What’s the Right Military Discounted Universal Ticket for me?
I am often asked some version of this question.
A Complex Issue
“I’d like to go to the Universal Orlando Resort for 4 days, what’s the cheapest ticket to buy?”
This question is typical of those that I receive, and while this is a seemingly simple question, there are way too many variables to give a simple answer!
The Variables, which were left out of the question above that affect the answer are:
- Number of adults in the party (ages 10+)
- Number of children in the party (ages 3-9)
- Dates of the Trip
- Desire to visit multiple parks in one day
- Desire to do Volcano Bay water park
- Are you a Florida Resident
- Do you live a reasonable drive from Universal
When answering a question like this I have to shotgun lots of information, which might or might not apply. And it takes a lot of my time.
Deciding the right ticket for your party is a complex decision, one which will be influenced heavily by your vacation decisions and touring preferences.
The right Military Ticket option for one family might not be the right option for another!”
This is going to be a long complex post, in which I’ll try to lay things out in a logical manner with the intention of guiding you through your decision making process.
Universal Military Ticket Types
Many people are surprised to find out that there are actually two totally different types of military discounted Universal tickets!
These ticket types are
- Universal Orlando Freedom Pass
- Regular Military Discounted Universal Orlando Tickets
These different ticket types have price increases on different schedules.
Universal Orlando Freedom Pass
These are special, highly discounted passes which are offered for a specific time period (currently through 31 Dec 2022). They are often, but not always the right choice.
Facts:
- These are available for purchase at Base Ticket Offices, including Shades of Green or directly from Disney.
- There is a single ticket price for all guests 3 years old and up.
- A limited number of these special tickets are allowed to be used during the offer in which they are sold.
- These are passes no tickets, they are valid every singly day until their expiration date
- These tickets come in 2-Park (Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure) and or 3-Park (adds on Volcano Bay water park) versions
- These tickets are usable for the life of the offer and not afterwards.
- They do not need to be used all at once or consecutively.
- These tickets have a set price for the length of the offer. Their price does not increase through the life of the offer.
For more info and current prices see: Universal Orlando Freedom Pass Info
Regular Military Discounted Universal Orlando Resort Tickets
These are the slightly discounted tickets that have always been offered to the military community by Universal through Base Ticket Offices.
Facts:
- These are almost identical to the 1 to 5-day Universal tickets which are available to the general public, but at a slight military discount.
- There are 2 ticket age groups: child ages 3-9 and adult ages 10 and up. Under 3 is free.
- These tickets come in 3 varieties: 1-Park per day, 2-Parks per day, and 3-Parks per day.
- These are only available for purchase at Base Ticket Offices and Shades of Green.
- These tickets expire 7 days after first use.
- The price for these tickets is based upon the current general public ticket prices. When Universal increases their regular ticket prices, these go up as well.
- These tickets do not need to be used on consecutive days, you can take down days in the middle to relax.
Florida Resident Discounts:
Universal also offers military discounts on their Regular Florida Resident Tickets
- These come in 2 and 3-day versions which are available to other Florida Residents, but at a slight military discount.
- There are 2 ticket age groups: child ages 3-9 and adult ages 10 and up. Under 3 is free.
- These tickets come in 3 varieties: 1-Park per day, 2-Parks per day, and 3-Parks per day.
- These are only available for purchase at Base Ticket Offices and Shades of Green.
- These tickets expire: 2-Day – 60 days after first use & 2-Day – 180 days after first use
- The price for these tickets is based upon the current general public ticket prices. When Universal increases their regular ticket prices, these go up as well.
- These tickets do not need to be used on consecutive days.
For more info see: Regular Military Discounted Universal Tickets and Military Florida Resident Tickets
Determining Your Requirement
So, now to the process of making your decision…
Timeframe – Does your trip fall within the Freedom Pass timeframe?
For 2022 that would be by 31 December 2022. We do not know if the Freedom Passes will be renewed for 2023 yet.
2022 is only the second year these awesome passes have been offered.
How many in your party?
Freedom Passes are limited to 6 per eligible member and 6 per eligible member’s spouse.
Length of vacation – How many park days?
How many days do you want to spend in the Universal Parks?
What type of touring do you want?
Do you want to do one park per day, park-hop, go to the Water Park or park hop and water park?
Where are you Staying?
Are you staying at a Universal Hotel? You’ll be eligible for Early Entry.
Are you staying at a Universal Premier Hotel? You’ll be eligible for Unlimited Express Pass.
Once you’ve answered these questions you can begin to price your tickets.
Ticket Price Resources
Here are links to our ticket pricing and info resources:
Universal Orlando Freedom Pass
Regular Military Discounted Universal Tickets and Military Florida Resident Tickets
General Guidelines
Below are some general guidelines on what your ticket selection might be.
But I encourage you to run the numbers yourself for every ticket option you can think of to be sure for your specific circumstance.
But keep in mind that the Freedom Pass is almost always the rite choice!
These new (since 2021) Freedom Passes are cheaper than almost all regular military tickets! They do have certain strict rules so be sure to read up on these.
Regular Military Tickets
1-Day Tickets – The Regular Military1-Days are cheaper than the Freedom Pass, so id one day is all you wnat got the regular route.
Multi-Day Tickets – The Regular Military Multi-Day 2-Park Tickets are all more expensive than the corresponding Freedom Passes!
Florida Resident Tickets
One Park Per Day – The 2-Park-2-Day 1 Park Per Day, 2-Park-3-Day 1 Park Per Day, 3-Park-2-Day 1 Park Per Day are cheaper than he Freedom Pass.
Multi-Park – All Florida Resident multiple park per day tickets are more expensive than the corresponding Freedom Pass.
Universal Orlando Annual Passes
For those who live close enough to visit the Universal Orlando Resort regularly, you need to carefully evaluate whether the Freedom Pass or one of the varieties of Universal Annual Pass are right you you!
The Freedom Pass is essentially an annual pass with no blockout dates AND no extra benefits that you get with the different levels of general public annual passes.
You’ll need to evaluate how many times you think you’ll be going and compare the price of the Freedom Pass plus the value of the various extras you’d get for free or at a discount with a regular annual pass (like parking, food, merchandise, & room discounts,, etc.). Also factor in some of the non- monetary benefits like blockout dates and early admission.
Do Your Homework
As you can see it isn’t quite as straightforward as you might think!
The important points for you to remember are:
- Decide how you’d like to tour and how many parks you want to do and for how many days
- Check the prices and do the math
Over to You
Please share any tips or ask questions in the comment section below!
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