Getting really nervous

[jackal]

I was reading all the negative reviews on US/IOA on tripadvisor. I am getting really nervous about our upcoming trip. The reviews are terrible!!! Granted, I think most of them are because of going during Christmas, but we are going at Spring Break, so it's causing me to rethink our trip all together.

Most are saying that even with the FOTL access, you can only do a few things during busier times.

We have survived Disney at Christmas (had a great time! and want to do it again), we survived Halloween at Disney, SUmmer at Disney and Spring Break at Disney several times and always had a blast.

Should I be so concerned after reading all those reviews? We are staying RPH from 4/23 to 5/2 so we have a lot of time to do everything. I'm just concerned about the massive pushing and shoving and crowds that everyone was so disgusted with. Plus the FOTL not really being a benefit at the busy times because so many people have FOTL.

 

[NPD]

While it may be a busy time of the year, I would imagine the FOTL access trumps the crowds by far. It's a huge plus if the crowds are large.

 

[Love Tink]

I talked to a friend who went Christmas week, and she said that they really didn't get to do that much. There were huge crowds and long lines.

That said, they did get to do the few things they really wanted to do, and they managed that by arriving early. Also, I think they just enjoyed the ambiance and being in the parks.

I think you always have to take Trip Advisor with a grain of salt. IMO, people on there are really nitpicky. I think that site attracts negative commentary more than positive commentary, as well as a lot of exaggeration.

 

[WDWisTheBest]

To answer your question, "Should I be so concerned after reading all those reviews? We are staying RPH from 4/23 to 5/2 so we have a lot of time to do everything.", the answer is no.

 

[IdesOmarch]

That is complete misinformation IMO. We NEVER waited with staying on site with the room key/fast passes. And I have been at extreme peak times, when the parks were super crowded. Waits most 5-10 minutes with the fast passes. I find that hard to believe and I find that it could receive that many negative reviews. I almost smell some competition sabatoge with that.

 

[Metro West]

Should I be so concerned after reading all those reviews? We are staying RPH from 4/23 to 5/2 so we have a lot of time to do everything. I'm just concerned about the massive pushing and shoving and crowds that everyone was so disgusted with. Plus the FOTL not really being a benefit at the busy times because so many people have FOTL.

I don't think you'll have too much to worry since you'll have unlimited Express access. The lines for the attractions will be long but you can skip those. If people want to spend the money to pay for Express Plus passes, so be it. They can only go once through the line and you could go again and again. Restaurant and bathroom lines will be long too so plan on eating during off peak times.

I think you always have to take Trip Advisor with a grain of salt. IMO, people on there are really nitpicky. I think that site attracts negative commentary more than positive commentary, as well as a lot of exaggeration.

Yeah...those people go at the busiest time of the year and then complain about the lines. DOH!

 

[jackal]

That is complete misinformation IMO. We NEVER waited with staying on site with the room key/fast passes. And I have been at extreme peak times, when the parks were super crowded. Waits most 5-10 minutes with the fast passes. I find that hard to believe and I find that it could receive that many negative reviews. I almost smell some competition sabatoge with that.

Those were my thoughts too about competition sabatoge, so I just went over to the Disney tripadvisor reviews and those have a lot of negative reviews as well. Not as many but certainly quite a few. We did Disney at Christmas and had a great time. I would do it again. I wonder if people expect to go these high peak times and think they will be able to do everything in one day or something? Maybe expectations are too? We are going in expecting it to be as bad as Disney was at Spring Break and we handled that quite well, too. Crossing my fingers!

 

[damo]

I honestly think that if you go in expecting there to be large crowds it will be easier. Onsite express makes a huge difference.

 

[Tink2Day]

I agree IDES, it seems that a lot of Disney fanatics feel the need to trash Universal. If you go to a Disney site that's what you will read.

The DISNEY marketing rep who spoke at our gathering said the competition is really heated and the biggest issue is after training employees Disney is losing them to Universal.

Like I told someone else, if you go with the right attitude you will have fun.

My experience was the opposite. The waits at Disney were 45 minutes-120 minutes or no fast passes available until hours later. The MVMCP waits weren't as long but it was FREEZING on the night we went and we left early.

I had been prepared ahead of time to wait up to 2 hours for rides at Disney's most popular attractions and the same at the WWOHP rides.

Some rides had no waits and some had too long of waits at Disney to even bother to try them and with a fastpass not available until 6:30 (at 11:30 we passed up that ride). The longest wait at Universal was Ollivander's.

