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When the Universal Orlando Resort opened its first Harry Potter rides in June 2010, people waited six hours in 90 degree heat just to get in the gate. Demand overran expectations for months, leaving some visitors with a gridlocked vacation they vowed never to repeat.
Universal, hoping to avoid similar headaches when it opens a much splashier theme park in the resort on May 22, has decided to do things differently.
Initially, tickets for the general public will be sold only for the new area, Universal Epic Universe, which is the first major park to open in Orlando, Fla., in 26 years, as part of multiday packages, the resort said on Thursday. The least expensive option, priced at $352 to $521, with the cost fluctuating based on the days chosen, will provide one-day admission to Epic Universe and two days of access to the resort’s older parks. The packages go on sale Tuesday.
Universal said that additional ticket options, including single-day admission for the grand-opening period, would become available “in the months ahead.” (Current annual passholders can buy single-day tickets to Epic Universe starting Oct. 24.)
Epic Universe is expected to attract roughly 10 million visitors in its first full year of operation, according to MoffettNathanson, a research firm.
The company wants to avoid congestion — to leave visitors, some of whom may be experiencing Universal for the first time, wanting to return. But the multiday focus also underscores Universal’s primary mission in adding Epic Universe: It wants more families to view the resort as a weeklong destination and not just a one- or two-day add-on to a Disney pilgrimage.
Comcast, which owns the Universal theme park chain, has poured billions of dollars into Epic Universe, which will feature 70 acres worth of attractions, dining and shopping. (To compare, the Harry Potter area that opened in 2010 covered 20 acres.) Epic Universe will have major rides based on Nintendo video games, films like “How to Train Your Dragon,” classic movie monsters and, yes, Harry Potter. The expansion also includes three new hotels.
“Epic Universe signals a new phase in the theme park wars,” Craig Moffett, a founder of MoffettNathanson, wrote in a report this year. He estimated that Universal would siphon about a million visitors from the much-larger Disney World from mid-2025 to the end of 2026.
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