Disney geeks discover the Dark Side (+ QS Dining Plan reviews), May 16-18, 2015

Disney comparison

So...the age old question, Universal vs Disney?

- Universal stands heads and shoulders above Disney in terms of the technology they use. We were wowed and amazed at every turn. I'm still incredibly impressed at how they blend fantasy and reality. Kudos to Universal for a job incredibly well done.

- We ended up feeling that Universal is PG-13 rated. There were many elements of horror in many rides, which really does not appeal to our family. Disney is more G-rated (but we still avoid Haunted Mansion). Just our thing and what we like. Harry Potter is amazing, but we are not Potter fans and certainly there are many darker elements that have no interest to us. Don't get me wrong, we had a blast...there were just more things we didn't care for/had to avoid.

- Universal was a more stressful vacation for me (not for my family). My husband could not understand until I explained that throughout the whole weekend, I had to constantly juggle and manage my daughter's stress over upcoming "creepy scenes", making sure she was okay and forewarned whenever possible so she could shut her eyes. On top of that, my son was stressed about a couple of rides with drops (although thankfully I didn't have much issues with him as long as he got his popcorn bucket refilled). Then there was my husband - who could manage each ride once, but I had to time rides and meals carefully since he would get motion sick if I was not super careful. On our last day, he rode Transformers, felt fine...then rode FJ an hour later. He was sick for well over 2 hours afterwards. It was just a lot for me to worry about.

- Disney has heart. We have more of an emotional connection to Disney properties. We get excited seeing Mickey or a Princess. While we enjoyed so many wonderful things at Universal, we didn't get as excited there as we do at Disney. Others with more of a connection to Marvel or Harry Potter will disagree I am sure. I do think Potterheads are bringing more of a heart to Universal though.

- Escape from Gringotts is now my most favorite ride anywhere in the world. Just amazing. Popeye's and Blutos Bilge Rat Barges is the best rapids ride we have been on anywhere. Immersive theming, crazy thrills, and so. much. water! Disney does not have anything that compares to either of these rides (i am hopeful for the rapids ride in DLR).

- Express Pass is a super amazing perk. We loved it! I can see that Disney is likely just too big and busy to implement something like that though. So I was happy to take full advantage of it at Universal. So nice not to deal with FP+ reservations 60 days out.

- it did drive me nuts that Universal seemed to change its hours willy-nilly. But Disney does too. From a planner's perspective, its rough though.

- Unlike many other reports here, I didn't have as good experiences with the TMs. I was very hopeful, but mostly I dealt with grumpy or blah TMs. I like the chirpy Disney CMs. That said, all the TMs we saw in Potterland were pretty awesome.

- Universal's practice of making their TMs clap when you return from every ride is forced, feels fake, and actually dims the excitement. In Cedar Point, ride ops exclaim loudly (some more enthusiastically than others), "How was your ride?" which usually leads to cheering (if the ride was good) or halfhearted claps (if it was so-so). i think this is what Universal is aiming for - but all weekend long, across all rides, the whole clapping thing just did not work. We wanted to cheer after Gringotts, but the way that ride ends, the natural time to cheer is in the final tunnel. By the time we pull up to the unloading dock, it is way past time to clap and there were always only a few half-hearted responses to the TM clapping. The TMs all looked like they felt stupid clapping too (we noticed this on most rides). Disney doesn't force the cheers.

- Food was generally decent. I was pleased we managed to stay under $100/day for the 4 of us.

- The parks are smaller and everything is walkable and close by. So nice not to have to deal with buses!

- We had to split up much less than I had been worried about. My DH and DS sat out the two big coasters (we never had time for the Potter coasters) and then DH sat out a few simulator re-rides. Otherwise, we were able to be together, which was REALLY nice!

So, did we like Universal?

YES!

That said, at the end of the day, I think we drank jugfuls of Disney kool-aid so have absolutely no perspective anymore. No matter what Mickey does, our hearts are there. Still, we'll be back to Universal and I certainly recommend it as an awesome theme park!

Thanks for your great report and photos! Enjoyed traveling along with you and learned a couple new things too.

HM said:

Thanks for your great report and photos! Enjoyed traveling along with you and learned a couple new things too.

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So glad you enjoyed the journey with us! I know I always learn something new when I read a TR and I'm thrilled you did too.

