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

[Planogirl]

You get all kinds of comparisons which I suppose is reasonable since the two companies compete. However I even see an individual claiming that Universal's hotels are expensive when usually Disney's cost way more. These things are often a matter of personal perception too.

I like the park to park personally. It's nice to just stroll between parks and to not have to fool with buses.

 

[macraven]

I agree with this. Disney ticketing isn't perfect, but now that they have the MB and touch points in generally works 90% of the time. We were at Universal for 4 days with APs, and the ticket scans NEVER worked the first time for all 3 of us.

And the extra ticket scan at the Hogwart's Express is one of the stupidest things I've ever seen. An AP holder should be able to show their pass with a valid date to get through - not have to go through the whole scanning process again and wait in line for 5 minutes. It's bad enough there was a 45 minute wait for that silly little train ride...and that I had to pay a up-charge (park-to-park) to ride it.

i do both parks and find both parks have issues with scanning tickets.
if you want to know my experience send me a pm and i'll share.

better if we take things like that out of the discussions as this thread is not being productive at this point.


we are losing the purpose of the theme of why this thread was created


thread was started in december 2016.
he only made 4 posts then and never came back here.

12 pages later and we have gone in another direction here.

 

[macraven]

If not, what was the point of this comment?

use the pm system is you want to have a more in depth conversation.

people have kindly stated which park they prefer and why.


we need to get back on track of the topic of this thread.

please don't start questioning other posters of why they feel the way they do.
this isn't the community board where we get snippy to each other.

everyone has the right to post and answer the op's question of which park do you like and why.
anything further than that is starting to take us in a direction we don't want to go.

 

[skier_pete]

better if we take things like that out of the discussions as this thread is not being productive at this point.

Fair enough comment - a lot of that stemmed from me...I will leave any further replies behind...

 

[keishashadow]

Try them both & make your own decision. Tipping point for many is the FOTL perk which has to be experienced to fully appreciate it IMO

Two different experiences, cannot fairly compare them as each has their own charms. Almost comparable to picking your favorite kid lol

 

[Lynne G]

I like both for different reasons. When I like to ride more, go to more parks, and walk tons more, I like Disney. When I'm ready to relax, and sleep in late, I like Universal more, and tend to eat meals outside the park. Both have good points and bad, and both can get too busy for my liking. I do find though, that I spend more and more time at Universal than Disney. I guess it's because our family is getting older, and my teens like the thrill rides more, and sleeping in late. Since we always stay onsite as much as we can, the not having to fast pass everyone is less of a hassle when getting the unlimited express pass.

That's the best part of Orlando. There's so many parks and things to do, all can be pricey for a family, especially when your kids are not longer child rate.

 

[macraven]

Fair enough comment - a lot of that stemmed from me...I will leave any further replies behind...

thank you skier pete, you are a good person and have been decent here.
i appreciate that.

if everyone wants to talk about both parks, do so and state why.
if anyone reads something they don't like, say it nicely when it is posted

we have the pm system that all can use to personalize their thoughts to others they don't agree with.


I do both parks.
can not imagine going to orlando and not hitting both of them

and i have no dog in this fight.

just aiming to get us back on track and keep the thread as the op set up.

i do know we all love many things that others may not care about at all.
posters here are at the home of the darkside, where we all have something in common to talk about.
Universal


anyone can start a new thread with a different theme as long as all play nice.

 

[cbsnyber1]

thank you skier pete, you are a good person and have been decent here.
i appreciate that.

if everyone wants to talk about both parks, do so and state why.
if anyone reads something they don't like, say it nicely when it is posted

we have the pm system that all can use to personalize their thoughts to others they don't agree with.


I do both parks.
can not imagine going to orlando and not hitting both of them

and i have no dog in this fight.

just aiming to get us back on track and keep the thread as the op set up.

i do know we all love many things that others may not care about at all.
posters here are at the home of the darkside, where we all have something in common to talk about.
Universal


anyone can start a new thread with a different theme as long as all play nice.

Hey Mac - this thread's a good warm up for the upcoming and inevitable thread "Which do you prefer - the Volcano Bay Tapu Tapu Wearable or Magic Band, and why?"

