Maybe it's time to Boycott Universal

[Laurabearz]

i'm going when the leaves start falling,,,anyone else?

how about a mini meet?


we would have soooo much fun at such a kewl place !!

We will be at the HRH during leaf falling time!!! I would meet you in a box, and I would meet you with a fox... I would meet you here or there, but would prefer to meet you at US/IOA LOL

 

[macraven]

We will be at there when we get there. I would meet you in a box, and I would meet you with a fox... I would meet you here or there, but would prefer to meet you at US/IOA LOL

well, sam i am and in like flint.






i wil met you where ever you say. !!!

 

[heatherbelle]

heatherbelle, i read on another board that the folks coming from across the pond really come out ahead. your pound to our dollar is worth more when converting here.

one gal stated she brings empty suitcases and does all her shopping at beltz for clothes as her money goes a lot farther. she and her family get most of their summer wardrobe in orlando.

i have met many brits at the on site hotel. the longest i have stayed at one is 5 nights/ 6 days. some i met have booked for 14 days.........they must really enjoy it.

how long do you stay in orlando when you are taking your holiday?

Those that stay on site earn mega bucks. To stay in a disney hotel with flights from the uk, car hire etc in school holidays costs around £4500 for a family of four. On top of that, there's the park passes and food etc (that's at the all stars). The poly costs £5600, that's around $95,000. I think!


The hard rock cost £9000.

Theme park tickets are around £174 for 14 disney unlimited adult
5 day flexi ticket is £115.0 each. This year for 3 of us, we will spend around £900 on tickets.

So when your work for the NHS (Government hospital) and are low paid, then it way too expensive to stay on site.

Yes the food, the trainers etc are cheaper than at home. UK customs allow us to bring back at the moment around £47 worth of gifts. So those bringing back suitcases and not paying the VAT (taxes ) are breaking the law. Loads of people do it and I don't blame them.

In the UK we tend to take 14 night holidays, it's part of our culture. When we go to Europe, we brits usually go for 14 nights or 7 nights.

USA is further, so we tend to come for 14, or more. This year we are coming for 22 nights. So we don't get theme parked out.

So to stay onsite for 21 nights would be very, very expensive. By staying off site and staying somewhere cheaper, we can come back every 18 months. I could stay on site for a couple of days, but I really don't want to waste valuable time packing and unpacking. We also like to hop parks, say do universal.IOA during the day, and then go over to disney at night. When we came last year, we found that Ui/IOA didn't stay open after 8.00

sorry for the long post, but you did ask.

I would love to earn enough to stay on sight, but the government doesn't pay high wages.

You will find that those staying on site, earn good salaries, and work for private companies or themselves.

 

[macraven]

glad to have your answer but what is the pound to the dollar at this point?

using the pound sign makes it look soooooooo costly..

i visit one website you are probably familiar with, the uk one for tickets and packages. it llooks like fantastic deals for the brits.


yea, tell me about low wages.........that i am familiar with.
i do disney during value season and stay at the value resorts in order to have the money for the onsite hotels at universal, my first love....

air fare and universal hotels and disney tickets are high priced for me.
universal discounts and does specials for tickets and that is a good thing.
the others i mentioned wipes me out ............so i try to prepay everything in advance, months in advance.

going solo for the 3rd time on my holidays.......i used to take the kids or at least one of them at a time. they are in school now and can't miss.
my prices would really be sky high if i had them with me for orlando.

i'm glad you are able to do trips every 18 months.
have you written off for the coupon books that are available in orlando on lodging and resturants?

 

[damo]

Here in the UK, one of our famous theme parks, started all this fast pass buisness a few years ago.

You bought your standard ticket for $60 then you could buy add ones at varying prices, to bet the lines.

My sister spent over $300 for a family of 4 to ride 3 thrill rides. Even with the fast passes, she still had to stand in line.

Needless to say she hasn't been back since.

So beware, eventually you may end up with fast pass one, two and three, just to the beat the lines.

Those on-site hotels are far too expensive for people coming from outside the US. We also have expensive flights to pay for etc and stay for longer. Spend more money in the parks on food etc as a result of our longer holidays, so come on universal, bring back the fast pass. I thought it was great, if you knew how to use it.

