Originally Posted By seanyoda I received an interesting item in the mail from Universal Studios Hollywood. It included a coupon labeled "Your free ticket. Come once free or get a free annual pass." My name is on the coupon, so it's non transferable. I've heard of deep discounts before, but this is very surprising. Anyone else get one of these?
Originally Posted By cstephens Yep - <a href="http://mb.laughingplace.com/default.asp?WCI=MsgBoard&WCE=T-63578-P-1&Refresh=1110162840" target="_blank">http://mb.laughingplace.com/de fault.asp?WCI=MsgBoard&WCE=T-63578-P-1&Refresh=1110162840</a>. /cs
Originally Posted By seanyoda I hadn't looked back more than a month, thinking that this was something new. I found out that one of neighbors also received this same offer. Perhaps they were targeting LA county in the summer and are now targeting Orange county. Of course, it really makes me wonder how the park is doing when they're giving away APs.
Originally Posted By cstephens That was almost the only way we were gonna go, though my husband had some interest in going on The Mummy. We did end up using the coupon - he got in for free, I paid for a bottom-level AP because it was the same price as a single-day ticket. And it was a less-than-stellar experience. (Yep, still gotta write that trip report...) I was decidedly unimpressed with the place (it's been about 9 years since I was there last), and The Mummy is an incredibly LAME-O ride - I couldn't believe how bad it was. We may go once or twice more before our APs run out, but after that, I'm not sure we'd go even for free. Blech. /cs
Originally Posted By fkurucz ^^The Mummy is an incredibly LAME-O ride I agree with you. Its OK for a short day. The mummy was pretty lame (I almost bought the photo because I this bored expression that was almost funny). The worst part was that it took us 100 minutes to get back to Anaheim at the end of the day. Just where everyone was going at 6:00 PM on a Saturday I will never know.
Originally Posted By 9oldmen >>The worst part was that it took us 100 minutes to get back to Anaheim at the end of the day. Just where everyone was going at 6:00 PM on a Saturday I will never know.<< Well...YOU were on the road, were'nt you? It was Saturday night. Where WERE'NT they going. To clubs. The theatre, the ballpark. Dodging traffic in L.A. is tough. Now, if there was heavy traffic at, say, 2 A.M., then I MIGHT be surprised.
Originally Posted By Sir_Clinksalot Kristi's 83 year old Grandmother got one of the mailers too. We didn't. =(
Originally Posted By fkurucz >> Where WERE'NT they going.<< Work, presumably. Silly me for wondering why people my not be at home, or at a nearby mall, movies, restaurants, etc, on a Saturday evening. It just seemed like everyone was on the road. Anyway, it made me REALLY glad that I don't live in LA.
Originally Posted By ni_teach This is not a new thing for USH. A few years back they were offering a AP for the price of a one day ticket. I also got the flyer in the mail. I haven't been in years. Since it's free it might be enough to go again.
Originally Posted By JeffG We have the "premium" passes with no black-out dates and parking included. We just got an offer to extend the passes for 6-months for $29 or for a full year for $49. These passes were around $100 each when we bought them last year. This offer is open through the end of February. -Jeff
Originally Posted By Dave Why would people want to go to a place that’s so bad that have to practically give away AP's... How dare them ~
Originally Posted By Ursula We got one of those in the mail, too. Probably won't use it, though. We had a miserable time the last time we went. I used to love going there, too. Thing is, I can't put my finger on what is the exact problem. It's a movie studio, so I don't expect fancy rides. I guess they have failed at making me believe it's an actual working studio, even though it is. I dunno for sure, really. Maybe it's too many product tie-ins?
Originally Posted By cstephens I still haven't gotten around to writing a trip report, but here's an amalgamation of my thoughts so far that I originally posted elsewhere: My husband got a flyer earlier this year for a free AP - not a free AP for a day's ticket, but a free AP, the lowest level AP. It was addressed directly to him, and since he's never had an AP here, we couldn't figure out where they were getting his name and address from. People on other discussion boards have reported getting the same thing recently. We went late this summer, and I ended up buying the same AP only because it was the exact same price as the day ticket, so getting the AP was a no-brainer. It was the first time I'd been there in about 8 years, and it had been even longer than that since my husband's last visit. I was decidedly unimpressed and really disappointed. A few of the rides were ok, but overall, I was not happy with the visit at all. Most of the "being in the park" involved announcements being made over the loudspeaker often and/or loud music being played. I really missed the many parts of Disneyland where there is just quiet ambient music or just the sounds of the people. About the only thing I liked was the T2 show. Mummy was the dumbest ride - nowhere near the hype - nothing much happens and it's a very short ride. It wasn't worth the time I had to wait in line, which was only about 10 minutes and that was because they were having technical difficulties. When we were ready to leave the lower lot, I noticed the line was out the door, so probably at least a 30 minute wait. I'd have been really irritated if I had to wait 30 minutes for that lame-o ride. I'd rather ride the Pooh ride at Disneyland over and over again. Jurassic Park has been so tamed down that you barely get wet at all. We actually got more wet doing other things in the park than on the WATER RIDE. How weird is that? My biggest problem with the layout of Universal is the upper lot/lower lot thing. It takes a REALLY LONG TIME on the escalators from hell to get from one to the other, so once you're in the lower lot, you're basically stuck trying to do everything there all in one shot since it would waste a ton of time to go back and forth between the upper lot and lower lot. You don't have anywhere near the same problem getting from one part of Disneyland to another. One of the things I was really disappointed in at Universal were the food choices. Everything is pretty much fast food. No table service, no scramble service. And they have two chain food establishments in the park - El Pollo Loco and Panda Inn. I love El Pollo Loco but I can get that any time - why would I want that at a theme park? Most of the other choices seemed to be hamburgers and the like. We ate at the Italian place, and the spaghetti was so-so - nothing like the pasta you get at Pizza Port or Plaza Inn. The best bet for food is one of the many good restaurants at CityWalk, but the downside is that you have to leave the park and walk a ways to get to them. We may go once again during the year to to T2 again, but otherwise, I can't imagine wanting to go again for another 5 to 10 years. /cs
Originally Posted By Elderp "My biggest problem with the layout of Universal is the upper lot/lower lot thing. It takes a REALLY LONG TIME on the escalators from hell to get from one to the other, so once you're in the lower lot, you're basically stuck trying to do everything there all in one shot since it would waste a ton of time to go back and forth between the upper lot and lower lot." Anyone remember that Sliders episode where the escalator went up to comercial land?? Have you ever tried walking up the stairs? Every once in awhile I do it is really hard work.
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 I used to work there, and those stairs were always great excercise! It took forever, and it wore me out. The one good thing about being in the lower lot (as an employee) was that they let us go home an extra 20 minutes before our shift just to get up those darn escalators.
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 I am also disappointed that so many "real world" fast food chains are popping up inside the park. It really takes away from any theming. I remember when there were a couple sit down eateries too. No more Victoria's Station...I also like eating Doc Brown's Chicken (even though that was counter service).
Originally Posted By pitapan16 USH is not a normal themepark. Its a real studio working itself into a studio with a section for tourists, a bit themepark style. I personally have no problem with the escalaters. I mean, If a park from Disney was built with that I would really not like it but...Its a real studio so, kinda unique.
