Universal's new ticket structure!

[jenseib]

HHN = Halloween Horror Nights.

Thanks!

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I'm glad I bought our tickets on Friday.

I was going to wait since it's not 100% confirmed that we'll be able to get there this summer but I'm glad I decided to buy them early. I can just save them if we don't make it.

 

[damo]

That's because youngsters like you don't notice that kind of stuff It was a basic 2-park pass, about $90, with blackout dates that wouldn't have mattered to us. You had to be 55 or older to buy it.

That's hubby next year, so I'd better start paying better attention!

 

[n2mm]

I noticed on the passholder website that they still have 50% off 1 day and 2 day tickets for passholders to buy for friends and family. That is always an option too. I'm still sitting on some 2 day, 2 park tickets I purchased last year for my family, who cancelled their trip this summer. I guess even if they use them for only 1 day, it's still a deal. (They were going to stay overnight last August and didn't and now a day trip would be the best thing they could hope for.)

 

[TLinden16]

I just ordered a 7 day ticket through my local AAA office. It was $95 plus $5 shipping.

I am surprised by the huge jump. I know the Harry Potter stuff will bring in a large crowd (at least initially), but that is a lot to swallow.

I was actually considering buying an AP using the flex pay this year, and visiting Universal on my three Disney trips (probably about five days), and then renewing it each year after that (after hearing about the great renewal rates).

But after seeing the new price structure, and the increase in the AP renewal rates, I don't think it's worth it for me to do that this year. Now I'm going to just get a 7 day trip, and spend one or two nights there on one of my trips this year instead. So, Universal will only be seeing me 2-3 days this year intead of 4-5 (or more).

 

[Purseval]

But after seeing the new price structure, and the increase in the AP renewal rates, I don't think it's worth it for me to do that this year. Now I'm going to just get a 7 day trip, and spend one or two nights there on one of my trips this year instead. So, Universal will only be seeing me 2-3 days this year intead of 4-5 (or more).

The folks at US/IOA are obviously betting that any losses of disgruntled customers will be more than offset by new fans flocking at a higher price rate to see Harry Potter.

 

[jessrose18]

Just bought 2 tix from undercover tourist. Recieved confirmation email. Good luck everyone.

 

[Melanie230]

In reality...the ticket increase is still a good ticket price. Thank goodness for this site. I just read this thread today and went straight to our AAA office. I bought our family 4 of the $99 tickets. I told the rep about the rate hike. She was shocked. So as of today...AAA has not been made aware of the increased rate. So we will continue to buy a couple of tickets here and there to save for later visits.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

Annual pass is only $140 if you're a FL resident!!!
Enjoy 12 months of thrills at both Universal Studios Florida & Islands of Adventure for just $139.99 plus tax. (Limited blockout dates apply.)

* 12 months of thrills at both theme parks (with minimal Blockout dates)
* 10% discount on multi-day tickets

actually their Power Pass (which is what you are taking about) is cheaper with a code from the coke can.... here is the info from the Universal site...

Universal Orlando® 2-Park Annual
Power Pass

Florida residents SAVE $25* on a 2-Park Annual Power Pass with the UPC code from any Coca-Cola® product.

Enjoy EVERY Mardi Gras concert** PLUS admission to BOTH Universal Orlando Theme Parks for an entire year for only $114.99* plus tax per person! (blockout dates apply)

http://www.universalorlando.com/Tic...ts.aspx?ComponentId=11541&SourcePageId=7805#9

 

[damo]

In reality...the ticket increase is still a good ticket price. Thank goodness for this site. I just read this thread today and went straight to our AAA office. I bought our family 4 of the $99 tickets. I told the rep about the rate hike. She was shocked. So as of today...AAA has not been made aware of the increased rate. So we will continue to buy a couple of tickets here and there to save for later visits.

I agree. Compared to Disney, the Universal prices are still excellent. Those people who didn't know what the prices were before will think they are very reasonable. We've been extremely lucky. Here are the hopper prices:

Disney 1 day --131
Universal 1 day -- 109

Disney 2 day hopper --208
Universal 2 day hopper -- 135

Disney 3 day hopper --271
Universal 3 day hopper --140

Disney 4 day hopper --277
Universal 4 day hopper --145

Disney 7 day hopper --286
Universal 7 day hopper --170

Disney Annual Pass 489 Renewal Rate 449
Universal Annual Pass 219 Renewal Rate 149

 

[Harmony]

On the DU website, the Universal prices are still $99 for 7 days. If I purchase those tickets tonight, will they still be any good now that Universal has raised their prices?

 

[Purseval]

I agree. Compared to Disney, the Universal prices are still excellent. Those people who didn't know what the prices were before will think they are very reasonable. We've been extremely lucky. Here are the hopper prices:

You are comparing 2 parks to 4. If I doubled each Universal/IOA ticket to make it even and said WDW was actually a much better value except for annual pass prices would you find that statement to be just as credible?

 

[Mad Hattered]

I'm pretty sure this price hike won't even be noticed by most of the HP fans this park will attract. It sucks for the people that have been thrifty enough to take the time to investigate and find such valuable information on sites like this. I believe the people that actually notice this increase (with the exception of the FL residents) will pale in comparison to the number of new people it will attract.

