Just back from WDW and Universal... any questions?

[Zippa D Doodah]

We just got back (3 hours ago) from a fine Orlando vacation. This one was a bit different for us is that we went to experience UO for the first time, and also wound up spending some time at MK . We stayed off-site (which was weird, but had some benefits), did both UP parks, and MK. I'll post a trip report later. FWIW, MK was much more crowded than I expected on Thursday 1/19.

 

[timkin]

We are basically doing the same trip in April. This will be our 4th trip to disney with our kids (DD 11 and DS 9). We have never been to USO and were going to try two days there. We are nervous though because we don't know what to expect. We were going to do one day at Disney (MK probably). Please tell us your thoughts on USO vs. Disney....

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

We were inpired to go to UO by the "kids free" deal they currently have going on. We enjoyed ourselves at UO well enough, but really missed WDW. We spent one day each at IOA and USO, and wound up making an "unscheduled" MK visit on Day 3. That wa sby far the most wonderful day of our vacation.

If it's magic you want then Disney is the only choice. IOA was kind of a downer for us. None of us really do the mega-coasters. JPRA was OK. Poseidon's Fury was good up until the end. Seussland was OK, but lots of chipped paint and gloomy employees. Spiderman ride was good, but too intense for my DD. We did all we wanted to do and were done in 6 hours

USO was a bit more enjoyable. ET, MIB, Earthquake, Shrek, and Jimmy Neutron were hits with the family. I did the Mummy ride by myself and found it to be a good ride, albeit kind of short. Again, we were done in 6-7 hours. We found that we are just Disney people . There are some things UO does well -even better than WDW -but it is no contest where we'll be spending our time and money from now on.

 

[sambahat]

I've never been to any of the Universal Parks but have been wanting to go for some time. What is it that they do better than WDW?

 

[JohnnySharp2]

I've never been to any of the Universal Parks but have been wanting to go for some time. What is it that they do better than WDW?

In my opinion the following:
car parking is much better, multi-storey and undercover from the heat, Disneys are old and out-dated.

Shrek is by far the best 4D ride going and superior to any Disney 3d ride.

US/IOA are right next door to each other so you can easily walk from one to the other.

Citywalk shopping and restaurant complex are right at the entrance to the parks and provide a good contrast to the attractions, Disney's main area is at DD so not actually at the parks itself.

Other than at MK there is nothing really for young children, at US you have indoor playground with slides etc, Curious George indoor and outdoor play areas, all aimed at young children.

I think people can be 'disney obsessed', we just love Disney and US, I think if people try US and do not like it then fair enough, but it definitely is worth a visit, we have APs.

 

[cjb71870]

I've never been to any of the Universal Parks but have been wanting to go for some time. What is it that they do better than WDW?

They don't do anything better than Disney, they just follow along. Yes, US has a parking garage. They came years after Disney. US and IOA are alot of fun. Go enjoy.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

They don't do anything better than Disney

What, "nothing better"?. So Muppet 3d is better than Shrek for example?

Isn't AK the newest Disney park, and they still built the same tarmac car parking facility?

 

[cjb71870]

Wrong, they DO. You telling me Muppet 3d is better than Shrek for example?

No, I didn't tell you that. But, Philharmagic at MK isn't bad either.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

No, I didn't tell you that. But, Philharmagic at MK isn't bad either.

True, ok we like Disney and Universal too, and I think you do.
I just believe that Disney could do something about the quality of the car parking lots, even at their newest park AK.

We have difference of opinion maybe , but a friendly one, I do LOVE Disney, I just think that some people (not you) do not sometimes give US a chance, bye for now

 

[canda]

As for the parking decks, Disney will not need to spend that kinda of money because they have plenty of land. At US/IOA there is not much and those decks cost close to 100 million. I would rather Disney save that money for a good ride.

 

[BYC]

I do have a question...about Universal. Since you did not stay onsite, you did not have FOTL passes. Did you notice those that did have them getting onto rides much faster? We are planning on 2-3 days in Universal on our next trip down, and decided to stay onsite to get the FOTL passes. I am just wondering if they really made a great difference? Thanks!

 

[DeirdreTours]

We have been to WDW 7 trips and Universal 3 trips (with a 4rth scheduled in two weeks). I am always surprised to hear people on this board rave about Disney relative to Universal-- Both parks are equally clean (in my experience), both have plenty of chipped paint and always a couple of attractions being refurbed. The customer service at both is wildly uneven-- some staff are wonderful, others utterly indifferent or downright rude.

I am also puzzled when I hear people say that Universal has nothing for young children-- our toddlers loved the "If I Ran the Zoo" and "Curious George" interactive playgrounds. They also worshipped Barney and enjoyed the whole Dr. Suess area (although the Cat in the Hat ride was too scary for our 3 year old).

Years ago, I think Disney had Universal beat from a customer service angle, but those days are looooong gone.

To me, the biggest difference is scale. Universal is truly a walkable experience. One can walk from the hotels into the parks, walk from one park to the other and walk to citywalk for a wider choice of restaurants or a movie. No buses needed. Because Disney is so much larger, transportation is unavoidable, But also because it is larger, one can spend more days there with more to do. A five day Universal ticket with a four night hotel stay is plenty for my family, while we can spend 7 nights at Disney.

