Choosing US over WDW again, because of FP+

[psiprez]

We have not been back to WDW since the addition of FP+. AT this point, I don't know if I ever will. In July, we chose Universal instead for the first time, and loved that it required virtually no planning.

EVERYTHING I have read and heard about FP+ sounds like a nightmare, and I want no part of it. Guests arguing with CMs, without satisfaction, about apps and systems that don't work? What would Walt have to say about that?

Used to be that you would stroll through the park, and if something looked interesting, you'd go investigate. Now it becomes nothing more than running around and park hopping to make it to certain "appointments". If I wanted that, I'd stay at home and go to work.

Too much aggravation and competition. We're sticking with Universal next year.

 

[dave disney]

We love Universal Studios. Every time we go on our family Disney vacation (once every two years) we always make a point of taking a day in the middle of our trip and take a cab from Disney resorts to Universal. On our next trip, we plan on spending two days at Universal on property and the balance at WDW. There are many more rides at Universal than any two WDW parks combined. I believe that the front of the line pass is the way to go. I do understand that there is an extra expense to it, but because we don't go that often, it will be well worth it. On the other hand, I don't feel that Fastpass Plus gives us enough opportunities to enjoy all the rides we would like to do. With that said, there still is no place like the happiest place on earth!

 

[damo]

We just came back from 5 days at WDW and 5 days at Universal with a group of 9 people. None of us want to go back to WDW for a long time. For the long waits for buses, for rides that never used to have a wait, for 45 minute fastpass line waits, for long walks to hotel rooms from the bus stop, from getting a room assignment at the furthest point of the resort even with multiple requests to be as close to the bus stop as possible with an 87 year old Great Grandmother in our party, for a bus driver closing the bus door on that 87 year old, for very crowded buses and nobody ever giving a seat on a bus for that 87 year old or even putting a child on their lap to make room for her, for a mix up in a reservation leading to a cancellation of our reservation and a mess-up in our MDE and a 30 minute check-in, for 3 out of 4 magicbands that never would open the hotel door no matter how many times we had it changed or allow charging on them, for trying to get a 4th fastpass and anything that was desirable ceasing to exist and basically just for the very stale WDW and the let down that is Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and the new fantasyland.

We love, love, love Disneyland but WDW won't see us again for a long time.

 

[chabs]

I just cancelled our package with the Disney travel agent that we made for November (DD has a tournament at ESPN). I was going to buy the park hopper tickets and spend several days at Disney, but they lost my money to Universal again (we were there over Labor Day weekend instead of our usual trip to Disney) because we were finding that we were all wishing we were going back to Universal instead. So now we are going to Universal and spending one day at the Disney Christmas party. You feel like you get what you pay for when you stay at Universal-no long lines with the express passes and nice accommodations. Best of all-no crowded buses. We used to love Disney but now it just feels like they treat people like cattle and expect us to pay big bucks for it.

I really dislike the way Disney is changing and now that my kids are older, we much prefer Universal. It's really too bad because we used to go at least every year and I agree that it's too much work to try to enjoy a Disney vacation anymore. Yesterday I tried to reserve FP for our Christmas party and there weren't any good rides left in our time frame so that was a bummer. Not that I want to reserve ride times a month and a half out anyway.

 

[RMulieri]

After our 1st Universal only trip in Jan 2012, we haven't been back to WDW and wont be .We do Universal only and are planning a trip to Disneyland.

 

[disney world dreamer]

ugh compared to WDW US/IOA sucks in my opinion!

and its not cuz i don't like thrill rides cuz i do but US/IOA are not what they used to be.
i went in the glory days when it was more like a theme park and less like an amusement park that has just tried to jam as many rides as they can into a small location.
in my opinion there is not enough between both parks to hold my interest for more than one day max!

personally i enjoy planning and i do like FP+ but i wish they would tweak it a bit more so that you could pick the specific window you want and you could get a 4th, 5th, 6th.... FP+ selection on the app vs being forced to wait in line at a kiosk.

i do like that you don't have to run to a fastpass machine in the morning to ensure you're not waiting 2 hours for something like TSMM.

i guess it doesn't really matter to me if you go to WDW or US/IOA cuz hey you'll be one less group of people for me to wait in line behind lol.

just wanted to give my opinion though since you started a dialogue.

 

[lorivegas]

NEVER thought I'd hear these 4 words out of MY mouth.... YAY ! UNIVERSAL, BOO DISNEY !! I agree about planning for a Disney trip...you have to do SOME, but it just takes the fun out of it, and IM A PLANNER ... just too MUCH planning and not enough ENJOYING . No matter what... our family always ends up being grumpy and arguing, because if we dont get our butts moving, we may miss our shows, our rides, our dining reservations, the bus... AND THEN, we have to hurry and get back to hotel, so we can hurry up and REST !!( let alone making room for POOL time , and then repeat, all of the above). WHAT??!! And then... wake up early the next day for the same craziness! All WITH "fast passes" booked a month ahead ! And, believe me... weve overheard and talked to SO MANY FAMILIES that are fed up, exhausted and just plain UNHAPPY in the "happiest place on earth "! Now, with all this said.. I dont believe there is ANY place as "magical" as Disney is... its just NOT THE SAME anymore.

