Clearly, Universal's trying to hold down crowds at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, the popular new land in Islands of Adventure with the expanded blackout dates on its least expensive annual pass.
The number of blackout days drops from 26 days to just 7 days for visits to the Universal Studios Florida theme park. However, Islands of Adventure is blocked out in 2011 on an additional 59 days, for 66 blockout dates total. The blockouts include the entire month of July, plus the first two weeks of August and last two weeks of April. The price of the Power Pass jumps $20, too, from $139.99 to $159.99 for Florida residents.
Annual passholders can get into the park on those blackout dates without buying a regular ticket by opting for the more expensive Preferred or Premier Passes, neither of which have blackout dates. The Preferred Pass remains $219.99 ($229.99 for non-Florida residents), but the cost of the Premier Pass is going up, from $289.99 to $349.99, an increase of $60. The Premier Pass includes free valet parking and front-of-line Express pass privileges after 4 pm, as well as other in-park discounts. No changes to renewal prices have been announced yet.
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In the past if they changed something but you had your pass already, you were grandfathered into the old rules (mostly discounts). Not anymore. I wonder what else they plan to change this year...
About 2 years ago, Universal gave me a free month on my pass if I took a very long and tedious survey concerning prospective pass types and benefits. I had to say which of 3 versions I liked more, not necessarily if I liked any of them at all. There were about 25 different combinations having 1)various numbers of blackout days, 2)prices, 3)extras such as discounts and some other things. I remember I didn't like any of them because all of them were worse than the Preferred annual pass. Luckily, all they did was raise prices on the 365 day passes and kept benefits about the same.
You can enjoy 365 days of unlimited park-to-park admission to both Universal Studios Florida & Universal's Islands of Adventure with no blockout dates, free parking^, and discounts on food and merchandise for the regular price of $219.99 plus tax.
and then, at the bottom of the same page, the little caret symbol clarifies the details which have been the same for years:
^Free self-parking is not valid on your first visit to the parks. On-site hotels parking not included.
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