I was impressed with Universal IOA, I didn't particularly care for Universal in California and expected to enjoy Disney so much more particularly since I have been going to Disneyland since it opened. So I'm a Disney fan BIG TIME, yet positive enough to see the good in both parks. I could have gotten irritated at the MK, but didn't because I was prepared. The same with Epcot.

I went with the right frame of mind, was pleasantly surprised with some waits but not disappointed with others because I was prepared.

 

[fairyprincess88]

I think Im the opposite of you Jackal because I like to read the Trip Advisor reviews just to get a good laugh. Some of those reviews are just plain funny, especially the ones that go at Christmas/NY week and then complain, "the parks were so busy and crowded." Well no duh, really?

Some of my favorite complaints on TA are about the crowds at WWoHP. Call me mean if you want, but some of them just amuse me. Like the ones where people complain they had to wait in line to get into the land after showing up at the park at noon. Or the ones where they complain the shops are small and there was a line at Ollivanders at 3 PM and Disney would never allow a line. It's called research and if you're not willing spend to a few hours before your very expensive vacation to find out about where you are going and the best way to get there and enjoy, then that is you're own fault. Not Universal's.

I wouldn't really let the reviews concern you, especially if you have survived WDW at Christmas. You are not going in with unrealistic expectations and have planned accordingly. With FOTL and early admission for Potter, you should be completely fine, even with crowds. My first trip to the WWoHP was not even 3 weeks after it opened. I was staying at Disney, did not have early admission nor FOTL and I have nothing to complain about. Yes, it was crowded beyond insane levels but I loved every minute of it and I'll be back in 2 weeks and again this summer. It's all in your expectations and your preparation. I'm sure you'll have a great time.

 

[padams]

We were at US/IOA this past Labor Day weekend. We stayed at HRH so we used FOTL. We had waits of 30 minutes or less, and on many rides, we basically walked onto the ride (just had to wait for next car, boat, etc.). With everyone's spring breaks varying in dates, I can't imagine you will have crowds that much bigger.

BTW after 6 WDW trips, we LOVED US/IOA, especially our kids. Staying so close to the parks was such an amazing treat after bus and monorail rides around WDW.

 

[jackal]

Thanks all for the replies I am feeling better about it. I just don't understand how people can go to Disney OR US/IOA and not expect crowds and then trash their whole vacation.

I love Disney, don't get me wrong, but I am REALLY looking forward to not having to get up at 5:00 every morning to beat the crowds on Spring Break. It was pure torture and we were so exhausted by the end of our trip, but that really is what you have to do at Disney. Fast pass helped, yes, but nothing beats getting there at park opening. We got every ride done early and then you kinda wander around bumping into people because you are not sure what to do next because the parks are now packed.

At universal, I am expecting to have to get up early, yes, but not so early and not having to rush to an ADR here and there and running to get a fast pass and then waiting for the time to expire to get another one. I'm exhausted just thinking about it!

 

[Nickarooney]

We went from Dec. 16-23 and had a grand time. Were there a lot of people? Absolutely, with each day getting more crowded as it got closer to Christmas. Did it impact our stay to do everything we wanted with on-site Express Pass? Not one bit. We rode and rode and rode, hit HP every night for the last hour or two, ate at all the restaurants we wanted to (did make ressies before the trip, but didn't need any of them except for Mythos and Grinch breakfast), saw every show we were interested in, and spent time at the pool.

Unless you are talking about the week between Christmas and New Year's - which has always been the busiest week of the year even pre-HP - I can't imagine not being able to do everything you want to do 5X over. Unlimited Express Pass is a godsend.

 

[jackal]

We went from Dec. 16-23 and had a grand time. Were there a lot of people? Absolutely, with each day getting more crowded as it got closer to Christmas. Did it impact our stay to do everything we wanted with on-site Express Pass? Not one bit. We rode and rode and rode, hit HP every night for the last hour or two, ate at all the restaurants we wanted to (did make ressies before the trip, but didn't need any of them except for Mythos and Grinch breakfast), saw every show we were interested in, and spent time at the pool.

Unless you are talking about the week between Christmas and New Year's - which has always been the busiest week of the year even pre-HP - I can't imagine not being able to do everything you want to do 5X over. Unlimited Express Pass is a godsend.

Thanks, Nickarooney, sounds like you had a great time, crowds and all. We are going to be there one day longer from the looks of it. Did you have enough to do to keep you busy that whole time? We are doing Seaworld at least one day and DC one day too. I think we will have more than enough to time even with the crowds to get everything done, but do not want to be "bored" from what people were saying on Tripadvisor when they went 3 or 4 days. You are on vacation. Isn't being "bored" sometimes, part of a relaxing vacation?