Are you talking about Alton Towers? We are planning our trip in two years and hope to hit Thorpe Park as well. The hotel at Alton Towers looks really pricey though!

This can't be right. "The poly costs £5600, that's around $95,000". You've got to be staying in one fancy room!!!

 

[ChrisFL]

Are you talking about Alton Towers? We are planning our trip in two years and hope to hit Thorpe Park as well. The hotel at Alton Towers looks really pricey though!

This can't be right. "The poly costs £5600, that's around $95,000". You've got to be staying in one fancy room!!!

actually XE.com shows it as

5,600.00 GBP= 9,644.72 USD

 

[damo]

actually XE.com shows it as

5,600.00 GBP= 9,644.72 USD

Ah, that makes more sense!

 

[patster734]

It say's Universal should treat their customes equal like Disney, when the parks opened it's the same rules for everyone.

What's your opinion of Disney offering Extra Magic Hours to their onsite guests only?

 

[magicmouse2]

Can someone please clarify is it rumoured they are removing express pass or has it actually been removed already ? This wil make a big difference tgo our plans . We were considering 2 weeks offsite but now it will be one on one off if thas the case.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

glad to have your answer but what is the pound to the dollar at this point?

using the pound sign makes it look soooooooo costly..

i visit one website you are probably familiar with, the uk one for tickets and packages. it llooks like fantastic deals for the brits.


yea, tell me about low wages.........that i am familiar with.
i do disney during value season and stay at the value resorts in order to have the money for the onsite hotels at universal, my first love....

air fare and universal hotels and disney tickets are high priced for me.
universal discounts and does specials for tickets and that is a good thing.
the others i mentioned wipes me out ............so i try to prepay everything in advance, months in advance.

going solo for the 3rd time on my holidays.......i used to take the kids or at least one of them at a time. they are in school now and can't miss.
my prices would really be sky high if i had them with me for orlando.

i'm glad you are able to do trips every 18 months.
have you written off for the coupon books that are available in orlando on lodging and resturants?

Hi - I am from the UK too, the dollar rate at the moment is about £1 = $1.64
which is quite low given that it has been as high as $1.80 earlier this year.

It is expensive for Brits to visit Florida, especially if you have children, however, we have been many times and plan to continue to visit every year.
It is the only holiday we take and generally we go for 3 weeks.

We rent a villa in Kissimmee and never stayed on-site either at Universal or Disney. It suits us best as we prefer the privacy and cooking facilities, it works out better value for money too.

We have APs for Universal which we find are excellent value for money, especially as they only cost just over $100 to renew, we buy our Disney passes from MapleLeafTickets in Kissimmee.

The main problem we have is that because my son is at school and my wife is a teacher we have to go during August, the flight prices from the UK to Orlando at that time of the year are very high - which is why many people take their children out of school and go at times when it is less expensive.

 

[macraven]

hey johnny, thanks for the detailed reply.

of all the brits i have met at the parks, most stay off site for disney.
when i am at the hrh, i have met several that stay there for a couple of weeks. i am always amazed on how they can swing that.

when i first started going to orlando, the kids and i stayed at quality inn suites for the extra bed space and room. the boys would get on each others nerves if they were too close to each other.......but we never cooked in the suites. just used the fridge for soda and water and leftovers from resturants.

we switched over to disney all stars when they got older for the extra one and a half hours in advance for on site guests to enter the park. it really helped out as we had to go during summer.

now, i go solo or have for the last 2 going on 3 trips. i am a teacher and take off the time from work. i can't stand fighting the crowds by myself.
its a trade off of many things, the weather, crowds, value season, cheaper airfare, etc.
we never had the fast/express passes when we started going and were able to see it all.
when is your next trip to the motherland???? disney/universal that is

 

[macraven]

What's your opinion of Disney offering Extra Magic Hours to their onsite guests only?

since he is not responding, here's my two cents on that:

at the prices disney charges, an extra hour in the morning is appreciated.

but for universal it is different. this i know first hand and it has happened every year i have gone, even in early october, slower season.

universal/ioa opens at 9 daily. i get to the entrance gate around 8:20 usually.
if the lines are long, universal opens up and lets ALL guests, on site/off site customers in early. they don't discriminate on who can start their park adventure early.

i have been allowed in with all the others in the line at 8:30 and 8: 45 on many occassions.
universal tries to accomodate the guests when those lines are long.
unlike disney who waits for the exact time before letting anyone come in.

