Costco Value 12 month Annual Pass question

[Uni-Fan]

Hello, not sure if anyone has gotten this deal before. There are some black out dates listed on the back of the ticket that I received, they are different days than what's shown on the site. My question is are these dates in addition to the ones already listed on the 12 month pass? Also, it says to activate online, I'm wondering if I activate the passes online, will the passes start the 12 month process at that moment or doest it begin the first day you go to the park?

 

[Jon Fu]

From what I gather, the dates on the back of your pass are the dates that are blacked out for your specific purchase.


About your online question - I'm guessing it starts on the day of activation, but you might want to read the fine print to find out. Current passes sold by Universal are only valid for 2015.

 

[Chris]

I purchased the Costco pass and it requires that you fill out the passholder's personal information online before you arrive to the park.  The "Costco processing center" has been removed from the park and you now have control of entering your information.  This way when you visit the park, you just walk to the turnstile and get your fingerprint done and voila!  You're in!

Plus, remember this is a Season Pass.  The pass expires March 18, 2016 no matter what.  This is not an annual pass to start on the first day of your visit like before.  The value of this pass will decrease day by day until they pull it from the Costco shelf.  If you bought this new pass today, go activate it asap to get your full money worth from it.

 

[Allen The Actor]

Basically guaranteeing no one with this pass will be able to see Wizarding World, which will open after March 18th. Just a hunch

 

[Chris]

Basically guaranteeing no one with this pass will be able to see Wizarding World, which will open after March 18th. Just a hunch

Which allows for price increases prior to WWoHP.  I see the ploy.  I just wonder if annual passes remain, will we see a significant price increase for passes this March/April?

 

[...]

I foresee the first half of a 100+ hike before F&F and the rest of the increase in the month of softs for WW

 

[Chris]

Spring has normally been price increase season.  I expect the price to continue to raise year over year.

 

[...]

I can also see the elimination of the no black-out pass and a larger margin between the value pass and Premium to prevent the issue that is happening at Disney with everyone getting Premium and clogging parking lots/defeating the purpose of blackout days.

 

[Chris]

I agree.  This would be unfortunate, but you can also make more money with a $200 season pass which guests must purchase every 4 months...

Ouch!

 

[...]

Disney has also given precedent for price increases this year so everyone should be careful and purchase any passes they need for next year soon.

 

[Allen The Actor]

My current pass expires in a few days....and I just bought TWO premium passes. One to activate when Springfield opens, and one that I have to activate by December so that I can have an annual pass when Wizarding World opens. Yeah, I'll have two annual passes valid at the same time for a few months, essentially "losing" a few months, but at least I just locked in the $179 Premium Pass price for me to see Wizarding World AND avoid future price and parking increase! If you can afford it, I recommend everyone do that, at least with a No Black Out Dates pass

I'd recommend to do it soon. With Disney raising their price today, Universal should be following in a bit.

 

[Uni-Fan]

my Costco Annual Pass has different blackout dates than the ones on the calendar on the Universal Studios website. Are the Costco 12 month pass and the regular universal 12 month pass not the same?


Also, does the %10 discount still apply on the Costco pass?

 

[Chris]

There are no longer any discounts to any annual pass except for the Premium Star Pass.  Blackout dates are all over the place.  I highly recommend getting familiar with your blackout dates early on because many passes have a different set of dates and its a pain to figure out.

 

[Allen The Actor]

Edit. Major annual pass news. See my posts in other thread.

 

[xinfamousxi]

So Im visiting California in a few months and going to Universal. My sister lives in California and is going to buy the $80 tickets at Costco for me. If I'm reading this thread correctly you are saying that there are black out dates?  

Also would there be a problem with my sister buying them and just handing them over to me and my family?

Thanks 

 

[Allen The Actor]

Yes, there are black out dates you can find on the Universal website. And it's no problem if she buys them and gives them to you, I believe that you'd be able to register the names at Universal.

 

[xinfamousxi]

So according to this link though the first day can be used whenever correct? Its only the return days that are subject to black out dates. 

Assuming this is the link to the costco ticket one

http://m.universalstudioshollywood.com/tickets/buy-a-day

 

[RyanTTD]

So according to this link though the first day can be used whenever correct? Its only the return days that are subject to black out dates. 

Assuming this is the link to the costco ticket one

http://m.universalstudioshollywood.com/tickets/buy-a-day

Blackout days never apply on your first visit.

I believe the CostCo Pass has these blackout days:

http://www.universalstudioshollywood.com/passmember/2015j/

 

[William]

So according to this link though the first day can be used whenever correct? Its only the return days that are subject to black out dates. 

Assuming this is the link to the costco ticket one

http://m.universalstudioshollywood.com/tickets/buy-a-day

Correct. This applies to any season pass with blackout dates.

 

[xinfamousxi]

Great, thank you so much I love this site! My last question is if we can go straight to the gate with the Costco tickets or do we need to go to the ticket booth?