 

[Robo56]

I like Universal more because:

1. Beautiful Resorts with the nicest staff I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.

2. Lovely, helpful TM's in the parks.

3. Parks close proximity to each other.

4. Delicious food in Resort restaurants, parks and Citywalk.

5. Great rides.

6. Development of present new rides and futures attractions, Volcano Bay.

7. Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. Thank you J.K. and Universal. You have developed a wonderful place this grandma
loves to bring her grandchildren every year. This is definitely our happy place .

8. Kind security and water taxi boat Captain's.

9. Starbucks at the Resorts yum!!!!!!

10. Fun events....like HHN.

11. Unlimited Express inclusion with stay at RPR, HRH and Protofino Bay.

12. Great pools at all the Resorts.

13. Last, but not least for sure is the smile on the faces of my grandchildren when we are at Universal .

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Universal gets the nod over Disney for us.

The themes of the rides and attractions appeal more to us than at Disney.

The characters (Marvel Superheroes, Scooby & the Gang, the Minions, Shrek, Simpsons) appeal more to us than at Disney. We're just not all about the Princesses and Mickey Mouse.

We like being able to decide where and when to eat (even at a full service restaurant) on a spur of the moment rather than making an ADR six months in advance.

We find the food to be priced lower at Universal and to be of equal or better quality.

We like having the ability to purchase Express if we want it (we are off-siters by choice, but that doesn't mean we don't have a means to deal with crowds if we wish to purchase it. At Disney, we get 3 Fastpasses and then we're on our own).

We find the Universal TM's to be equal to, and often even more friendly than, the Disney CM's. Customer service at Universal has been as good as, or better than, anything we have experienced at Disney too.

We enjoy impromptu character meets versus the long lines we typically find at the Disney parks.

Annual passes at Universal have been within our budget, where Disney's have not.

There are more thrill rides (which my husband prefers) than at Disney. Small World just doesn't cut it for him.

Butterbeer .

Overall, we just find the Universal parks relaxing and spontaneous.....visiting there FEELS like a vacation. We don't get that same feeling when we are planning a Disney day, with Fastpass reservations and dinner ADR's and at least a moderate need for a touring plan in order to manage all the must-do's.

Universal feels like a more grown up vacation to us. We enjoy a Disney hard ticket event from time to time (MNSSHP or MVMCP) but otherwise we're happy to take a pass.

 

[macraven]

Hey Mac - this thread's a good warm up for the upcoming and inevitable thread "Which do you prefer - the Volcano Bay Tapu Tapu Wearable or Magic Band, and why?"

yes, and i think it would fit in fine as a thread in the community board over on the motherland side of the dis.

if it would be placed in the wrong forum, i can easily move it to help out.

 

[Patience]

After our trip to Universal last week, Universal wins for us by a nose. We loved having an express pass. We loved being so close to the parks and not having to stand on crowded buses to and from the parks. We loved being able to switch parks so quickly and easily. We enjoyed leaving the parks and walking to City Walk for lunch and then returning to the parks to finish our day. The Universal annual passes are much more affordable than WDW annual passes and we are now planning another trip before our passes expire. RPR cost us less with an AP rate than a moderate at WDW would have and we had indoor hallways and nicer amenities. We prefer Harry Potter over princesses at this stage in our family life and Hogsmeade and Diagonal Alley were truly amazing. We enjoyed not having to follow a schedule. We rode whatever rides struck our fancy whenever we wanted to and ate where and when we felt like it.

 

[Toy Story Fan]

We were a Disney family for many years. We have been to Disneyland, Disney World several times and been on three Disney Cruises. This last time, in December, our holiday was focused on going to Universal. We stayed at RPR for a week and only went to Disney for MVMCP. As I walked around Magic Kingdom, I felt that the "magic" just wasn't there for me anymore. The park was packed, every ride we wanted to go on had long waits, and we never did get to experience 7 Dwarfs Mine Train, which had a 90 minute wait. I was sad feeling this way. To my surprise, the rest of my family was feeling the same. We decided that would be our last time visiting Disney parks.
We spent the rest of our vacation at Universal and we had a blast! We all felt much more calm, and less rushed. The Express Pass was amazing! We changed in our 2 day park to park with the 3rd day free for an annual pass, for $10.60 each. To me, that is a phenomenal deal! So, for the next 5 days we came and went as we pleased.
We loved it so much, we are booked at RPR again for November, before our passes expire. (Can't wait)!!!!

