Extra Hours Survey

[wizwit]

Just got a new survey from Universal Orlando about Extra Hours. Questions were about my interest level in having extra hours at all 3 parks AFTER normal hours. :drool:

 

[Mr. EPCOT]

I would think most people would prefer evening hours instead of morning hours. But I think the problem is that it provides more logistical challenges in screening out guests who aren't staying at Universal resorts and such.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Just got a new survey from Universal Orlando about Extra Hours. Questions were about my interest level in having extra hours at all 3 parks AFTER normal hours. :drool:

I hope there was no confidentiality agreement before you took this...

 

[wizwit]

I hope there was no confidentiality agreement before you took this...

If there was, it wasnt obvious.

Anyway, I like to live on the edge. I'm kind of a rebel. This one time, I went swimming like 15 or 20 minutes after I ate a sandwich! You law-abiding lemmings can wait the full 30 minutes if you want, but not this guy!

 

[Andysol]

I would think most people would prefer evening hours instead of morning hours. But I think the problem is that it provides more logistical challenges in screening out guests who aren't staying at Universal resorts and such.

Currently, you just show your hotel room key in the morning- I always thought that was dumb because you could just keep your hotel key and use it all year long if you're a local- but I digress.

So they'd have to do what, show your room key to get on a ride? I guess it wouldn't be that different than now.

This just goes to show you how much better Disney is with their infrastructure and MM+. The Room Key + Park Ticket + Express Pass + when I have Dining Plan Cards (that I buy in Sept for buy one get one half off)- it's just ridiculous.



I'd be fine with either. I like the morning now, because I have young kids that wake up- but it's still a bit early for them with the 1 hr time zone change. So each way would have it's benefits for me, personally. But for the majority of their demographic (older kiddos)- Id think night would be much more beneficial. And with the 5k extra rooms to be added in the next couple years- they might even be able to do them both. And at a reduced cost, even- just close an hour earlier and keep the last hour open for on-sites.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Disney does the same where they just scan your Magic Band at each ride. Uni can scan as well

 

[Andysol]

Disney does the same where they just scan your Magic Band at each ride. Uni can scan as well

Scan what, your room card? Currently you just show it- that's it. They don't scan. I don't even know if they have the capability to scan got the 5 on-site hotels and 22 off-site partner hotels (if booking a package) with their current setup.

 

[Mr. EPCOT]

Currently, you just show your hotel room key in the morning- I always thought that was dumb because you could just keep your hotel key and use it all year long if you're a local- but I digress.

The room keys have dates on them. I don't know how closely they usually check your key, though.

 

[Mad Dog]

Currently, you just show your hotel room key in the morning- I always thought that was dumb because you could just keep your hotel key and use it all year long if you're a local- but I digress.

So they'd have to do what, show your room key to get on a ride? I guess it wouldn't be that different than now.

This just goes to show you how much better Disney is with their infrastructure and MM+. The Room Key + Park Ticket + Express Pass + when I have Dining Plan Cards (that I buy in Sept for buy one get one half off)- it's just ridiculous.



I'd be fine with either. I like the morning now, because I have young kids that wake up- but it's still a bit early for them with the 1 hr time zone change. So each way would have it's benefits for me, personally. But for the majority of their demographic (older kiddos)- Id think night would be much more beneficial. And with the 5k extra rooms to be added in the next couple years- they might even be able to do them both. And at a reduced cost, even- just close an hour earlier and keep the last hour open for on-sites.

This would be great for us. We enjoy all theme parks during the evening hours more than the day light hours. We rarely get to enjoy IOA in the evening since it closes so early in the off season. IOA is absolutely beautiful in the evening, so if they do this we can spend more than the present ten or fifteen minutes we do before they throw us out.

 

[Andysol]

The room keys have dates on them. I don't know how closely they usually check your key, though.

They don't- you just flash it- hah.

Not that it couldn't be changed easily. In particular when riding a ride- it'd be no different than looking at the picture on an Express Pass. Just having a room key would prevent 99% of ineligible people though- it's a non-issue.

My point is, I wish they'd use this change as a way to update the infrastructure. Scanning the Magic Band is a great, intuitive way for verification. Digging out a Hotel Key for every single ride wouldn't be. My lanyard can only show park ticket on one side and express on the other- so now I'm needing to remove a card from my wallet to scan for verification for every ride I do after hours.
It's a first world problem- but Universal has been needing to update their infrastructure for years.
Check in at hotel desk, go to separate desk for express, go to separate desk (or gate) for tickets, sign your ticket at finger print scanner is certainly not intuitive in any way, shape or form. I'm fine with a blatant ripoff of Magic Bands at this point.

 

[UNIrd]

Universal and SeaWorld both need to fix this. The amount of passes you have to manage sometimes... I can't imagine 1 person dealing with tickets, hotel keys, Express passes, dining packages, etc. for a whole family.

 

[GoUCFKnights]

Universal and SeaWorld both need to fix this. The amount of passes you have to manage sometimes... I can't imagine 1 person dealing with tickets, hotel keys, Express passes, dining packages, etc. for a whole family.

Honestly its insane how they handle it. When I went to UCF 10+ years ago, they managed to give me one ID that had my dorm room access, access to my building labs for my major, library checkout, dining passes and vending money on it, in addition to using it for ticketed events like football games. It wasn't as seamless as a magic band as it used different technologies for different systems (I believe it had RFID, gold chip, magnetic swipe, and barcode on it that were used for different services, but it was a heck of a lot better then what Universals got.

 

[Obi Ubamba]

I would love for IOA to be open longer. JPRA and Hulk are my favorite rides to do in the dark. The whole park has a special feeling when the lights go on at night, so really hope they add this in the not too distant future.

 

[Mad Dog]

I would love for IOA to be open longer. JPRA and Hulk are my favorite rides to do in the dark. The whole park has a special feeling when the lights go on at night, so really hope they add this in the not too distant future.

I'll double & triple that request. Four weeks a year om vacation at Universal, and all I have to show for night time at IOA are a couple of 15 to 30 minute experiences. It looks really beautiful, what little I could experience. I'd especially like to ride the outside section of Kong in the dark, and explore Camp Jurassic when the fog sets in.

 

[Ashhanbre]

Universal is just pure magic at night time. Its a shame that its not open longer.

 

[epcyclopedia]

Why IOA isn't open during HHN just baffles me.

 

[Mad Dog]

Why IOA isn't open during HHN just baffles me.

I agree. While HHN is wildly popular, especially among the locals, I'm sure there's many on site hotel guests that would prefer to be at IOA on those evenings HHN is going on. Now that there's so many more hotel rooms, I'd think the situation has changed from previous years.

 

[Nick]

Why IOA isn't open during HHN just baffles me.

I agree. While HHN is wildly popular, especially among the locals, I'm sure there's many on site hotel guests that would prefer to be at IOA on those evenings HHN is going on. Now that there's so many more hotel rooms, I'd think the situation has changed from previous years.

Agreed.

IOA is not going to eat away at HHN attendance and with the amount of on-site hotel rooms now, they should have more than enough people to make it worth keeping the park open. It also feels like a missed opportunity to do a MNSSHP type event at the park... maybe 3 days a week and the rest of the week stay open until 10 or so (instead of what 6 or 7 that it is now during HHN?)

 

[JungleSkip]

Really hope this happens, it's long overdue.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Why IOA isn't open during HHN just baffles me.

A lot of times IOA is bought out. The buying out of parks is a bad habit that UOR needs to fix.