- Jul 9, 2012
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I called Universal the other day to ask about my flex pay, they said prices have gone up 20% this year and Volcano Bay prices should be announced sometime this month. So we'll see
Yeah, I agree. I think they'd rather have a segment of the AP's pass on VB, to keep it from getting uncomfortably crowded during peak tourist seasons. And the ones that will buy the higher VB included passes are probably the AP's holders that have more disposable income. , and that's the segment they're looking for. This certainly is going to be the complete opposite of the Wet & Wild demographic....Of course, this is just me speculating since I have no insider knowledge of this..... (Hint: Real Insiders, feel free to PM me with any actuall info . I keep secrets real good. )Anecdotally, the percentage of WDW APs who add the water parks seems small, I'd guess under 20%. SW/Aquatica may be a bit higher, just because the add-on is so cheap ($5/month on flexpay), but a substantial percentage of the population just won't go to a water park. I can't imagine UOR forcing people to buy an AP to VB.
It's funny that ever so often when a price increase comes along, the theme park community needs to be reminded that the parks are a luxury, not something anyone is entitled to. If Universal wants to position this as a premium experience, they will price it accordingly.
And to whoever said that Disney's the one that sets the pricing for the market.. I don't believe that to be true anymore. Isn't Universal/Islands more expensive than Disney right now at the gate? Plus, Universal keeps innovating ways to increase spending with Hogwarts Express, seasonal pricing, and possibly now Volcano Bay.
When it comes to VB, I'm interested in seeing how this all plays out. In my eyes (passholder living 200 miles away), I see this as a park I would enjoy at night.
My observation of the Disney water parks is that they are busy in the morning, people wipe themselves out and leave around two or three. When I was a passholder and I think even as a FL resident, I could get in cheap after 4, but I think the park still closed pretty early.
With VB, I kinda feel UNI has the opportunity to sell this park twice a day (sort of like the Studios during HHN or like ancient water parks that sold timed tickets...like a roller rink or something).
With Universal's background as a film studio, they seem to take mood lighting pretty seriously. Even the hyper themed Islands of Adventure breaks the illusion often to stick in lots of colorful studio lighting in every nook and cranny of the park. One would hope VB is no different.I haven't followed this thread extensively, so pardon me if this has already been discussed.
What will the lighting situation be like? I know the volcano is supposed to have a show and all, but loads of people are deathly afraid of water when they can't see what's in front of them (IMO, this is why water parks never stay open late). I would hope/assume that there'll be extensive lighting within the slides to calm any fears.
When you look at the pre visual presentation of the park (make it a high resolution) you can see light poles (maybe also speakers) (yellow) during the top-down view from the volcano at the beach of the pool. You can see more of these poles in the video (it's that good of a presentation). You can even see it in the still of the video below.I think lighting rigs like these pointed at slides would do the trick for nighttime mood setting, and making it not as scary to ride at night. These are pointed at Kong. Even though they're some serious setups, they're actually hardly noticeable when walking by.
I've heard VB will be the same price as IoA and USF. One word I could use to describe this is "bold".
bold wouldnt be the word i would use although i think most people going to VB will be multi-day visitors and AP holdersThat would be really bold. Isn't that double the Disney price for TL/BB?
I think it's $60'ish for a 1 day. If VB is the same price as IOA on a peak day that would be close to $120.