Universal Cheaping Out In 2009

[nodoubtrock]

current wait times - noon fri. :

dooms fearfall: 50min.
hulk: 20 min.
spiderman: 40min.
JP River Adventure: 5min.
Dueling Dragons: 5min.
simpsons: 45min.
MIB: 5 min.
Shrek: 15min.

 

[BuckeyeGuy28]

January isn't really busy season (in fact it's one of their slowest months) and they think only the locals will come and figure that if they're there they don't need a great show since they can come back anytime. Sorry that happened to you. Also, when its not peak season, some of the ride staff doesn't have to work (like kids who have to go to school now) and so they are only capable of running one train or one track

By the way, Universal is still operated by PEOPLE and BANKS who are affected by the economic recession. They may not have the money to both operate all their cars and tracks AND keep the park open. The only reason the parks are crowded is because tourists are saying "we're going to run out of money, might as well do it in style; let's go on a Orlando vacation!" They also may have booked these vacations far before the economy got so bad back when they had the money to do so. Until you understand just where Universal's finances go and how they're doing financially, you can't complain about them being 'cheap'. They might be doing all they can to keep the gates open for you!

 

[minniejack]

January isn't really busy season (in fact it's one of their slowest months) and they think only the locals will come and figure that if they're there they don't need a great show since they can come back anytime. Sorry that happened to you. Also, when its not peak season, some of the ride staff doesn't have to work (like kids who have to go to school now) and so they are only capable of running one train or one track

By the way, Universal is still operated by PEOPLE and BANKS who are affected by the economic recession. They may not have the money to both operate all their cars and tracks AND keep the park open. The only reason the parks are crowded is because tourists are saying "we're going to run out of money, might as well do it in style; let's go on a Orlando vacation!" They also may have booked these vacations far before the economy got so bad back when they had the money to do so. Until you understand just where Universal's finances go and how they're doing financially, you can't complain about them being 'cheap'. They might be doing all they can to keep the gates open for you!

That's what I'm thinking, too.

And what I noticed was there seemed to be less Americans during the holiday at the parks. There was one point when my family was riding the Mummy while I was waiting for reservations at Lombardi's that I seemed to be the only American in the whole place. A man sat down beside me who was clearly with non-American friends and was complaining about the rudeness of foreigners...(how they cut lines in rides). How you'd be kicked out of parks in Middle America for line jumping.

I'm wondering what his friends thought of his comment.

But you know he is right --I've seen guards time and again take line jumpers out of the parks at Cedar Point--I've never seen it happen at Disney or Uni.

 

[drj1950]

I know things are tough but in order to keep people coming back you really have to take care of what people want.I work for a very large retail chain,a couple of years ago when things started to go downhill here in Florida there were lots of cutbacks and changes.I told my bosses it was the wrong thing to do and we lost key people,I hear people in our store say all the time how our service is horrible and they will go somewhere else.In 3 years our sales have dropped about 30%.You really have to spend money to make money

 

[kirbsam]

new coaster coming soon and harry potter coming next year. i dont think universal needs to worry too much about people coming back for more. not trying to say it is right, just saying, they know we are going to come back for the new things no matter what happens now.

 

[rcraw45425]

It's been two years since we were there, I"m hoping if we book a trip for June we'll experience some later evenings than we experienced whe we were there that October. I could understand early closings for HHN but closing both parks at 6 or 7 when it's still light outside? That was the reason that DH has held off going back. Are the summer hours later, or do you guys think that'll be another "cost cutter" for this year? I have deliberately held off booking, even canceled my Disney Bounceback to think about this trip, and held off booking WDW with the 40% off flyer they sent me

 

[damo]

I am sure that once the spring and summer crowds start to appear, the cost cutting measures will be put aside. The parks usually stay open until dark in the summer so you should be just fine. The beginning of June they are open until 8 and then the middle of June they start staying open until 9. In July they are open until 10.

http://www.universalorlando.com/hou...dar=uo_park_hours&year=2009&month=6&year=2009

 

[macraven]

It's been two years since we were there, I"m hoping if we book a trip for June we'll experience some later evenings than we experienced whe we were there that October. I could understand early closings for HHN but closing both parks at 6 or 7 when it's still light outside? That was the reason that DH has held off going back. Are the summer hours later, or do you guys think that'll be another "cost cutter" for this year? I have deliberately held off booking, even canceled my Disney Bounceback to think about this trip, and held off booking WDW with the 40% off flyer they sent me

October hours always have the earlier closing.
November is the same.

 

[rcraw45425]

Thanks guys, I was also thinking that even if they do close around 8, the girls could still swim, didn't get to do much of that during our October trip to Portofino Bay, it was a little cool by the time we got back in the evenings. They did enjoy the pool the day we left to return home. Thinking about Hard Rock this time, or should we stick with Portofino?

