Beware of Universal

[PlutoLuvr]

I've encountered shoddy service at WDW, at USO, at my local Bennigan's, at my grocery store. It's a fact of life, a sad one, but a true one. I was screamed at by a bag checker in front of Epcot a couple years back. He then screamed at a little old lady behind me, whose son got pretty nasty with him. Do I return to Epcot? Sure. Did I let this ruin my day? Of course not.

Personally, I think both parks should do away with all this Express Pass/FOTL garbage. I don't want to pay for it at USO, and I don't want to be stressed and exhausted running all over WDW parks to get on a ride in 20 minutes instead of 30. Theme parks means standing in lines. If standing in lines makes for a rotten day for someone, maybe they should opt for a different vacation. I've been going to both WDW & USO since they've opened multiple times per year, and waiting in line with thousands of others has never ruined a vacation.

 

[crjack]

We just returned from our 8 day trip and we had a wonderful time at the Universal Parks. The express pass was in fact $50 but honestly we didn't need them. We just planned our day like we do at Disney and went in the morning to all of our priority attractions.

The price for 5 days was something ridiculously low like $89.00 pp through a promo link I saw here and my sil got one extra child ticket free since she needed 5 tickets and I only need four.

I love Disney too but I have to say Universal was just as clean and the staff was just as nice during our visits. We did not stay on-site at Universal so we did not have FOTL.

I knew the $50 was the peak rate but as others have posted I would have paid about 3 times as much for a 5-day Disney Park Hopper and no matter when we go Fast Pass is always sold out or a 3-hour wait by mid afternoon. Not every ride has Fast Pass either.

We also loved the inside parking at Universal! So close and it kept our car cool during the day. Our group was thrilled with the total admission price.....we couldn't go anywhere here for 5 days for $89.00 and we would still pay parking!

We had a great first experience at Universal and thought it was a great value.

 

[spiceycat]

We went in June and stayed at RPH for $129.00. With a rate like that why would you pay $50.00 per person for A pass. Your key card is the pass. We are AAA or you can get a universal Annual pass. The hotel is much nicer than the Polynesian. People need to invest some time in their vacation. It will save them a small fortune.

how did you get RPH for $129?

I have a AAA and Universal Annual Pass not activiate yet.

People the Op feels she was treated badly at US. It is her opinion she has a right to it.

I have also run also rude employees at US/IOA as well as WDW. and my once all time favorite SW - SW was so bad I am not going back - this is a park that I had an annual pass since the early 90's - but there is no excuse for rude employees.

as she says if you don't like working with people why work in a theme park.

all theme parks have at one time or another problems. US/IOA is really having big problems unless management can stop it - and with that attitude they are not trying - it could possible close.

but you are right - that is not the time to start being rude to their guests - unless these employees want the park to close.

 

[damo]

Let's price this out for normal admission:

Universal - There is a special right now is $75 for five days -- that works out to $15/day - normal price is about $90 or $18/day

Disney - five day pass is $242.00 -- works out to $48.50/day

Those fast passes certainly aren't free!!! Someone is gouging and I don't think it is Universal.

Also you can get a two year annual pass at Universal for $189 with a $99 renewal price. Annual pass at Disney is $441.91 for ONE year and renewal is $399.38.

Room rates - keep in mind that Universal includes unlimited express passes with each room

Grand Floridian -- rack rate - August 5 - $400.30
Beach Club - same time rack rate- $585.00
Portofino Bay Hotel -- rack rate - August 5 - $280.00

 

[damo]

how did you get RPH for $129?

I have a AAA and Universal Annual Pass not activiate yet.

Go to www.loewshotels.com and go into the hotel website you looking for. Click on reservations and use the codes AAA and APH to check for big savings.

 

[spiceycat]

Go to www.loewshotels.com and go into the hotel website you looking for. Click on reservations and use the codes AAA and APH to check for big savings.

still getting a rate of $159 to $179.... guess I have to wait.

going in Sept - offseason.

 

[damo]

still getting a rate of $159 to $179.... guess I have to wait.

going in Sept - offseason.

Keep checking, it might get lower. Those prices are still pretty good for a hotel of that quality with the unlimited express passes and within walking distance of the parks.

 

[spiceycat]

yes but the last time I went it was $89 a night and I got a free upgrade....

these prices have increased as much as Disney.

 

[damo]

yes but the last time I went it was $89 a night and I got a free upgrade....

these prices have increased as much as Disney.

Haha, that must have been quite a while ago!!! Sounds like the introductory prices -- the good old days!

 

[Jason71]

Just a few observations about FOTL...

