s Islands of Adventure during normal operating hours
Free Photo: Annual passholders can get one (1) free 8×10 print at The Dark Room in Universal Studios Florida (next to the UOAP Lounge) with a photo session from June 8 through July 5th.
Special line access for Annual Passholders and parking upgrades for higher tiers
In addition to all of those freebies, Universal Orlando Resort is also rolling out the red carpet for Annual Passholders, offering exclusive parking and security access. In addition, Premier and Preferred Passholders will have access to Prime self-parking from now through July 5th.
In addition special Annual Passholder turnstiles will be available at both Universal’s Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida.
Limited time repeat visitor Discount available soon
Annual passholders who are looking to pick up some merchandise can take advantage of a new discount that kicks in after a qualified guest spends $80.00 or more in one single transaction at select Universal Orlando owned and operated merchandise locations. After this purchase, Annual passholders will be able to take advantage of a $20.00 discount to be used toward one future single purchase of $50.00 or more. Discount is usable for purchases commencing the next day.
Though these special offers are all pretty impressive, the best may be yet to come as Universal has announced Passholder Appreciation Days will return for 2020 from Aug. 10 – Sept. 30. And while no specific information has been released yet about what this year’s celebration will entail, we’d guess that this year will be bigger and better than ever to keep these ultra-loyal guests coming back to this park again and again.
Of course, even though initial enthusiasm was high from Annual Passholders for Universal Orlando Resort’s reopening, it will be interesting to see how guest levels change not only as the summer wears on, but also as Walt Disney World reopens in July. Common thought has been that Universal and Disney parks boost one another, and its possible that big crowds could return to Universal parks in late July and early August, which is probably why many of these discounts end in early July.
But then again, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic could make travelers a bit more cautious, so there’s no telling what could happen as the summer continues, and if Walt Disney World’s opening fails to draw guests to Universal Orlando Resort, we could see even more discounts in the near future.
