Do you like Disney World or Universal more? And why?

[DeezKnee]

I am making my first trip to Disney in 3 months and I am ecstatic to go but I am currently more excited to go back to Universal because that was my park growing up. I bet this question has been asked before but which do you prefer and why is that. From an outside perspective it looks like Disney has better themeing and more of everything but Universal and IOA have a lot of quality rides and less wait times.

 

[starousse]

We are Disney people and have been going yearly for the past 10 years. We just got back from a three night stay from Universal and a Disney Cruise. Both my husband and I both agreed that as much as we had a great time at Universal and loved the Harry Potter worlds, it was missing that special Disney magic feeling. We thought the hotel RPR was very nice and actually thought the food at Universal was much better and more reasonable than Disney, however we found the employees working in the parks to be very scarce and rude on several occasions. Also, other than the Hulk and RR coasters and a couple of drenching water rides, we felt that the majority of the attractions in both parks were simulators and got boring after a while. I would def go back one day, just no desire to go back next year.

 

[damo]

We like Universal more. We find that there is just too much filler at WDW that spreads everything that we want to do around way too much, eating up a ton of time.

However, we do LOVE Disneyland.

I don't find there to be any more magic at Disney than at Universal.

 

[bchbetha]

It's hard for me to understand why people pledge strong allegiances to one theme park over another. . That said, I lean Universal. I love HP, thrill rides, how compact the resorts are and appreciate not having to plan stuff in advance.

 

[bumbershoot]

Universal.

I love the theming and prefer nearly everything about Uni over wdw.

 

[Planogirl]

Universal. I have more fun and feel more relaxed too.

 

[Tattylou]

Disney for me...especially Disneyland b/c it still has the easier way about it that WDW no longer has. That being said I was only at Universal once in the 90s and we didn't like all the simulation rides and missed the Disney magic. So, back to WDW or DL we went annually. However, now that there is Harry Potter world and my 6 and 8 yr olds want to see HP stuff, we are heading back to Universal. So, I can give an updated opinion. However, I'm a Disney girl at heart.....besides Harry Potter, I don't have a big attachment to the characters and movies that Universal uses.

 

[cleopenn]

We spent 5 days at both within the past two years, both trips over thanksgiving, Disney in '15 and Universal in '16.

 

[cleopenn]

Something weird happened with my reply.....

The short answer - Universal

The long answer as to why -

We travel quite a bit for work and pleasure. The Disney and Universal trips were our first theme park trips since we were children ourselves. We were traveling with our son, whose was ten yo at Disney and eleven at Universal.

For us, Disney was too spread out and too restrictive with the ADR and fastpass requirements. Universal was far more relaxed.

I know plenty of people that love the Disney style of vacation, the planning, obsessively stalking for ADRs, juggling the fast passes, touring plans, etc. I did not. We were beyond frustrated by the Disney

 

[cleverclovers]

This May I went to WDW for 9 days and UO for one. (along with daughter, son in law, and 13 mo grandchild). I honestly enjoyed that one day at UO better than the 9 days at WDW. I loved the HP parks. Went on a few simulator rides in the rest of the parks. The pace was very relaxed. No running to make a fast pass. Taking our time deciding where to eat. It's not really designed for young children (yes I know there is Seuss land). My daughter however is a die hard Disney fan and loved WDW.

 

[xlxo]

My vote goes to Universal. Perhaps at my age I need to snort more pixie dust to get the same high.

 

[zbsigpi]

I am going to say both.
Disney was part of my childhood so there is a draw to return to that feeling. They definitely do some things VERY well. However I do not like huge crowds nor do I like how you cannot be as spontaneous as you want at Disney parks (dining)
Universal for the opposite of the above items. They are doing a hell of a job at making me want to return often.

 

[cleopenn]

Ok, let me try one more time now that I rebooted.

I agree that Disney seems to be geared towards the younger (little kids) and the older guests in the sense that multi generations can putter around the parks for days, just taking in the theming of Disney.

Universal is more compact with more intense thrill rides.

Comparing the two is like comparing apples and oranges. Disney has a product that is very specific and they have trained their die hard customers to embrace the hyper planning and the thrill of the hunt. The theming of the Disney resorts is incredible but for the cost, we were expecting a much higher level of service and quality. We thought Portofino Bay far surpassed the Polynesian in terms of quality, restaurants (no ADRs needed) and transportation.

 

[cleopenn]

I am going to say both.
Disney was part of my childhood so there is a draw to return to that feeling. They definitely do some things VERY well. However I do not like huge crowds nor do I like how you cannot be as spontaneous as you want at Disney parks (dining)
Universal for the opposite of the above items. They are doing a hell of a job at making me want to return often.

Along this thought, at Disney we never went back to the parks after dinner like I expected we would. At Universal, we went back every night. We talked a lot about why we did the parks differently and transportation was one reason, the lack of the insane crowds was another.

Two areas that I think Disney trumps Universal is the magic bands and the picture services. We far preferred to use the magic bands to the universal tickets and LOVED our Disney photo pass pictures. We barely got any pics at Universal and when we did find a photographer, they acted like we were bothering them.

 

[DeezKnee]

Ok, let me try one more time now that I rebooted.

I agree that Disney seems to be geared towards the younger (little kids) and the older guests in the sense that multi generations can putter around the parks for days, just taking in the theming of Disney.

