Go City Los Angeles Pass: Which One Actually Fits Your Trip
Planning a trip to LA and wondering if the Go City Los Angeles Pass is worth it? Good instinct to check, because the real question isn’t whether to buy a...
Planning a trip to LA and wondering if the Go City Los Angeles Pass is worth it? Good instinct to check, because the real question isn’t whether to buy a pass. It’s which one — and there are three, not two, which is where most people come unstuck.
Los Angeles is not a city you casually add up. Universal Studios alone can run past $150 a day. That Hollywood sign photo stop somehow becomes a $60 tour. Throw in the Aquarium of the Pacific and a boat ride to Catalina, and a family of four is deep into four figures before lunch. A city pass exists to fix exactly that, but only if you pick the right structure.
The three passes, and why the difference matters
Go City sells three products under the LA umbrella:
This is the single most expensive mistake you can make booking an LA pass, so it’s worth being blunt about it.
Go City lists Universal Studios Hollywood, San Diego Zoo and LEGOLAND California as three premium attractions carried by the All-Inclusive Pass Plus and not included with any other pass type. Even on Pass Plus, Universal admission comes with the 3, 4, 5 and 7-day durations rather than the shorter ones.
The Explorer Pass definitively does not include Universal. Its lineup runs to the GRAMMY Museum, Madame Tussauds Hollywood, the Natural History Museum, the Los Angeles Zoo, the Aquarium of the Pacific, the Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood, the Dolby Theatre guided tour and the SoFi Stadium tour, among 40-plus others. All excellent. None of them Universal.
Listings describe All-Inclusive inclusions inconsistently, so if Universal is the reason you’re going to LA, confirm which pass covers it before you pay. Every Go City product page carries a guidebook link showing the live attraction list for that exact pass type — open it and check. Don’t buy on the strength of a highlighted bullet.
One more constraint if you’re going wide: LEGOLAND California and San Diego Zoo have to be visited on different days. You can’t stack both into one.
Explorer Pass: pay for what you pick
Think of this as the pick-your-own-adventure option. You choose 2, 3, 4, 5 or 7 attractions from a list of 40-plus, and you’ve got 30 days from first use to spend them. No daily clock, no pressure to cram. Leave it unactivated and it stays valid for a year from purchase, which makes it a sensible thing to buy before your plans firm up.
Two things worth knowing: the pass is personalised to you and can’t be transferred or shared, and each attraction can be used once.
It suits slower travellers, families juggling nap schedules, and anyone chasing a few specific stops rather than a sightseeing marathon. If your LA days are half-full by design — a morning attraction, then the beach — this is the shape that fits.
Works best for:
First-timers wanting three or four marquee stops without a rigid schedule
Families with young kids who realistically can’t do four attractions in a day
Travellers splitting time between LA and San Diego or San Francisco, with only a few free days here
All-Inclusive Pass: built for volume
This one flips the maths. You pay per day rather than per attraction, and within that window you visit as many included attractions as you can physically reach. Days run consecutively from your first scan, so the clock is real.
Go City’s own guidance is that the value tips in this pass’s favour once you’re doing three or more attractions per day. That’s a useful threshold, and a demanding one in a city where traffic between Hollywood, Downtown and the coast can eat an afternoon.
Works best for:
Repeat visitors who know the geography and can plan tight clusters
Groups doing back-to-back attraction days with no rest days built in
Anyone whose itinerary already lists a long paid-attraction wishlist
All-Inclusive Pass Plus: the one with the theme parks
Everything the All-Inclusive covers, plus Universal Studios Hollywood, San Diego Zoo and LEGOLAND California. Available in 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7-day durations, with Universal on the 3-day and longer.
If your trip is built around theme parks, this is the only pass that covers them, and comparing it against the others on headline price alone misses the point — they’re not doing the same job.
So which one saves you more?
Ignore the sticker prices for a second, because the entry-level price of each pass covers a different amount of stuff. A 5-attraction Explorer and a 5-day All-Inclusive are not the two numbers you see first on a listing page.