 

[macraven]

Can someone please clarify is it rumoured they are removing express pass or has it actually been removed already ? This wil make a big difference tgo our plans . We were considering 2 weeks offsite but now it will be one on one off if thas the case.

if you are going in mid to end of january, there shouldn't be lines anywhere.

regarding your question about the express pass system, i have no idea, sorry.
rumors always fly and we just don't know unless universal itself announces it.

maybe someone else here on the thread knows more than we do.

the only thing i know is the express pass system would be down when there are no crowds. 2 years ago it wasn't operating when i went on one day but there were no lines anywhere.......before that system and before i stayed on site, my 3 boys and i did the parks in the summer and never missed a thing, we would always go opposite of the crowds..........think, go left first, not right

 

[magicmouse2]

Those that stay on site earn mega bucks. To stay in a disney hotel with flights from the uk, car hire etc in school holidays costs around £4500 for a family of four. On top of that, there's the park passes and food etc (that's at the all stars). The poly costs £5600, that's around $95,000. I think!


The hard rock cost £9000.

Theme park tickets are around £174 for 14 disney unlimited adult
5 day flexi ticket is £115.0 each. This year for 3 of us, we will spend around £900 on tickets.

So when your work for the NHS (Government hospital) and are low paid, then it way too expensive to stay on site.

Yes the food, the trainers etc are cheaper than at home. UK customs allow us to bring back at the moment around £47 worth of gifts. So those bringing back suitcases and not paying the VAT (taxes ) are breaking the law. Loads of people do it and I don't blame them.

In the UK we tend to take 14 night holidays, it's part of our culture. When we go to Europe, we brits usually go for 14 nights or 7 nights.

USA is further, so we tend to come for 14, or more. This year we are coming for 22 nights. So we don't get theme parked out.

So to stay onsite for 21 nights would be very, very expensive. By staying off site and staying somewhere cheaper, we can come back every 18 months. I could stay on site for a couple of days, but I really don't want to waste valuable time packing and unpacking. We also like to hop parks, say do universal.IOA during the day, and then go over to disney at night. When we came last year, we found that Ui/IOA didn't stay open after 8.00

sorry for the long post, but you did ask.

I would love to earn enough to stay on sight, but the government doesn't pay high wages.

You will find that those staying on site, earn good salaries, and work for private companies or themselves.

Sorry to disagree but here is one Brit-two inc DH, who doesnt earn mega bucks and finds staying onsite affordable. I also have 3 kids to pay for. We buy one AP and 4 power APs and get discounted rates through booking direct through Universal for RPR (you can then go back to orlando in 11 months - ie your next years vacation and use the passes again). For example May 04 I paid less than $130 per night at the RPR at the time about 80 GBP. Considering a decent villa offsite would cost around the same or more I dont think its unaffordable if you know how to get the discounts. This year so far the best AP rate at our time is $206 per night which will work out around 127gbp per night which is a lot more than I paid previously, however the rate may come down closer to the time. The secret for us Brits is to book it ourselves and avoid the travel agents packages. I pay less for hotels in Orlando than anywhere else in the world I have been. TBO I get bored of the same hotel/villa after 1 week and am ready to change. We used to do 3 weeks but now do 2 as we have seen and done everything now.

If you bring back loads of stuff wear it first and take the tags off. Then they cant say its gifts and that you are breaking the law.

 

[swilphil]

Can someone please clarify is it rumoured they are removing express pass or has it actually been removed already ? This wil make a big difference tgo our plans.

I also would be interested in knowing the answer to this. Also what is the source of the rumor?