If you search on the Universal board, people who are in a position to know (i.e. employees or friends thereof) all are pretty much in agreement that wait times at Uni have gone down since free FOTL ended. Perception during a trip is necessarily subjective, but I am fairly certain Universal has a lot of hard data on the subject.

Even when Uni had free FOTL, on peak days they were gone for the major attractions (Hulk, Spiderman) by 10 a.m. Even today, if you show up before 10 a.m., the lines are generally not that bad. So under either regime, the key to avoiding lines is to show up early (although now the lines are not quite as bad as they were before if you show up late, see point above).

Even without free FOTL, lines are no worse at Uni than WDW (barring the 3 or 4 FastPasses you might get, if you feel like expending that much effort)--I would say they might even have a slight advantage, especially among the lesser rides. And Uni definitely has better themed queues that turn the line into a part of the ride itself. In Spiderman, for example, if you miss the preshow videos, it is much harder to follow the plot of the ride itself.

Finally, the original Disney version of FastPass (as conceived by Michael Ei$ner) was never about allowing people to see the parks in record time--the idea was that visitors would browse the highly themed gift shops rather than waiting in line, thus tempting them to drop a couple extra bucks. Mikey was looking to maximize time spent shopping, not time spent on rides. Everything all the parks do is about the bottom line, I don't think Uni is the only one guilty of that.

 

[cocowum]

I was totally disgusted with the rudness of the employees.

I have annual passes and do not think I will even go back on this vacation.

I agree with you Bella. We've encountered so many rude CM's at US/IOA. We finally decided to skip US/IOA all together.While, we love the Mummy and Spiderman, It's just not worth it for us. We actually have unactivated AP's the my mom gave to us as a gift.

Yes, we have encountered a few rude CM's at Disney but on the whole our experience with Disney CM's has been wonderful. They really make our trip so much better.

 

[mill4023]

Finally, the original Disney version of FastPass (as conceived by Michael Ei$ner) was never about allowing people to see the parks in record time--the idea was that visitors would browse the highly themed gift shops rather than waiting in line, thus tempting them to drop a couple extra bucks. Mikey was looking to maximize time spent shopping not time spent on rides. Everything all the parks do is about the bottom line, I don't think Uni is the only one guilty of that.

That probably depends on who you ask. From what I've read (written reports that were presented to upper management), the main goal of FP was to address the most common source of guest dissatisfaction: having to wait in long lines for attractions. Certainly, making more money is always a primary goal of any business, Universal and Disney included. It just seems that they have different strategies. To me, it seems that Disney attempts to increase revenue by making their guests happier, which increases attendance and gets people to stay longer and spend more money. In contrast, Universal's recent policy changes seem designed to get more money out of the people who can afford it, without regard to whether or not this alienates some guests. Regardless of the motives, I prefer the Disney approach.
And I'm not saying that everyone at Disney has more pure intentions than everyone at Universal, but I do firmly believe that Walt's vision and legacy make a difference in the attitudes of the employees and the way the companies are run.

And by the way, Damo, you can get a 10 day pass for WDW for just over $200, making the per day cost around $20 per day. You can also stay at a hotel like Port Orleans, which IMO, is a much nicer environment than RPH, for as low as $99/night.

 

[JLS]

I think all of this is much ado about nothing. Obviously the OP has a right to her opinion that she was treated badly at Universal, but, as far as the Express pass goes, I can't believe people would use this as an excuse to skip Universal / IOA which are such fantastic parks.

We have been to both Universal parks on some of the most crowded days of the year (holidays) as well as mid-summer. As was posted by someone else on this thread, the fullproof way to enjoy yourself at the Universal parks without lines is to get there about 30 minutes before park opening and be ready to enter the park and get in line right away. There are not that many attractions, and if you do them before the crowds arrive, you are golden. During the first 30 minutes that IOA is open, you can just about walk on the three major rides on superhero island - Spiderman, Hulk and Dr. Doom. You will literally have ridden these all within 25-30 minutes if you do it right, and you could even repeat the rides. During the first 90-120 minutes of park opening, Dueling dragons, Jurassic Park, Cat in the Hat, and the two big water rides (Dudley and Popeye) will also be walk ons. Then you have done most of the park and you can just enjoy yourself repeating rides, going to the shows and trying out restaurants. THere should be no problem at IOA if you plan well. If you sleep in and arrive with the masses at 11:00 a.m. - PROBLEM.

As for comparing the $50 pass with Disney's FP, there is no real comparison because you can use it at your leisure, ride to ride, without having to run all over the park and wait for your times. It would be the equivalent of being handed a FP good all day long for every ride in the park when you enter a Disney park. Many would be willing to pay for that, but if you are not one of them, fine, just employ the strategy above and there should not be an issue.

