Do you do Universal too?

[NorthernON_MOM]

Who does Disney and Universal? or has ever done Universal? Frankly I'm happy with Disney, but dh would like to go to Universal the next time ( I think it's the comic book thing). Just wondering how the 2 combare? and how busy is Universal? and is there an age group that it is better for? thanks.

 

[mom_rules]

We're doing Universal first time this next trip!

 

[hockey mom]

We always do both. Disney has that fairy tale magic feeling. Universal is more about thrill rides and a few classics like jaws and E.T. We spend 2 days doing both parks at Universal and the rest of the time at Disney. IMHO spiderman is one of the best rides ever and I like the hotels at Universal better. Transportation to the parks and front of the line access make for a very relaxing vacation. Also the price of Universal tickets at CAA can't be beat- $120 CDN for a 3 day pass.

 

[Debbie]

You will LOVE Universal! If you are a ride person, it is fabulous. We took the youngest two (8 and 11 at the time), 2 years ago, and the 11 (12) year old went with her uncle, older sister and cousin last summer. The rides don't have the musical themes that Disney rides have (and I miss that) but the water rides are the BEST! Just remember to take a change of clothes---or two!

 

[DSNY FN]

We have only gone to Disney never Universal we have no real desire to go there the kids are not big into Dr Suess or any of the other things they offer. We love thrill rides but would rather drive to Sandusky to go to Cedar Point than wast time at Universal when we are on vacation at Disney. We have done Sea World as my ids love to see all the fish and anything to do with the ocean creatures they also love the Living Seas. So for us there is really no reason to go to Universal next trip we may go to Moat(Mote)(sp) Marine Lab in Sarasota I think it is.

 

[epicureangirl]

Last trip to Disneyworld, I actually only spent one day at the Magic Kingdom and the rest of the trip at both Universal parks (Islands of Adventure and Univeral Studios). Universal had such a GREAT deal on the passes, we saved a ton of money. Also, staying on site Universal (Hard Rock Hotel) the front-of-the-line privledges are addictive. The rides are great, the park is clean and if your kids are 6 and up there are a lot of options. The height restrictions might not work out for younger riders.

Absolutely loved Universal and would do it again.

 

[Cruisin]

Hi DSNY FN

I think that you really should give Universal Studios a try before you dismiss it so completely.

Universal Studios is really more Disney-like than Cedar Pointish You can't really compare the two parks fairly.

I honestly don't think that it would be a waste of your time to go to Universal Studios. In fact I think you might find that you will like Universal Studios more than Sea World.

I like them both but Universal Studios has more to offer in the way of rides etc. than Sea World.


NorthernON_MOM, you will find that for being busy that Universal Studios will be very similar to Disney Parks.

 

[jaysue]

USF and IOA are great parks in their own right

Thrill rides are bigger and more of them
The theme is not as well done and invested as Disney
Parks are not as clean

Terminator II 3-D and Spiderman could be the two best theme park attractions in Orlando and are in many ways almost worthy of the admission costs

In terms of age groups, I would think the kids should be a robust 7 years old at least to enjoy and appreciate the rides and atmosphere

For example at USF - these are some pretty serious rides:

Twister
Earthquake
Men in Black
Jaws
Back to the Future
Terminator 2 3-D

The cost to go to USF/IOA is less than Disney as well - go for it, you will like it unless the kids are young

thanks
jaysue

 

[Debbie]

Darren, I used to think that, too. I was wrong. (Shhhh. I don't admit that very often.) And with the Universal Canadian at Par that never expire passes (CAA) you can't go wrong! I love Disney, but I will return to USF/IOA.

 

[DSNY FN]

We have asked the ids if they want to go there but they have said no so we do not bother Universal has no real appeal to any of us not saying it isn't a great park just not appealing to our family. We love Sea World not for the rides as we have only been on one of them the rest of it is for the sea life like the shars and dolphins and whales. The kids are animal/nature kids so we take them to places like that it peaks their interest more than Universal and find they also want to learn more about the animals creatures we see so it helps out in alot more ways. When we went to Cocoa Beach in Dec the oldest wanted to go and walk on the beach at night so she could find some ghost crabs and take pictures of them to show her class and also so she could look them up on the computer to learn more about them she is fascinated by things like that. Next trip is going to be great for her we are taking her to shell key island for the day so she can go shelling with her little sister there are also a pod of dolphins there that swim quite close to the island that she wants to see.

 

[MikeJ]

It will be interesting on seeing Darren's take on USF/IoA in a few years with older children. We didn't do USF very much when the kids were younger. Why? We typically stayed at a WDW resort, and the idea of having to bundle everyone up the car (with diaper bag, snacks, etc.) was rather daunting. Same thing with resort hopping from USF to WDW. So we stayed at WDW.

Now that the kids are older, they enjoy a greater percentage of the rides (particularly at IoA) than in any WDW park. Like Robin and jaysue, I would never consider USF/IoA a "waste of our time", as Darren put it. Our 14 year old DS would ride Duelling Dragons all day if we let him. (I, on the other hand, get nauseated just looking at it. ) It's also a lot easier now to get up and head off-site because the kids aren't dependent on us for everything. Just money. Only problem is we can't get DS up before noon so we lose half the day anyway.