The other difference is in hotel quality. The Universal hotels are Loews hotels and are beautifully run. Top notch service, very nice sheets, pillows, great house keeping. The Disney hotels can be beautiful (our favorite in the Animal Kingdom Lodge), but are mostly run like Holiday Inns.

 

[OhioGrumpyGirl]

Zippa ~~ Did you check out the new Fear Factor show? We're going in March and my neice (7) can't wait to see that!!! I think she's more excited about Fear Factor and the Mummy than she is about going to Disney !!! Did you get to check out the Mardi Gras parade on Sat. night? We went last year and it was unbelievable!!! So we scheduled our trip this year so we can go again.

 

[java]

Ok what Universal has over disney IMHO is the customer service. The hotels are nice big rooms and well cared for! The restaurants are fantastic(Emeril's at Citywalk is incredible) The front of the line access they provide for onsite guests makes you feel like you are really getting a BIG perk by staying onsite. And they do the big adventure roller coaster way better than Disney for the wild upside down enthusist.(sorry but Hulk is way more exciting than RNR-but I do love that one too) But it is a different vibe at the park than you get at Disney. More "adult" if that makes sense?
Now that being said we are heading back to Disney this year because we have 2 under 3 (2 olders too) and Disney is just a better trip with them. But I think both areas have something to offer. It is just what you are looking for. IOA/US is more Thrill ride, Disney is more story ride.

 

[dairyou]

Can you tell how the weather and crowds were when you went? I mean to the OP

Thanks,
Deb

 

[JohnnySharp2]

We have been to WDW 7 trips and Universal 3 trips (with a 4rth scheduled in two weeks). I am always surprised to hear people on this board rave about Disney relative to Universal-- Both parks are equally clean (in my experience), both have plenty of chipped paint and always a couple of attractions being refurbed. The customer service at both is wildly uneven-- some staff are wonderful, others utterly indifferent or downright rude.

I am also puzzled when I hear people say that Universal has nothing for young children-- our toddlers loved the "If I Ran the Zoo" and "Curious George" interactive playgrounds. They also worshipped Barney and enjoyed the whole Dr. Suess area (although the Cat in the Hat ride was too scary for our 3 year old).

Years ago, I think Disney had Universal beat from a customer service angle, but those days are looooong gone.

To me, the biggest difference is scale. Universal is truly a walkable experience. One can walk from the hotels into the parks, walk from one park to the other and walk to citywalk for a wider choice of restaurants or a movie. No buses needed. Because Disney is so much larger, transportation is unavoidable, But also because it is larger, one can spend more days there with more to do. A five day Universal ticket with a four night hotel stay is plenty for my family, while we can spend 7 nights at Disney.

The other difference is in hotel quality. The Universal hotels are Loews hotels and are beautifully run. Top notch service, very nice sheets, pillows, great house keeping. The Disney hotels can be beautiful (our favorite in the Animal Kingdom Lodge), but are mostly run like Holiday Inns.

I completely agree, there is plenty for children at Universal Studios, with Woody/ET/Barney etc , it is our son's favourite park.

I believe people can be a bit too Disney obsessed, we are from the UK and visit Florida every year - we love Disney and Universal, it's not a competetive thing between them for us.

It really annoys me when people dismiss Universal, when in some instances they have never tried it.

 

[Lives4Disney]

I do have a question...about Universal. Since you did not stay onsite, you did not have FOTL passes. Did you notice those that did have them getting onto rides much faster? We are planning on 2-3 days in Universal on our next trip down, and decided to stay onsite to get the FOTL passes. I am just wondering if they really made a great difference? Thanks!

Just wanted to bump this question up.

We are doing our first ever Universal trip before our 9 night WDW stay. We have been to WDW too many times to count and never cared to try UO until now - I have a 15 yr old son that really wants to give it a go. We chose to stay at PBH at UO because it sounds great AND for the FOTL privilege. Did you see any difference in the lines? I hope so, as it will be crowded time that we are going (spring break) and have 3 kids - varying ages that will all have their own ideas of what is fun to do and we want to get it all in and done in 2 to 3 days.

THANKS,

Lives4Disney

 

[Matt]

Well, the day Disney decides to build parking lots, is the day your tickets are going up 5 more bucks. The decks are a necessity at US/IOA whereas at DIsney, they own enough land to not need to waste money building them.

Hmm.. what does Universal studios do better? They have more "thrill rides" yet their theming doesn't always hit up to par.

They have Spider-man, The Mummy, and Men In Black which I highly enjoy.

But the major problem I have with the parks is that they aren't as much of a family park for people with young kids. I'm not saying they don't have a FEW things for kids to do. However, these parks also draw roving hoards of rude teenagers. Yeah I was probably one when I was a kid too. But I have two little girls now and in my 4 trips to the Universal parks and 9 trips to Disney, I might personally have a lot of fun at US, but I don't think my kids do. And as I mentioned earlier, Disney doesn't seem to draw huge unsupervised groups of teenagers nearly as much as US.

That's my take. You'll have fun at both though.

 

[Corky's Mom]

FOTL passes are great! We went with friends who did not want to stay onsite with us. By the end of the first day they were finding out if there was anything available at our hotel. My kids had a great time walking by them in line. They swore after that trip they would only stay onsite.

My son had a safety patrol field trip and we spent the night so we could have FOTL. It is so worth it!

 

[mrFDNY]

hi,
how were the crowds in wdw????????