Epic Universe Ticketing Speculation

[Mad Dog]

USF and IOA do not have capacities in the 30,000s. It’s just not true.

That's not what I was referring to. Merely saying capacity and daily attendance can be two very different numbers. From what I've read in the past, your caps concerning Studios and IOA appear to be in the ballpark. I'd imagine Epic, first year, will be similar to IOA and perhaps even Studios, after their initial weeks/months.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

This will be doubly true for Epic, but capacity isn't really a fixed number and not something you could infer from TEA/AECOM attendance or anything like that.

I used TEA as a reference for the type of crowd size Universal is used to operating with, not as a reference for the park's actual capacity its capable of.

Epic will have lots of walking space that can fit (possibly) more guests than IOA/USF possibly... but the issue is if Universal can actually operate with more than what they are currently used to on a day-to-day basis. I'm sure Universal would love to stuff MK-size crowds from the start... but that'll lead to a poor experience.

 

[nikem3]

I think that's a pretty bad course of action.

Hopefully there's a wider array of ticket options available well before the park opens.

Im sure they will if demand isn’t what it seems to be. Until then, why sell only a single day? So everyone can just book multiple days at Epic and ignore the other two parks?

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Not incorrect to assume lower capacity at the start as operations ramps up and gets used to the new park. Last thing you want is TMs overburden with holiday-like crowds at the start.

This is why they do previews.

 

[OLSinFLA]

Well, Universal screwed up the opening for their past 3 parks, why stop now?

 

[Scott W.]

Well, Universal screwed up the opening for their past 3 parks, why stop now?

It's just an impossible task, they're going to be a victim of their own success.



Either, they offer more days, which will pump up crowds making it a worse experience plus if they're limiting guests, they won't have the blowback of guests buying tickets that they can't use.

Or they go down the route they've planned.

Either way, they need to get the information out there sooner than later and give an opening date as people start planning for next year.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Well, Universal screwed up the opening for their past 3 parks, why stop now?

Was IOA's opening screwed up beyond "we confused the GP with Universal Escape"? IOA seemed to have opened running fine.

 

[GAcoaster]

IOA had several issues from my understanding:

• The whole mis-marketing of "Universal Escape" was confusing
• They gave away too many preview days to locals-- anyone who wanted to go went free before the park opened officially
• There was an recession which hurt travel

Epic seems to be hitting the right notes with the marketing and messaging. The economy is hopefully making a "soft landing" reducing inflation and keeping the economy growing. The whole previews/ticketing/packages will work itself out. I think they are being smart by being cautious until they are sure they have an exact date for opening and they don't want to oversell the park and make it a victim of its own success with overcrowding souring people's experience. It's easier to sell more tickets and open more availability to more people than to take it away.

 

[OLSinFLA]

Was IOA's opening screwed up beyond "we confused the GP with Universal Escape"? IOA seemed to have opened running fine.

Running fine, yes. People showing up, no. The whole marketing was a CF. From the web:

Once again, Universal Orlando had its share of problems. Although Islands of Adventure was “the most technologically advanced theme park in the world” at the time of its opening, and the park is still in competition for that title today, advertising and marketing issues kept the public from understanding what the new park was. Many thought that it was simply a new expansion to the existing park. Others believed that it was simply a collection of thrill rides. The new resort name, Universal Studios Escape, also confused many guests. Consequently, growth in the first two years was slower than anticipated.

 

[OLSinFLA]

IOA had several issues from my understanding:

• The whole mis-marketing of "Universal Escape" was confusing
• They gave away too many preview days to locals-- anyone who wanted to go went free before the park opened officially
• There was an recession which hurt travel

Epic seems to be hitting the right notes with the marketing and messaging. The economy is hopefully making a "soft landing" reducing inflation and keeping the economy growing. The whole previews/ticketing/packages will work itself out. I think they are being smart by being cautious until they are sure they have an exact date for opening and they don't want to oversell the park and make it a victim of its own success with overcrowding souring people's experience. It's easier to sell more tickets and open more availability to more people than to take it away.

Previews weren't exactly "free" - you did have to upgrade your pass to attend, although the 1-year countdown didn't begin until opening day.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

IOA had several issues from my understanding:

• The whole mis-marketing of "Universal Escape" was confusing
• They gave away too many preview days to locals-- anyone who wanted to go went free before the park opened officially
• There was an recession which hurt travel

Epic seems to be hitting the right notes with the marketing and messaging. The economy is hopefully making a "soft landing" reducing inflation and keeping the economy growing. The whole previews/ticketing/packages will work itself out. I think they are being smart by being cautious until they are sure they have an exact date for opening and they don't want to oversell the park and make it a victim of its own success with overcrowding souring people's experience. It's easier to sell more tickets and open more availability to more people than to take it away.

Running fine, yes. People showing up, no. The whole marketing was a CF. From the web:

Once again, Universal Orlando had its share of problems. Although Islands of Adventure was “the most technologically advanced theme park in the world” at the time of its opening, and the park is still in competition for that title today, advertising and marketing issues kept the public from understanding what the new park was. Many thought that it was simply a new expansion to the existing park. Others believed that it was simply a collection of thrill rides. The new resort name, Universal Studios Escape, also confused many guests. Consequently, growth in the first two years was slower than anticipated.

So unlike USF and VB there were no technical issues. That's what I figured and it seems pertinent to the discussion about capacity. Just feels like we're super pessimistic rn.

 

[Thorin Groth]

As a current team member, I am very invested in how the employee ticketing system will work. My best guess and the guess from other team members (with no other information than what is public so far) is that we won't be able to use our IDs to get into the park for the first year / two years of operations, same with the comp tickets we get every quarter. My hope is a reservation system where we would book in advance and could go maybe once a week, but I don't know how that system works at Disney so I won't try to make sense of one.

 

[Scott W.]

Running fine, yes. People showing up, no. The whole marketing was a CF. From the web:

Once again, Universal Orlando had its share of problems. Although Islands of Adventure was “the most technologically advanced theme park in the world” at the time of its opening, and the park is still in competition for that title today, advertising and marketing issues kept the public from understanding what the new park was. Many thought that it was simply a new expansion to the existing park. Others believed that it was simply a collection of thrill rides. The new resort name, Universal Studios Escape, also confused many guests. Consequently, growth in the first two years was slower than anticipated.

By the time they fixed the marketing, 9/11 happened.

I was there a few weeks after opening and it was quiet. Keeping in mind, this was June, after 4 you could walk on almost every ride.

 

[tielo]

We went to IOA a week after 9/11. We flew from Amsterdam via Washington to Orlando. Planes and Airports where empty. I guess, Europe having a long history of terrorist, we refuse to be terrorized and just went. The parks where too empty (lacking atmosphere) but the where glad we came.

 

[SilicaKong20XX]

Going to ask this since this does relate to the Epic Universe ticket situation that people are having, so bare with me. If I, a US citizen, decides to wait until EU opens next year before even planning out to get tickets just for that in like, say, November for example (assuming that the park opens in the summer of 2025), will I have more flexibility to get tickets for Epic alone?

Hope that question is clear enough for anyone to respond with.

 

[Jake S]

 

[Magic-Man]

Just saw the news. Universal, is this a joke?

 

[Brian G.]

Don’t make me tap the sign

 

[nikem3]

Just saw the news. Universal, is this a joke?

I don’t get it. Did people just except 1 day passes immediately from the get go?

We are still potentially a little less than a year out. They could easily offer packages first, let people who need to heavily plan travel get their guaranteed tickets, feel out demand, then offer additional offerings well before park open.

 

[Acandrews12]

I hope they do something different for APs…