OR - Universal offers an incredible service/perk that Disney does not - the chance for unliminted front of the line access by staying on site!! And if you stay just one night at the hotel, you can squeeze FOTL for 2 days in the parks. Its an amazing deal, and the Universal hotels are beautiful and well worth the money. I think they are a better deal dollar for dollar than the Disney hotels for the most part. Portofino Bay is far more elegant than any Disney property.

SO, all in all, I think that Universal has a lot to offer guests in terms of perks. But people will always complain regardless. Just like people who complain about Disney's FP including one poster above who thinks that they should do away with it because the poster apparently thinks that standing in line should be part of the theme park experience!

 

[A Mickeyfan]

First off $50 is a high price, but no one tells anyone to buy them. The more the guests buy them, the more they will sell them & the higher the rates will go.
Secondly... Universal does have thier hotels that give FOTL for each guest & it is not just for a one time on that ride. If the OP spent $50 for say a family of 4, that is $200. Add that to the price of the room she stayed in & then she could have stayed onsite and possibley for less in addition to getting the FOTL included.
Thirdly.... if you plan your day, as other posters say, you can indeed to everything you want. Just need to get there early. Disney is the same way.

Now to be fair to Disney, they cannot offer that perk to onsite guests. They have tooooooo many resorts to pick from. Disney has the All-Stars that are on the lower end in price where Universal has nothing in thier price range. Universal's resorts are more comp to Disney's deluxe with a Disney moderate price.
Everyone needs to remember, when the parks were built, there was no such thing as fast pass anyway..free or a fee one... Yes, parks were busy back then too. People waited on long lines. The fastpass/express pass was not designed to really help the guest either. It was designed so that the guest was not waiting in long lines spending less in the park stores, stands & eatires. Think about it, with the free fastpass/express pass there is a window time frame. Most of the time, that window will not allow you to go on another attraction with a long line. If you do, chances are you can end up off of it past your alotted window. I know that has happened to me. So what should one do while waiting... Disney/Universal had hopes that one would shop & eat while waiting. So when you are all complaining about it, remember the real reason it was implimented. I worked for Disney when they started their's & that is what was printed in their news-letters & mini news-bits.... While I cannot say for sure 100% that Universal had the same idea as Disney, I would like to say they did, it makes good business sense. Then Universal took it a step further & actually started charging for the privledge of using them.. so that is really slick thinking on thier part...
I will not pay for any FOTL pass, I will however stay onsite Universal becaue in the long run, it can pay off.

 

[chigirl]

I gotta agree with all of you!
Disney is not Universal and vise versa...however, if you get up early,and map out what rides you want to hit first..and get the lay of the land..then there should be no problems....We are going in 2 weeks and we chose to purchase the 2 park EP--we plan on using them in the mid afternoon when the park gets crowded. Besides, Disneys FPs often run out or the times on them are like in 3 hours--who wants to wait that long?
However it is a shame that Universal discontinued it's free EP, but the park's cost is a LOT cheaper than Disney. Hey, its an amusement park, and I haven't been to any that doesn't have long lines at some point in the day--even Ohio's famous one!

Question-has anyone used that "Mike's tips" service yet for Disney??

I seriously have never waited in line for longer than 5 minutes at Cedar Point and I've gone there every year since 1978, except the first year of any new ride and even then it was 20 minutes at the most. That is, in my WDW loving opinion, THE BEST AMUSEMENT PARK in the world! I think it is so spread out that people get better filtered than at other parks so the lines are shorter, or maybe they just run the rides better??? WDW is the best THEME PARK...I have never been to Universal and never plan on going...it seems like an amped-up Six Flags to me. I can get that anywhere, and I've been to almost every top amusement park in the US.

 

[ReallyFunMom]

still getting a rate of $159 to $179.... guess I have to wait.

going in Sept - offseason.

You've found the rates. 129 is RPR on a weekday, goes up to 159 for Fri and Sat. They do not get cheaper than that.

 

[spiceycat]

universal had fass pass before WDW - and they were free. now they are charging for them.

to me that is the big argument. People feel cheated when before something was free now they are asked to pay for it.

Disney is much fairer in their fass passes - EVERYONE can get one.

US/IOA only gives them free to their resort guests.

US/IOA charges their hotel guest for parking. Disney does not.

Mother hated US/IOA so much - she loved the hotels - but hated their theme parks.

