This past weekend, Disney raised prices at both Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California. At the World, a one-day ticket will now set you back $75--almost $80 when you include the tax. (The price is up $4.) A similar ticket to the California park is now going for $69, but at least there's no tax.
Not to be outdone, Universal Studios Orlando matched the pricing in an update on Wednesday. Through a statement by Michael Lewellen, Universal VP for public relations, we learned that the price increase was due to the addition of new attractions like The Simpsons Ride, the new Harry Potter world, and the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit coaster coming in 2009. He also admitted that the increase might have had something to do with a jump in ticket prices at Disney.
As of now SeaWorld Orlando is holding steady right under $70 a day, but it's looking likely that they'll get in on the fun as well. If this is going to break the bank for your next theme park vacation, you may want to look for a ticket broker. Often they buy tickets in bulk and may have some of the previous tickets left for sale. Every little bit helps!
Universal Studios is still recovering from the massive fire that broke out on Sunday, and we noticed that a bunch of FAQs about the fire were posted today on the park's website.
Not much has changed since we last reported on the fire on Monday. The King Kong attraction and New York streets are gone. But the theme park is operating normally, and there aren't any ticket discounts. A press release from the park boldly tell us that "The show must go on."
We were just at Universal on May 21 and snapped this shot of the backlot as we headed down to take the studio tour. You can see the New York set from here. Universal says it will be rebuilt--along with a new attraction to replace King Kong.
One of the backlots at Universal Studios in Burbank caught fire early Sunday morning, destroying a lot of precious movie memorabilia and sets including the King Kong exhibit, the courthouse square of Back to the Future and the New York Street, along with 40,000 reels of movies.
The theme park initially said it would remain open Sunday, along with the backlot tour, but the fire department closed the park as well as CityWalk, the retail and entertainment complex attached to it. Everything is scheduled to reopen this morning at 10 am.
Despite the fire, the MTV Movie Awards were televised live from the Gibson Theater at Universal.
No cause has been given as of yet, though highly flammable sets helped fuel the fire. After the jump, a quick video of the now-gutted New York Street area of the backlot.
Update: Universal Studios just sent out a statement saying that the actual BTTF Courthouse was saved, as were about half the buildings on the square. The park also confirmed that the King Kong attraction and New York Street were both lost as reported.
Yesterday we spent the afternoon bumming around Universal Studios in Hollywood. Our first (and pretty much only) order of business was to check-out the brand-new Simpsons Ride.
You may remember that this ride replaced the Back to the Future ride which we were sad to see go. But have no fear, next to the Simpsons gift store--aka the Kwik-E-Mart--Doc Brown still lives on in his Doc Brown's Fried Chicken Stand.
Then again, Doc Brown is positively dwarfed by Krustyland, the pseudo-amusement park in which the Simpsons Ride takes place.
It's kinda hard for us to get excited about the Simpsons Ride opening at Universal Studios on May 17 because to open this ride meant closing down the totally awesome Back to the Future ride.
Still, we should be happy that replacement is something equally iconic. (We just wouldn't go for, say, a Snakes on a Plane experience.)
The LA Times' Daily Travel and Deal blog has some deets on the ride which is housed in the old BTTF ride structure and has the same motion simulator concept.
Yesterday, Jaunted was invited to attend the final countdown for the Back to the Future Ride at Universal Studios in California. The final countdown? What's that? Well, it turns out the Back to the Future ride is closing on Sept. 3 so if you are headed to Universal Studios before then, you must ride the BTTF ride as you may never again get the chance. Word is they are putting a The Simpsons ride in its place in 2008.
So to commemorate the 14 years of the BTTF ride's existence, Universal held a countdown extravaganza complete with a masse of DeLoreans in the parking lot, a meeting of the real Doc Brown (actor Christopher Lloyd) and a fake Doc Brown, a short speech by the movie's co-creator Bob Gale and of course, the start of the countdown in front of the Hill Valley town clock.
This was by far one of the most awesomest press junkets we have ever been to and that's not because we are crazed BTF fans. No, it's because if you were to use the unintentional comedy rating scale, this junket would be off the chart.
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by kjb