 

[damo]

Thanks guys, I was also thinking that even if they do close around 8, the girls could still swim, didn't get to do much of that during our October trip to Portofino Bay, it was a little cool by the time we got back in the evenings. They did enjoy the pool the day we left to return home. Thinking about Hard Rock this time, or should we stick with Portofino?

The Hard Rock pool is similar to the PBH pool in that it has a water slide. The rooms are a bit bigger at the PBH and the atmosphere is totally different. We like them both.

 

[WDWFreak200]

The OP did not mention this at all, but ET has gone from operating with 2 tracks down to 1. The economy is really having a bad impact on the park, it seems. But, it also makes sense for them to cut back on Operational aspects.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

That's what I'm thinking, too.

And what I noticed was there seemed to be less Americans during the holiday at the parks. There was one point when my family was riding the Mummy while I was waiting for reservations at Lombardi's that I seemed to be the only American in the whole place. A man sat down beside me who was clearly with non-American friends and was complaining about the rudeness of foreigners...(how they cut lines in rides). How you'd be kicked out of parks in Middle America for line jumping.

I'm wondering what his friends thought of his comment.

But you know he is right --I've seen guards time and again take line jumpers out of the parks at Cedar Point--I've never seen it happen at Disney or Uni.

I was there on 12/28 & 1/1 and agree.. I felt like I was in another country. I was one of the few Americans. There were many other languages spoken... There were times where my family were the only American English Speaking around us. I do think it has a lot to do with the economy too...

Oh & while I was there, can't remember which day, ET did have only 1 track running.. not sure why.. as well as on Thanksgiving weekend. You would think both would be opened then.

 

[Muushka]

We were just there the past Monday and Thursday. MIB had 60 minute waits as well as several other rides. We typically have a meal while at USF/IOA, but due to long lines and inability to get on a ride in less than an hour (some had less waiting time, but very few) we left prior to becoming hungry. That saved them a lot of $$. Well it saved us a chunk of change!

 

[inkkognito]

Wow, I have to apologize. I really thought y'all must be exaggerating as to just how bad its gotten with the cutbacks, but DH and I went to USF today and it was out of control. One side running on MiB, so they would hold standby for a while, then let a bunch of standby through, then let some express in after them. It was awful. Mummy was one side too but not as bad. We didn't even try the Simpsons because we could see how messed up it was just by looking. Express was better than being stuck in the standby lines, but not by much...especially not at MiB. It was horrible! If this keeps up, I may as well start going to WDW again because it's a shorter drive and I'll have to stand in lines anyway.

We were definitely in the minority too. Tour groups and foreign tourists everywhere. No one being disruptive or rude tho', or at least not any moreso than on any other day with Americans. We went to the Wal-Mart on Turkey Road and a tour group had taken over and was being rude and idiotic there, running into people with carts and whatnot. At least they were dispensing the fresh coffee beans, sucking them, and then spitting them back onto the display like I saw at Target last year.

Valet was insane too. There weren't many people in front of us, and we waited for our car for over half an hour. I pity the huge crowd of people who came after us. For all I know, they're still there.

The one good thing was seeing more coaster track.

 

[nodoubtrock]

did you get any pics of the coaster?

 

[inkkognito]

No, we forgot to bring a camera but I want to get back and get some because it's looking VERY impressive now. We were chatting with a team member in the vicinity, and I learned some things I didn't know (for example, that it will be chain lift rather than a launch like Hulk). Those curves are looking amazing.

 

[Metro West]

If this keeps up, I may as well start going to WDW again because it's a shorter drive and I'll have to stand in lines anyway.

Yeah...sounds like what I'm going to do too. I'll go over to Universal every few weekends to take pictures of the new track but I'm not standing in long lines. I guess that's the down side to living here...I find myself not wanting to wait in line for anything at Universal or Disney.

 

[pixeegrl]

This really sucks! We were thinking of going in January instead of December again. I really hope they change it by then (2010 or 2011) or we'll just stick to December...at least then all the lines were open. How are you supposed to get Bonus points for making the other side spin and spin on MIB if the other track isn't running?

 

[Bluer101]

We go all the time normally durring the slow season and I have noticed a little change in the rides. The most I see is normally as the day gets busier they add a second train to DD, or use both sides of MIB, of both sides of ROTM. We just we there 3 weeks ago and noticed tat this was the case. It was fine in the morn but by early afternoon the lines start to get bigger because of it. I did not care to much since we stay onsite and still the EP wait was less than 5-10 min and most of the time walk right on.

 

[Notatourist]

The OP did not mention this at all, but ET has gone from operating with 2 tracks down to 1. The economy is really having a bad impact on the park, it seems. But, it also makes sense for them to cut back on Operational aspects.

You do know there is only one track at ET..right? There's two platforms for loading and unloading, but ONE track.