Originally Posted By mousermerf Oo, figured it out.. Uni lost 300,000 AP's when they upped the price by 1/3 in anticipation of HP.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Also, where does the figure of 300,000 AP's come from? If DLR has 600,000 (an oft-printed figure), 300,000 seems high for a). a considerably smaller local population and b). let's face it, the number two attraction in the area.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Not to mention LOSING 300,000 AP's. I'd be surprised if they had that many to begin with.
Originally Posted By fkurucz >>That's just amazing. That AP payment plan was a stroke of genius. << Plus the SoCal APs are a relative bargain.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Universal's parks have been flat or down for several years now. Not sure why, but they seem to be struggling to maintain attendance levels.
Originally Posted By CuriouserConstance I went to Universal on our first trip in 2006. We had a nice time, but I don't think any of us have any real desire to go back. Something about their parks are one time only visits. I can't ever put my finger on what exactly it is, but once was enough for awhile.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I think that's a big problem - the repeatability factor. I also think that the cost of visiting these places has skyrocketed so until people just can't afford to go as often. For Florida residents a one day ticket to either of Universal's parks is $55.00 when purchase on-line. For us none Florida visitors the price is $79. Yikes!
Originally Posted By TP2000 I go to Universal Studios Hollywood about once every 5 years, usually with out of towners. The tram tour is always fun, and the rest of the park is pleasant overall, but when I leave I think "I don't need to come back here for 5 years". And then I don't go back for half a decade. Sea World San Diego ranks about the same for me, I can give it 4 or 5 years between visits. I went to Universal Studios Orlando almost a decade ago, and it doesn't have a tram tour and is basically just a big cheesy theme park pretending to be HOLLYWOOD! I left Universal Orlando and thought "I don't need to come back here for another decade". So far, I'm thinking I'm going to surpass the decade range on that one. The Harry Potter thing seems dramatically over-hyped and silly in my opinion. But Uni Orlando needs all the help they can get according to these attendance figures.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 I feel the same way about the UO studio park, TP. There are some decent attractions, but it doesn't have the "real working studio" vibe that USH has (because it isn't), and although it's a pleasant enough day, it's not something I feel compelled to rush back to. IOA is better, though somewhat overrated IMO. I'm definitely interested in HP, and I'm not a big HP-head, but it looks like they went all-out on something for the first time since the park opened. If it's a Spiderman-level ride, woo-hoo! Of course, Uni's press releases sometimes put Disney's to shame for their, well, shamelessness. (I still remember their releases for the Mummy coaster that made it sound like the world's greatest coaster AND world's greatest dark ride all in one. Not so much in reality.) So the proof will be in the pudding; if HP doesn't provide a big bump, I don't know what will; UO obviously needs it.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I haven't been to USH in about 10 years, and I live right here in California. I've never been Universal in Florida. I may have to check it out eventually just to see what all this Harry Potter hoopla is all about.
Originally Posted By fkurucz USF and IOA are worth seeing at least once, IMHO, but I'm not dying to get back there either.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "USF and IOA are worth seeing at least once, IMHO, but I'm not dying to get back there either." It very unlikely that I would travel to Orlando for a vacation and not stay at WDW. With the expense of experiencing all there is to see and do there it leaves precious little time to journey over to see other parks, which frankly don't have a lot to offer that I can't see right here in California. Still, I am curious about Harry Potter Land. "Hans, read the books! You won't be sorry." Maybe. I have to admit that I'm not a big fan of the movies.
Originally Posted By gadzuux The last time I was at USHollywood, the big new thing was 'Battlestar Gallactica' - the original one with Lorne Greene. That must've been about 1980. I wasn't impressed. I've been to USO & IOA twice, but not in the last ten years. I thought USO was laughably bad. 'Twister' was the newest thing at the time, and it was ridiculous - like a giant brillo pad spinning across the set. There was even a flying plastic cow with large visible guidewires and even eye screws coming out of it's back. Kong was ripped and tattered and about as scary as a muppet. The seasonal theme was Mardi Gras, and they were trying mightily to get people to dance and cheer in the street. But they were missing the key ingredient - alcohol. Lame. IOA was more impressive and kept our group amused for a full day. My biggest memory of that trip was the huge parking garage. We couldn't find our rental car no matter how hard we tried. To make matters worse, there was a group of some drunks wandering around and they looked a bit scruffy and maybe even slightly dangerous and we couldn't get away from them. They kept stumbling around and screaming at each other while we're trying to find our car. But what made it especially nerve-wracking was that the spooky 'Jaws' music was playing continuously and loudly while I was growing increasingly frustrated and unnerved. daah-DUM ... daah - DUM ... To this day that's our primary "go-to" story about our day at USO. I'm in no hurry to go back.
Originally Posted By rader22 Originally World Showcase was supposed to have several other countries and attractions as well. The problem was that by 1984 the company was having problems and brought in Eisner. At that point I believe that they put all of the plans on the back burner, but eventually just axed them.
Originally Posted By pitapan16 When I GO to WDW, 99% of the time I don't like to leave the WDW "Bubble." That said, due to lack of money I've stayed outside WDW in such luxurious properties as the Magic Castle Inn when they served Krispie Creme Donuts in the morning w/good OJ for $19.99 a night, also located in Kissimmee near VERY easy access to the South Entrance and backstage "secret" entrance right near AK and AK Lodge. I've also flown to Orlando just to visit UO and spend a full day at IOA. Had a really good time, "slept" in the Hard Rock spa/pool/ and cabana. UO had some impressive sights, particularily IOA in general AND the Resort infrastructural set-up. Haven't been back to UO since, but have been to WDW and Orlando about 10 times since then, maybe more. I like UO, its just for me, when I go to Orlando I'm going to WDW and there is something extra beautiful about JUST staying on WDW property, or atleast staying at the one true "KINGLY" resort in town. Heck, I love staying at WDW so much that I have spend a whole week there while sleeping in the back of a rental car at Port Orleans. Heck, one time we spent a week at WDW and did'nt even visit a park. We spent our time eating at the resorts, swimming in the pools, talking with cast members and guests from around the world. We explored every path we could, from the Fort Wilderness campground to riding the complimentary Sassagoula River Boats to Downtown Disney, we took pictures and lived big without stepping foot into the parks.
Originally Posted By macnak81 I noticed attendance at the top 10 resorts in the world include Everland in Korea. Check out their website for many Disney ripoffs (flying elephants where they can dream of being a unicorn-whatever that means) the global village where you ride a boat and see dolls from all parts of the world....I also love their description of the worlds steepest coaster, ( they don't write exciting copy like this anymore) ,,,Potential energy grows bigger according to the height, the mass of the falling object, and the angle,,,,www.everland.com
