Universal Raises Ticket Prices for 2015

[Brian G.]

It happened.

http://orlandounited.com/2015/02/universal-orlando-raises-ticket-prices-2/

 

[Red Carpet]

They should have just raised it to only $99. Going into the triple digits crosses the psychological limit many people have for how much they are willing to pay for a theme park ticket.

 

[Mockingjay]

Indeed it did, and with not much fanfare I might add. I truly wonder how relevant it is that they raised the ticket the 1day/1park price in light of the Hogwarts Express needing a 1day/2park ticket to ride.

Does anyone know if the financials for the park break out the ticket sales by type (single day, multi-day, AP renewal)?

 

[Brian G.]

If it wasn't for me at work right now, I'd go off on a lengthy take about the price increases at both parks. (Cliche tease: Come back later for that)

In the mean time, in short. 1 day tickets aren't the way to go, for any resort. It's the multi-day or AP's where the value comes in.

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

Does anyone know if AP renewal rates went up?

 

[Mad Dog]

Universal AP's are still a value bargain price wise. Plus the hotel discounts, and merch. & food discounts. A huge difference from the cost of a Disney AP. As an out of state tourist, that's the way I go.

 

[Cole]

Still worth it

 

[shiekra38]

Like I said, if you're paying full price to visit a theme park you are doing it wrong..

Plus the One Day/One Park is probably the worst ticket to buy anyway...

 

[andrew]

Still worth it

Didn't you say in the Disney thread that their prices were making a Disney vacation something only the elite can afford?

Booked tickets through Costco on my last trip, think I saved a lot.

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

Didn't you say in the Disney thread that their prices were making a Disney vacation something only the elite can afford?

Booked tickets through Costco on my last trip, think I saved a lot.

A 3 day ticket with park hopper at Uni is only $204 for adults and $194 for kids, but if you're not going when it's busy a power pass is cheaper for $189. Compare that to a 4 day ticket at Disney which costs $305 without parkhopping. Adding parkhopping bumps it up to $369 before tax. Universal is much cheaper than Disney.

 

[RonaldsModernLife]

Didn't you say in the Disney thread that their prices were making a Disney vacation something only the elite can afford?

A 3 day ticket with park hopper at Uni is only $204 for adults and $194 for kids, but if you're not going when it's busy a power pass is cheaper for $189. Compare that to a 4 day ticket at Disney which costs $305 without parkhopping. Adding parkhopping bumps it up to $369 before tax. Universal is much cheaper than Disney.

Some people also value Universal over Disney. While I'm not happy about Universal's price increase, it doesn't bother me as much as the Disney price increase does. Disney is getting really expensive and at the same time not offering as much as Universal does, for me.

 

[freediverdude]

Yes, Disney's Florida resident annual pass really took a price hit this time around, almost 50 bucks increase. So I went ahead and ordered one the day before the increase, and I'm giving Disney another chance this year to see if it's worth it, after letting it expire last year. But at the new price of $560-something with tax, I probably would have skipped it, much less the non-Florida resident $700 or whatever it is, that's absurd. But the way Universal has been constantly upgrading their property I'm happy to pay their prices, even the new prices are still way less than Disney's on the annual passes.

 

[Teebin]

Disney should offer a two park pass that excludes the MK at half the price. They would sell a ton of those I bet.

 

[Mad Dog]

Disney should offer a two park pass that excludes the MK at half the price. They would sell a ton of those I bet.

Pure genius.

 

[Cheezbat]

I think this multi-dollar yearly increase is getting ridiculous. Both theme park resorts gouge and gouge. A get a dollar increase yearly, but $3-$6 a year? Come on.

No it really doesn't hurt me since I'm an AP'er, but for friends that visit, I hear more and more complaining. It really is expensive to visit the parks nowdays.

 

[Brian G.]

OK so rant/take time:

The inevitable, and dreaded, price hike for both parks has happened. It always seems to trigger a debate among fans of both resorts, many of them just spewing facts/opinions for the sake of defending "their brand"; even though we know very well the price increase is an annual occurrence. I like to consider myself a man of reasonable opinions, and try to keep my views right down the center because I find it easy to see both sides of the argument (although some people make me want to bang my head against metal tables).

Obviously the big "argument" now is "How can the parks charge 3 figures for 1 day at the park?"

