Disney World or Universal

[ybconfused]

Disney World or Universal - My children are ages 12 and 9. We have never been to either park. We are confused on which park might be the best.

Please help

 

[MrsJ Henry]

Well, How long would your vacation be? You could do both parks.
WDW takes a lot of planning so you have come to the right place!!
My husband and I are going down in November and we will be staying at WDW and spending most of our time there but we are also going over to Universal.
There is MUCH more to do at WDW but for thrill rides and such Universal also would probably be great for your kids.
There will be others along that will give you more imput also but keep reading the boards and do lots of research!!!!!
By the way WELCOME!!!!! People are Very helpful here and these boards become addicting

 

[ybconfused]

Thanks for the information...

We will be there for six days. We will be there in November. Do you suggest staying on or off the park at WDW? This is our first time and we just want to make a good decision.

 

[arazamataz]

We always stay at WDW Hotel. It's so easy to get the most out of the parks. Take day a Universal the coasters are great. The Mummy is one you have to ride a few times to see everything. If you are staying before Turkey Day the parks are not to bad.

 

[KittyKitty]

As you are probably realizing, WDW is HUGE!!!. 6 days will not be enough to see all of it. So grab a Disney book. They have them at the library and bookstores. My favorite is Unofficial Guide to Disney, and study it. It has Universal in it also.

Universal has 2 parks, and if you are not going at Thanksgiving, it will take you 2 days to see. If your children like more thrilling rides, this is the place, tho Disneyworld has some too.

I would make resort reservations as soon as possible to get good rates. Check web site www.mousesavers.com for the best prices out there.

And check all the catagories here. There is a wealth of information to use.

Ah...decisions decisions

Yeah!!! You're going to WDW.

Susan

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

We have annual passes to both WDW and US/IOA, so we usually try to get both in on a trip, although this next trip will just be WDW. The parks will be decorated for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving, if you are interested in that. We always stay onsite just for the convienience even though we drive down and have our own car. My dd is only 4, and although she likes Universal, there's not that much there she'll actually do. Since your kids are older, they might get more out of it. We head to US when dh needs an adrenaline fix! He's addicted to coasters,lol.

 

[JMCDAD]

I have the same decision to make

Personally I would not do both on one trip, I think its too much to try and squeeze in.

Whichever one I decide to go to in 05, I think I visit the other in 06. For me its a matter of which one next year.

Plus from everything I have found out so far, it really pays to stay on site at Universal. And when I do Universal I will also do SeaWorld.

Decisions, Decisions




:thewave:

 

[maci]

I would pick WDW over IOA anyday, BUT....you could go over and spend one day at IOA.

I personally dont think you could make a 6 day vacation out of just universal and IOA, but as someone said 6 days is not enough to see all of WDW!!!

Last year we did one day at IOA and then 7 at WDW, and it worked out great. My son is a spiderman freak, so we had to go see Spidey!!
Have a great trip!

 

[Maverick]

Hello!

Your origional note asks 'which park' in relation to Disney or Universal. Keep in mind that Disney has 4 parks and Universal has two 2 parks.

I believe it depends on what you want to get out of the vacation. Do you kids enjoy more 'thrill' type or 'grown up' rides? If so, Universal has some of the best on the planet. If they are into Disney and characters, etc., Disney might be best.

If you have six full days, and are going at a normal or non-Holiday time of the year, there is no reason you can't do both! We usually stay 7 full days which includes 4 days at the Disney parks, 1 day at Universal / IOA (visiting both parks on the same day) and a couple of days for repeating favorites or relaxing.

Your children are at an age that should give you maximum flexibility on scheduling.

I personally think the two Universal parks are the best for my style of amusement park enjoyment. But.... The overall Disney experience is magical and is not easily duplicated anywhere else.

You are going to already be there! Enjoy both if you can!

Hope this helps.

 

[KittyKitty]

dupe post. Sorry

 

[JMCDAD]

If I decided to do Universal I would schedule it something like this

1 day for IOA
1 day for US
1 day for SW
1 day for a waterpark (wetnwild)
1 day as possibly a pool day to relax and enjoy the resort pools
HardRock for example (possibly rent a cabana)
1 day to repeat favorites at IOA/US

That 6 pretty full days without feeling overwhelmed or rushed.

 

[Sandyincanada]

We always do both as well. We are also throwing in Busch Gardens this year. Our kids are in their teens so they prefer Universal/IOA to WDW but still enjoy MGM.

You could do 4 days WDW and 2 at Univ/IOA..it would be busy though. Both are excellent parks and your kids are old enough to enjoy everything.

Maybe go through the themeparks websites with them and see what interests them the most? It really will depend on the types of rides you all enjoy.

 

[EileenAmI]

DH and I always do both. However, since we are such big WDW fans, we spend almost the entire time there doing the various parks. We are going in December, and this is how we're doing it...

Day 1 - arriving in Orlando, staying overnight at some failry cheap hotel

Day 2 - checking in at Royal Pacifico at Universal, and going to both IOA & US (we know our way around and know what things we want to do/see) Staying onsite at US is great, since you get the "Front of the Line" pass. It starts the day you check-in, even if you can't get into your room yet, and includes the day you check out!