Universal is more compact with more intense thrill rides.

Comparing the two is like comparing apples and oranges. Disney has a product that is very specific and they have trained their die hard customers to embrace the hyper planning and the thrill of the hunt. The theming of the Disney resorts is incredible but for the cost, we were expecting a much higher level of service and quality. We thought Portofino Bay far surpassed the Polynesian in terms of quality, restaurants (no ADRs needed) and transportation.

As a first time planner for Disney I find the planning for Disney to be quite overwhelming so I agree entirely. I am very afraid of being frustrated with my time at the parks with the long lines and less convenient fast pass system. I am so happy I will spend some time at Universal for the run and gun style of attraction hopping with my unlimited fast pass.

 

[Patience]

We've haven't been to Universal yet but are going in February. One of the big reasons we chose Universal and Lego Land for our 9 year old over WDW this year is because I did not want to do the planning that WDW requires. Another reason is the lack of anything new at WDW since our last trip in 2013. The mine train wasn't open on our last trip but other than that, not much has been added that would entice me back to WDW, especially in light of the price hikes. Once the new attractions at Hollywood Studios (or whatever they call it now) and Animal Kingdom are open, we will probably go back to WDW to check them out. We shall see in February but I suspect that I am going to like Universal. I love Harry Potter by the way.

 

[Seeker615]

Both have wonderful qualities but for me it is Universal. I don't have any younger kids anymore and my style of vacation is much more laid back. Also I am a huge Harry Potter fan!

Our last trip to Universal was wonderful. We stayed at Royal Pacific and had the express passes. Wow was that a game changer! Loved not having to queue up and it was nice to get into the shows and have better seats. I also loved that we could walk to everything and not have to wait for a shuttle to get us around. We could do one park in the morning, go to Citywalk for lunch and then head over to the other park. If one park seemed crowded we could just walk over to the other one.

I still do love Disney and I have wonderful memories of being there as a kid and then taking my own kids. This was before fastpasses and crazy over-planning. I have pics of the kids with characters who were just wandering around the parks. We went in September and the weather was warm and crowds were low. We had so many wonderful experiences that week.

I was at the Magic Kingdom a couple of years ago and it was so crowded and the vibe just wasn't the same. I know I will be back someday with the grand-kids for now it is Universal.

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

We love both, and have an upcoming split stay. Granddaughter is most excited about Harry Potter and I think Universal is reaping the benefits from having this attraction, the theming is really awesome. What I really liked from our visit in November was staying at Royal Pacific and the included express pass and one hour early admission. Disney has EMH but it often is not for the park we want to visit, and it seems as over the years they have cut back on this benefit. I love that RPR and the other Universal resorts are so close to the parks, only a very short pleasant boat ride (could walk too) or in the case of Cabana Bay a short bus ride.

 

[phillymummer]

I prefer Universal for many of the same reasons other posters have mentioned. Staying on-site with EP is so much easier than trying to plan out 3 FPs each day. Not to mention being able to walk to the parks for half of the price for the privilege of doing that at Disney (Does that make sense? I have read it three times and I'm not sure how to reword it! Staying at Cont. cost twice as much as RPR, yet I can walk to TWO parks from the RPR)! Being able to make last -minute ADRs is a blessing too. Because we refuse to go to Florida in the summer or over holiday breaks, our trips are short. At Disney, I feel like I have to pick and choose what I want to do and then miss out on so much. I don't feel this way at US. I can do two parks in two days and feel like I've done all I wanted. Overall, US is just a more relaxed vacation.

If you asked this question over on the TPAS board, you would get a whole lot more people who prefer Disney. I bet I could guess their reasons too.

 

[TommyJK]

I prefer Universal for many reasons.

As most have mentioned, the lack of uber planning required makes it more of a "vacation" as opposed to a "trip" if that makes any sense. A vacation to me means getting to relax and play things by ear vs. having to plan out a minute by minute itinerary, months in advance.

The attractions at Universal to me are more fresh, innovative and thrilling. Some people have complained about too many attractions have screens but personally I love it if done right. Blending live action elements along with the screens in the right way and the level of immersion is unparalleled (FJ, Gringotts, Spiderman, Transformers). And then the other straight up thrill rides give the level of excitement above what Disney can offer (Hulk, RRR, Dragon Challenge, Mummy). Not to mention looking at the patents just release for Nintendo Land attractions + Iron Man and you can see they are continually looking to up their game with innovation in attraction tech and experiences. Finally as it relates to attractions, Universal seems to always have a faster turnaround time from inception to implementation so there's always something new each time we go.

Park layout to me is better at Universal. With the parks situated right next to each other makes P2P worth it and viable to just hop back and forth in minutes as opposed to Disney where you could eat a good hour of your day just getting from one park to the next (between getting to the transportation location, then waiting and bussing it to another park).

The parks close proximity to the resorts is also key. You could get from gate back to your resort for a rest in ~15 min, and then the same back again so mid-day breaks (if you want one) are that much easier. Plus the onsite perks - early entry Express Pass at the Deluxe resorts are spectacular.

Our Family loved our visits to Disney but we're thrill junkies and our kids are now of the age where they prefer the older skewed attractions of Universal vs. "all ages" tilt of Disney rides.