 

[macraven]

from what has been posted on this thread in the last few days, the express pass system has not been removed. i have not seen where any employees that post on the boards have said anything to substantiate that questioned rumor. express pass works just like disney's fast pass. if there are no crowds, then the machines do not operate. last sept at disney, no fast pass machines worked when i was there except for soaring. they had little crowds and no need for the passes.

screamscape usually comes out with the rumors first, sometimes they are correct while other times they are way off the mark.

the rumor about disney plans of charging for the ME transportation is more than just a rumor.
when i made a ressie for a future stay this year there, i was asked if i planned to use the ME. i said ok, why not.

the cm asked me for a contact phone # or email in order to be notified for changes. since i have been and stayed at disney resorts before, this wasn;t the usual question they asked a future guest so i asked why the needed 411.
the cm told me that disney has plans to start charging for the ME program and i would be notified in advance to be aware of the charges for it.

the cm then said he needed to check with a supervisor and came back on the line with me. he told me i should be fine with no charge for ME as my trip ends mid october and the plan changes are for at the end of the year.

this morning on another board a poster mentioned the same thing but said she was informed the charges for the ME might take effect late november.

 

[macraven]

If they want to get rid of the Express Passes, and screw all the Off Site Guest
maybe we should stop subsudizing their little private amusement park. Then
they can go back to having one line for the only people at the park which would be the onsite guest.

Instead go to Busch Gardens, Sea World or spend extra time at Disney, then maybe universal would take notice.

Disney takes care of their on Site Guest but not at the expense of every other patron, Universal should offer the same benefit to their Guest without
screwing all the Off Site Guest.

Again this isn't a knock at on site guest, I fully agree something should be done for them, just not at the expense of everyone else.

Universal take note of what Disney does, That's why their #1.........

oh i see what the question is that you two have been asking.

the original poster, creater of this thread is the one that started the rumor.
i don't think anyone else had much concern about it.
looks like the op started this thread and then left.


well, now that the thread has been hijacked, we can sit back and talk about universal. i have quite enjoyed visiting with the wonderful lovely brits that came to post. i am stil trying to figure out conversion of the pound/dollar..

yes, the one issue on the dis boards are some times people are very quick to post and start a rumor and then leave us all hanging.

most of us here enjoy both parks.

 

[davehfx]

oh i see what the question is that you two have been asking.

the original poster, creater of this thread is the one that started the rumor.
i don't think anyone else had much concern about it.
looks like the op started this thread and then left.


well, now that the thread has been hijacked, we can sit back and talk about universal. i have quite enjoyed visiting with the wonderful lovely brits that came to post. i am stil trying to figure out conversion of the pound/dollar..

yes, the one issue on the dis boards are some times people are very quick to post and start a rumor and then leave us all hanging.

most of us here enjoy both parks.

Well MaCraven I haven't gone anywhere, I'm here if you got something to say, if not mind your own business.

It's is from this board that has a post stating express pass is done, and further more I have yet to see anybody post saying it was still working, if it is
still working then great let us know.

 

[pigby]

Sorry to disagree but here is one Brit-two inc DH, who doesnt earn mega bucks and finds staying onsite affordable. I also have 3 kids to pay for. We buy one AP and 4 power APs and get discounted rates through booking direct through Universal for RPR (you can then go back to orlando in 11 months - ie your next years vacation and use the passes again). For example May 04 I paid less than $130 per night at the RPR at the time about 80 GBP. Considering a decent villa offsite would cost around the same or more I dont think its unaffordable if you know how to get the discounts. This year so far the best AP rate at our time is $206 per night which will work out around 127gbp per night which is a lot more than I paid previously, however the rate may come down closer to the time. The secret for us Brits is to book it ourselves and avoid the travel agents packages. I pay less for hotels in Orlando than anywhere else in the world I have been. TBO I get bored of the same hotel/villa after 1 week and am ready to change. We used to do 3 weeks but now do 2 as we have seen and done everything now.

If you bring back loads of stuff wear it first and take the tags off. Then they cant say its gifts and that you are breaking the law.

A girl of my own heart - exactly what we do. We are staying 9 nights at RPR in August followed by 5 at SSR (DVC points rented from a fellow DIS-er) - no AP's this year but used our last ones 3 times. You can make it work if you really want to.

 

[lindalinda]

Im kinda wondering...can you iggy people on this board . I am SOOOOO bored with reading anything davehfx has to say. The energy is just so negative.