 

[Nickarooney]

My son and I are big roller coaster people and love all thrill rides, so we really enjoy US/IOA. We don't get bored because we do rides over and over and over.

We stayed Friday-Thursday last trip and were supposed to do Sunday afternoon at DTD and MVMCP and Tuesday at DHS to break things up. Disney was a complete nightmare (don't get me wrong, looooove Disney, but the 'limited ticket' Christmas party with no room to wiggle was a bit much - Nick and I made it exactly 36 minutes into the party before he asked to leave). We actually found the crowds at Disney so much worse and so much more aggressively pushy and obnoxious (to be fair, we entered MK at 4PM, so it was really after 3 hours and 36 minutes that Nick asked to leave) Nick asked not to make him go back. We ended up having 4 full days and 2 half days at Universal.

We don't spend all day at the parks - the beauty of being within walking distance is that you can pop over and back 3-4-5 times during the day. We also saw BMG one evening and ate dinner at all three hotels. It is SO much more laid back than a Disney visit - I truly enjoyed being able to make last minute decisions on where to eat and when to ride and not having to be there at opening. We do enjoy Disney, but Uni is just a different vacation and one that we really loved.

Hope you love it as much as we did!

 

[Nickarooney]

And....

We stayed at HRH and it was sold out several nights we were there, as were the other hotels and we never had a wait of more than 5-10 minutes on any ride except Rockit and Forbidden Journey (the only 2 rides with out an Express line), but we did single rider on those and still made it through in under 20-30 minutes during the middle of the day and even less in the morning and close to closing.

Can't speak to what anyone else experienced, but our Express Pass experience was a-w-e-s-o-m-e!

 

[jackal]

And....

We stayed at HRH and it was sold out several nights we were there, as were the other hotels and we never had a wait of more than 5-10 minutes on any ride except Rockit and Forbidden Journey (the only 2 rides with out an Express line), but we did single rider on those and still made it through in under 20-30 minutes during the middle of the day and even less in the morning and close to closing.

Can't speak to what anyone else experienced, but our Express Pass experience was a-w-e-s-o-m-e!

Thanks for putting my mind at ease! We hope we have your good luck! I thought about going to Disney for a day, but I just cannot justify the ticket price tag. I would rather lounge by the pool with a drink than have to spend the money for a one day ticket. My DH and DD love the coasters so they will have a great time doing them over and over. I'm a little worried about my DD8. She isn't much for coasters but she Loves the Simpsons for some reason - Never watches the show! Plus, I could stick her in a pool for two weeks straight and she would be happy. I think this will be a happy balance for everyone type vacation.

 

[Nickarooney]

Thanks for putting my mind at ease! We hope we have your good luck! I thought about going to Disney for a day, but I just cannot justify the ticket price tag. I would rather lounge by the pool with a drink than have to spend the money for a one day ticket. My DH and DD love the coasters so they will have a great time doing them over and over. I'm a little worried about my DD8. She isn't much for coasters but she Loves the Simpsons for some reason - Never watches the show! Plus, I could stick her in a pool for two weeks straight and she would be happy. I think this will be a happy balance for everyone type vacation.

And you can pool hop to the other hotels - HRH has music pumped under the water, a pool slide, and all sorts of daily poolside entertainment and PBH is supposed to have a great pool and slide (haven't been to it, but have heard lots of good things on here). HRH has dive-in movies where you get a float and watch movies projected by the pool, think I have read that RPR does, too - and they may all do that. Think they all have something to offer and certainly can break up the days if you are running out of entertainment...can't imagine that, but if...

I think you guys will have a great time with something for everyone!

 

[kaffinito]

I think you'll be fine there as well. Tripadvisor is full of negative reviews on just about everyplace.

I just like it for the pictures myself.

 

[jackal]

I think you'll be fine there as well. Tripadvisor is full of negative reviews on just about everyplace.

I just like it for the pictures myself.

there are pictures? How did I miss those

I read about the dive in movies. I think DD8 would really like that. My DH really likes the Hard Rock franchise. He wanted to stay there, but we picked RPH club level instead. It's good to know we can take a stroll over to the other hotels, too. I doubt we are going to have a problem keeping entertained. In fact, I wish for a day that we can just lay poolside with some drinks and enjoy each other.

I think I will go back to Tripadvisor and read some of the reviews for last year's spring break - taking them with a grain of salt this time though