Another top theme park is abandoning everyday pricing in favor of seasonal pricing for its theme park tickets.
A few days after Walt Disney World announced that it would expand seasonal pricing to all its multi-day tickets, Universal's largest theme park announced that it will move to a tiered pricing system next year. Universal Studios Japan's three-tier pricing system for one-day tickets will see a slight price decrease for tickets sold during traditionally low-attendance periods, with price increases coming for moderate to high-level attendance days.
One-day tickets for Universal Studios Japan currently cost ¥7,900 for adults [US$69.56]. Under the new tiered pricing system, which takes effect January 10, 2019, one-day tickets will cost ¥7,400 through January, rising to ¥8,200 from February 1 through March 22, then up again to ¥8,700 from March 23 through March 31.
Prices for April will be announced in January, as Universal Studios Japan plans to publish its ticket prices three months in advance going forward. Prices will be available online at www.usj.co.jp.
The change will leave Tokyo Disney Resort's theme parks as the only ones in the global Top 10 for attendance not charging different prices on different days, as Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, and Shanghai Disneyland all previously have implemented seasonal pricing in some form. Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood also charge varying prices on their one-day tickets.
Seasonal pricing is designed to further encourage visitors to switch from high attendance periods to less crowded days at the park, helping to even crowd levels. Ultimately, parks want seasonal pricing to help them boost attendance without further overloading parks during peak periods, when they already operate near or at capacity and occasionally have to turn away fans at the gate.
With nearly 15 million visitors a year, Universal Studios Japan is Universal's most popular theme park and the fourth most-visited park in the world, following Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom, Disneyland, and Tokyo Disneyland.
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"Ultimately, parks want seasonal pricing to help them boost attendance without further overloading parks during peak periods, when they already operate near or at capacity and occasionally have to turn away fans at the gate."
Nope...Parks want to maximize revenue on days when they can no longer stuff any more guests into already overcrowded parks. These seasonal prices have NOTHING to do with trying to encourage guests to shift their visits, and has EVERYTHING to do with making more money.