- Mike

 

[Susan--Ontario]

We've never been to Universal either. My DS doesn't really care about thrill rides. Actually he hates them. Last trip I made him go on Splash Mountain and he cried all through the line. (Don't tell me I'm a bad Mommy here because I learned all this stuff at Mean Mommy School) After he went on he declared that it wasn't so bad and then he joyfully went on Kali, where before he would never have ventured on it. Therefore this Mommy was right in forcing him on Splash. He went on it once before when he was 3 and hated it. If I hadn't made him go on it I don't think he would ever go on a water ride again.

My Dh also doesn't like thrill rides so I can't see us going there in the near future. That is unless I can convince someone else to go with me.

So, it all depends on your individual family. Our opinion may change in the next five years.

 

[PhotobearSam]

I'm in the minority again...

We went to Universal Studios on the last day we had friends visit in December when we were at WDW.

They came in on a Tuesday and we did MVMCP that night then MGM the next day and AK the next.

On the last day of their visit they all wanted to go to Universal.

We HATED IT!!! all of us. We liked Terminator, Shreck and Jaws, Thought Men in Black was too jerky and didn't really understand how to kill the creatures and found it confusing, I get sick on gimble rides so Jimmy Newtron and Back to the Future were out for 3 out of the 6 of us...

Bad service, Bad CM's, un-clean parks, SMOKERS everywhere and bad food. Dh was in an electric chair and they made him feel bad because they said he didn't really need it and the rules were not well explained.


We found the the whole day we missed the DISNEY experience and atmosphere.

At the end of the day, my friend looked at me and asked me to describe Universal and all I had to say was BAD!

She said it was "Trailler park trash Disney"...She said it was like Universal was trying to be Disney but failed.

I hope we were just tired and I hope I did not turn anyone off of going...But just my 2 cents...

P.S. We LOVED Sea World though...

 

[jaysue]

She said it was like Universal was trying to be Disney but failed.

There is some truth to that - I notice this at IOA but not at USF - I see USF as equal to or better than MGM - IOA to me is a collection of stuff sort of fused together

thanks
jaysue

 

[epicureangirl]

Having the front-of-the-line privledges for staying on site made it more enjoyable that our time at Disney when staying on-site at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. During our trip last year my daughter was 6 years old. She did not like Spiderman, but loved everything else. Sponge Bob and Shrek were fun and amazing and although I'm not absolutely in love with Universal, I adored Islands of Adventure. My daughter had a blast there and the quick lines made it more fun for her than at Disney. She was able to get a lot of interaction with the characters and great photos with them. The restaurants were great too. My only peeve is the smoking areas being near the cooling off stations, but I did not thing the Universal parks were dirty at all. Islands of Adventure is wonderfully themed and a breath of fresh air.

 

[hockey mom]

You know after Photobearsam mentioned un clean parks I dedcided to look through all my pics. of Universal because I could not remember ever seeing evidence of this on our last 8 trips. I even mentioned this to DH and kids and they also have never had that feeling. The one thing we have always loved about Disney was the cleanliness and we get that same feeling at Universal. (now 6 flags in Buffalo )

I am not saying this did not happen just don't base your decision on this because it is not the norm.

 

[Nagle]

We spent time at Universal and Disney on our trip last month. We stayed at Royal Pacific Resort while at Universal and loved it. We stayed 4 nights and had 2 days left each on Canadian@par tickets we bought in 2000. We had 2 days visiting IOA and Universal and 2 days doing off site stuff and relaxing/lazing around. The staff at RPR were wonderful! Pleasant, helpful and just plain nice. After the less than wonderful stay at P.O. Riverside later in the week, we preferred Universal accommodations hands down. Also front of the line passes ROCK! A 5 minute walk from our hotel to the entrance of IOA and USF was awesome. Disney still has the upper hand at running the parks I think. When we arrived right at opening time at IOA there were plenty of souvenir shops, food stands, etc. that were not open yet. We wanted something to eat and it seemed we had to look around forever to find something open. Unfortunately Ripsaw Falls was closed for renovation.

 

[DisneyLisa]

I just booked the Hard Rock Hotel for 3 nights after our 9 nights at the Poly and we're really looking forward to it. As Nagle pointed out, FOTL is a big bonus. We've been to US/IOA several times (never staying on-site though) and although it's not Disney, they do have some great rides (Back to the Future is may fav ride of all time). We're really looking forward to spending some time at the pool there as it looks fabulous (hoping to rent a cabana for a day) and heading to the parks for FOTL. It doesn't have that magical feeling and there is less to see/do but we figure it'll be a good way to wind down before the long ride home. Now I guess we'd better buy some of those CAA passes.

PS...we're also doing a day at Sea World while we're at the HRH.

 

[hockey mom]

Disneylisa you are going to love it. I can't describe just how relaxing it is to know you don't have to rush to do all the rides. A nice boat ride or walk and then flash that room key when you want to ride something. I actually just bought the 2 years for one AP special for myself and the CAA tickets for the rest of the family.

 

[FayeW]

I can be objective about the Disney/US/IOA experience because we had never been to any of them before our trip in December. Our first day we went to MK, and rode in the front of the monorail. That was pretty hard to beat, and we had a fantastic day. For the most part, we loved the park, (except my daughter thought IASW was really lame!). HOWEVER, when we returned to MK for our second visit later in the week, we had already been to SW, US & IOA, and the kids now found MK kinda boring. We loved the parades and fireworks, but next time I will just get a park hopper, so I don't have to commit to a whole day at MK. We can't even imagine missing US or IOA, we totally loved everything about those parks!