Wait, $165 a person for tickets???

[aggiedog]

I've been to Universal in Orlando once, but as a chaperone for a school trip, so didn't pay for the ticket separately as it was part of a whole package. I'm looking at taking dd to Orlando for spring break and doing a day at Universal, mostly for HP, and would like the ticket that will let us ride the Hogwarts Express between parks.

The website says its $165 per person. Seriously? Am I doing something wrong or is it really that expensive? This is for March 13, which is listed as "value season."

+$89/person for the fast pass equivalent? Really? Someone tell me I'm doing something wrong.

 

[bumbershoot]

Just checked, and yep, it seems that's the price for a one day hopper.

$5 less than a one day hopper at WDW.

 

[KalamityJane]

It's always cheaper to do more days at theme parks. Usually 1 day tickets are a total rip off

 

[FireflyTrance]

Yes it’s super expensive. Also they often have shorter hours than WDW, so it’s difficult to do everything you want to do in 1 day. Check the hours to determine if it’s really worthwhile to go for just 1 day. They want you to stay at one of their resorts, and go for 3-4 days, so that’s where they tend to offer deals. On top of $165 price, they also sell “skip the line” passes, or give them for free to some of their resort guests. So you pay $165 to stand in long lines while other people skip the line in front of you.

 

[mjhtvchick]

It is actually less than a 1-day park hopper at WDW which starts at $172 and peaks at $185.

 

[MellyBeans]

It is actually less than a 1-day park hopper at WDW which starts at $172 and peaks at $185.

Well it should be. At least when you buy the Disney one day park hopper, you can hop to 4 parks. We are going one day too during our upcoming trip, but yeah, quite the rip off. They sure knew what they were doing when they split Harry Potter in both parks to force you to buy the hopper.

 

[ladybugx]

It's BS imo. It sucks for those of us with annual passes too because the people we want to come with us often don't also have annual passes. I was just looking up how much it would cost to have my brother come with me for a day, and lol screw that. $165+tax for all of the inconvenience that comes along with having a pass that is only good for a single day (such as having to get to the park early and stay late unless you want to basically throw your money away completely, whereas I can pop in in the middle of the day, spend a few hours, and then stop by for another few hours the next day before driving the 4 hours back home without feeling like I'm flushing my money down the toilet).

 

[aggiedog]

Man, that's disappointing. I realized WDW was expensive, but we always get multiday passes so I've never really thought about it on a per day basis. We'll be on a short trip, so we really don't have 2 days to spare for Universal. We will most likely be there next year for the school trip, so dd can see it then but I was hoping to do it without the other 150 band member friends of hers. I'll have to do some hard thinking there.

 

[bchbetha]

Maybe just skip Disney.
Park tickets are crazy expensive.
You can have a fine time without Express Passes. I’d wait in purchasing them as they might not be needed.

 

[heather13]

Yeah, I always have complained about the expensive of Disney until we priced Universal for this trip.
HP World was amazing, but to spend nearly $200pp only to spend another $100pp on food and trinkets (wands, butterbeer, chocolate frogs, stuffed hippogriff, etc) - nice to do it once but wouldn't do a it again.

 

[bumbershoot]

It is actually less than a 1-day park hopper at WDW which starts at $172 and peaks at $185.

D'oh! I forgot tax in my earlier post.

Yeah, I always have complained about the expensive of Disney until we priced Universal for this trip.
HP World was amazing, but to spend nearly $200pp only to spend another $100pp on food and trinkets (wands, butterbeer, chocolate frogs, stuffed hippogriff, etc) - nice to do it once but wouldn't do a it again.

Eh. Doing one day is crazy at either park. We had APs at Uni and stayed one night at our dvc to wash clothes after our flight and before heading to Uni. The dryer didn't work and we had to delay leaving to use the public dryers. We considered getting a one day ticket to Epcot but the one day price was just way too high.


Doing a multi day trip is way better. I highly recommend trying it in the future.

 

[schumigirl]

D'oh! I forgot tax in my earlier post.



Eh. Doing one day is crazy at either park. We had APs at Uni and stayed one night at our dvc to wash clothes after our flight and before heading to Uni. The dryer didn't work and we had to delay leaving to use the public dryers. We considered getting a one day ticket to Epcot but the one day price was just way too high.


Doing a multi day trip is way better. I highly recommend trying it in the future.

Yep, my nephew and his girlfriend recently did one day at Magic Kingdom and said the same thing.......it was crazy expensive, spent a fortune on gifts and stuff and unlike heather13 who enjoyed her time at Universal they thought it was a total waste of time.

One day anywhere is never a good plan if money is an issue.

 

[mjhtvchick]

Well it should be. At least when you buy the Disney one day park hopper, you can hop to 4 parks. We are going one day too during our upcoming trip, but yeah, quite the rip off. They sure knew what they were doing when they split Harry Potter in both parks to force you to buy the hopper.

I disagree - the value is comparable - who in their right mind is hopping between 4 parks?! That is a stretch at best.

 

[damo]

Disneyland only has two parks and its parkhopper prices are the same as WDW and Universal.

 

[tony67]

I disagree - the value is comparable - who in their right mind is hopping between 4 parks?! That is a stretch at best.

I always do all four parks in one day, I have been many times and just hit on what I am interested in.

that being said I agree it is comparable - really the reason they price it this way it so you spend more days - a 5 day ticket is 294 and at that point Ill get get a season pass for 284

 

[andyw715]

The parks always get their money upfront. Thats why you see buy 2 get 2 from Universal and days 5-10 for WDW are around $10 day. With those longer tickets they assume hotel/food/etc revenue so they can discount the park part; whereas a 1 or 2 day visitor may just be an overnight off property stay.

 

[TheConsciousness]

I agree, it is pretty insane. Any time we want to invite a friend or family member to come with us, we know the chances are incredibly low that they would want to spend $1000 for a vacation that they personally didn't plan. I wish we could take more people with us, but it won't ever happen - ever.

 

[mcjw2011]

It's always cheaper to do more days at theme parks. Usually 1 day tickets are a total rip off

I agree. I paid that much for a 4-day PTP pass back in 2011 that I haven't used yet.

And if you plan on going during that time, buy it from Undercover Tourist than Universal's official site. It's cheaper.

 

[bumbershoot]

And if you plan on going during that time, buy it from Undercover Tourist than Universal's official site. It's cheaper.

Not for a one day ticket...

 

[imprint]

Several times a year we buy $100-$200 seats to concerts, and that's for 4 hours of entertainment. $165 doesn't seem out of line with that expectation. Having said that, though, yeah the whole point of the pricing of park tickets is to encourage a multi-day visit or annual pass purchase.