Southern California CityPASS or Go Los Angeles pass?

If you’re planning a trip to Southern California, AND you plan to visit at least one or two major theme parks in the area, you will almost certainly save money buying either a Southern California CityPASS or a Go Los Angeles attractions pass. But which one is right for your family trip? Ask yourself the following questions to find your answer.

citypass-or-go-card

Where will you spend the majority of your time?

While Southern California is not a large geographical area, it sure feels like it is once you factor in traffic. We recently stayed in North Hollywood, and it took 1.5 hours to drive a distance of 35 miles. The Southern CA CityPASS focuses mostly on Orange County and San Diego, so if you plan to focus on Disney and the lower part of the state, you should look closely at that pass option. If you plan to stay in the Los Angeles area, such as Hollywood and Universal Studios, opt for the GO card.

How much time will you spend in theme parks?

CityPASS gives you a stellar deal if you plan to visit Disneyland Resort. You get three days in the parks with park hopper passes, plus admission to SeaWorld, Legoland, and one additional San Diego attraction (you choose between the San Diego Zoo or Safari Park). It’s a no-brainer: get this pass if you plan to do three days at Disney plus at least ONE of the other attractions.

If you don’t plan to do Disney at all, but will be exploring all the San Diego attractions, do the math before purchasing. Depending on admission rates at the time of your visit, you may be better off buying a la carte.

If you plan to go to Universal Studios, choose the GO card if: 1. you only plan to go to Universal for one day, and 2. you plan to take advantage of at least TWO of the many other LA area attractions offered. Note that during our visit with the GO card, admission to Universal was only included on weekdays, so plan accordingly.

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How much do you want to see?

Is your vacation all about doing as much as you can while in Southern California, or are you planning to relax by a pool or by the ocean at least half the time? If you want to go, go, go, one of the passes may be for you. If you don’t, either opt to build your own GO card (where you can select a smaller number of options for less money), or skip a pass altogether.

Note: As noted above, traffic in Southern California can make ‘hopping’ from one attraction to another frustrating or downright impossible. Even when Google maps tells you two attractions are just a few miles from each other, plan to visit no more than two per day (for the shorter attractions, museums, and tours) and only one theme park per day.

How old are your kids?

Kids are a good deal on both pass types, but note that the age span for a child on a GO card is 3-12, but under age 10 for CityPASS. Most likely, this is because CityPASS offers tickets to Disneyland, who has similar categorizing. Also note that GO cards only include Universal Studios tickets on their 3-day and up versions.

universal-studios

A few more things to note:

  • Both CityPASS and GO cards have running clocks on their passes, which starts when you use the passes at your first attraction (not when you purchase them). You have 14 days to use your CityPASS tickets, and two weeks to use your GO cards…so basically the same thing!
  • Both passes allow you to skip the admission line and go directly to the turnstile or check-in for each attraction…treat it like an admission ticket. Even at Disney and Universal, which is a nice timesaver. You CityPASS cards work at Disney just like a ticket to retrieve FastPass vouchers.
  • Both are non-transferrable. You’ll have your photo taken at some attractions (like Disney), and for activation, you need to sign your GO cards and show ID.

Which pass system works for you and your family? Let us know in the comments!

 

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