A true disney girl visits USF

[missfigment]

My hubby and I went for a day and Universal Studios. It was a company day so we got free parking, tickets were $15, and we got a free lunch, so that was a nice start.

I hadnt been to Universal in probably 7 years or so. So I was expecting a lot of changes...but not really! Here's the Low Down on the rides IMO. No offense to all you Universal maniacs out there....

First ride we went on...Shrek
Really cute. Loved the pre-show with the locked up pigs and pinnochio. Didnt really love the bouncing up and down as you rode along with Shrek though. So I give it a B+.

Went onto Twister....Hello wasnt this movie done in 1996? If we are "riding the movies" at universal can we at least ride some recent movies? But the special effects are still impressive after all this time.
So here's a B-.

ET ride...a classic even though its beyond hokey....but I love the fact ET says goodbye to you...even funnier when you give a fake name. My husband's "name" was Elliot
Earns an A

MIB....what a surprise favorite! I totally was unaware of the spin factor! We did this one twice. Love that you are "swallowed" at the end. Nice touch! Didnt love so much the locker rental, but after spinning I can see why they do it.
A+!!

Disaster....that was very cute and the CM who ran it did an excellent job. My husband got to be in part of the show. And Christopher Walken is one of the most talented actors out there. Love that guy!
B+

Jaws was jaws as usual..this was the longest line in the park. I think the CM's need a new script. It just sounds too rehearsed.
B-

Jimmy Newtron....I thought I might throw up. The shaking and bouncing was so hard I could barely hear what was going on screen. Time to rethink this Universal!
D....and Im being generous

T-2 3D....anyone else find this really funny now that Arnold is a governor? Time to update this too. Terminators are a thing of the past!
C-

Mummy was closed

The shows...we saw Fear factor...I seriously hope they arent really feeding those people what i saw
B+

Animal Actors....very cute...I remembered this show pretty well. Still funny.
A+

beetlejuice.....again Universal....wasnt this in like the 80's? Time to redo this one too!
C-

So all in all...Universal was okay but we were done with the whole park by like 6:00....and we started like at 11:00....it was okay...but in no where compares to Disney!

 

[MinnieForMe]

You forgot the Barney show? Ha! Ha! I just had to tease as that's where I'll be spending my morning one day next week. My two year old thinks Barney is one of the greatest things that ever happened to her world and yes, it's so 80-90's!

Glad you had a good time!

 

[Metro West]

Nice report...I agree with your assessments of Jimmy Neutron and Beetlejuice. I don't care for either of those attractions. Shrek has stationary seating as does Jimmy Neutron. I thought I was going to get sick on JN too and I NEVER get sick on a ride.

Universal should never be compared to Disney...two entirely different trains of thought and action...just keep that mind. Disney is good with the kiddies and Univeral is good with the teens and older. I prefer Universal to Disney. I don't have manuver around so many $31.00 rental strollers.

Glad you had fun!

 

[damo]

Too bad you didn't see the Horror Make-up Show. It is one of the best things in the park. Also too bad that Mummy was down. It is probably the best ride in the park.

 

[F-L-A]

Universal can't have attractions based on films older than a decade? In that case, someone better tell Disney they still have attractions based on films that are half-a-century old.

 

[missfigment]

Universal can't have attractions based on films older than a decade? In that case, someone better tell Disney they still have attractions based on films that are half-a-century old.

touche'!

 

[Cadillac_Dreamgirl]

Well disney is Disney and US is US...
they are 2 different parks. I enjoy them both equally.

 

[Planogirl]

The Mummy was closed?!!! That's my favorite ride and I would have been so bummed. You missed the Horror Makeup Show too and it's excellent. I don't agree with your assessment of certain movies being too old. Fun is fun and it doesn't matter how old a movie is IMO.

I do agree with you about Jimmy Neutron. It made me sick to my stomach and no other ride at Universal does that.

 

[macraven]

we all have different opinions. that is never a problem on the universal forums. most of the posters say the good and bad of the park they visit but in a very nice way. nothing confrontational. no point in it.


you have many rides highly rated of only one park. did you skip the IOA that day? many great rides and attractions over there also.
spiderman is wonderful, wish you could have taken that ride in. you would have liked it.



i enjoyed your post until the ending.
i guess i missed the point in it.

many here enjoy both disney and universal. they are different from each other in so many ways.

you might like apples, i like oranges

 

[goofy!]

So all in all...Universal was okay but we were done with the whole park by like 6:00....and we started like at 11:00....it was okay...but in no where compares to Disney!

Glad you had at least an ok time. And I agree with a few of your assessments, so thanks for posting your experiences with the attractions that you visited. That is always fun to read; how people view the rides differently. Everybody has their favorites

But....you spend half a day in the parks, miss a couple of the best attractions, miss an entire park and you are ready to judge? That would be akin to me going to Hollywood Studios for half a day, missing the best they have to offer and then declaring all of WDW was just ok.

I have to agree with Macraven. Your post was great until the end.

Hope you go back someday and really give Universal a chance. Both WDW and Universal are phenomenal just for their own uniqueness. There is no way to compare them. Each has something wonderful to offer the guest.