It's been $99 for at least 3 years now, and they've added HP and RRR. It's not rocket science by any means. I'm just grateful for the heads up by jenseib that brought it to the forefront, and then Metro who posted more detail. Because of this though, I bought two tickets for future use. I have a trip in Orlando in two weeks but am going to hold off on hitting Universal until I can experience HP. I'm not even a fan (the wife is a big one) but I am just excited for something new, but a little bummed that it will probably limit our visits.

 

[jenseib]

LOL! I'm just a fool that was searching for the tickets for my mom yesterday and couldn't figure out why the link wasn't working and the costs were higher.
But glad I helped alot of people in that fools process.

 

[torinsmom]

I guess I should have bought my tickets sooner! I thought the new prices would go into effect in the spring before HP opened. Now, I am stuck, because I don't have the $ for the tickets right now, and the old tickets will probably be gone by the end of the month. I am one of those few people who used 7 day tickets to US/IOA for 7 days last year. I am not willing to pay the new price for an unlimited 7 day ticket---a $60 jump is a bit much if you ask me. May have to go with a 2 day ticket or no ticket at all. DS and I don't care for RRR and neither of us cares about HP either.

I'm using the GAD program to get one day ticket to WDW and then upgrading those to 7 day tickets. A 7 day MYW ticket is $249, so only $165 after the $84 ticket is taken off. I can do a lot more at WDW for 7 days than I can at US/IOA for almost the same price. There are only two parks and neither is as big as any Disney park.

Maybe there will be another superbowl contest this year and we can all win free tickets, LOL

MArsha

 

[Metro West]

I'm using the GAD program to get one day ticket to WDW and then upgrading those to 7 day tickets. A 7 day MYW ticket is $249, so only $165 after the $84 ticket is taken off. I can do a lot more at WDW for 7 days than I can at US/IOA for almost the same price. There are only two parks and neither is as big as any Disney park.

I understand where you're coming from but remember...the regular Disney ticket is $249 and the seven day Universal ticket is only $169.99...that's about $80.00 less than Disney for the same time period. It's cheaper this time since you have the GAD ticket but if you didn't have it, Universal would still be less money. I mean...$80.00 a ticket is a BIG savings.

 

[damo]

You are comparing 2 parks to 4. If I doubled each Universal/IOA ticket to make it even and said WDW was actually a much better value except for annual pass prices would you find that statement to be just as credible?

See I don't go for that logic at all. Places that have only one park still charge the same amount. I measure it by a time unit. If I am spending 1 day at any park, it should be relatively the same price, depending on the quality of the park. So many of the rides at each Disney park are for little kids that I am not even going to ride. They could easily make two parks out of it, like at Disneyland. Just because they spread it out over more space and add more filler, doesn't make it worth more, TO ME!

If you look at the volume of people who attend Universal compared to Disney, the amount of revenue earned per park for Disney is tons higher -- more than double. They are ripping people off and people continue to say it is a better value. It isn't. There is no need for them to be charging those rates.

 

[nodoubtrock]

the disney ticket is for 2 more parks though and disney offers more shows/attractions/fireworks/parades(universal parades are only seasonally) so it's not really equal. Lets say you are big HP fan but aren't into roller coasters..that really just leaves 1 attraction.. when I first heard about this harry potter thing, I thought they would have more that the whole family could do and also a HP show..

 

[nodoubtrock]

also I agree that many of the rides disney offers are for kids that I dont ride but this is what makes them money. a lot of familys go on vacations, the parents want to see their kids enjoy the attractions..even if they dont have the most thrilling time themselves..the parents want to make their kids happy and if they see their child had fun on a ride and wants a toy after..they will be buy them something..then they look at the height restrictions/parental warning on certain shows and they may not take their kids to universal because of that..but I agree that I like universal more..most of disney rides are boring to me..

 

[Rip]

See I don't go for that logic at all. Places that have only one park still charge the same amount. I measure it by a time unit. If I am spending 1 day at any park, it should be relatively the same price, depending on the quality of the park. So many of the rides at each Disney park are for little kids that I am not even going to ride. They could easily make two parks out of it, like at Disneyland. Just because they spread it out over more space and add more filler, doesn't make it worth more, TO ME!

If you look at the volume of people who attend Universal compared to Disney, the amount of revenue earned per park for Disney is tons higher -- more than double. They are ripping people off and people continue to say it is a better value. It isn't. There is no need for them to be charging those rates.

I agree, and I really don't understand why people couldn't see this coming. UO's tickets have been comparatively cheap for years, and, quite honestly, they have to pay for this $250 million addition some way. It seems like people expect them to put in roughly 1/4 the investment that the entire park cost to build (IoA was roughly $1 billion to build) and keep prices the same. I don't think that's a realistic expectation. They apparently dropped the preferred AP by about $10 and raised the renewal by $40. I really don't think $40 more per year is such a bad thing, particularly given what pretty much all other theme parks charge percentage-wise for their AP renewals. You get roughly 1/3 off by renewing, and I don't see anyone else giving that kind of discount.