 

[macraven]

Saw on the news last night can only ride toy story this week if u have a fast pass
Some new trial they are using
At Disney a week and that wAs more than enough time there.
It was a mess for lines busses and food places
At UO now and all is better here

 

[lorivegas]

And there you have it !

 

[MrsPMC00]

I got back last week from some training at Universal, and after me talking about it with my family, my KIDS made the decision to cancel Disney and go to Universal for Spring Break instead. Universal is so much easier to deal with. It is a much more relaxing vacation - even more so since all of this FP+.

 

[agavegirl1]

My last trip in 2010 was 5 days at Disney and 4 at Universal. I enjoyed the split trip. I am going this time for 9 days at Disney, 2 days at SeaWorld and 5 days at US/IOA. The reason for the 9 days at Disney? Because I think I will need that much time to accomplish what I want to and I am unlikely to go back except to visit new offerings while staying at Universal.

 

[chabs]

Saw on the news last night can only ride toy story this week if u have a fast pass
Some new trial they are using
At Disney a week and that wAs more than enough time there.
It was a mess for lines busses and food places
At UO now and all is better here

I saw that yesterday too about Toy Story Mania. Could you imagine if you didn't know that and bought tickets to go in and they told you that you couldn't ride? I would have been hopping mad. There's not much to do there anyway, much less if you take away one of the biggest attractions to people who didn't know enough or couldn't book fast passes. That's a terrible move on Disney's part.

 

[MrsPMC00]

Disney is really making me shake my head. Now they have announced no walk ups for lunch at Be Our Guest.

 

[macraven]

I saw that yesterday too about Toy Story Mania. Could you imagine if you didn't know that and bought tickets to go in and they told you that you couldn't ride? I would have been hopping mad. There's not much to do there anyway, much less if you take away one of the biggest attractions to people who didn't know enough or couldn't book fast passes. That's a terrible move on Disney's part.

There is a thread on the theme park forum that is. 44 pages long about it, thi new test.
It not pretty

 

[kbelle8995]

FP+ is just one reason for why I decided to give Universal a try.

Too Difficult to get to WDW. Too expensive. Just too complicated. NOT a vacation or at least not a relaxing one.

 

[chabs]

FP+ is just one reason for why I decided to give Universal a try.

Too Difficult to get to WDW. Too expensive. Just too complicated. NOT a vacation or at least not a relaxing one.

Just as an example-I would have paid $1450 for 5 DISCOUNT 5 day park hoppers through the Disney sports travel agent. Plus we had to book our room through them because they mandate the teams book through their travel agent or they won't let your team play. The room was $120 for the All Stars, which I could have booked myself through Orbitz for $83. Multiply by the fact that I needed 3 rooms and the lost savings start adding up.

I can buy Universal APs for all 5 of us for less than $1150 and come back multiple times. Plus our room at the Portofino with AP rates was only $189 for a hotel that's 100x better, transportation that puts Disney to shame and FOTL tickets included. It's really sad because we all used to love Disney and we just don't feel that way about it anymore. It's a lot of hassle with the crowds, FP, reservations, etc. that I just don't want to deal with when we are on vacation. Plus we love the new HP stuff.

 

[kbelle8995]

We went to Cabana Bay. We got a bargain compaired to what they wanted to charge us at Pop Century. Even with the Parking charge, we came out much cheaper.

We didn't even get an express pass and we still had a marvelous time.

 

[tony67]

I find myself spending less time every trip at Disney and more at Universal.
Two years ago I did a day trip to Universal, last year - two day trips - this year I'm staying for four days.

This mean less days at Disney and less money spent at Disney - and just to say it it has nothing to do with HP - I'm not into Hop at all - but I find that part of the park interesting.

My next trip will be a Universal only since my wife has no interest in every going to Disney again.

It's less about fast pass and more about Disney just continuing to provide less and less value and lower and lower quality for more and more money.

 

[Bluer101]

We have not been to Disney in quite a few years. Our heart is with US resort and much more relaxing time. If Disney can offer the same onsite benefits like US then we might consider it again.

 

[johde]

and its not cuz i don't like thrill rides cuz i do but US/IOA are not what they used to be.
i went in the glory days when it was more like a theme park and less like an amusement park that has just tried to jam as many rides as they can into a small location.
in my opinion there is not enough between both parks to hold my interest for more than one day max!

So, there's not enough to keep you occupied for more than one day but you also don't want them to add any more but they "just tried to jam as many rides as they can into a small location". To me, it sounds like Universal can't win. And, it also sounds like you should never go to Disneyland. They wrote the book on jamming rides into small locations. They have rides on top of rides, Alice in Wonderland is on top of Mister Toads wild ride. Part of the Queue line for Space Mountain is over a restaurant. The list goes on and on.

I will be the first one to admit that Universal made some missteps in the themeing department during the dark days. Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket being the biggest offender and only real offender at USF. I like the ride but I don't like how it cuts through the building and the theming is lackluster at best. But, most of the recent work at from Hogsmead to Springfield, to Diagon Alley has been done with an eye at strengthening that Themepark feeling.