We are fortunate enough to have annual passes for Walt Disney World, Universal and SeaWorld, and being a passholder comes with some cool perks. One of the more recent ways theme parks are rewarding passholders is with dedicated passholder lounges.

SeaWorld used to be all by themselves with a lounge, but with the opening of Universal’s new passholder lounge, it’s time to compare and contrast the two.

(Disney has yet to offer any dedicated space for APs, but once they do we’ll be sure to add it to this list!)

Pass Member Lounge at SeaWorld Orlando

Our first taste of what an annual passholder-specific space could look like was at SeaWorld Orlando. Prior to the construction of Infinity Falls, SeaWorld Orlando’s pass members were able to enjoy free Coca-Cola drinks from a Freestyle machine and order food in a little lounge. Chairs and outlets allowed for both you and your phone to recharge before hitting the park again.

We were pretty bummed when the Pass Member Lounge went away while we awaited Infinity Falls. Once the area reopened, so did a reimagined Pass Member Lounge in the Waterway Grill.

The first thing you’ll do is scan your annual pass at the concierge desk. It’s also at this desk that you’re able to sign up for behind-the-scenes tours, renew or change your annual pass, purchase quick queues and more.

After scanning, you enter the first room which is about the same size as the previous lounge which includes some seating and two Coca-Cola fountains with a selection of drinks. The Coke machines are your typical theme park machines with only a few soda choices, so, unfortunately, there is no more Freestyle machine. The cups are also a bit on the smaller side, but refills are endless so it’s not too bad.

There is a second, larger room that includes a lot of tables complete with plenty of outlets to charge your devices. Around all of the rooms are giant plastic Coca-Cola bottles decorated with some really unique designs! It was fun to walk around and see the artists’ designs. All in all the updated pass member lounge is a pretty good improvement over the last one.

UOAP Lounge at Universal Studios Florida

A special passholder lounge is relatively new to Universal Orlando. The lounge is located in Universal Studios Florida on Hollywood Boulevard near Schwab’s Pharmacy.

After scanning your pass with the team member outside, you enter a space that includes limited seating and high-top tables which include outlets for charging. Unfortunately, the room is quite small, so capacity can be limited depending on how busy it is.

The lounge features a basket with complimentary snacks – Nature Valley granola bars and bags of potato chips. They do feature bottles of assorted Coca-Cola beverages, but you have to purchase them to drink. The UOAP lounge features NO free drinks.

A gimmick here is the Arctic Coke Cooler. This machine supposedly turns a regular bottle of Coke, Diet Coke or Sprite into a slushie. We say supposedly because when we tried this out it was kind of a fail. Only the top third of the bottle formed something close to a slushie. Within a couple of minutes, the drink turned back into a regular bottle of Coke.

We think it failed because the machine only works if the bottle is already really cold, which looking back on it ours was not very cold. If you are going to try this out, be sure the bottle you grab is cold. And if it doesn’t work, let a team member know.

Our Verdict?

When it comes to passholder lounges, we have to give the advantage to SeaWorld Orlando because everything the UOAP lounge does, SeaWorld does better. It’s the larger of the two lounges, which provides more opportunity to spread out and relax without feeling cramped. Plus, when it comes to having to choose between complimentary drinks or complimentary snacks, we would rather stay hydrated.

It’s surprising that the Universal lounge falls so far behind SeaWorld’s because the SeaWorld pass member lounge was already established and you would figure Universal would want to improve on what’s already out there. The slushie machine is a fun gimmick, but it still costs money to experience it. The biggest surprise is the space difference. We have no idea why Universal made the passholder lounge so small and we expect it to be packed during the busy season.

Passholder lounges aren’t a requirement for a theme park by any means, but regardless of if you’re getting free snacks and drinks, signing up for an experience or just enjoying a cool place to sit down for a while, these spaces are great ways to feel special as a passholder.