bookbabe626
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2006
- Messages
- 2,052
So, we’ve returned from our first (very short) trip to Universal, three and a half days over the Easter weekend, staying at Royal Pacific club level, with 4 day passes to all three parks with hopping.
I want to start out by thanking all the folks here who gave such good advice and provided reassurances before we went. It was a good trip overall, and I’m glad we went. Now for some random thoughts and comparisons about the parks (I’ll post my hotel thoughts in the resorts forum).
Express passes rock. Although the express lines weren’t always under 20 minutes (their verbally stated intention was half the posted wait time when we asked at the entrances) it was just awesome to be able to pick and choose rides on the spot rather than two months in advance. I have to say, if Disney offered paid Express Passes of the same nature, I’d buy them. Included with the hotel it would be a no brainer.
We definitely liked Islands far more than Studios. Almost every ride in Studios is a virtually identical motion simulator, just with different theming and videos played. Most made us a bit queasy, even with bonine, so while we went on everything once, that was enough. Islands has a much bigger variety of rides, or at least that’s how it seemed to us. Bilge Rats Barges blows Kali River Rapids out of the water, so to speak. Tons of fun, but you will get soaked. Kong is awesome, but seems to break down a lot and always had a long express line (60 minute express for a 120 minute standby).
I think Universal does better shows than Disney, although we didn’t get to do all of them due to timing. But the animal actors show was way better than the Disney equivalents, and the horror makeup show was hysterical. They’re definitely not Disney shows, though, and the jokes and comments are much more suited to older kids and teens and grownups rather than the pre-schoolers, that’s for sure.
We both thought that Diagon Alley was better than Hogmeade. Overall theming, layout and atmosphere just works better, we thought, and I think DA holds the crowds better. Early entry is ESSSENTIAL for doing the Harry Potter areas during busy times. Once it fills up, it’s just not fun any more. If the HP stuff is your prime reason for going to Universal, do not go during peak travel times until you absolutely have to, and stay onsite so you get early entry.
Volcano Bay was great. The not-so-lazy river is our new favourite water ride ever, and all the slides we tried were pretty good. A couple are a bit twisty and can generate nausea if you easily get motion sick, so take your bonine before heading to VB. Tapu Tapu bands are annoying, like MagicBand’s uglier cousin. They do their job, but I really wish they just had the normal standby line styles. Again, early entry is really valuable here when the weather’s nice. The difference in crowds before and after the main park open was mindblowing.
The park-hotel layout and proximity was fabulous, and I really loved the fact that once you get there you’re inside the security bubble for all your parkhopping. And having the security stations at the different access points like that seemed to make for shorter lines, rather than having one main security backlog at each park. Being able to walk easily to the parks from your hotel, and then between the two parks and CityWalk was my favourite part. I was a bit disappointed in the shopping at CityWalk, though, I really expected more stores. Having everything so close together was really nice, however.
We noticed a few major differences between Disney and Universal that we hadn’t expected. One was that Universal will sacrifice visibility in favour of atmosphere and theming. Knockturn Alley and the Mummy queue are great examples of that. They’re very dark, and it’s hard to see until your eyes get used to the light levels. Disney would have installed safety lights of some kind, even if it ruined the mood. Stairs were another big thing we noticed, and something that I hadn’t really seen mentioned in my advance research. Almost every ride has stairs somewhere, either during the queue or one of the pre-show areas, or both. Yes, there’s elevators for those in wheelchairs and such, but if you’re able-bodied in theory but out of shape in reality, the stairs are going to kill you. Even the rides with no/few stairs have long uphill ramps. I was not a fan, and my calves still ache. The other big difference was the larger number of motion simulator rides. We’re not huge fans of those, mainly because they make us a bit queasy, even with bonine, and there seem to be a lot more of that type of ride at Universal than at Disney. We still liked the rides, and they were really well done for the most part, but they were all very similar to each other in terms of ride type and technology when you get past the theming and storyline.
Overall, we really enjoyed our trip, and wished it had been at a slower time. I think if we went again, we’d either try for summer (still busy but not peak holiday weekend busy) or maybe just go over in the evening during a Disney trip instead of doing whole park days, since the crowds thinned out a lot after dinner.