 

[RVGal]

I'm a Disney girl. Nothing wrong with that. I agree with some of your assessments of the rides at Universal, disagree with others. Nothing wrong with that. If you had just left off that last sentence...

To say you prefer Disney is one thing. Hey, I prefer chocolate ice cream. Doesn't mean that vanilla is lacking anything, just that I prefer a different flavor. But to say that vanilla doesn't compare to chocolate isn't really fair, not to mention that it is going to ruffle the feathers of those that prefer vanilla.

I guess what I'm reading in your post is that you gave Universal a shot and now you can go back to Disney feeling like you aren't missing anything... and, again, that's fine if that is what makes you happy. Nowhere is for everyone. Just don't generalize that to the broader "Universal doesn't compare to Disney" because there a lot of us that like both and feel that they both have a lot to offer in their own ways.

 

[macraven]

i am always in awe when someone with less than a few posts under their belt come over here to post.


when someone loves disney so much, i would think they would be posting on the disney side and sharing their experiences.


thanks for sharing your thoughts but i think you kind of lost some of us when you ended your statement.

i do both parks.
i enjoy what both have to offer.

i would not dream of going to orlando and not staying on site at both of them


i was going to send you a pm but i see you do not have that function yet.
please try IOA sometime. you might enjoy it.

and if you do go back to universal studios, try to catch the things you missed first time around.
some of the posters here have given you good advice on the top shows there

 

[loribell]

Well I myself am a true Disney girl. I spend a lot of time at Disney every year. In fact I like it so much I am a DVC member. But I love the Universal Parks just as much as I love the Disney parks.

I don't quite get how Twister is outdated and ET is not. A park has to determine which attractions to update. They can't be done every few years. I would not have expected there to be a lot of changes over 7 years, 20 maybe but not 7.

Personally I don't like Twister either but that is because I live in tornado alley and deal with it regularly. However I thought they did a great job with that attraction. I really enjoy the Beetle Juice show, think it is great.

So since you were there last what was knew? Shrek, which is great, Jimmy Nuetron, which is just cute fun for the kiddos, Mummy, an absolutely amazing ride (although I really mis Kong), Men in Black, yet another amazingly themed ride, and they are almost done with the Simpsons. That seems like a pretty good list of updates in a few years. I'm not sure about all of these but it seems close.

I can't think of that many things that have been updated at the MK, or any 1 Disney park for that matter. It really isn't fare to compare one Universal park to Disney overall.

 

[missfigment]

Wow...sorry I offended a lot of you...truley not my intent to do so!

I did not get to go to IO that day because our ticket from my hubby's work was for one park only. Ive been to IO once but really didnt get to ride anything because I was 4 months preggo at the time, but hope to go back another time to experience it.


I agree USF is really different than disney and I really didnt mean to get everyone so "rowled" up ....just after going to disney for years and now going to universal for the first time in a long time...I just seem to prefer disney. If I had my choice of theme parks...thats where I would go...thats all.


Whether or not I have a few posts or a lot of posts....I can still have an opinion about things....but I will learn to be a little more careful how I say it. Again I'm sorry if I offended anyone. It really wasnt my intent. I simply wanted to share my day and my thoughts on it all. My apologies.

 

[AlexandNessa]

Yeah, what they said ...

But, c'mon, I can't possibly be the only one offended by the term Universal Maniac? I know you said "no offense" but doesn't that really just try to mitigate that you are, in fact, about to offend someone?

Maniac: Text: 1 a person judged to be legally or medically insane <they locked up the maniac who was responsible for the kidnappings> — see lunatic 1

Are you comfortable with the term "Disney Maniac?"

Can you retitle your thread to say "A true Disney maniac visits USF?"

 

[macraven]

that's ok missfigment.
don't stay away from the UO threads.

we want you to stick around and try the park again someday.


i don't think it was anyone here was offended but rather, taken back. none of us mentioned your universal maniac comment. it wasn't an issue at all with us. people express themselves differently.

we are used to people talking about their disney trips here and many of us jump in. since it is an universal board, we get more trip info and feedback for UO parks.

it is kind of strange to make a zinger comment when you ended the post.
i think that is what threw everyone off.


no one here answered you unkindly.
just want to be clear that we all word things differently and we lose a lot in what we read and interpret it.


encouraging you to try the UO parks again sometime.
you can like both parks, many of us here do.

 

[macraven]

came back to reread what i posted and see another poster caught the maniac statement.



oops.............


now i have offended the one that was offended by the universal maniac statement........


but on the other hand, i have probably offended someone else for using the word we in my post.............


i can't win.........

 

[RVGal]

Yes, but if you offend the offended, don't they cancel each other out somehow?

 

[AlexandNessa]

Hey, my computer is slow and I didn't see the OPs second post before I posted.

Honestly, I don't care, and I wasn't offended.

Posts comparing Disney to UO are a dime a dozen around here. Everyone is happy to share her opinion. Some people even read other's opinions. Whether they read them or not, everyone is still left to decide whether to heed the poster's opinions or not. That's the beauty of a message board. Take everything for what it's worth ... to you.

 

[missfigment]

Are you comfortable with the term "Disney Maniac?"

Sure why not?