florida trip to ONLY Universal

[petrymom]

Okay, we have gone to Disney twice now. I absolutely LOVE Disney World, but the kids would like to go to Florida again next year and I do not think we can afford another week at the World. I thought about a short 4-5 day trip to Just Universal next spring as a sort of celebration for my finishing school.

My question to you - WILL we miss Disney too much? Has anyone else had this same dilemma??? Let me know.

 

[Dismom+two]

Of course you will miss Disney.....We are doing in two week just to Universal...well and to BG and SeaWorld but we are going to Down Town Disney to get our fix. You will have fun at Universal too...it's no Disney...but its still fun!!

 

[damo]

Oh gosh, we never miss Disney when we are at Universal. We rarely go to Disney World anymore. We do however plan to visit Disneyland in August. I like that place a whole lot better.

 

[mumzie2three]

I'll have to let you know when we get back after 4/24. When I told the kids we were going to visit their grandparents in Florida the first thing they asked was about Disney. I told them no Disney this time, but I haven't told them about Universal; that will be a surprise. I have 3 day tickets, one day at each park and the third day to hop.
I think the kids will love it. The are familiar with Spiderman, MIB, Shrek, Jaws, Dr. Seuss, Popeye, and Jurassic Park. I'll let you know if after all is said and done they ask "When we are going to Disney?".

 

[ksdave]

Our last trip to Disney was in 2001. The kids chose not to go back there and we have done UO five times since then. No regrets at all. Portofino make us cringe at the thought of staying at a comparably-priced WDW resort, because the rooms at PBH are so big, the food so fabulous and the Beach Pool so awesome. We also love the closeness of everything at UO (no buses!!!). We can't wait to get back there in only
(24) DAYS!!!

 

[macraven]

i would miss tower of terror but to replace it, i would ride dr doom about 5 times in a row.........



other than that, no. your kids will have a new adventure to explore.
nothing wrong in liking both places.
i do my disney/universal trips back to back in one vacation.

you will love not having to take busses to get around. universal are small parks compared to disney. you and the family will have plenty of relaxing time to enjoy both parks and city walk! your kids will have a blast!

i hope you are staying on site at universal so you can immerse yourself in total mummy dust

 

[mommiepoppins]

Okay, we have gone to Disney twice now. I absolutely LOVE Disney World, but the kids would like to go to Florida again next year and I do not think we can afford another week at the World. I thought about a short 4-5 day trip to Just Universal next spring as a sort of celebration for my finishing school.

My question to you - WILL we miss Disney too much? Has anyone else had this same dilemma??? Let me know.

we are in the same boat! I have only one day at WDW (393 $ for 6 of us for 1 day) We are doing universal for the great price. I love WDW esply Magic Kingdom! You will enjoy universal, but it is not Disney... My thing is how can I go to FL and not go to WDW. That would be just WRONG for me. but like I said Universal is fun to!

 

[bg4]

I wouldn't miss disney as we do not go there anymore - well maybe some day when there is grand-kids but not soon. Went to AKL last year and there was no magic. Just disney trying to separate you from your money as always and the pervasive feel of being part of a club , or is it cult? . Sorry but I stopped drinking the kool-aid in 1996.

 

[Planogirl]

I'm kind of dealing with this right now. I'm planning a low budget trip and my biggest headache is Disney passes. DS has asked to go to Epcot and we would both like to go to MGM for Star Wars weekends but it's SO expensive compared to everything else. So I'm still mulling dropping Disney altogether but it feels weird.

 

[TammyAlphabet]

I am a Disney Vacation Club member and I am going to stay at OKW the first week of June and I am going to UNIVERSAL. (the traitor!!) Now, the kool-aid still tastes good to me, but this will be the second trip to Universal where I only do Universal. I like to immerse myself in the whole experience, but with paid for rooms, I couldn't bring myself to spring for onsite Universal accomodations. LOL. We did stay onsite last time, and it was wonderful, but, this time we will just stand in line like the rest of the poor offsite people. But it will be nice to go back to my one bedroom villa at OKW, and soak my poor feet in the big jacuzzi tub.

 

[macraven]

disney tickets have soared.
when i go there, i stay at the value resorts. for value season, it is $94 a night to stay in one of the value resort rooms. that is a lot of money for what you get. if you have aaa, you can get money off but it still is too much.

what i pay at hrh is well worth it. it's more than disney, but, you do get value for your bucks. there are more discounts available for the hotels at UO. they honor AAA and AP's and the discounts are decent.


i'm finding it cheaper to do my main trip at universal these past few years.
my ap renewal for UO is $99/year. can't beat that.

