Disney lovers did one day at USO/IOA

[Tissa]

and we loved it! I have always wanted to try the parks out but would never want to give up any of our Disney time. This trip was just my 12 year old ds and I meeting up with others for a WDW meet so I decided to put Saturday aside and give it a try.

My first impression was "this is not Disney" and I was happy about that!. There is only so much sugar and pixie dust one can take.

It was me, ds12 and two of my friends. One a severe Disney freak and one who also loves US/IOA and was our tour leader. Of course the Disney freak had a frown sometimes but it looks like she managed to have a good time anyway.

We got there a little after opening and left at 2:30 and got all the major rides in at both parks and some pics with characters and even had time to eat lunch at Margaritaville.

One big lesson I learned the hard way was to write down my locker number. I did fine for a while but by the time we got to the Hulk and rode I forgot what locker I put my bag into. A TM had to come over with a key and they did a scan of my finger and found out which one I had.(so embarrassing)

My only small complaint about the parks is that my ds is in a wheelchair and the TM's at the front of the rides didn't give us directions on what to do. At Disney they tell us where to go without asking so I assumed when the TM's let us in that we didn't need to do anything special. Well after backtracking twice to get on elevators we learned to ask before we got on where to go. Most of the time it was through the baby swap area and on Spiderman we had to enter through the exit. It was a little frustrating but we got over it and now know what to do next time.

The day after our trip I'm usually sitting here trying to figure out when our next WDW trip is, now today I'm trying to figure out when we can get back to USO/IOA and spend more days there.

 

[skifast22]

I'm glad you finally got to see the parks, and even more so enjoyed them. I love disney, but IoA has been my favorite them park since shortly after it opened.

 

[Metro West]

Great report and I'm glad you had fun on the "dark side". Hope you'll be back soon!

 

[Miss Stitch]

We bought 14 days unlimited Universal tickets and 14 days unlimited Disney tickets as we were sure what we would want to do when (in the Uk this is quite cheap). We knew we would like to visit Universal, but wanted to spend most time at Disney.

Well we left Universal till our last few days and I was so disappointed!! Disappointed that I hadnt gone on our first day and then spent the whole of the two weeks there.

My DS's 14, 11, and 8 loved it. I loved it. My DH loved it. The kids rode every ride, Hulk about 7 times in total over the two days. The tm's were great without being sickly sweet (which sometimes begins to annoy me at Disney after a couple of days.) I loved the atmosphere, the people, the theming. There was nothing I disliked, actually the CS food wasnt all that great, I think it helped that we went at a slow time, second week in September, and there was hardly no wait, my DH and kids rode Spiderman three times straight after each other.

We were planning not to go back to Orlando again, have been twice now, and wanted to try somewhere new. But FORGET THAT, we are now dying to return to Universal and maybe stay onsite. Disney is great but on this trip I fell in love with US/IOA not the mouse.

I am a convert and I will be back

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Glad you enjoyed it, as Annual Pass holders we love US/IOA and it's always nice to see people enjoy their time at Universal.

 

[Melisa1]

Glad you had a great time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[RVGal]

Always good to see someone else that embraces all that the different parks have to offer!

I love Disney for what they do, but I love Universal for what they do too. It doesn't have to be either/or. Have that cake and eat it too!

 

[melly]

Ive never understood why some people seem to be affiliated with either Universal or Disney. I came over from the UK earlier this year and found both to be superb.....If I was pushed I'd say EPCOT was my favourite park but it was hard to choose between EPCOT, MGM, US and IOA. Some people out of humour poke fun at one or the other but there does seem to be some people who are really serious about being faithfull to one or the other.

 

[bubba's mom]

cake? Did somebody mention cake?

Seriously.... you can enjoy both...glad you were impressed and enjoyed your trip! I would definately stress to you to stay onsite next trip! Don't forget, if you have AA (equivalant of our triple A here in the states), you can get room and dining and shopping discounts too

(For our UK DISer's, rpbert1 is the resident expert there )

 

[kellymonaghan]

Ive never understood why some people seem to be affiliated with either Universal or Disney.

Think Manchester United and you'll get the idea.

 

[carrinas1018]

I Love them all! My husband delights in making sure to mention whichever "rival" park while we are at the other The CM/TM almost always has something smart to say!
While on the jungle cruise last night our boat captain was hilarious! He was ad-libbing everything & even poking fun at Disney. We were thinking when we exited that he seemed more like a Universal employee

 

[JohnnySharp2]

Ive never understood why some people seem to be affiliated with either Universal or Disney. I came over from the UK earlier this year and found both to be superb.....If I was pushed I'd say EPCOT was my favourite park but it was hard to choose between EPCOT, MGM, US and IOA. Some people out of humour poke fun at one or the other but there does seem to be some people who are really serious about being faithfull to one or the other.