Day 3 - checking into Boardwalk Villas at WDW. We stay here everytime we go (DVC members). From here on out, we do Disney only!

Good luck, and have fun!

 

[debkorb1]

With Six days in November I would say

1.) If you have loads of energy do 1 day at each Disney park and then a day at Universal Studios (I think it is a more balanced park than IOA, which is thrill focussed). One rest day in the middle!

2.) If you only want to spend 4 days in theme parks then miss MGM studios and do Universal. They are different, but if you have to miss a Disney park, then that is the one because it is most like Universal (which is better than MGM in my humble opinion!)

 

[WDWprincessloyola]

It depends a lot on what you want to get out of your vacation. Universal has some great rides, but my mother isn't thrilled about the whole open air, turn you upside down, make you scream kind of ride. So that basically leaves me and my father to do what we like and my mother gets a nice tan. There are some nice shows but you cannot do all of Universal in one day. If you do go, one day for IOA and one day for US is enough for my family. We really don't intend on going back because our family was split up most of the time and we really prefer WDW over anything else. Though we do miss Men In Black and the Spiderman ride.

Now if you are looking for more variety and things that tell the story, go with Disney. Again there is no place like it, and you can never see and do everthing in a park if you are just there for one day. You can hit the highlights in each of the four parks and make a great day for each of them. It is all in what you are looking for: Disney Magic, theming, and variety or US thrill rides. If you decide to both, you might be really tired!

Depending on what you would decide to do, if you decide to do just Disney, I would stay on property, but if you want to both you might want to stay "in between" US and WDW. It is all up to you in the end, so whatever you think will make you happy and enjoy your vacation is what you should go for!

 

[vthokie]

I would pick Universal/IOA. I have kids ages 11, 7 and 5, and we just returned from a week there. We hit Sea World on Sunday, IOA on Monday, EPCOT on Tuesday, Magic Kingdom on Wednesday, Animal Kingdom on Thursday and Universal on Friday. We had just done MGM last year so we skipped it this time. Anyway, the general concensus with our group is that Universal/IOA were the best. My 11-year-old loved the thrill rides, and the crowds were much lighter than at the Disney parks. We just walked on everything, barely using Express Passes. We did do the Halloween party at Magic Kingdom, and that was excellent. I would go back to IOA/ Univeral in a heartbeat.

 

[JMCDAD]

Thanks

My kids are the exact same ages as yours

How about the 7 and 5 year old, was there enough at US/IOA for them too

 

[JimmyBlaze]

I know one thing the Annual Passes at US/IOA are a heck of a lot cheaper than Disney.

 

[vthokie]

The 7-year-old and the 5-year-old are not very daring at all, yet they still found stuff to do (though of course not nearly as much as the 11-year-old). At IOA they liked Suessland (3 rides and a great play area there - the 3-year-old didn't want to leave), the 7-year-old loved the Flying Unicorn coaster, they both enjoyed exploring the Jurassic Park Discovery Center (we ran out of time for the play area Camp Jurassic but that sounded fun too). Pterodon Flyers looked good for them too, but we didn't feel like waiting the 20 minutes (only wait of the day). Popeye and Bluto is my 7-year-old's favorite kind of ride, and there's a water play area near that as well. By the way, Confisco Grill was great for lunch.

At Universal they rode the Woody Woodpecker coaster about 4 times, and stayed for hours in the Curious George water play area. It was terrific! The 7-year-old did E.T., and they liked the Fieval play area near that too. The Animal Planet Show was cute, and we did the Barney show for my 3-year-old. We all enjoyed it though. There's a nice indoor playground as the show lets out. We ran out of time for Jimmy Neutron and Shrek, but I'm sure we could have done those too.

 

[KIRSTIN'S MOMMY]

I agree with the AP rate post! We got 2 years for the price of one at Universal so those don't expire until next year for us.
As far as the kid's ages go: my dd has been going to both US/IOA and WDW every year (sometimes multiple times) since she was 1 1/2. Now that she is almost 5, we spent a week at WDW and 1 day at Universal on our trip in August. At WDW she has her own AP, since I think it is worth the money for her there. At US we just buy her a ticket.
Here's what she was able to do at US/IOA this last trip:
US
Curious George play area
Woody Woodpecker's Nuthouse Coaster
Back to the Future
E.T.
Jaws
Earthquake
Backlot Tour
Jimmy Neutron
Shrek 4D
She couldn't do Mummy and MIB.

IOA
All of Seuss Landing
Posiden's Fury
Flying Unicorn coaster
Storm Force Acceletron
Spider Man
She was tall enough for, but didn't ride (scared):
Dudley Doright's Ripsaw Falls
Jurassic Park
She wasn't tall enough for:
Popeye and Bluto's Bilge Rat Barges
Incredible Hulk
Dueling Dragons

Your kids may be a little more adventurous, but Spiderman,Jaws,and Back to the Future scared her to death. We're going back in Dec. and let her pick for her birthday, and she chose WDW, so we're skipping Universal this time.