did I hear the Universal commercial right?

[bjlc57]

that Universal was going to offer basicly an unlimited pass for the price of one day to WDW? this was a commercial on one of the national networks over the weekend.

Did anyone else see this commercial and do you have more info? and I wonder how this pricing affects WDW?

 

[WDWFigment]

I would think this would be a poor move on Universal's part. If they want their product to be seen as the equal of Disney's, they would charge a comparable price. This indicates to the public that the product is inferior, and thus the price lower. I know their admission price used to be motivated by this ideology, so I wonder what's going on? Perhaps they are suffering from low attendance and need to stir things up?

 

[ErickainPA]

Yes they are offering an unlimited or 5 day, don't recall now, admission ticket for 1 price. If you go to the WDWMagic thread on Universal I am sure there is info there. http://forums.wdwmagic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=20

We were looking at doing it on this upcoming trip, but we decided not to get a car so we are just staying at WDW instead.

 

[tigsmom]

that Universal was going to offer basicly an unlimited pass for the price of one day to WDW? this was a commercial on one of the national networks over the weekend.

Did anyone else see this commercial and do you have more info? and I wonder how this pricing affects WDW?

I saw it too. You get the 2 day ticket for less then the price of a one day park hopper. I'm not a Universal fan, but I would imagine if you are it would be worthwhile. :shrug:

With the park hopper you have all of the parks at WDW to choose from, I guess if you time it right and are motivated you could get quite a bit done.

 

[tigsmom]

I would think this would be a poor move on Universal's part. If they want their product to be seen as the equal of Disney's, they would charge a comparable price. This indicates to the public that the product is inferior, and thus the price lower. I know their admission price used to be motivated by this ideology, so I wonder what's going on? Perhaps they are suffering from low attendance and need to stir things up?

Thats the general consensus from everyone I've mentioned it to. :shrug:

 

[shoppingnut]

I would think this would be a poor move on Universal's part. If they want their product to be seen as the equal of Disney's, they would charge a comparable price. This indicates to the public that the product is inferior, and thus the price lower. I know their admission price used to be motivated by this ideology, so I wonder what's going on? Perhaps they are suffering from low attendance and need to stir things up?

You could say the same thing about Disney offering Free Dining. It's just a marketing move to increase attendance.

 

[Boray]

Universal's attendance at both parks has been on the decline for the past few years, so I imagine that they really want to appear to be a less expensive alternative to Disney. Their current ticket offer is $85 for unlimited admission to both parks for 5 consecutive days (all ages). I believe the commercial states that this ticket is less than the Disney single-day park hopper ticket. This is true, but who buys a single-day park hopper ticket?

Universal constantly has special ticket offers. Last year the offer was buy one adult ticket (2 park admission for 5 consecutive days) at $99 and get a kids ticket for free. It was a great deal. We bought 2 adult tickets for $212.90 (after tax) and got free tickets for our two kids and spent one day at each park, which basically came down to $25 per person, per day. For that price, it was worth it to spend time at Universal's parks. Especially since the last time we were there, our kids were too small for most of the rides. It gave them a chance to experience something new at a reasonable price.

Given the choice, and money not a factor, I'll ALWAYS choose Disney over Universal. It's just that much better!

 

[palmage]

Busch parks have a "pay for a day, play all year" promotion going on now too.

 

[Philmvt]

It's true

an 85 dollar ticket to Universal gets all the admissions you want to the 2 Uni parks but they do not have the repeatability tha WDW has....

 

[JROK]

Busch parks have a "pay for a day, play all year" promotion going on now too.

They've been doing that promotion for at least 6 years or even more. Sea World also offers it. Used to be called the Florida Fun Card and was only available to Florida Residents.

 

[CTXRover]

Yes, when bought ONLINE, you can get a 2 park pass to Universal Orlando for 7 CONSECUTIVE days for $85.99. A one day pass to Disney or Universal is now $67.00. When you add the park hopper option to a one day Disney pass, the price skyrockets to $112.00, which is more expensive than this new Universal ticket option.

Disney is no longer interested in selling one or two day tickets anymore, and their pricing structure reflects that.

Universal learned the hard lesson of how much of its audience was made up of people coming for Disney and making side trips to the other local parks when Disney introduced their Magic Your Way tickets. Attendance has continued to slide at UO after Disney made a smart business move by introducing a ticket scheme that rewards longer stays at Disney and makes it financially less reasonable to justify spending a day or two at the other local parks. This new strategy from Universal is an attempt to provide what appears to be an even better bargain. The problem is with only two parks, a night-time district and 3 hotels, no matter how good they are, there is not enough to do to occupy a family for anything more than, I would guess, 4 days. Disney provides enough to do, with the parks and activities outside the parks, that not everything can be done in just 7 days. Still, 4 days at the parks for $85.99 is a killer deal. (Seaworld and Busch gardens, as mentioned above, provides the best deal...a full year for the $67.00, the price of one day)

 

[pinkrose]

I saw it too. You get the 2 day ticket for less then the price of a one day park hopper. I'm not a Universal fan, but I would imagine if you are it would be worthwhile. :shrug:

With the park hopper you have all of the parks at WDW to choose from, I guess if you time it right and are motivated you could get quite a bit done.