Wonderful report! You have such a sweet family and as a fellow budget conscious mom I was especially impressed that you went ahead with the Fender surprise even with the $1000 cc hold (I would be a wreck! ) I didn't know about the clapping after the rides, glad to be warned about that awkwardness in advance... The dining plan breakdown was super helpful, I love having things prepaid so I think we'll do it at least one day. Was the gilly water at Three Broomsticks just sparkling water or did it have the flavoring too? Your whole experience with Simpson's dining was so disappointing! I would have trouble letting go of the experience with the "nugget police" cashier, sounds like you handled it well. Thanks again for sharing, I learned so much!

Great TR! I feel the same way about so many of your conclusions. Disney vs. Universal - I love the Universal resorts and EP and the small parks and the casualness of not planning every minute ahead of time and the affordable APs are such a PLUS but still love love love that Disney feeling! Now that my DD is older (12), we will end up more often at Universal but I will still add some Disney in there whenever I can! I also totally agree with your love of Gringotts ride and the Barges! Although I think Spiderman is the best ride in the parks - likely because it was my first ride of that type! And as for Simpsons food - we also thought it was horrible. Next trip try Finnegans Pub in US - excellent food and nice break from the park.

Lisa0620 said:

Wonderful report! You have such a sweet family and as a fellow budget conscious mom I was especially impressed that you went ahead with the Fender surprise even with the $1000 cc hold (I would be a wreck! ) I didn't know about the clapping after the rides, glad to be warned about that awkwardness in advance... The dining plan breakdown was super helpful, I love having things prepaid so I think we'll do it at least one day. Was the gilly water at Three Broomsticks just sparkling water or did it have the flavoring too? Your whole experience with Simpson's dining was so disappointing! I would have trouble letting go of the experience with the "nugget police" cashier, sounds like you handled it well. Thanks again for sharing, I learned so much!

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The $1000 CC hold did have me pretty nervous. In fact, when I first told DH about the guitar, his instinctive response was "no". We discussed it some more and finally we decided it was a free opportunity to enhance our stay that we could not turn down. When else would my kids have access to musical instruments of this quality (my mom has a really nice grand piano - but that sure doesn't have the coolness of a Fender guitar for a tween!) Something I'm sure he will remember for a long time to come.

The Gilly Water is just an ordinary bottle of plain water. I think it's highway robbery what they charge for it. Then again, I have no idea how much it actually cost (didn't notice it on the menu sign) so maybe it was cheaper at Three Broomsticks than at the Eternelle place? I did get a little thrill out of it being a themed water bottle. Then again, we were going to pick up a bottle of water anyway and it was a beverage on the dining plan. It wouldn't have been worth the upcharge otherwise.

That "nugget police" cashier was so wacky. Plus she was completely grumpy about the whole thing too - like it was my fault. Maybe she thought I was trying to pull a fast one? She could have handled it SOOOO much better though. Like I mentioned, overall, we had poor experiences with the TMs. Only the ones we encountered in Potterland struck as as really good. We ran into several grumpy ones and many more "blah" ones that were just acceptable. Oh, the one I dealt with at Guest Services to upgrade our passes was very sweet. The ones at Starbucks in US were nice, but had no clue how to handle the Dining Plan cards. The one tried to be super helpful and did not notice how impatient I was to "get out of there" since the info she was trying to look up was not particularly important to me.

sharona said:

Great TR! I feel the same way about so many of your conclusions. Disney vs. Universal - I love the Universal resorts and EP and the small parks and the casualness of not planning every minute ahead of time and the affordable APs are such a PLUS but still love love love that Disney feeling! Now that my DD is older (12), we will end up more often at Universal but I will still add some Disney in there whenever I can! I also totally agree with your love of Gringotts ride and the Barges! Although I think Spiderman is the best ride in the parks - likely because it was my first ride of that type! And as for Simpsons food - we also thought it was horrible. Next trip try Finnegans Pub in US - excellent food and nice break from the park.

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I was wondering how many people would end up feeling how we did. So many on here are really thrilled with Universal (I can easily see why). Like you said though, there's nothing like that Disney feeling and Universal still doesn't have anything to replace that.