 

[Detailor]

I am a Disney Vacation Club member and I am going to stay at OKW the first week of June and I am going to UNIVERSAL. (the traitor!!) Now, the kool-aid still tastes good to me, but this will be the second trip to Universal where I only do Universal. I like to immerse myself in the whole experience, but with paid for rooms, I couldn't bring myself to spring for onsite Universal accomodations. LOL. We did stay onsite last time, and it was wonderful, but, this time we will just stand in line like the rest of the poor offsite people. But it will be nice to go back to my one bedroom villa at OKW, and soak my poor feet in the big jacuzzi tub.

We're doing something similar to this. We'll be at the Saratoga Springs DVC during 4th of July week but spending most of our play time at Universal. However, we'll supplement UO with visits to DTD, BoardWalk, probably Wide World of Sports, probably Blizzard Beach, Pleasure Island and one of the Disney mini-golf courses. It makes me tired just thinking about it.

Dick Taylor

 

[macraven]

We're doing something similar to this. We'll be at the Saratoga Springs DVC during 4th of July week but spending most of our play time at Universal. However, we'll supplement UO with visits to DTD, BoardWalk, probably Wide World of Sports, probably Blizzard Beach, Pleasure Island and one of the Disney mini-golf courses. It makes me tired just thinking about it.

Dick Taylor

you are a very brave man........i always stay home for the 4th of july holiday times.

even our grocery stores are crowded and its lot is always full.......

 

[jewell]

I really can't decide which place I like better, they are different, yet I love them both! In May 2004 we went to WDW and stayed on site. Since we stayed on site and my 73 year old Mother was with us, we decided to spend our whole vacation at Disney and we had a great time. But I'll have to admit that it was SO hard not to go to Universal! This summer I've decided to return to Universal and IOA and stay on site (never have stayed on site before, I'm so excited), this time no Disney. You'll love Universal and IOA! Go and have a great time!

 

[Cinderella822]

We had the same fears when booking our trip last summer. We always stayed at WDW and did only WDW. But needed a change. So last summer, we stayed the whole week at PBH at USO. This summer, we're also staying a whole week at PBH, so I hope that helps answer your question. We just loved it there. USO has a lot to offer and things that WDW does not. We still love WDW and will go back eventually, but right now, we're taking the time to enjoy all that USO has to offer. And I agree with ksdave in that once you stay at PBH (and probably the other USO hotels), it's hard to go back to the Disney hotels. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!

 

[Detailor]

you are a very brave man........i always stay home for the 4th of july holiday times.

even our grocery stores are crowded and its lot is always full.......

Brave or foolish, I'm not sure which. But we'll have fun.

This trip is a little later than usual for my youngest child, 15 yo DD, and me. We have been going to Orlando or Tampa for the past few years right after school gets out up here in Vermont - Mom always stays home, thus once again demonstrating the wisdom of motherhood. The opportunity to stay at a DVC came up and I didn't want to miss it.

We'll use our typical theme park strategy - get there early and do as much as we can until the waits are too long and then go off and find something else to do. Our expectations aren't overwhelming (she's been to Orlando and the parks at least a dozen trips in the last ten years). I'm sure the pools at SSR will be nice while everybody is crowding the theme parks.

Wish us luck!

Dick Taylor

 

[robvia]

Disney is good to do every 4 years when they add a new thrill ride. There's no problem with making Universal your base camp and going to Disney early in the morning, resting at the hotel, then touring a Universal park at night with magic keys.

 

[AlexandNessa]

My question to you - WILL we miss Disney too much? Has anyone else had this same dilemma??? Let me know.

We actually have the opposite problem.... when we're at Disney, we miss Universal too much!

 

[Darcy03231]

After several trips to Disney this year we're going to do US/IOA, SeaWorld, Busch Garden's and Wet n' Wild. My kids are so excited. The youngest is 13½ so they are really into the thrill rides (Mom is the WDW fan in the family). I'm getting my fix by going to the Pirates and Princesses party one night while we're there. Disney has just gotten to be so expensive and after have been there and done everything at least once, I just couldn't justify the expense when there are so many other things to see and do in the Orlando area.

 

[Peter Pirate 2]

If you haven't been to Universal before (or it's been a long time) then you'll have NO problem, especially if staying on site. The ability to walk to two parks, City Walk and three hotels is awesome (much like Disneyland). It offers the same theme park feel for most.

The problem with Universal is it gets old fast to most Disney lovers (they've added very little since IOA opened & WDW is so large), especially if the two big coasters are off your personal radar. But the parks are themed GREAT (just like Disney), City Walk is much better than DTD and the food options are equal if not better (Emeril's, Tchoup Chop, Hard Rock, The Kitchen, The Palm, Mythos, Margaritaville, Bubba Gumps, etc.).

I think most folks would have a hard time with more than 3-4 days but for the shorter trip it's a great, absolutely fantastic choice.

Oh, and Disney will not be missed by most. A theme park is a theme park is a them park.

Side note: I vehemently disagree with bg4 and their comments on Animal Kingdom. To each their own but AK is easily my personal favorite individual Park in Orlando and the 'magic' is in the feel of the place, IMO.