Universal Price Increase - 2014

[Kevin38]

I'm just praying the cheap APs stay after Potter.

I just got the AP survey (narrowed by type of AP)
One of the Questions was what part of 100% were your reasons for renewing/purchasing AP

Price
Value
Food and merch discount
Hotel discount
Free parking
Harry Potter
Transformers
Despicable Me
Ect.

The point of the question(and the many multiple answers) is so the people who are asking (Universal AP dept)
can go in and say less than 30% of people renew because of price.
So lets raise the price. IMHO

Kevin38

 

[batsmouth]

Makes sense to rise it when your investing such money in the resort and Disney hiked up their prices

 

[Octobers Fade]

Many of there improvements are shops/restraunts for us to spend more money. They dont need to raise prices, they want to.

- - - Updated - - -



Because we have allowed them to. People on here act like Universal is doing us favors. I'm paying nearly $400 (Admission,food,stay) for myself to be there, so they better be putting out.

Amen!

 

[IzzyB]

I am not sure how you guys are calculating AP values, but here is a breakdown of the three parks. For comparison sake, I did the Sea World/Busch Gardens ticket.

Lets start with Seasonal (Sea World doesn't really have one so they are not in this category):
Disney is $339.74 which comes to 84.94 per park
Universal is $186.37 which comes to 93.19 per park

Now regular passes:
Disney is $516.53 which comes to $129.13 per park
Universal is $260.92 which comes to $130.46 per park
Sea World is $188.74 which comes to $94.37 per park

So if you want to go by the number of parks (which in turn goes to the number of rides) Sea World/Busch Gardens is your best value, then Disney, then Universal. Is Universal giving you more NEW rides? No question about it. They are doing the most to their parks the fastest. But if you want more variety of things to do then Disney is really giving you the best value. If you want better Holiday events/shows then Sea World is going to be your best value. So really it depends on what you are looking for when you talk about value. But when you break it down by the number of parks the pass allows you to enter, Universal is not a good value at all.

 

[TylerDurden]

But when you break it down by the number of parks the pass allows you to enter, Universal is not a good value at all.

oh boy...op:

 

[shiekra38]

I am not sure how you guys are calculating AP values, but here is a breakdown of the three parks. For comparison sake, I did the Sea World/Busch Gardens ticket.

Lets start with Seasonal (Sea World doesn't really have one so they are not in this category):
Disney is $339.74 which comes to 84.94 per park
Universal is $186.37 which comes to 93.19 per park

Now regular passes:
Disney is $516.53 which comes to $129.13 per park
Universal is $260.92 which comes to $130.46 per park
Sea World is $188.74 which comes to $94.37 per park

How much does a half day park factor into it? Because Disney has two of those

 

[rioriz]

How much does a half day park factor into it? Because Disney has two of those

And to many people Universal has two also :wave:

 

[shiekra38]

And to many people Universal has two also :wave:

That is true to some...point is, value for me means freshness of experience...Disney clearly does not have a fresh experience anymore, rather old dog with old tricks...therefore to me a Universal ticket although more 'expensive' for each park is more 'value'...bang for your buck

But I'm a Universal fan first so there you go

 

[Kevin38]

I can take about 25 days a year in a park.
Universal is definitely The best Value
The first year was 300.00 and renewals are 170.00 (out of state)
The first year I did visit for 12.00 a day
The second year I can visit for 6.80 a day(less than a movie)

Disney is 27.00 a day with no renewal discount.(675.00 a year)

Multiply that by 2,3,or 4 depending on family size.

I keep saying I am going to get Seaworld/Busch Garden AP's but Universal keeps adding things I want to See.

So I have not done that yet

 

[Nick]

For me, with my family having DVC, the best deal for us for what we are getting is the Premium AP for $485. If we are just looking at the 4 parks, it breaks down to $121.5/park. Then you add in admission to DisneyQuest, WWoS, Water Parks and the Golf Courses (all of which I do take advantage of if I have access to them) and it's not that bad of a deal at all.

Uni is giving me a lot of new experiences, which is why i'll still get an AP, but if i'm looking at value, the ability to visit all parks AND utilize all of those recreational activities is pretty big too.

 

[Felipe]

I am not sure how you guys are calculating AP values, but here is a breakdown of the three parks. For comparison sake, I did the Sea World/Busch Gardens ticket.