Thanks again to everyone who posted trip reports and info threads, answered questions, and was just so super helpful as I planned this trip. DISboards folk are just the best. Thanks!
I want to start out by thanking all the folks here who gave such good advice and provided reassurances before we went. It was a good trip overall, and I’m glad we went. Now for some random thoughts and comparisons about the parks (I’ll post my hotel thoughts in the resorts forum).
Express passes rock. Although the express lines weren’t always under 20 minutes (their verbally stated intention was half the posted wait time when we asked at the entrances) it was just awesome to be able to pick and choose rides on the spot rather than two months in advance. I have to say, if Disney offered paid Express Passes of the same nature, I’d buy them. Included with the hotel it would be a no brainer.
We definitely liked Islands far more than Studios. Almost every ride in Studios is a virtually identical motion simulator, just with different theming and videos played. Most made us a bit queasy, even with bonine, so while we went on everything once, that was enough. Islands has a much bigger variety of rides, or at least that’s how it seemed to us. Bilge Rats Barges blows Kali River Rapids out of the water, so to speak. Tons of fun, but you will get soaked. Kong is awesome, but seems to break down a lot and always had a long express line (60 minute express for a 120 minute standby).
I think Universal does better shows than Disney, although we didn’t get to do all of them due to timing. But the animal actors show was way better than the Disney equivalents, and the horror makeup show was hysterical. They’re definitely not Disney shows, though, and the jokes and comments are much more suited to older kids and teens and grownups rather than the pre-schoolers, that’s for sure.
We both thought that Diagon Alley was better than Hogmeade. Overall theming, layout and atmosphere just works better, we thought, and I think DA holds the crowds better. Early entry is ESSSENTIAL for doing the Harry Potter areas during busy times. Once it fills up, it’s just not fun any more. If the HP stuff is your prime reason for going to Universal, do not go during peak travel times until you absolutely have to, and stay onsite so you get early entry.
Volcano Bay was great. The not-so-lazy river is our new favourite water ride ever, and all the slides we tried were pretty good. A couple are a bit twisty and can generate nausea if you easily get motion sick, so take your bonine before heading to VB. Tapu Tapu bands are annoying, like MagicBand’s uglier cousin. They do their job, but I really wish they just had the normal standby line styles. Again, early entry is really valuable here when the weather’s nice. The difference in crowds before and after the main park open was mindblowing.
The park-hotel layout and proximity was fabulous, and I really loved the fact that once you get there you’re inside the security bubble for all your parkhopping. And having the security stations at the different access points like that seemed to make for shorter lines, rather than having one main security backlog at each park. Being able to walk easily to the parks from your hotel, and then between the two parks and CityWalk was my favourite part. I was a bit disappointed in the shopping at CityWalk, though, I really expected more stores. Having everything so close together was really nice, however.
We noticed a few major differences between Disney and Universal that we hadn’t expected. One was that Universal will sacrifice visibility in favour of atmosphere and theming. Knockturn Alley and the Mummy queue are great examples of that. They’re very dark, and it’s hard to see until your eyes get used to the light levels. Disney would have installed safety lights of some kind, even if it ruined the mood. Stairs were another big thing we noticed, and something that I hadn’t really seen mentioned in my advance research. Almost every ride has stairs somewhere, either during the queue or one of the pre-show areas, or both. Yes, there’s elevators for those in wheelchairs and such, but if you’re able-bodied in theory but out of shape in reality, the stairs are going to kill you. Even the rides with no/few stairs have long uphill ramps. I was not a fan, and my calves still ache. The other big difference was the larger number of motion simulator rides. We’re not huge fans of those, mainly because they make us a bit queasy, even with bonine, and there seem to be a lot more of that type of ride at Universal than at Disney. We still liked the rides, and they were really well done for the most part, but they were all very similar to each other in terms of ride type and technology when you get past the theming and storyline.
Overall, we really enjoyed our trip, and wished it had been at a slower time. I think if we went again, we’d either try for summer (still busy but not peak holiday weekend busy) or maybe just go over in the evening during a Disney trip instead of doing whole park days, since the crowds thinned out a lot after dinner.
Thanks again to everyone who posted trip reports and info threads, answered questions, and was just so super helpful as I planned this trip. DISboards folk are just the best. Thanks!