Spiderman/Transformers is super cool! I think it would have bumped up our ratings more if it wasn't for my motion-sick DH. You know, I think what I found with Universal is that I walk out of most of the rides saying "WOW, what incredible technology and innovation". I don't really do that often at Disney. But yet - maybe that's the point. Disney doesn't want you to pay attention to the technology. They just want it all to be magical. At Universal, I couldn't take my mind off the technology.

I was wondering whether I just had a bad run at The Simpsons - pretty disappointed after so many rave reviews on here. Oh well, there's so many other good places to eat. A little annoying that if you are trying to maximize the Dining Plan, there really aren't many high-priced options. Chicken & ribs at several places, the big burgers at the Simpsons and at Leaky Cauldron (where the portions look small for the price) . That's it really. I doubt we'll end up with as many QSDP cards next trip since we will likely do the chicken/ribs thing only once (at Three Broomsticks - YUM!).

I had fun reading your report!! And your pictures made me smile - you can see the enthusiasm of your kiddos. So much fun!

Did you know that, for the Marmaduke photo op, you can turn the photo sideways so it looks like you're being pulled by Marmaduke, and the white "cloud" is like a puff of dust behind your feet!?

Next time you're at Fast Food Boulevard, try the chicken and waffle sandwich. Yum-o!!!! I sub the fruit instead of fries so I feel like it's not quite as much of an artery clogger, LOL!

snoopboop said:

I had fun reading your report!! And your pictures made me smile - you can see the enthusiasm of your kiddos. So much fun!

Did you know that, for the Marmaduke photo op, you can turn the photo sideways so it looks like you're being pulled by Marmaduke, and the white "cloud" is like a puff of dust behind your feet!?

Next time you're at Fast Food Boulevard, try the chicken and waffle sandwich. Yum-o!!!! I sub the fruit instead of fries so I feel like it's not quite as much of an artery clogger, LOL!

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I was looking at the photo with my DD and commented that she should have been on tip-toes. She was all confused. I tried explaining but she just could not get it until I turned the photo sideways. It would have been an even more cool photo!

Thanks - I wasn't sure my pics would turn out. I was honestly too excited and in a hurry everywhere to stop and take better photos. Most shots with basically a one second stop to hold my phone steady. Especially the first day when I hardly ever pulled my phone out of my pocket. So I was very surprised when I wrote the TR and I actually had a decent array of photos. I did have a bunch of blurry photos, but I expected so many more.

And if you notice, my DS rarely smiles. He has been practicing a "cool dude" look for the last couple of years (and yes, he practices in front of a mirror and everything!). Thankfully, my DD is always ready and willing to pose for photos My DH tolerates me taking his photo when I don't have my DD for a subject (since I rarely like photos taken of me). Our friends call my DH "The Armadillo" though, so every trip I usually manage to snap a shot of him snoozing. (and I promise - they are mostly candid shots!).

Other Observations and Things I Learned

Hmm...there's a strong chance I might come back and update this list as I remember more things. For now, here goes....

• There is music everywhere in the parks and it is fabulous! Really added to our experience
  
  
  
  
  
• Universal Studios seems to open about 8:30am (9am official open). In fact, the one morning we were there at 8:30am, people were already streaming in. Not sure how far behind we were. Get there early! Even if you have morning Early Entry at IOA, it may not be worth it to start there (not sure what time the train started running). Forbidden Journey's lines are much more manageable.
  
  
• Forbidden Journey's lines were the longest in the first hour after park open and dropped throughout the day. Afternoon/evening tended to be the lowest wait times (from what we saw on the app)
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Even if you are a ride weenie (like DH and DS), DON'T MISS Gringotts! It really is that good and if you just steel yourself through that initial (very short) drop, you should have no issues managing the rest of the ride. Best of all, my motion-sensitive husband did great on this - super smooth, spins are gentle, and not overly jerky (sudden stops and starts). He even did it 2x in a row (usually a no-no) and felt great!
  
  
• Hard Rock Hotel really is a super short 5 minute walk. Well worth it to stay on-site
  
  
• Express Pass is amazing (hmm..I think I have already said this multiple times lol)
  
  
  
  
  
• Universal doesn't joke around when it comes to water. When they say wet, they mean WET! Jurassic Park - pretty wet (but shoes typically stay dry), Ripsaw Falls (very wet), Popeye's Barges (1/2 the raft - very wet, 1/2 the raft - completely, totally soaked from the inside out). On One Fish, Two Fish, we were liberally sprayed at. On many of the motion simulators (Spidey, etc) we were sprinkled with water. Do be prepared - jeans are just not a good idea.
  
