Central Florida’s second largest theme park resort is preparing to welcome the Magic. No, not Disney Magic… Wizard Magic. Universal Studios hopes the Wizard known as Harry Potter will conjure up some better attendance figures when his legion of fans arrive in Orlando for the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter, a new land in Islands of Adventure.
But just in case, Universal Orlando is changing the way they do admission tickets to entice guests who may have only stayed one or two days to return for days three and four. A smart move, I think. As Disney found out with their version of this pricing scheme, it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Guests see that an extra day is just $15 so they decide to spend that day, and the associated dining and souvenir budget, with you instead of a competitor.
The question is will Harry Potter cause people to stay longer in Orlando as a whole, or will the visit to Harry Potter Land makes guests of another theme park disappear. Anybody out there making plans to visit Harry Potter care to share their thoughts?
An attractive pricing structure just might entice our family to explore Universal a few more days than originally planned but it would take a lot more to keep us away from Walt Disney World or a Disney cruise.
Universal Orlando ups the ante in war to attract guests to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. http://is.gd/66e34 Does it change your plans
I agree… while Universal Studios ,last time I went, didn’t really have much to offer, just IOA has some cool rides , but if we talk about themening , storytelling, service and merchandasing, , it will take many many years for Universal to catch up with WDW, if they will ever plan to try getting there.
Personally I think it is a pain that Universal will not give us the date HP opens. The kids want to go so badly and I was hoping it would be around Spring break. I can not afford to wait until the last minute an pay a premimum for airfare and hotel. What’s the big deal to sell advanced tickets so we can set a date to travel? Are they that disorganized that they don’t know when it will open? Makes me wonder if it will be worth the wait. Personally I am losing interest in going because I know it will be crowded with long waits but the kids are so excited we will probably attend this year if we can determine the opening day and it fits within the window we can have vacation. I know there will be 4 disappointed children who will be very upset if we have to wait until next year. I have a small window for vacation and I can’t push it back because Universal wants to be so secretive.
Part of the issue is that WWoHP is opening in phases. So the two re–themed attractions will open first and then the big new ride will open later. Part of the reason for that is a deal they made with JK Rowling to get the rights. So even if you hear that WWoHP is open, make sure the big ride has opened too.
Hi John ~
Thanks for the update ~ looks like we won’t be seeing it this year. Why are they being so secretive ~ are they that disorganized that they can’t give us a date?
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We are definitely looking forward to going to the WWoHP, but I can’t see us spending more than 2 days at Universal. I have to admit, I’m a sucker for the Disney magic and customer service that just doesn’t seem to be the same level at Universal.
A friend of mine & I are anxiously awaiting the opening of WWoHP. We are big Disney fans, but Universal also holds some attraction w/IOA. We can’t wait to plan a “girl’s weekend” and spend a few days in the sun sans husbands, but we are also running into budget issues b/c we dont know when it will all be open. We will definitely visit Universal & WDW, but an extra day for $15 is not really all that enticing. Both of us have been to Universal, and there are some really great rides, but when there on a short weekend, I would rather do WDW for 2 days & IOA for one.
BTW – thanks for the tip it’s going to open in phases!
We are traveling from Idaho to Orlando this Spring… however we could no longer wait to book our condo. The dates started to fill up. Really wanted to see this new attraction, but now we definitely will only be spending 1 or possibly 2 days at Universal. I too don’t understand the big deal in giving an opening date for those of us who would have loved to have spent time there, but don’t have the luxury of living near the park. Those extra days will now be spent at Disney.
We were there on January 2nd and Dueling Dragons, or whatever it’s named now, was running. You could see them working on the new ‘island’ through cracks in the fence that walls it off but it looked like there was a lot left to do. I’ve heard whispers of a mid-May opening but after the Hollywood Rip-Ride Rocket debacle I wouldn’t look for any official announcement until they’re pretty darn sure it’s going to be ready. The new ticket pricing is pretty bad. The old 7 day ticket was about $100 on-line and now it’s around $160. Way to go Universal… jack up those prices just when people are trying to decide if it’s worth taking a vacation this year or not!
More attractive pricing for extra days isn’t going to do it for me. I’m not going until 2011, but I do plan on going there for a day – but just the one in order to see HP. With the way we do Disney, it just isn’t convenient to do much off property, and quite frankly, I haven’t been interested in Universal since I grew out of the Barney show ages ago. Some of the rides at IoA sound nice, but not nice enough to spend however much on a one day pass when day 6 is Disney is a fraction of the price.
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