Universal Orlando sent a survey to Annual Passholders on March 23, 2026, presenting three separate concepts for how Epic Universe access could eventually be added to the Universal Annual Pass program — and none of the options are simple.
Universal distributed the survey through email to existing Universal Orlando Annual Passholders. The survey was hosted on feedback.qualtrics.com and identified itself as coming from Universal Destinations and Experiences. It is a research tool, not an announcement. Universal has not confirmed any of these concepts as products in development, and the survey itself made clear that multiple options were being explored to understand what Passholders would actually want and pay for.
The survey walked Passholders through three separate concepts, asked reaction questions after each one, and wrapped up with questions about Annual Passholder engagement preferences. Reservations would be required for Epic Universe visits under every concept presented, with blockout dates applying across the board.
The Three Concepts Universal Is Testing
The first concept is called the Epic Annual Access Bundle Add-On — Pick 5 Days. Under this model, Passholders would purchase a multi-day Epic Universe ticket bundle giving one person access to visit Epic on five separate days of their choice during a 12-month window. Visit dates would not need to be selected at purchase, but each visit would require a reservation made in advance.
The second concept presents a new Annual Pass tier that includes Epic Universe access, but with a catch. To visit Epic under this pass, Passholders would need to go through a multi-step reservation process. If plans changed, the reservation would have to be fully canceled and rebooked rather than modified. It would function like the existing two-park pass, but with Epic Universe layered on top through this reservation system.
The third concept is called the Epic-Inclusive Discounted 3-Year Pass. This would allow Passholders to upgrade to, renew as, or purchase a 3-Year Epic-Inclusive Annual Pass that covers Epic Universe. The trade-off is a three-year commitment, with Universal offering a lower per-year price compared to renewing annually as the incentive. Reservations would still be required before each visit.
According to reporting from Blog Mickey, the survey may have also referenced 2-year and 4-year locked-in pass options, depending on which version of the survey a Passholder received.
The Pricing Question Universal Asked. After presenting each concept, the survey asked Passholders to think about price. It noted that the current 2-Park Preferred Pass, which covers Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure, costs $530 per year. Passholders were then asked to enter what they would expect the total price of that pass to be if the specific Epic Universe access concept being described were added to it.
The survey also asked separately which access model Passholders would most prefer if those were the only options available. The three choices ranged from discounted date-based single-day tickets at the lowest cost, to a discounted ticket bundle at a middle cost, to a full Annual Pass upgrade that Universal noted would roughly double the current pass price to reflect Epic Universe access.
Why This Matters Right Now. Epic Universe opened in May 2025 and has not yet had an Annual Pass product tied to it. TIME named it one of the greatest places in the world earlier this year, and the park has drawn enormous crowds since opening. That crowd pressure is exactly why Universal has held off. The reservation systems and capacity limits written into every concept in this survey suggest Universal is not planning to open the floodgates. The goal appears to be controlled access that generates revenue from Passholders without overwhelming the park.
The How to Train Your Dragon — Isle of Berk land and Monsters Unchained both won Thea Awards in 2025, which tells you the park’s reputation is only growing. Universal is not in a position where it needs to discount access to drive demand.
Here is the honest read: none of these options are a great deal for people who visit Universal regularly. The 5-day bundle is essentially just a structured ticket purchase with an AP discount attached. The reservation-heavy annual pass tier adds friction every time you want to go. The 3-year commitment model asks Passholders to lock in at a price point that has not even been determined yet, for a park that Universal openly acknowledges is still figuring out its capacity ceiling.
The option that drew the clearest enthusiasm in the survey framing was the 3-year pass, with at least one Passholder quoted in screenshots describing it as something they would buy immediately. That enthusiasm makes sense in isolation. But committing three years to a pass before knowing the price, the blockout calendar, or how the reservation system actually functions in practice is a significant ask. For Annual Passholders who already hold a Disney pass and alternate between the two resorts, the math gets more complicated fast.
The survey is worth paying attention to not because an announcement is coming tomorrow, but because it tells you what Universal is actively thinking about and how they are framing the value of Epic Universe access to their most loyal customers. What they test is usually what they eventually build.
Universal Asked Passholders If They’d Pay Double for Epic Universe Access
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