Pricing Universal Tickets....tell me this cant be right?

[pktbMouse]

4 people, 2 day ticket with express passes $1450...for 2 DAYS!! nearly 800 for one day in a park? tell me this isnt so..

 

[pcstang]

2 days of express, not sure what type you picked, is the killer. Staying onsite deluxe 1 night will give you unlimited express on check in and out days. Probably a lot less expensive.

 

[nkereina]

I would also recommend booking a room at one of the deluxe resorts for a night. You get unlimited express pass for both your check in and check out days, plus all three resorts are awesome so its worth it. Royal Pacific would be the cheapest price point. You'd also be eligible for early entry. You can also check Undercover Tourist for discounted tickets which may help.

 

[macraven]

Stay at one of the 3 deluxe hotels

It will come out cheaper in the long run

Buy park tickets after you have checked out the Three vendors that are reliable for UO tix

 

[Robo56]

You can get adult 2 day park to park tickets with third day free at undercover tourist now for 195.66 tax included per person. For 4 adults come to $782.64 then get a deluxe resort room as noted above and your express passes are included.

A 3 day non park hopper ticket for Disney is 291.93 per adult on undercover tourist.

 

[bumbershoot]

Looking at the UO site it looks like you could get a 3 day ticket, with unlimited EP, for the same amount, though.

But really, booking an onsite room for one night, even if you don't stay there, is almost certainly going to be cheaper than buying the unlimited EP for those two days.

 

[JulieNMM]

It's right. It is for this exact same reason we decided to just do 1 day at US/IOA instead of 2.

 

[ktate82]

So if you buy your tickets somewhere else and then book the room, do you still get the unlimited EP?

 

[schumigirl]

So if you buy your tickets somewhere else and then book the room, do you still get the unlimited EP?

Yes, your hotel stay has nothing to do with tickets.

If you stay in one of the 3 hotels that offer EP you will get it just by staying there.


Wonder what OP did after all?

 

[babesboo99]

We are booked at RPR and we are buying our tickets from undercover tourist so we will have the EP and tickets into the park It is cheaper in the long run to stay on sight.

 

[snoopboop]

It's right. It is for this exact same reason we decided to just do 1 day at US/IOA instead of 2.

This reasoning doesn't make sense to me....? The first day (at Universal, Disney, ANY park) is the most expensive. Adding on a day is significantly less expensive than the cost of the first day.... and if you are going to get Express Passes, you can book ONE night in an onsite deluxe hotel and get TWO days of EP.... Seriously, if you're going to pony up for Universal tickets on a Disney vacation (and adding a different theme park on to any vacation is expensive... that's not a commentary on Universal's prices, but just a fact!), then you might as well do two days and get the most bang for your buck!

 

[Jonny_Duck]

This reasoning doesn't make sense to me....? The first day (at Universal, Disney, ANY park) is the most expensive. Adding on a day is significantly less expensive than the cost of the first day.... and if you are going to get Express Passes, you can book ONE night in an onsite deluxe hotel and get TWO days of EP.... Seriously, if you're going to pony up for Universal tickets on a Disney vacation (and adding a different theme park on to any vacation is expensive... that's not a commentary on Universal's prices, but just a fact!), then you might as well do two days and get the most bang for your buck!

Ya know I wonder if eventually it'll really start to hurt Universal in the long run.....Pete iirc on the podcast has made mention of Universal eventually becoming an entire vacation rather than a just tack a cpl days on at the end type thing. But it seems like that's what ppl will eventually be forced to do after all these price hikes. I like Universal but I think they're priced a bit high for the 2 parks they currently have and IF this third park comes it'll be interesting to see just how high they go.

 

[snoopboop]

I like Universal but I think they're priced a bit high for the 2 parks they currently have.

Completely, totally disagree.

And no, I don't think it will hurt them in the long run. I agree with Pete that the one who will be hurt is Disney.

 

[Jonny_Duck]

Completely, totally disagree.

And no, I don't think it will hurt them in the long run. I agree with Pete that the one who will be hurt is Disney.

Don't believe he said Disney would be hurt. They currently hold est 70% of theme park market and could prob to stand to lose half that and still be in an OK position. He's said if Universal builds another gate then Disney likely will too.

Currently it's more money for a single day at Universal than it is at Disney. Like you said....You get a better value adding more days but the problem with that is you can finish both parks in a single day so how many really consider this a full vacations worth by adding mult days?

 

[schumigirl]

Don't believe he said Disney would be hurt. They currently hold est 70% of theme park market and could prob to stand to lose half that and still be in an OK position. He's said if Universal builds another gate then Disney likely will too.