US/IOA is not thinking ahead. Disney is. US/IOA has few rides and shows for the folks in wheelchair with mobility issues. Disney has alot of them. In a few years us (baby boomers generation) okay some of us - will be in wheelchairs. THere are more of us than the current generation of teens. IOA was designed for these teens not the mature adults.

Disney is designed with baby boomers in mind. - from their excess handicapped rooms at the DVC resorts - to the DVC resorts themselves...

 

[Amity 3]

universal had fass pass before WDW - and they were free. now they are charging for them.

actually, Disney began the Fastpass program in 1999, the same year IOA opened. Universal didn't start the Express Passes until early 2001.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

To address a few of the things mentioned......

Yes, the OP has a right to her opinion. IMHO, anyone's opinion would be taken more seriously, if they weren't ranting with an obvious agenda on several boards at the same time. It would also help, if the facts of the rant weren't different on each board.

I'm still shocked that people think the employees at UO are so much more rude than at WDW. The UO TM complaints are actually getting old, especially when they're followed with a remark about how much nicer the WDW CMs are. It's almost funny. We've been to both at least 50 days or more & have been treated the same at both. With this luck, I should buy a lottery ticket. How is it that some people seem to be charmed at WDW & targeted for rudeness @ UO? Maybe, if I hadn't been there & done both so many times, I may take this complaint a little more seriously. From my point of view, you would have to be wearing rose colored glasses at WDW & enter the parks at UO with a bad attitude to notice a difference on a consistant basis. You can certainly encounter an employee at either park who is having a bad day. It isn't more prevalent at one than the other though.

We spent 5 nights @ HRH last week. This was the same time the OP quoted the EP price for. We paid $199/ night. RPR is actually cheaper than HRH. It would have been cheaper for a family of 4 to stay onsite.

We've stayed at resorts in all categories @ WDW, & have stayed in all 3 of the resorts at UO. UO resorts are deluxe resorts & are nicer than any moderate we've stayed in at WDW. RPR is the cheapest of the 3, but still isn't a moderate resort. The only resort at WDW that is comparable to Portifino Bay is the Grand Floridian. The rates have gone up since the resorts 1st opened, but are still very competetive (even low) for the calibre of hotel you're getting. Rarely do we stay in a 4 star resort that is cheaper than what we pay at UO.

I agree that the Universal parks aren't set up well to accommodate the handicapped.

ETA: While WDW doesn't charge for parking, they charge a much higher rate for similar calibre hotels than UO does. We could pay the $12 parking fee at PBH & still pay a whole lot less than we would pay at the GF for our room. When comparing the resorts, we really have to compare the whole picture not just bits & pieces of it.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

universal had fass pass before WDW - and they were free. now they are charging for them.

to me that is the big argument. People feel cheated when before something was free now they are asked to pay for it.

Disney is much fairer in their fass passes - EVERYONE can get one.

US/IOA only gives them free to their resort guests.

US/IOA charges their hotel guest for parking. Disney does not.

Mother hated US/IOA so much - she loved the hotels - but hated their theme parks.

US/IOA is not thinking ahead. Disney is. US/IOA has few rides and shows for the folks in wheelchair with mobility issues. Disney has alot of them. In a few years us (baby boomers generation) okay some of us - will be in wheelchairs. THere are more of us than the current generation of teens. IOA was designed for these teens not the mature adults.

Disney is designed with baby boomers in mind. - from their excess handicapped rooms at the DVC resorts - to the DVC resorts themselves...

While I agree with what you are saying about the attractions in each of the parks, Universal is geered towards a different type of guest than Disney. Universal has way more thrill rides (thrill seekers) Disney has way more tame rides (non thrill seekers & young children). Each place has it's own personality. If they were both the same, there would be nothing else to experince. so while I am still able-bodied and love coasters... I will continue to visit IOA. On the same token, I love the theming Disney has & will continue to visit there as well. Maybe when I am in my wheelchair, it may only be Disney for me. Until then, I do have other options & experiences that I can pick from.
I agree totally that at least Disney isn't charging for their parking while staying in one of their resorts. I hope they don't change it. I totally agree that Universal seems to really be sucking you dry by charging for the express pass. Disney use to close the parks & then open to onsite guest that had a mulitday pass....and charged to enter it. They have since stopped that and now it is free. Universal never did that. Who knows, if enough people stop buying the express pass, Universal may drop that practice...Disney stopped the charge on extended nights......
I am one of the most biggest fans one can imagine with Disney... I do think it is only fair to give credit where credit is due with Universal.

PS....what year did Universal start up express pass? I do think Disney was first at it....


I just did a search & Universal started their system in 2001... Disney's started before then, I left the company in 2001.