Lets start with Seasonal (Sea World doesn't really have one so they are not in this category):
Disney is $339.74 which comes to 84.94 per park
Universal is $186.37 which comes to 93.19 per park

Now regular passes:
Disney is $516.53 which comes to $129.13 per park
Universal is $260.92 which comes to $130.46 per park
Sea World is $188.74 which comes to $94.37 per park

So if you want to go by the number of parks (which in turn goes to the number of rides) Sea World/Busch Gardens is your best value, then Disney, then Universal. Is Universal giving you more NEW rides? No question about it. They are doing the most to their parks the fastest. But if you want more variety of things to do then Disney is really giving you the best value. If you want better Holiday events/shows then Sea World is going to be your best value. So really it depends on what you are looking for when you talk about value. But when you break it down by the number of parks the pass allows you to enter, Universal is not a good value at all.

Don't forget about renewal rates, though :thumbs:

SeaWorld and Busch Gardens do give you a bit of a discount, and also sometimes even give you some extra months for free.

Universal has a big drop in price after the first year, but no extra months, though. Although you can sometimes get those offers where you get a few months for free with your first pass.

Disney... :shrug:

 

[Nick]

Don't forget about renewal rates, though :thumbs:

SeaWorld and Busch Gardens do give you a bit of a discount, and also sometimes even give you some extra months for free.

Universal has a big drop in price after the first year, but no extra months, though. Although you can sometimes get those offers where you get a few months for free with your first pass.

Disney... :shrug:

FL Resident AP Renewal rate at Disney is $435...

 

[Felipe]

FL Resident AP Renewal rate at Disney is $435...

Cool :thumbs:

BTW, the :shrug: really meant :shrug: (as in, I don't know )

 

[Skipper Justin]

Cool :thumbs:

BTW, the :shrug: really meant :shrug: (as in, I don't know )

Yeah the renewal rate at Disney is horrible, another reason I will not be renewing my pass in May. I cannot really afford to spend that much again right after Graduation. Another is I may be working with them in June. haha

 

[Nick]

Yeah the renewal rate at Disney is horrible, another reason I will not be renewing my pass in May. I cannot really afford to spend that much again right after Graduation. Another is I may be working with them in June. haha

Are you applying for the college program?

 

[Skipper Justin]

Are you applying for the college program?

Professional Internship Program.

 

[IzzyB]

That is true to some...point is, value for me means freshness of experience...Disney clearly does not have a fresh experience anymore, rather old dog with old tricks...therefore to me a Universal ticket although more 'expensive' for each park is more 'value'...bang for your buck

But I'm a Universal fan first so there you go

And that is why I said, it all depends on what you are looking for when it comes to value. It really is a personal decision when it comes to determining value. I actually have passes to all three, but instead of SW/Busch, I have SW/Aquatica (we also have Legoland). So to me all of them are a good value. I go to all of the parks enough to justify the per day cost. But when we only have one of the 3, we get bored of that one (even Disney) fairly quickly because we are there normally once a week. But depending on what is going on, we may be there multiple times in a week. So when you are going to parks more than 50+ days a year getting all three is well worth it.

I did not do renewal rates because I am not sure what the new rates will be as that information is not easily found. Plus it got complex because then you have to consider SW 2 year pass which is even a better deal than the 1 year pass. Also, I don't always renew and others may not either. For instance I let my Uni pass go because I was not planning on going again until May time frame. Not worth holding a pass from Oct to May and not go. I ended up buying in Feb, but only because I got 3 months free and therefore making it worth getting just for me while my husband and daughter were gone. But we won't get their passes until May, but our passes will probably still sync up since I am not sure they will get the 3 months free. Again, gets very complex, muddled, and way more confusing. I was trying to simplify stuff that I could compare from one park to another.

 

[Eastcoast]

Amidst all the bickering, is there an expiration date on the tickets if you purchase them online? Even though prices are up at the gate, you can still snag them at the current price online...until March 4th according to Screamscape. I'm not planning on going for another 2 years or so but could I buy tickets now and use them then? That's a big jump (17%) on the 2 day 2 park ticket.

 

[martymcflyy85]

That 195 price on a 2 day ticket is the tipping point for my family where we can't afford it anymore.

 

[KRAKENvsMANTA]

I'm glad I'm not only one pist off with the ridiculous price increases. And this is on top of the $15 just to park your car.

I luckily have annual passes(Universal, SW/BG), but if I lived out of state, there's no in hell I'm paying almost $100 for one day at a theme park! I love theme parks, and appreciate what Universal has added, but DAMN!