I think you do get many people totally biased towards WDW and anything that doesn't have 'Disney' on it just isn't worth considering.
We like Disney but also like US/IOA/Sea World too.

 

[rie'smom]

I'm glad y'all enjoyed Universal. It's our favorite. My daughter could care less if we go to WDW but I always figure if we're in Orlando, we have to go to WDW too.
As buua's mom said, next time stay onsite-it's wonderful. The hotels are so nice + you get the FOTL.

 

[FloraFauna]

I love both Universal and Disney. They are both first class parks.

 

[melly]

I think you do get many people totally biased towards WDW and anything that doesn't have 'Disney' on it just isn't worth considering.
We like Disney but also like US/IOA/Sea World too.

Its just silly though isnt it. All are places to enjoy so why restrict yourselves. There are loads of myths that people say over here and they are complete rubbish.

1) I was told that my kids were too young to go (7years, 3 years and 10 weeks old). Now ok, the baby was a bit young but there were tonnes of stuff for my other two.

2) My kids wouldnt remember it because they were so young - total bobbins. They havent shut up about it.

3) Only Disney is good for the kids and crap for the adults. -A load of rubbish. Loads of great stuff for adults to go on at Disney

4) Universal is no good for kids - Totally true if you ignore all the great things that are there for them A lot of the stuff my kids want to go back to are at Universal!!!

 

[melly]

Think Manchester United and you'll get the idea.

 

[friendnc]

Ive never understood why some people seem to be affiliated with either Universal or Disney. I came over from the UK earlier this year and found both to be superb.....If I was pushed I'd say EPCOT was my favourite park but it was hard to choose between EPCOT, MGM, US and IOA. Some people out of humour poke fun at one or the other but there does seem to be some people who are really serious about being faithfull to one or the other.

You read my mind!! We alternate annual passes each year and love both sets fo parks (and Sea World) a lot (we're doing US/SW this year). If pushed, Epcot would be our favorite as well, but all 7 Orlando parks have their uniqueness and differences and we really like that. I don't get the rivalry either. The over-the-top fans of BOTH parks get a bit silly. There are things we like/dislike about all of them, but choose to just enjoy them all and keep things glass-half-full! We'll be there in a few weeks (10/27-11/4) and can't wait!

 

[melly]

There are things we like/dislike about all of them!

wasnt much to dislike to be honest

If I had to whinge about our holiday it would be the attitude towards prams (or strollers as you guys call them). They just arent allowed anywhere in either sets of parks. I understand that they cant let 3 billion strollers into resteraunts etc but I thought they could use common sense a bit more with the rules. We had numerous examples of being asked to sit a sleeping 10 week old baby on our laps while eating because they wouldnt let the stroller in. Even asked us did we want a high chair even though the baby was asleep, couldnt hold her head up even if she was awake. This happened a lot but I guess when you go to other countries you just have to abide by their way of doing things!!!

Anyhows, enough moaning because everything else was superb.

 

[bazzanoid]

We love all the Florida parks - Disney, Universal, Sea World, Busch Gardens and Cypress Gardens. We come for two weeks every couple of years, and go see them all with time to spare to chill out and visit our favourites!

We normally need a holiday when we get back to the UK to recover!!! Up most mornings in time to get to parks for rope drop, bed stupidly late at night, and asleep all weekend to avoid the crowds and recover!!!!

14 days, 10 parks (we always do at least one water park).... heaven!

 

[Lei]

Well, in Orlando, it's natural to compare WDW with Universal resorts because they're two of the biggest thing there, aren't they?

I've been to various Disney parks across the globe and became a bit of fanatic. Nevertheless, when I first visited the Universal resort last month (Sep 2007), I tried my best to have an open mind...

... well, as a Disney-head, it's not easy

I was always tempted to say silly stuffs like, "Well, in Disney they would have blablabla". I know, I know, it's annoying. However, in the end, I had to give Universal thumbs up, especially for their effort in making the most thrilling and amazing rides. Great job.

My sis and my dad--the coaster warriors--loved Universal to bits.

But as for myself, if I have really, really short time in Orlando and need to choose one, I'd still go for Disney.