Yeah, I saw it too. It's a two park ticket with unlimited admission for up to 7 consecutive days.

From the website...

*Unlimited admission equals seven (7) consecutive days of admission, including first day of use, to Universal Studios Florida, Universal's Islands of Adventure, and Universal CityWalk.

 

[slappy magoo]

THE SKY IS FALLING! THE SKY IS FALLING!

WDW has continuously made an effort to keep people from going off-site, for anything. From TL & BB to Pleasure island to elaborately themed hotels to MYW, Dining Your Way, and Magic Express, and now a whole new shopping complex on the Western Beltway. And most people who go to WDW and stay on-site, if they go off-site at all, it's only a few days out of their overall vacation. Uni knows this, and they have to not only keep their "base" happy, people who enjoy Uni/IOA but clearly notice that things haven't changed all that much lately, they have to seduce WDW visitors who might otherwise never leave the Disney compound.

So offer them a deal. Make a week at Uni comparable to the price of an "add-on" option on the Disney MYW ticket, like the Water Parks Fun & More option, or a no expiration option. Potentially, it works, because what they've lost on people who would've gone to Uni anyway, is balanced out by the WDW-based visitors who are only going to Uni because of the promotion. And all those extra bodies potentially means more food, more drink, more soveneirs sold. As I said before, the WDW visitors wouldn't go offsite for more than a day or two or three max anyway, so Uni isn't really losing anything by offering the promotion to them. Aaaaand, if the rumors are true and Uni has Harry Potter & Simpsons-themed attractions in the works, what better way to spread word of mouth than by having some sort of "teaser" element in the parks, the way they teased IOA by having an information center devoted to what IOA would be. Then, not only do they have people coming this year, they'll be back when those attractions open, and they'll friends all about it.

In short, this "desperate" promotion isn't necessarily as desperate as many of you think. More people in the parks, more items sold in the parks, more word of mouth for upcoming attractions. There's only a downside if they attract people who are so blindly loyal to Disney all they're gonna do is carp about how UN-Disney like Uni is and relish loudly comparing the two when their bias is clearly evident to anyone with even half a...oh...uh...never mind.

 

[pinkrose]

Personally, this offer doesn't attract me simply because after a day in each park (Universal and IOA), I'm done. :shrug:

 

[dandaman]

Here's my March Break schedule:

13th: USF

14th: IOA

15th: either/or

Seems like a good idea to me, though it seems a bit odd they'd keep this for the Break. Don't they already have enough visitors that would be willing to pay full price? :lol:

 

[kcnole]

I think its a good idea. I've posted a long essay several times on the challenge Universal faces in ticketing prices when competing with MYW tickets at Disney. Basically when it's only about 10 dollars more for an extra day at Disney per person, for a family on a budget that vacation at Universal on extra days just seems too expensive. But now Universal is saying look how great a deal you're getting with us. That still doesn't entice the family who is only looking for one day extra on their vacation, but for that family thinking of maybe having several free days for other things in their itenerary, this becomes a great deal.

Also, I've visited Universal 5 times since August and I still haven't been on everything in the parks. Now obviously I'm repeating many of the same attractions each time I go, but I'm still finding tons of fun things to do.

 

[paul436]

an 85 dollar ticket to Universal gets all the admissions you want to the 2 Uni parks but they do not have the repeatability tha WDW has....

This is so true. I just spent a week at the Hard Rock Hotel and Universal Orlando. I had a great time but don't think I need to visit there again for a while. On the other hand, after a visit to WDW I want to immediately plan my return trip. :lol:

 

[BelleWannaBe77]

I love Disney, but I am so irritated with their increasing prices. :brick: Many people can only afford to go to WDW once in their lives, and I don't think that's what Walt would have wanted. Hopefully with the decrease in Universal's prices, Disney may be a little more fair in their prices so more people can enjoy the parks. I personally love Universal, and when I go there in the fall I'm for sure getting a season pass :sohappy:. They realize that people shouldn't have to spend hundreds of dollars to have fun as a family

 

[Hakunamatata]

I really dont see this as a big suprise. When we were in WDW in January, I saw advertisements for Busch Gardens and I think SeaWorld where a one day ticket price gets you in all year.

I would imagine that "gate money" is a small portion of the overall profit of a theme park. I would be willing to bet that the margin of profit is greater on the food, drink, and branded junk that they sell inside the park. Gate money probably covers the electric bill.

 

[Hakunamatata]

I love Disney, but I am so irritated with their increasing prices. :brick: Many people can only afford to go to WDW once in their lives, and I don't think that's what Walt would have wanted. Hopefully with the decrease in Universal's prices, Disney may be a little more fair in their prices so more people can enjoy the parks. I personally love Universal, and when I go there in the fall I'm for sure getting a season pass :sohappy:. They realize that people shouldn't have to spend hundreds of dollars to have fun as a family

Walt was very kind hearted. But dont kid yourself. Walt was a business man. A shrewd business man. No one buys up 50 square miles of Flordia being purely a kind hearted soul.