Universal Orlando Resort (USO, IOA) Discussion Thread

[Meteornotes]

Think about how much the ticket prices will go up when they build the new Pottertown.

 

I personally don't see me spending this amount of money on these parks any time soon. The level of customer service is certainly not reflected by this ticket price.

 

dt

[Hilltopper39]

And Disney announces their ticket price increases in 3.....2......1......

 

It makes my decision to spend my money at Sea World and Discovery Cove that much easier. Thanks, Universal!!

This.

 

Seriously, I haven't been to Universal in 2 years other than Horror Nights, and at theses prices it's going to make it difficult for me to want to visit any time in the future. It's not that I can't afford it, I can, it's just getting to a point that I don't think the value from the experience those parks provide is worth the price they charge for admission. As for Horror Nights, pricing for that event is getting to the point that I'm one more average year away from skipping it altogether in favor of Halloscreams.

[PAL]

^I feel the same way about Disneyworld. $125 for a 1-day park hopper! The value proposition is awful for one or two day visits.

[SharkTums]

^Yeah but at least there are a ton of options with Disney so that no one HAS to buy a one or two day park hopper. We consistently bought Non-Expiring 10 Day Park hoppers with 'fun' visits, which basically brought the price down to $45 a day for a park hopping day plus totally free visits to water parks and DisneyQuest. To my knowledge, Universal does not have a comparable non-expiring option like that.

[Skycoastin Steve]

So let's start a pool. Which park will hit $100 first?

[Hilltopper39]

^^Exactly, and I feel like with a multi-park ticket you get more for your money at Disney than Universal, just a better overall quality of experience.

 

Heck, the whole reason I used to visit Universal to begin with was because it was cheaper than Disney, that and IOA used to be one of if not the best theme parks in the world. It's amazing how much damage a little wizardry can really do....

[alpengeist04]

At least we can take one good thing out of all this.

 

Universal also opted — for at least the second year in a row — to leave unchanged the prices of Florida resident tickets when purchased online.

 

Well, at least some of us can.

[Ed Farmer]

Bound to happen after the success of Potterland. Glad I visited in 2004 and took care of everything I was interested in- all of which has been there since 1999 when the park opened. The impeccably themed/painstakingly detailed thing going on in Central Florida doesn't do anything for me. Busch is more my cup of tea. Or beer.

[OCJ48]

I don't really understand the shock, it's just the usual Orlando price creeps. Disney'll follow suit in the coming weeks, and another year will pass. Yes, it sucks, but it's the nature of economics that parks will charge what people will pay, and that that amount rises every year with gas and inflation. I don't know who'll hit $100/day first, but it'll happen somewhere in between the openings of New Harry Potter World and Avatar Land (that's if Universal even keeps offering 1D/1P tickets when new HP World opens...)

[dandaman]

^Yeah but at least there are a ton of options with Disney so that no one HAS to buy a one or two day park hopper. We consistently bought Non-Expiring 10 Day Park hoppers with 'fun' visits, which basically brought the price down to $45 a day for a park hopping day plus totally free visits to water parks and DisneyQuest. To my knowledge, Universal does not have a comparable non-expiring option like that.

 

The 10-day unexpiring Hopper is actually what I got by on for about two years (day trips from the Space Coast); just didn't seem to make financial sense for me to get a full Annual Pass. Is it still an option, or just an occasional promo?

[SharkTums]

^Oh yeah, 10 day non-expiring park hoppers are always available.

[King_K.]

Thus the reason I love my annual pass.

[coasterfreak101]

I don't really understand the shock, it's just the usual Orlando price creeps. Disney'll follow suit in the coming weeks, and another year will pass.

 

Yeah, I don't get it either. That $3 isn't going to kill my bank account or make me decide against going to Universal any more than the last set of price increases made me avoid the place, or the rise of Disney tickets to $85 made me not go see the Mouse. I just went to all the Orlando parks in January, and I'll be right back there next year as well.

[Moose]

I'm not sure there is as much shock that the price keeps creeping up as much as the fact that people don't think that universal is worth what they will be charging.

[beyondthepalace]

Moving on/distracting you from price increases, the Spongebob Storepants shop in the Kidzone area of USF opened up this past Sunday. Just a few quick pics.

[Invertalon]

Spongebob store was awesome! We were there I guess the first day it opened. It was really well done, loved it!

[Invertalon]

I am sure there are plenty of videos already posted/out there, but in case somebody was looking for a high quality HD video of the Cinematic show, here is the one I took. Full HD, so be sure to watch in 1080.

 

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keEoSG2RhTk

 

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHRnmycFYDE

 

Universal Studios Orlando Cinematic Spectacular by invertalon, on Flickr

[BBparks57]

I did a search and couldn't locate the Orlando HHN topic and I'm guessing it's still to early for a topic....but I noticed the HHN22 teaser site is up. There is a video of people raving about the event, the calendar, and the phrase it's never to soon to start panicking. I also noticed the houses have begun visible construction, and with the RV by the disaster line most are saying it could be the rumored Walking Dead house. Sorry if this is not an appropriate place, I could only find the Hollywood Horror Nights topic.

[ernierocker]

^Tyler (CTU Agent) usually does the HHN thread for each year. Not sure if he plans on doing one this year or not. Going to be weird not having a Jaws queue house this year.

[BBparks57]

Good to know! I thought I always see one, but never knew if it was the same thread just updated or a brand new one. It will be sad to see the Jaws house go...especially after Saws and Steams. I thought it was a very strong house, especially for that location. Perhaps it's best it went out on that note. I honestly am going to miss the parade building this year, for those have been some of my favorite houses. Not sure why I like that location so much. I do not watch the Walking Dead...it seems serious, and I feel like disaster (recently) tends to hold the Horror Comedy houses. Can't wait to see and hear more!

[AndrewRnR]

UO raised ticket prices again today... just one dollar this time to one-up Disney's increase earlier in the week!

 

Potter and Mickey Mouse sure don't want to be known as the cheap date in town.

 

Universal Orlando this week tacked an extra $1 on to the price of a one-day, one-park ticket — matching the $89 base price set last week by Walt Disney World

 

Disney's price increase had come barely a week after Universal lifted its one-day, one-park price to $88.

 

The two resorts had both been charging $85 for their base tickets before the new round of one-upmanship began.

 

"We keep pace with the market," Universal spokesman Tom Schroder said Thursday. Universal said it would keep its base price at $88 for tickets sold online.

 

Although it may seem a trifling amount on the surface, the additional dollar could be worth several million dollars a year in revenue for Universal, whose two theme parks drew a combined 13.7 million visitors in 2011.

 

 

Source: Orlando Sentinel

[triggernel]

The new SB store looks fantastic! Bums me out when I see the stores at Nick U; they just don't stack up.

[BeemerBoy]

"We keep pace with the market," Universal spokesman Tom Schroder said Thursday.

Well, I'm sure both company's fans are ecstatic about the new game you're both playing. I'll tune in to SportsCenter later to see how it's going.

[jedimaster1227]

^

[kidcoaster 2]

Seems like some price gouging is going on in Orlando.