American Express Lounge

The people selling tickets to the park boasted about the vip lounge accessible only to those who buy their tickets with their American Express cards, so we decided to give it shot. It’s incredibly difficult to find (we had to ask for help from three different people), the «finger foods» that they said would be there were only one flavor of potato chips, granola bars, and a water, and you had to show your receipt with your credit card to get in each time. The space is small, but it is hard to complain about an air conditioned space with a private, clean restroom to use when taking a break from the park. Stop by and grab a mini bottle of water or escape the Florida heat for a moment!

Small lounge… no, «cramped» is a better term. One restroom, so typically a line. Always untidy in our experience, with crumbs/​chips scattered everywhere. This, despite two full time attendants. In their defense, the lounge is constantly full, so one employee has to spend their time checking IDs/​tickets, while the other is continuously refilling the granola/​chips/​water; they don’t seem to have time to clean the place.
All that being said, it is a nice reprieve from the horde of people outside. The snacks are good quality, and if you can find a seat, it’s a great change from sitting on the hot concrete outside. I hope that as the park improves, they can perhaps move into more spacious digs. At minimum, an extra employee to keep the place clean would help bring it to Amex standards.

This was a wonderful way to beat the heat and escape the crowds, but could it be any harder to find? We walked past it twice completely bewildered trying to find it. The best directions I can give are that it’s across from the Shrek building, next to the Transformers building, and behind a face painter. Then look for a random door in a corner with a tiny American Express sign next to it (see the picture I took). I suppose that it’s a good thing that this place is hard to find because it’s a little small. You go up to the front desk and show the person your American Express card. They take down your info and then you can go in. It’s a small room, but there are couches and chairs. You can have water, chips, and granola bars. It’s unlimited, which means that of course some people took advantage of that and grabbed armfuls of items. Taaaaacky. This is why we can’t have nice things people. I was starving when we got to the park but it wasn’t time for us to eat yet so a stop at this lounge was perfect. It’s a great gesture on the part of Universal Studios and American Express and I appreciated it.

This is a very nice free perk for people with an American Express card! Free bottles of water, free granola, free salt and pepper chips, there’s a bathroom, it’s heaven to me! Haha Granted I think you have to buy a certain ticket package to use the facility, but I don’t think they check too clearly. This lounge is especially great for families with little kids. It’s a great rest stop.
The American Express lounge is located at Universal Studios theme park. It’s hidden and is next to the Monster Mash Makeup Stand and across from the Shrek store. It’s very easy to miss, but you can ask any worker and they can point you the way.
Me and a friend purchased a 3 day pass and she used her American Express card to buy them. When you go in they ask to see your American Express card and ask to see your ticket. We went to the lounge plenty of times and they don’t check all the time.
It’s a small facility, but a godsend when you need a place to chill and rest. There is one bathroom and they have a sitting area. There are plenty of outlets to recharge your phone and they have different chargers if you ask the attendant.
If you are an iPhone 5 and 6 user though, you’re out of luck. The attendant said someone always steals the iPhone charger and they stopped giving it out. Boo for us iPhone users with low batteries. It’s people like that that ruins it for the rest of us.
They have couches and wooden chairs. Books and magazines are on the tables. There is one TV with universal studios advertisements looping.
My favorite are the free bottles of water, free granola bars, and free salt and pepper chips they have out for you to take as many as you want!
Boy did this save me and my friend a lot of money. We never had to purchase water and it was great to get free snacks. I’m not going to lie, I took extra water and food on the way out to hold me over for the day or to eat for breakfast the next day. Hehe don’t judge me.
The bottles of water are Deer Park brand, the granola is Nature Valley, and the salt and pepper chips are from Boulder. The chips are very very salty, but I still ate a ton of bags.
I completely love this little lounge and I wonder if Disney World offers a similar service. It’s totally worth it to get an American Express card for all the perks at Universal Studios. Other American Express perks are getting 10% off all food purchases (didn’t work on the turkey leg stands though) and if you spend over $ 50 in one purchase in stores, you get 10% off and for $ 75 purchases and up, 15% off.
We got so use to getting discounts off of food that when we left and went back to the airport it felt wrong to buy the full priced food there haha.
The American Express lounge is 100% awesome! Can’t really complain when it’s free haha.