If you're travelling on a budget...

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

... would you cut Universal out of your trip, or strive to include it, no matter what?

 

[DisneyOma]

We go to Universal every 3rd or 4th trip, it seems. We get the park to park, as we only do Harry Potter down there for the most part. 2 days at Universal, the rest at WDW. We usually drive, and stay onsite at the cheapest place we can find, which used to be Pop Century. Might have to look at offsite in the future, and a night at Universal for the special pass.

 

[disneychrista]

Have only been to Universal ONCE. It is just not on my radar.

If my trip was only doable if I cut Universal that is what I would do.

 

[fla4fun]

It depends on how important Universal is to you.

I am not a fan of Universal, so it would never be under consideration to begin with. But I always have a set budget before planning any vacation, so I am accustomed to making my plans fit within the budget. Sometimes I stay in a cheaper hotel to be able to do other things, or I choose to eat at cheaper restaurants. It just depends on what is most important on any given trip.

I would not increase my budget to include something I can’t truly afford.

 

[EACarlson]

I would do Universal and cut WDW right now.

 

[sk!mom]

If traveling on a budget, I would book top priorities and then cut anything that didn't fit the budget.

ETA, I'm always traveling on a budget although it has grown over the years. Decisions are made on every trip regarding budget and whether an activity or experience is "worth it." We were in Ireland last summer and deemed a castle stay to be out of budget and not worth giving up something else or stretching the budget.

I enjoyed HP world on a couple of mostly Disney trips. To me, the rest of Universal is "just an amusement park" so I wouldn't stretch the budget since I've been to Potter world previously.

 

[Smugpugmug]

It depends on if Universal is a must do for you. It is a different experience than Disney (focused more on thrill rides and simulators). I don't go to Universal often but I did include it in my May trip. The friend I went with said that she enjoyed Universal more than Disney and was happy that we included it in our trip. With that said, doing only 1 day is very expensive. Park hopper tickets as well as Express pass is pricy. Personally I would rather save money and postpone a trip to include Universal but if you're committed to going on a budget and only have 1 day to do it, I would skip.

 

[MamaMermaid]

We love Harry Potter but that's about it. I really don't feel the need to go too often. I hate all the simulator rides.

 

[Magical2017]

Some will prefer Disney over Universal and vice versa, but unless this is a one and done trip, yes, I'd cut something now or I'd wait until I could do the trip I wanted to do.

 

[Skywalker3]

1 and 2 day tickets really are pricey, but we love Universal. Depends on so,so many other factors: on how often one comes, when next trip might be, if the attractions at Universal are appealing, can other things be cut from budget, etc. We often just did one on our trips tho, either Disney or Univeral. However, this past year, did 2 trips that combined both, and they were great too.

 

[tvguy]

Which Universal? The original that opened in 1964 in California, or the new one that opened in 1990 in Florida?

 

[bcla]

Which Universal? The original that opened in 1964 in California, or the new one that opened in 1990 in Florida?

Even more than that.

https://www.universalparks.com

Although this one rebranded..

 

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

The main pull to Universal (Orlando) is Hogwarts... otherwise it's just a more expensive version of Disney with less to do... IMO.