Universal Orlando single-day ticket rises to $105

$3 more a ticket? They've priced Universal out of reach of the middle class!

Exactly. And why isn't Universal taking heat for ruining the American dream?

Because Harry Potter is that f'ing magical.

It seems that I got there just in the nick o' time, then. Last Wednesday I did a 1-day Park to Park and it cost me 147 plus 15.32 tax for a total of 162.32. Yikes! I really wanted to go, though, as I hadn't seen HP v2 w/ Gringotts, Springfield, or Transformers. And that seemed like a lot of money for those few things, so I made the most of it and went from open to close. (Close in february is early, 6p for one park, 7p for the other). The parks weren't too terribly busy and I was a single rider, so in that time I managed 18 major attractions, including a couple of repeats, and lunch. Which brought my average ride cost to around 9.20 a ride. And I didn't sprint, either, it was at a leisurely pace. My longest wait was Simpsons at about 20 minutes, maybe 25. So it was a good day.

And man, did I have to sacrifice the rest of the week to get my middle class ass in there, too. After that it was McDonalds, Sweet Tomatoes, and beer. Oh, and on our Slith's recommendation, Beefy King, just once. And that's a story in itself.

I may write my Central Florida Week trip report today. Watch for it!

Not surprisingly, the "press" is already exaggerating the pricing...

http://time.com/money/4217320/universal-disney-prices-family/

We have a ticket program at work where I just bought our 3 park, 14 day "mini-season passes" for <$200. Crazy that a single day, 2 park ticket is >$150. Or maybe more correctly, crazy how high the multi-day discount is.

When we went to Universal Orlando in 2007 (our only visit) we bought a 7-day ticket for $80 per person... Granted, Wizarding World of Harry Potter was under early construction at that time.

These parks are obviously setting the ticket prices at an appropriate level to meet their attendance goals and to maximize revenue. The question no one seems to be asking is that even if the middle class is getting priced out, so what? These businesses are not non-profits that have to adhere to some type of social standards to accomondate different income groups. Attendance is just fine and if the income demographics are becoming more upper class, well I'm sure that is something that pleases the park executives.

I think no one's asking because it's not a good question. What company in their right mind would advertise world-wide, produce film and television marketed to families everywhere, and then intentionally shut a huge percentage of the audience out of their theme parks?
I'm sure park executives are pleased that upper middle and 1st class patrons embrace the Disney and Universal vacation experience the way they do, and that's evident in the high-end lodging and dining experiences available to visitors at that spending level. But they'd be even more pleased knowing that they can somehow capture everyone else too, don't you think? Its not hard to notice that emphasis is placed on value resorts, fast and casual dining, and during certain times of the year, vacation packages designed to save people money on a Disney stay. New stuff like that is popping up everywhere at a brisk pace. I can assure you that nobody over there is saying "so what?" to the prospect of losing that business. Instead they say "Let's figure out a way to include even more, meaning everyone, right down the line."

It's a balance. They can't have the upper class turn their noses up because it's a cheap, tacky thing that only the poor folks do, and they can't have middle class working folks view from afar an experience that's only attainable by a few. And ok, ticket prices went up. A raise in consumer prices at any business is a necessary, but also calculated risk. It's considered successful when they keep the same amount and type of customers coming through the door.

Jeff said:

Not surprisingly, the "press" is already exaggerating the pricing...

That was my first thought as well.

My second thought was "how many papers (magazines, whatever) do you sell when your headline reads 'Nothing Exciting Happened Yesterday'?" Of course, the same applies to TV media...which probably explains a lot about the media we've got. Shouting and hype and outrage and hyperbole (Trump?) gets better ratings than reason and a more...even keel - say, Bush or Kasich.

So I guess we've got the politics we deserve as well.

Back to the pricing thing....expect prices to rise continuously at or slightly above cost-of-living. (Luxury goods/services).

RCMAC said:

What company in their right mind would advertise world-wide, produce film and television marketed to families everywhere, and then intentionally shut a huge percentage of the audience out of their theme parks?

I don't think they're shutting out a huge percentage of that audience. I think both Disney and Uni, in Orlando, are working hard to make a visit to their resorts an attractive, affordable option for many people.

I do think customers down market are being served in different ways -- a family may not be able to afford a $5,000 Disney park trip, but they can afford a $50 Disney DVD/Blue-Ray Super Extra Special Magic With Fairy Dust Edition of a Disney film or a $500 Super Deluxe Disney Princess dress with all the trimmings. (Okay, no idea if that's how much a Disney Princess dress can cost... I don't know much about Disney Princess dresses.)

They can't have the upper class turn their noses up because it's a cheap, tacky thing that only the poor folks do, and they can't have middle class working folks view from afar an experience that's only attainable by a few.

Pricing, of anything, is a science.... and an art. Customers make assumptions based on the cost of an item relative to their perceived value of an item. I read an article -- and this was easily twenty years ago, so the prices are well out of date -- that, using the most expensive ingredients possible, a bottle of shampoo would cost about $8 to make. Anyone paying $20 or $30 for a bottle of shampoo was paying a huge premium for the brand.

I think Disney does a great job of striking that balance between upscale guests (Grand Floridian), moderate (Coronado Springs) and value (All Star or Fort Wilderness).

They can charge whatever the eff they want and people will pay it, to a point. That point still hasn't been reached.

^Alrighty!

*clears throat* Anyhow, I was waiting for this announcement. I remember the weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth when the prices went over $50. Yes I know I'm dating myself, but its just indicative of the continuous cycle.

Not just the wrong thread, wrong forum entirely.

I've been the token hippie here for over 15 years, and I digress quite a bit, but I always try to at least approach the topic at hand...

Would someone please throw a chair or something?

I thought yoga would help me deal with Universal's high prices, but sadly, no. It still hurt. Wrong mantra, I guess.

"It's 5.38 in the morning and I want to talk about yoga! Let's see, where can I find someone to talk about yoga with? I've already tried the Marie Osmond porcelain dolls fan site, the Kirk-Spock Slash fiction fan site and the 80s supergroup The Blow Monkeys fan site....

...oh! This'll work! Roller coaster fans are sure gonna want to talk about yoga!"

It's a good thing i could care less about harry potter crap and even less about transformers, so i will stick to better parks like knoebels where its free parking and entrance to the park, plus no airfare and all the other hidden costs.

Now, I love Knoebel's, don't get me wrong. And I'm no fan of Harry Potter; I've seen bits of several movies and made it through one of the books.

But the Wizarding World at IoA? Simply amazing, The attention to thematic detail is astounding. I remember standing near a stairwell in Three Broomsticks and hearing conversations between characters from "upstairs". It's an amazing experience and should not be discounted because it's "Harry Potter."

gamerguy said:

It's a good thing i could care less about harry potter crap and even less about transformers, so i will stick to better parks like knoebels where its free parking and entrance to the park, plus no airfare and all the other hidden costs.

Pfft. . . . sour grapes.