 

[keishashadow]

Hey Mac - this thread's a good warm up for the upcoming and inevitable thread "Which do you prefer - the Volcano Bay Tapu Tapu Wearable or Magic Band, and why?"

It had to be said, we've all been thinking it lol

 

[dlsanchez]

I liked Universal for the lower crowds and more relaxed feeling. Love the free express passes when you stay onsite. My son likes the rides at Universal better. I prefer the theming at Disney. I feel like a kid at Disney. Love the shows at Disney too. But, the crowds at Disney just make me feel stressed.

 

[psac]

We did a four night stay at the HRH with the two day + two days free park to park tickets last week. It was our first time in Universal since 2009, pre-HP.

We THOUROUGHLY enjoyed our stay... but it still doesn't come close to Disney for us.

1 - HP - there is nothing in the Disney parks that matches Diagon Alley. It's a 10/10. Best theming in Orlando in my opinion.

2 - Ride seats - the big but (maybe pun intended? ) to the above is that I couldn't ride FJ. I'm a big guy, but there are zero rides that I can't ride at Disney. Not being able to ride FJ, RRR, Hulk (three major headliners), and Dragon Challenge is really ridiculous. There's really no excuse for it whatsoever.

3 -- rest of the parks -- Springfield is great. Otherwise after the HP areas, there's a big drop off in quality. That's where as a whole, Disney still way exceeds Universal for us.

4 -- Hard Rock Hotel -- GREAT hotel. Liked it a lot. I agree overall there isn't a strong tie in with theming to the parks, but the HRH has its own unique theme. The people there were super friendly. The biggest complaint we had was the club lounge was too small. Not nearly enough seats, so we had to being the food back to the room a few times, which we really haven't had to do at any of the Disney resorts.

5 - security lines on the walkways/boat launches/etc, instead of at the parks -- genius.

6 -- Rides -- Universal has their target niche with the action rides. It's not our preference. This is probably where it's the most subjective. I like coasters, but my wife doesn't. Plus as I said above, I couldn't ride most of them at UO, while I can ride RnR, EE, etc, with no problems. Gringotts and The Mummy are both world class rides though.

7 -- Frozen Butterbeer -- damn that stuff is good.

8 -- there's nothing at UO that wows you like Cinderella's Castle and Spaceship Earth (the Epcot globe). The dragon is amazing, but the universal parks didn't have the wow factor of the WDW parks to us. Again, all subjective.

Overall we'll probably come back to UO eventually, but we'll go to WDW many many times before then.

 

[EveDallas]

Maybe not worth the extra fee to you, but many people are happy to pay park to park as it's convenient, easy and they get to ride the HE.......which is worth it to some people.

There's nothing wrong with making money........it's what they're all in the business of doing.........why does Universal get lambasted for putting in a ride that does enhance the two park experience, whether anyone agrees or not, but Disney can seemingly get away with it because it's Disney.

Why shouldn't they make money? You can at least see with Universal, the return from the extra money they're making.

Do you think Disney won't implement things that make them more money?? You only have to read the boards to see that they already are........be interesting to see what else they'll do in next few years.........to make more money.

I really don't understand the notion they are forcing you to buy anything .......they really aren't............your choice.

May I just say that I love how much you love Universal. It shows in all your trip reports (which I adore) and it is so nice to see something other than the Negative Nellies bashing Universal. My son and I can't get enough of Universal - Disney is a distant memory for us.

 

[macraven]

May I just say that I love how much you love Universal. It shows in all your trip reports (which I adore) and it is so nice to see something other than the Negative Nellies bashing Universal. My son and I can't get enough of Universal - Disney is a distant memory for us.

Can I get an amen here?

Lol



Totally agree with you

 

[pcstang]

Can I get an amen here?

Lol



Totally agree with you

Yes you can....amen!

 

[schumigirl]

May I just say that I love how much you love Universal. It shows in all your trip reports (which I adore) and it is so nice to see something other than the Negative Nellies bashing Universal. My son and I can't get enough of Universal - Disney is a distant memory for us.

Thank You!!!!

Glad you enjoy the trip reports.....So nice of you to say.........yep, we adore Universal........

We don't go to Disney or SeaWorld........have no inclination to go to either place for very different reasons......but I never feel the need to go and announce it on the Disney boards........who would care!!! I never really knock Disney.......many folks love it and that's ok........we just don't want to go there anymore.......

And it`s fabulous to hear you enjoy Universal so much too........