  
• The whole "bags not allowed on some rides" thing was a little unnerving and confusing. Even with all my prior research, I still occasionally got muddled. TMs at the beginning of queues were not always watching closely to stop people if they didn't pay attention to the numerous signs. Nobody even took a second glance at my running belt (with the correct 3-prong clasp). I suppose the x-ray thing helped with this. But not for certain rides e.g. at the 2 Harry Potter rides, bags are not allowed but the fanny pack with a 3 prong clasp is. But if it fits into your pockets (phones, etc) no problem. It was mass confusion, particularly at the 2 Potter rides and the poor TMs had their hands full trying to control the lines. I was surprised the lines were not designed better.
  
  
• The locker thing at the 2 Potter rides were AWFUL. For FJ, you enter this tiny entranceway. There are large, roomy alcoves where your party is supposed to wait for you while you put your stuff in the lockers. The poor TMs kept begging ppl to go into the alcoves to wait (they all muddled around in this small entranceway instead). As has been reported, the locker area is small cramped and there is inadequate signage to point you there. (We completely missed the entrance until a TM stopped us and pointed us in the right direction).
  
  
  
  
  
  
• For Gringotts, the whole locker area was HOT, and STANK of sweat. It was nasty (and I'm not a particular person). They should air condition the area at the very least. It's also very narrow (see pic). There are lockers on both sides so if you can imagine ppl in that aisle facing in both directions (back to back) - there's not a whole lot of extra room here. You can fit about 2.5 ppl in this aisle (see the group at the end). No idea why they didn't make it bigger after the issues at FJ. It just needs an extra foot of aisle space so I don't have to squeeze through other sweaty guests. The locker area at Rip Ride Rockit! is spacious with plenty of ventilation.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Unlike several reports on the DIS, we had no real issues with using the lockers. On the whole, we felt it was worth the effort to bring a bag to hold our refillable popcorn bucket and a bottle of water (we hate having to hunt for water). One time my finger scan did not work at RRR. I asked around before eventually finding the right TM who helped us unlock it. I had to show him I knew how to unlock my phone to prove it was my locker. I appreciated the extra security measure. HOWEVER, I do not understand why you have to memorize the locker number. So completely silly that a fingerprint scan isn't enough for the system to figure out your locker number (especially since they are tied together anyway!). Maybe it's for those times when the scan does not work? I can imagine that would be even worse if the scan doesn't work and you have no clue what your locker number is. YIKES!
  
  To make it better, take a second to wipe your finger and even wipe the scanner. For my DH and DS, I had to press down firmly on top of their fingers for it to scan properly (this trick also works for park entry!).
  
  
• I feel 3 full days is the minimum time to see EVERYTHING (incl. hotel pool) with a few re-rides. Even with Express Pass. We went one full day and 2 half days and were on the go from morning to night and still missed a few experiences and didn't do as many re-rides as I wanted. But, if you are OK with just catching the major highlights, 1-2 days should be sufficient.
  
  
• Don't forget you have to carry way more pieces of paper at Universal! On the morning of Day 2, DH forgot our park tickets. Thank goodness HRH really IS 5 mins away (10 mins to our room)- took me 20 mins round trip to get them. He was genuinely shocked, asking why they weren't on our room key cards like at Disney. So, you'll have your Park tickets, Express Passes (if you stay onsite), Room key cards, and Dining Plan cards.
  
  
• It was a little hard keeping track of my Dining Plan credits (particularly which card had what). I *may* bring a tiny sharpie with me next trip.
  
  
• Universal does not announce schedules well until the very last minute. And even then, there are inconsistencies. We trusted our onsite hotel's info, which was wrong, and stayed wrong. Cinematic Spectacular's schedule was not announced until the Friday of the weekend. The changed park hours just a few days before the weekend - I suppose it took that long to confirm a private party?
  
