jlm0013
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2017
- Messages
- 37
We didn't want to be those people to complain about a theme park, but we became them yesterday after our experience at Universal Orlando.
For context, we are locals to Orlando, and have been WDW annual passholders for the past year. We go to WDW about once a week, and are seasoned Disney park veterans. We are very used to how things work at WDW and the My Disney Experience app.
I took some vacation time for the week before school started here to try the other parks in the area: Legoland and Universal Orlando. After looking at ticket prices for Universal, we decided to get annual passes. I had not been to Universal in over 20 years, the rest of my family had never been, and my daughter likes Harry Potter. So, we took the plunge.
Our first day was August 7th. We went around noon, and stayed until 5. I downloaded the app, and realized it is not as good as Disney's, especially the map. That day, our visit wasn't so bad. We mostly did Harry Potter stuff at the two parks, and ate at the Leaky Cauldron, which was a good dining experience. We also spend time at Seuss Landing. One thing we were not used to is a lot of attractions shutting down if there is a storm nearby. This first day wasn't so bad. But, then we went yesterday.
Yesterday, on August 8th, we decided to go later in the day to avoid the heat, and arrived at Universal Studios around 5 PM. Since it was near dinner time, we decided to look for something to eat around 6 PM. We went to Mel's, but the menu didn't appeal to me, so we looked for something else. What we discovered were a bunch of restaurants closing around 6 PM. I don't understand why they would close so many places around dinner time. We ended up eating at the food court in Springfield. It was adequate. For some reason, the atmosphere made the food less appetizing to me.
After dinner, we went to Islands of Adventure. My youngest daughter wanted to ride some rides in Seuss Landing. However, they closed things because of a nearby storm. We waited in the book store. I was going through the app there, and saw Kong had a single-rider line. So, I went to go ride Kong (75 minute wait). I get there, and there's no single rider line. I asked the team member if they had one, and he said they didn't. I said the app said there was one. He said they normally do, but it was closed. At the same time, my wife and daughters went to ride the Cat in the Hat. When they walked up, they closed the doors to the ride, and gave no reason, even though they just let some people in. Later, we saw it was open again, and then, it was closed again. At that point, we decided to leave and got some donuts at Voodoo.
Overall, the experience was disappointing. I think we may be spoiled from Disney. I didn't understand why there would be so many places to eat closed at 6 PM. I understand shutting down rides due to a storm, but it seemed like a lot of rides/attractions shut down, and limits what you can do, unlike at WDW, where a lot of attractions are indoors, and don't shut down. Plus, my wife was frustrated with her experience with team members who she would ask questions. It seems she could never get a correct answer and would get conflicting information.
I think we'll go again when the crowds die down to get some use from our passes over the year, but we will probably not renew. We really wanted to giver Universal a chance, but it wasn't a good experience.
For context, we are locals to Orlando, and have been WDW annual passholders for the past year. We go to WDW about once a week, and are seasoned Disney park veterans. We are very used to how things work at WDW and the My Disney Experience app.
I took some vacation time for the week before school started here to try the other parks in the area: Legoland and Universal Orlando. After looking at ticket prices for Universal, we decided to get annual passes. I had not been to Universal in over 20 years, the rest of my family had never been, and my daughter likes Harry Potter. So, we took the plunge.
Our first day was August 7th. We went around noon, and stayed until 5. I downloaded the app, and realized it is not as good as Disney's, especially the map. That day, our visit wasn't so bad. We mostly did Harry Potter stuff at the two parks, and ate at the Leaky Cauldron, which was a good dining experience. We also spend time at Seuss Landing. One thing we were not used to is a lot of attractions shutting down if there is a storm nearby. This first day wasn't so bad. But, then we went yesterday.
Yesterday, on August 8th, we decided to go later in the day to avoid the heat, and arrived at Universal Studios around 5 PM. Since it was near dinner time, we decided to look for something to eat around 6 PM. We went to Mel's, but the menu didn't appeal to me, so we looked for something else. What we discovered were a bunch of restaurants closing around 6 PM. I don't understand why they would close so many places around dinner time. We ended up eating at the food court in Springfield. It was adequate. For some reason, the atmosphere made the food less appetizing to me.
After dinner, we went to Islands of Adventure. My youngest daughter wanted to ride some rides in Seuss Landing. However, they closed things because of a nearby storm. We waited in the book store. I was going through the app there, and saw Kong had a single-rider line. So, I went to go ride Kong (75 minute wait). I get there, and there's no single rider line. I asked the team member if they had one, and he said they didn't. I said the app said there was one. He said they normally do, but it was closed. At the same time, my wife and daughters went to ride the Cat in the Hat. When they walked up, they closed the doors to the ride, and gave no reason, even though they just let some people in. Later, we saw it was open again, and then, it was closed again. At that point, we decided to leave and got some donuts at Voodoo.
Overall, the experience was disappointing. I think we may be spoiled from Disney. I didn't understand why there would be so many places to eat closed at 6 PM. I understand shutting down rides due to a storm, but it seemed like a lot of rides/attractions shut down, and limits what you can do, unlike at WDW, where a lot of attractions are indoors, and don't shut down. Plus, my wife was frustrated with her experience with team members who she would ask questions. It seems she could never get a correct answer and would get conflicting information.
I think we'll go again when the crowds die down to get some use from our passes over the year, but we will probably not renew. We really wanted to giver Universal a chance, but it wasn't a good experience.
I hope you have a better experience on your next visit!!
Thank you for taking the time to share the details of your park days!