Currently it's more money for a single day at Universal than it is at Disney. Like you said....You get a better value adding more days but the problem with that is you can finish both parks in a single day so how many really consider this a full vacations worth by adding mult days?

We certainly consider it a full vacation trip. And there are definitely more and more people coming over and saying the same thing......ok they may not stay 18 nights like we do, but in 2007 when we first went and came on the boards there were many people who would never even consider setting foot in Universal.

Look how that has changed. And quite dramatically changed.

I certainly can't do a full park in one day and we've been exclusively doing Universal since 08. We have no desire to go back to Disney.

Universal for us is amazing value........and with staying onsite with EP it makes it even better.

I personally don't give a flying monkey about comparisons to which is better and will Disney lose out........don't care really........Disney will always do ok. But the good thing is neither parks are going anywhere.

Something for everyone.

 

[snoopboop]

Don't believe he said Disney would be hurt. They currently hold est 70% of theme park market and could prob to stand to lose half that and still be in an OK position. He's said if Universal builds another gate then Disney likely will too.

Currently it's more money for a single day at Universal than it is at Disney. Like you said....You get a better value adding more days but the problem with that is you can finish both parks in a single day so how many really consider this a full vacations worth by adding mult days?

Just listened to it yesterday, and I definitely heard Pete say that he predicts that it will impact Disney. Not sure of the exact wording he used, sorry.

I just do not understand the "you can finish both parks in a single day" thing. Not even close. We just spent 2.5 days there last week and there were still so many things we didn't get to do on this trip. (We didn't see a single show this time around, and there are several rides we didn't get to, and many more restaurants I would have liked to dine at, and I could have spent more time shopping, and the list goes on!!) I'm not sure what "finishing both parks in a single day" entails, but it certainly doesn't include enjoying everything that Universal has to offer.

Oh, and your assertion that it's more money for a single day at Uni than a single day at Disney is simply wrong. See below for the cost to visit each of the parks today.

 

[cmarsh31]

We ended up booking the same, 2+1 tickets from UT, staying 2 nights at RP for the express pass. Had planned on 4 nights at US but Disney is much cheaper, so 2 nights at POR and the MNSSHP to get our Disney fix. Contemplating upgrading to APs so we could do another day while we're at WDW in Feb but the cost for EP vs lines might make us not bother.

For some reason, it's the cost-EP vs free-FP that bothers me the most. I feel like we "need" EPs because we end up only traveling during school vacation times, but the cost

 

[damo]

Don't believe he said Disney would be hurt. They currently hold est 70% of theme park market and could prob to stand to lose half that and still be in an OK position. He's said if Universal builds another gate then Disney likely will too.

Currently it's more money for a single day at Universal than it is at Disney. Like you said....You get a better value adding more days but the problem with that is you can finish both parks in a single day so how many really consider this a full vacations worth by adding mult days?

Only more expensive if you purchase at the gate.

Universal one park: online...$105 , at gate...$119
Universal park to park: online...$155, at gate...$169

WDW one park: MK...$118, others $108
WDW park to park: $158


As for the doing it in one day....we timed doing every single attraction in Universal and there was no way that we could physically do both parks in one day and that was with express. Sure, you can do select rides from both parks in one day, but there was not enough time to do both. Not even close.

 

[damo]

We ended up booking the same, 2+1 tickets from UT, staying 2 nights at RP for the express pass. Had planned on 4 nights at US but Disney is much cheaper, so 2 nights at POR and the MNSSHP to get our Disney fix. Contemplating upgrading to APs so we could do another day while we're at WDW in Feb but the cost for EP vs lines might make us not bother.

For some reason, it's the cost-EP vs free-FP that bothers me the most. I feel like we "need" EPs because we end up only traveling during school vacation times, but the cost

Stay on site and the cost of EP disappears.

 

[macraven]

I stay onsite for 14 days and never run out of activities at UO

It is not a vacation for me to dash from ride to ride and complete it all in 3 days

Vacations are a time to unwind and relax from the daily grind of responsibilities in our lives

That is how I treat my darkside stays

I start at the motherland on my fall trips and move to the darkside resorts after the 5 night stay there

I'm always on the go at wdw on busses to reach a park and start a park day

I'll not say more on that as it has all been said before

Everyone vacations differently so I don't nitpick on how others prefer to spend their time and money in Orlando

I do both parks and stay at their resorts each trip to Florida

I'm more at home at UO for what it offers me but still spend money at the mouse land