Universal raises Parking prices (Oct 2018)

Well that sucks. It's like they want you to stay on-site.... still going to stay off-site and rent a car on my next trip though.

 

I hadn’t even considered the added security. A valid point.

I would add that the parking garages are hardly pure profit as the upkeep and building maintenance is sure to be high.

Still, this pricing is completely outrageous.

 

It would be easier to ignore the parking prices if they could put together a competent parking operation. The maintenance issues on the walkways and escalators I can live with as long as I'm not seeing the same ones down consistently over a short stretch of visits. Crap breaks, and they have a whole lot of them in a relatively small area.

 

Universal needs to hold steady on pricing right now. Disney is receiving some serious blow back from their recent moves.

 

Absolutely. This is where Universal is at a disadvantage in terms of upkeep and maintenance.

Once upon a time (probably a decade ago now) the car-parking at Disney paid for at least 90% cast member costs (execs not included). Sheer profit from parking on a bit of empty land.

 

The other factor here is to make annual passes seem like a better value. So many people who buy "lesser" passes end up spending a fortune on parking which makes spending more on the better passes which include parking a no brainer for many.

 

True if they didn’t charge for parking at the hotels and with Disney following suit, it’s a bad time to be driving in Orlando.

I actually wonder if Orlando are pushing at the resorts to increase parking prices to reduce the cars on the heavy congested roads.

 

I *think* they've also increased their parking at the resorts.

taking a quick peek, it says Cabana Bay is $14/night and I remember it being $12
And looking at Royal Pacific it shows $24 and I remember it being $22

 

It was $24 when I stayed last month. This was my bill for parking and 6 drinks at the pool.

 

Ok. It was definitely lower ($12 for CB and $22 for RPR) when I last went, but that was back in 2017, so they probably increased it, just sometime earlier within the last year and a bit.

 

I questioned it when they told me the price because it was more than the theme park parking but they didn’t seem to think anything of it.

Looking back at how good I seen them deal with other people I could have created hell about the pricing and they probably would have dropped the charges. When I arrived at Sapphire Falls some stuck up woman was demanding free parking and charging for her Tesla 3 plus she wouldn’t let anybody drive her car but still wanting the valet service and I overheard them discussing giving it to her just as she drove off in a terrible mood.

The customer service at the Universal hotels is excellent and I don’t think that gets mentioned enough.

 

The first time I stayed at Sapphire, they forgot to charge me for parking. But they still let me out of the parking garage gate when I beeped them from the closed gates when I left the resort.

 

If anybody is planning on staying at Cabana Bay soon and concerned about the parking, book through Virgin Holidays.



I wonder if they'll extend this to next year.

 

Just saw this with the parking charges at Dodgers stadium:

 

Looks a bit higher than the last Yankees regular season game I went to...

 

We got free parking at Royal Pacific with Virgin when we last went. I do wonder if they just bundle it into the base price though.

 

it adds insult to injury. visiting the park with out of town family is embarrassing when they notice things like that, or when they feel unsure about their car's safety when they see dirty parking lots or broken lights or stuff like that