Universal Orlando Passholder Nights Review: It’s Your Park After Dark and One Heck of a Party

We headed to Universal Studios Florida on August 15 for Universal Orlando Passholder Nights presented by Coca-Cola, marking our second Passholder Night in the past three years, and once again Universal reminded us why being a UOAP can feel like belonging to a pretty awesome club. The complimentary, reservation-required event ran from 7 to 11 p.m. and included select attractions, exclusive food and drinks, rare character appearances, dance parties, special entertainment, a complimentary Revenge of the Mummy Passholder magnet, and plenty of little UOAP touches throughout the park.

Compared with the Passholder Night we attended two years ago, this year’s event definitely felt busier. That does not mean the attraction waits were bad, though. With Express Pass not available during the event, the queues moved surprisingly fast. Lines that looked fairly substantial for Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts and Revenge of the Mummy took us only around 20 minutes each.

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The character lineup was easily one of the biggest draws of the evening, and Universal went big. Around the park, Passholders could find Doc Brown, Marty McFly and Einstein, John Hammond, Owen Grady and Claire Dearing, the Scooby-Doo gang with the Ghost Clown, Ghostbusters characters Trevor and Phoebe, Beetlejuice, The Blues Brothers, Transformers, Jaws characters, the Knight Bus conductor and shrunken head, Krusty and Sideshow Bob, Shrek characters, SpongeBob and friends, Wicked characters, Frank the Pug from Men in Black, and plenty more.

Some of those characters commanded serious waits, especially Frank tucked back in the Men in Black area and the Elphaba and Glinda meet and greet inside the Wicked store. In many ways, those rare character appearances felt like the centerpiece of the evening and gave Passholders something very different from a regular night at Universal Studios Florida.

The exclusive food was another big part of Passholder Nights, although its popularity meant some lengthy lines. Offerings included an Apple Pie Crepe at Central Park Crêpes, Prosciutto & Arugula Pizza at Louie’s Italian Restaurant, the Tipsy Watermelon at Chez Alcatraz, UOAP Punch cocktails and mocktails, Parkside Pop drinks, and the glorious return of Pizza Fries at DreamWorks Imagination Café. We made sure to grab the Pizza Fries, and they were absolutely worth the wait. Fries covered in marinara, cheese, pepperoni and sausage might not be fancy dining, but they tasted every bit as good as we remembered. Universal also offered a glow-in-the-dark Passholder Coca-Cola Freestyle souvenir cup, discounted refills and several Passholder dining discounts during the event.

What really made Passholder Nights work for us was the atmosphere. The dance parties were incredibly fun, especially the one taking over the area that will soon become Club Horror for Halloween Horror Nights. Special UOAP Passholder Nights projections appeared on Revenge of the Mummy and in other areas of the park, adding another layer of exclusivity without trying to reinvent the entire park for four hours. There was also a CityWalk pre-party before the event featuring a DJ, food and drinks for purchase, and a Woody and Winnie Woodpecker meet and greet. Those little touches combined with the unusual character lineup, specialty food and lower attraction waits to give the night its own identity.

We had a GREAT time, but Passholder Nights is best appreciated for what it actually is. This is not one of those premium after-hours events where the streets are practically empty and everything is a walk-on. It is a free perk for Universal Orlando Annual Passholders, and a very popular one at that. There were waits, especially for rare characters and specialty food, and this year’s event felt noticeably busier than the Passholder Night we attended two years ago. At the same time, attraction queues moved quickly, the park had a fantastic energy, and there was seemingly always something happening around the next corner.

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That may be what Universal does best with events like this. Having a UOAP does not simply feel like owning an admission ticket. Universal continually finds ways to make Passholders feel like members of a special club, and Passholder Nights kicking off Passholder Appreciation Days is one of the best examples. For four hours, Universal Studios Florida became our park after dark, filled with rare characters, dancing, Pizza Fries, Passholder exclusives and a crowd of fellow fans enjoying the parks together. Was it completely empty? Not even close. Was it an absolute blast? Definitely. We would happily come back for another Passholder Night.

If Passholder Nights has you thinking about your next Universal Orlando getaway, our partners at Get Away Today can help with vacation packages, tickets and everything you need to get back into the middle of the Universal fun.