Have you noticed a price increase in Epic Express passes? I did a screen shot of my cart of a One Day One Park Epic Universe Express Pass for November 10th. It was $169.99 per person. This was on August 5th. Today, for the same date, it is $189.99 per person with $179.99 being the lowest price for any day. Is that what others are experiencing? I’m hoping I’m doing it wrong. Is there another way to buy Express Pass under AP that is cheaper? I know prices are subject to change, but it’s still painful.
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Yes, others have noted price increases at Epic. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news!
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Universal also does date based pricing based on demand. I haven’t looked at the UXP for Epic recently. So I don’t know if it’s “surge” pricing based on that or an overall change to the price structure going forward.
I have planned trips where my UXP price, for the older parks, has gone up $30 or more just because I waited a day or two to buy one.
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They do this with Horror Night Express passes too!
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It has been discussed before, but generally speaking, Universal would rather sell far fewer express passes, but at a much higher price point, because it then ensures that the passes bring value to the consumers. Not over-selling them also improves guest satisfaction for those who don’t have them.
This is very different from Disney, who wants EVERYONE to pay for LLs because they don’t really care about guest satisfaction (so much) and more about selling a product. The end result is that everyone feels the need to buy them, a huge number of people DO buy them, and it contributes to longer wait times for both the LLs and the the standby lines, creating a self-perpetuating feedback loop where it benefits pretty much just Disney.
That’s my long-winded (well, for me…short-winded) way of saying…you should EXPECT to pay a lot for EP at Universal. That means IF you decide to fork over the cash, it brings a lot of value. A cheaper product ends up oversold, and devalues the entire experience.
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Everything certainly gets put into perspective when compared to Disney! I ran the numbers for our trip as if we were going to Disney instead. Even if I added express for all of the Universal parks we plan to visit, the trip would still would cost us less than a Disney trip with no LL and fewer park days. I agree that EPs must be managed appropriately. As a 30 year Disney goer, I despise the LL system. And I appreciate that Express can be purchased ahead. It’s just hard to budget for a moving target. 
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Agreed. My advice is to set your max dollar you are willing to pay. When it gets close to that jump on it. It’s better sooner than later!! 
Also, and it is NOT guaranteed, but Universal is pretty ok giving you a refund / return for the purchase if you cancel the trip. It says “nonrefundable”, but I’ve bought UXP and HHN passes a couple of times that I had to cancel. I always have gotten a full refund.
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Revisiting this now that 26 prices have come out and express seems more within reach. I know this is the lowest these express pass prices will be. But, what about regular park tickets? Do they also change as we get closer to the date? We are considering buying refundable Express Passes but waiting until week of to buy the Epic park tickets with AP. Still not sure we will go and don’t really want to commit to a day because of weather concerns in January. But, I know we can’t wait on getting the express pass. Can we wait on the regular ticket?
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I think there is less of a risk of these changing, but it’s still possible. I don’t recall what UOR’s price change cadence is. You should look up when they announce their price increases each year and buy before then.
But it’s not like Express where they are continually increasing the price as you get closer to the date.
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Nobody asked for this but I’ll throw this out there: 
One thing I like to think about when locking in a price is what my marginal cost of capital is. (I’m in accounting so this second nature to me, but for the average person this may be abstract.)
Basically, if I wait to buy my tickets, the price may increase X%. But if I buy now, I will incur Y% in interest or lost capital growth. What Y is depends on what you would do if you had an extra dollar around. Would you pay off credit card debt (at say 18%)? Would you invest it in stocks (call that 10% growth rate)? Or just put it in a savings account (maybe 4%)?
For it to make sense to buy now vs wait, X has to be greater than (Y*number of days in advance /365).
If you have a lot of credit card debt, you’re better off waiting. If you would just put the cash in your savings account, you might be better off buying. But it’s probably best to put the money in stocks and then pull it out closer to your trip.
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Or .02%. 
While I love our credit union in general, you have to get a CD in order to get a 4% return rate on a savings account. Otherwise the amount of interest earned is a joke. (To be fair, our credit union has a cash back reward at the end of each year, so it is hard to factor in how much that impacts things.)
But that’s beside the point. Overall, you make a point that any accountant should be proud of!
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Thanks for sharing! This is the mind of a successful man 
Another way to think about it is, the dollar is continuously losing value. So, it usually makes sense to purchase early.
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I sure hope you don’t have much in the credit union at that rate! Money market is currently around 4%. Just park it there. Works the same as a bank account with checks, etc.
I prefer STRC (10%) for a savings account, I call it a money market fund on steroids.
In today’s world, you gotta shoot for the high single digits because the cost of living increases is pretty high.
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We talk about opportunity cost in our house. But real accounting might consider that a different thing. What’s becoming more difficult to quantify for me is the cost of stressing or continued questioning/research. If I wait, how much time am I going to spend watching prices, checking videos, still processing the decision, asking you lovely folks? Is simplification worth anything?
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Also please note that I bought my tickets for my June 2026 trip last week! 
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Just saw my express passes go up today- $10 each, overnight. They really know how to encourage early buying.
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I hated having to buy them today, and our park days start January 3rd! I would like to have bought them a few days before use, at the original price of course.
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No, most of my money is elsewhere. I just find the interest rate on the actual savings account laughable. Actually their Money Market account is no better.
But because I have my mortgage through them as well as some CDs, I get close to $1000 in a cash back reward each year. (Plus zero fees on anything.)
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