It's a rational question, but one that really doesn't need to be discussed. The days of 1 day visits are a thing of the past. As many have stated, multi-day options are the way to go. It's a much better value for either resort, honestly.

Having said all that, I find the Disney price increase for their tickets to be a little bit more hard to swallow then Universal's.

It doesn't need to be discussed in depth, because we all know the story - Universal is in the midst of a revolution. Attractions, hotels, restaurants, upgrades, and possibly more. So a base ticket increase is a little bit more easier to take in. Reason I say base ticket is due to Universal actually not increasing the price of their AP's. That's actually a really big deal when all things are considered. Discounts remain the same, as well as other AP benefits.

In Disney's case, the only park that really has maintained itself is the Magic Kingdom. Animal Kingdom is getting a lot of love & some help now, but it's not done yet. By Disney's own admission, it's not a full day park (I personally feel it's a 3/4 day park, but that's another discussion on another thread). Hollywood Studios is currently in an abysmal state and is barely a half-day park. They have closed several attractions with no timetable of what's coming or when. Epcot, although a wonderful park in theory, has been neglected for many years. We can bitch about Frozen coming to Norway, but Epcot's problem is not World Showcase. It's Future World. It's in pretty rough shape. If they want to increase prices, fine - but for heaven's sake take care of WoL, Imagination, even the Odyssey building!

Another big problem with the price increase is that they cut out a lot of the benefits for AP holders. Mini-golf discount went down from 50% to 15%, as well as merch and food discounts in some locations.

Now it's getting late and there's other OU stuff I gotta take care of, so I'll leave it as is for now to spark some discussion.

 

[MrRoamer]

Completely agree with you on all points BriMan. I have been arguing with friends about the price hike already. Yes it sucks that the prices are increasing, but Universal has to stay price comparable to Disney or they will be looked at as a value park. Disney is leading the charge as normal for raising prices but the only reason that is happening is because of their name. Disney can up the prices without a care because people will go no matter what and pay whatever the cost to have the Disney Dream.

I personally would much rather give money to a park that is constantly improving the experience (even though sometimes there are difficult moments like losing Jaws), but in the end we have something that is something greater. Universal to me has a better track record Despicable Me > Neutron >= Hanna Barbara, Gringotts/Diagon > Jaws/Amity, with original Simpsons being the only major misstep in my opinion. Disney to me has been a lot more misses than hits: Stitch < Alien Encounter, Mission Space < Horizons, giant empty pavilion < anything in there

I really like Universal's approach to keeping both parks on near par with each other to disperse the crowds as well. MK may be mostly great but like you said AK is not quite there, Epcot is a shell of what it was and yes Future World is the biggest problem with it (if it were something special I dont think as many of us would be complaining about Frozen in World Showcase), and HS is a broken shell of a park right now (ToT only thing there worth the time).

 

[OrlandoGuy]

I think both price hikes are justified, but not that Universal's is *more* justified than Disney's. Yes, Universal is in the middle of rapid growth but, like Avatar, Frozen, etc., they aren't done yet. I would argue that IOA is more a half-day experience than Epcot or even Animal Kingdom and yet those two parks AREN'T over 3 digits. So while value is all up to interpretation, I really disagree that Universal should "get away with it" so to speak better than Disney can.

 

[Brian G.]

I think both price hikes are justified, but not that Universal's is *more* justified than Disney's. Yes, Universal is in the middle of rapid growth but, like Avatar, Frozen, etc., they aren't done yet. I would argue that IOA is more a half-day experience than Epcot or even Animal Kingdom and yet those two parks AREN'T over 3 digits. So while value is all up to interpretation, I really disagree that Universal should "get away with it" so to speak better than Disney can.

No, Universal isn't done yet; but they have gotten a lot done. Compare the 2 resorts on additions the past 5 years.... And Epcot is a half-day park?

And my take isn't so much on the 1-day pass, but the multi-days and APs. Disney raised the AP price all while cutting discount benefits, and not adding anything substantial to the resort save for New Fantasyland (which was finished in 2013).

 

[GAcoaster]

I always like to remind people when they complain about ticket prices for a theme park that movie tickets run around $10 for most theaters (some even more), and for that you get 90-120 minutes of sitting in a seat in the dark. You can spend 10-12 hours in a theme park actually DOING things that require more staff, more operating costs, etc. (and doing them as many times as you want), so a theme park ticket even at $100+ is still a better entertainment value. When people stop coming, they'll stop raising prices.