Two questions get you there:
Is Universal, San Diego Zoo or LEGOLAND on your list? If yes, it’s Pass Plus, three days minimum for Universal. That decision is made for you.
If not — how many attractions per day? Write down every attraction you’d realistically pay for, then divide by your days. Under three a day, Explorer is the leaner buy, since you’re not paying for capacity you’ll never use. Three or more a day, All-Inclusive wins, because unlimited entries beat a fixed count once you cross that line.
Savings claims vary widely between listings, so treat any headline percentage as a ceiling rather than a promise. The saving is real if you hit your count. It evaporates if you buy a 5-day pass and spend two of those days on the beach.
Fine print worth reading first
Check the operating window. Go City’s LA passes list validity for use between 9am and 5.30pm. If you were planning a sunset or evening activity on the pass, confirm it qualifies before booking around it.
Some attractions need advance reservations even though they’re included — the Warner Bros. Studio Tour is the classic example, and Universal requires it too. The pass covers admission, not a guaranteed same-day slot. Book those the moment you buy.
Passes activate on first scan, not on purchase. An unused pass stays valid for a year from the purchase date, so buying before your plans firm up costs you nothing. Cancellation terms differ by seller — Go City refunds non-activated passes within 90 days, while resale listings set their own windows, some as tight as 72 hours before the booking date. Read the policy on the listing you’re actually buying from.
Check whether your days run consecutively. Listings describe this differently: some say days run continuously from your first scan, others say you can spread them across a two-week window. That difference decides whether a rest day costs you a pass day, so confirm it at checkout rather than assuming.
Each included attraction is one entry. You’re not re-entering Warner Bros. on day three.
Lineups shift. Attractions rotate in and out without notice. If one specific experience is the reason for the whole trip, confirm it’s currently included before you commit.
Plan around distance, not attraction count
LA sprawls, and this is where All-Inclusive passes quietly go to waste. Three attractions in a day is easy in Hollywood and hard if one of them is in Long Beach.
Cluster by neighbourhood. Pair the Hollywood Sign with Madame Tussauds and the Dolby Theatre. Keep the coast for its own day. Crossing the city twice before lunch costs you an attraction you’ve already paid for.
Final word
The Go City Los Angeles Pass is not one product, and that’s the whole point. Explorers reward people who know exactly what they want to see. All-Inclusive rewards people who move fast. Pass Plus is the only one that gets you into Universal.
Work out which of those describes your trip before you compare prices, because comparing the cheapest tier of three differently structured passes tells you almost nothing useful.
Can I use the Go City Los Angeles Pass at Universal Studios?
Only with the All-Inclusive Pass Plus, and only on the 3, 4, 5 and 7-day versions. Universal Studios Hollywood is not included on the Explorer Pass or the standard All-Inclusive Pass.
What’s the difference between Explorer and All-Inclusive?
Explorer charges per attraction — you pick 2, 3, 4, 5 or 7 and have 30 days from first use to spend them. All-Inclusive charges per day and lets you visit unlimited included attractions within consecutive days from your first scan. Pass Plus is All-Inclusive plus Universal, San Diego Zoo and LEGOLAND California.
Is a pass worth it for a short trip?
It depends on your pace, not your trip length. The threshold is roughly three attractions a day for All-Inclusive to pay off. For a slower two or three days, Explorer usually works out better.
Do I need to book attractions in advance?
Some, yes — the Warner Bros. Studio Tour and Universal Studios among them. The pass covers admission but not a guaranteed slot, so reserve as soon as you’ve bought.
Can I visit San Diego Zoo and LEGOLAND on the same day?
No. They have to be visited on different days, which effectively means a Pass Plus of at least two days if you want both.
When does my pass start counting down?
On your first scan at an attraction, not at purchase. All-Inclusive days then run consecutively; Explorer gives you 30 days to use your picks.