  
  
• Don't know how I feel about crowd calendar predictions. Saturday was "busy" and Sunday and Monday were "slow". All three days felt similar in crowd levels (I will admit I was not monitoring it particularly closely). Monday actually felt the busiest with several large school groups. Without an Express Pass on the Monday, I also paid more attention. RRR's line at just before 10am (9am open) was already about 15 mins. Transformer's line at 10am was 20 mins. My solution for the future? On-site all the way baby!

Oh boy, didn't realize I would write a NOVEL here! Apparently I didn't cover as much as I thought in my Trip Report. I learned lots for future visits

elaine amj said:

• There is music everywhere in the parks and it is fabulous! Really added to our experience

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You may want to check out this link: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2FD7DFB6C584F4A6

I sometimes listen when I want to be transported back to the parks....

Thank you for your review - your comments about the quick service dining plan and overall tips and tricks will be VERY useful when we go this weekend! Thanks so much!

SimplyGoofy said:

Thank you for your review - your comments about the quick service dining plan and overall tips and tricks will be VERY useful when we go this weekend! Thanks so much!

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So glad you found it helpful! Your own trip reports are awesome and full of detail

elaine amj said:

So glad you found it helpful! Your own trip reports are awesome and full of detail

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Thank you! That's very nice of you to say.

Just found your TR and absolutely loved it!! Lots of great information we will be using on our August visit, staying at HRH too!!! Glad you enjoyed the hotel and the pool. I am a total Potter-head so hoping to cram in tons of exploration and rerides despite only having 2 days in park. But with express pass, as you were able to, it seems we'll be fine.

As a Potter-head, you are going to have an amazing time! The Potter details were out of this world. So glad you found my TR helpful With Express Pass, 2 days will be manageable to explore and re-ride your favorites several times. I would personally prefer 3 full days, but even my next trip will be the same 1 full day and 2 half days.

Thanks for the detailed review! I really enjoyed reading it. I was wondering about the lanyards your family is wearing in the pictures. If I may ask where you purchased them and did you have to store them in lockers as well? My son and I are going in a few weeks and we are pretty low maintenance. Something like what you are wearing would be perfect for us.

luvmy2boyzz said:

Thanks for the detailed review! I really enjoyed reading it. I was wondering about the lanyards your family is wearing in the pictures. If I may ask where you purchased them and did you have to store them in lockers as well? My son and I are going in a few weeks and we are pretty low maintenance. Something like what you are wearing would be perfect for us.

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I actually got them from a convention I attended. They are nice because they have a zippered pouch to hold a cellphone. They did allow us to wear them on to rides. For the 3 with an xray machine, I put my smartphone in the locker and walked on wearing the lanyard. Most of the others were just fine letting me through with my cellphone in it. We did use lockers quite often because we had a drawstring bag (for the popcorn bucket and a bottle of water) with us so most of the time I just put my phones in the lockers. We didn't have too much of a problem with the lockers - just once when we had to get a TM to unlock it.

Ooooo- I'm going to start at the beginning and read this. We are planning to do the same thing early summer 2016. We are huge Disney fans -- but are going to try Universal since our kids are teens now. (Or both will be by then.) Can't wait to start reading!

bagsmom said:

Ooooo- I'm going to start at the beginning and read this. We are planning to do the same thing early summer 2016. We are huge Disney fans -- but are going to try Universal since our kids are teens now. (Or both will be by then.) Can't wait to start reading!

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Hope you find it helpful! And if you have any questions, do feel free to ask. I'm returning with my APs for Labor Day weekend and am looking forward to being there! I was going to add a Disney day to the weekend but now I think I am going to try 3 nights at Universal and see if I am happier with 2 full days and 2 half days.

I have really loved reading about your trip! I'm hoping we'll be able to go NEXT summer. I have to start saving the grocery money big time! If you happen to pop on here and feel like doing a little summary entry, would you consider making a short list of rides and rating them for motion sickness? My best friend went with her family and said that unfortunately, most everything at Universal "makes you puke." Ha Ha! I know Forbidden Journey is probably a bad one. I know you addressed this through the report -- but would love a little "cheat sheet." I mentioned before that the OCD person in me just LOVES the Unofficial Guide by the Touring Plans folks, but sometimes their motion sickness ratings are a little too conservative. I like hearing other opinions! Thanks again for the report and the photos! What fun it was to vacation vicariously through your trip!