Just got back from Islands of Adventure

[JungleJim]

We were in Florida visiting my father. We decided to drive up to Orlando and spend a day at Islands of Adventure. We had never been to Islands of Adventure, nor have we been to Universal Studios. We went on Tuesday.

I purchased and printed tickets online to save time. It still took us about 40 minutes waiting in line to get in. Come on Universal, you can do better than that!

We went first to "Wizarding World" for the Harry Potter stuff. Since our son is really into Harry Potter, this was the main reason we were there. Everything in this section was well done, but it was not made to handle the large number of people. The castle was impressive, but I saw some people who had stood in line for 1-2 hours not be able to ride because the bar wouldn't pull down enough. These people were not that big. One was a high school football player in great shape. Those seats were very poorly designed. I spoke to that football player later and he said that castle ride was the only ride in the whole park that he couldn't ride. Too bad.

The rides that had special effects were done very well.
But there were various parts around the park that were in dire need of paint and repair.

Universal has no idea what crowd control is. They need to develop an understanding. I'm wondering if they even have a limit to the number of people they will let in. If they do have a number limit, then it needs to be much lower than it was on the day we went, because the park was not made to handle that number of people.

I will come clean here and admit that we love Disney. We've been in Disney when it was both very crowded and when it was not. Disney does a much better job of crowd control. And part of that is by using the Fast Pass system.

It is quite evident that Universal missed the whole point of Disney's Fast Pass system. Universal just saw it as a way to make extra money. Some of those poor people with Universal's version of fast pass still had to wait over 30 minutes for some rides....and they had the privilege of paying $20 more to wait over 30 minutes!! (or stay at the overpriced resorts) It is quite evident that Universal doesn't care much about returning customers.

Some of the workers at Islands of Paradise were just plain rude. I think some were rejects from 7-eleven The nice workers really stood out at Islands of Paradise. Some were good enough to even work at Disney

The highlight of the day was when we got to the hotel. We stayed at Hyatt Place. It was the most wonderful experience. The room was outstanding and clean! The TV was huge and had every possible type of connection built into the wall. It was the best "free" breakfast we've ever had. I highly recommend Hyatt Place at Universal.

We live a little over an hour away from Cedar Point in Ohio (the roller coaster capital of the world!!). With having Cedar Point close by, and going to Disney....there is nothing we'd miss by not going to Universal again. We (wife, son, myself) agree that while we're glad we saw the Harry Potter stuff, we really have no desire to ever go back to Universal. Many people must disagree with us since Universal continues to operate, but I won't be spending our money there again in the near future.

[One positive thing.....Accidentally discovered that you get a AAA discount throughout the park....food, merchandise, etc.)

 

[francie57]

Sorry you weren't that impressed with Universal. One thing you can't do is compare it to Disney at all - they are entirely different. Universal used to have their own version of the fast pass and then they did away with it and made it an extra cost or a perk for staying in their hotels. We have been doing that at the beginning of our vacation every year and it is so worth staying on-site. Universal isn't the only park that does that, we live near Six Flags in Mass and they have the same type of express pass available for purchase so Universal isn't the only one. As far as crowds, we go in Aug. every year and have never had any problem. Don't forget, you were there during a holiday/spring break period so the crowds would be more. Much like Disney, Universal has to have a capacity number for safety/fire purposes if nothing else and I have never heard of them reaching capacity. As far as the workers, we have never experienced any rude employess, but that doesn't mean they don't exist - even at Disney. My suggestion would be to go back at some point when it isn't a holiday period and try it again. You have to go with an open mind and not compare it to Disney. We actually think there are things about Universal (their unlimited express pass for staying on-site, that their 3 hotels are basically deluxe, etc.) that are better than Disney. We are huge Disney people (our son is 26 and had been 30 times at least) so we certainly know about each extremely well.

 

[cvjw]

We are frequent visitor to both Disney and Universal, and vastly prefer Universal's fast pass system to Disney's. We always stay onsite at both theme parks, and it sure is nice to be rewarded for your loyalty at Universal - pay for their hotels, and wait in shorter lines - no where does it say that you will not have to wait in a line with FOTL. I am hoping that Disney's new system will reward onsite guests like Universal does.

We go to lots of theme parks because our boys are coaster fanatics. The longest line we have ever waited in was at the park in your back yard - Cedar Point. Top Thrill Dragster is the place where some crowd control is needed - that line was insane when we visited - which was during a "slower" season, before the local kids were out of school.

 

[Metro West]

I'm going to move this to the Trip Reports board.

 

[Bluer101]

 

[Mikkimús]

this and adding a pepsi max

 

[mjohnson96]

Sorry that everything didn't live us to your expectations. We actually have been to IOA during the grand opening weekend of WWOHP and you talk about crowds. 40 minutes.... more like 4 hours for ppl waiting to get into that area

I have never experienced the crowd control issues but have never gone during spring break, closest is going around 4th of July or Memorial Day. We also just stay onsite and we love those hotels, yes it costs more but if you think about the perks you are getting with being so close to the parks and the unlimited express it is really quite nice. We normally have paided between $129 and $179 a night using one of the discount rates.

I also agree with the other posters that you need to try it again but during a non peak period. It is not Disney but we actually enjoy going there more than WDW because it is easier to have a relaxing trip.

The Express Passes to us are so worth it. The trip during the opening was extremly helpful...I remember going past Spiderman and DD wanting to ride it just one more time. It had a 90 minute wait posted and we walked on in less than 5 minutes. Normally we don't wait more than 10 or 15 minutes and that is because of loading times.

Hope you do give it another chance one day in the future

 

[RMulieri]

Sorry that everything didn't live us to your expectations. We actually have been to IOA during the grand opening weekend of WWOHP and you talk about crowds. 40 minutes.... more like 4 hours for ppl waiting to get into that area

I have never experienced the crowd control issues but have never gone during spring break, closest is going around 4th of July or Memorial Day. We also just stay onsite and we love those hotels, yes it costs more but if you think about the perks you are getting with being so close to the parks and the unlimited express it is really quite nice. We normally have paided between $129 and $179 a night using one of the discount rates.

I also agree with the other posters that you need to try it again but during a non peak period. It is not Disney but we actually enjoy going there more than WDW because it is easier to have a relaxing trip.

The Express Passes to us are so worth it. The trip during the opening was extremly helpful...I remember going past Spiderman and DD wanting to ride it just one more time. It had a 90 minute wait posted and we walked on in less than 5 minutes. Normally we don't wait more than 10 or 15 minutes and that is because of loading times.

Hope you do give it another chance one day in the future

2nd this..We are Disney die hards, but love Universal and Express PAss is worth every penny.NEither FP or Express pass promise NO WAITS.They promise shorter waits than standby.Disneys system isn't that wonderful and with the NExt Gen system coming online probably in the next year who knows what it will be like.I think Once Disney finds a way to charge for it they will.
As for the comment about 7 eleven workers, Not sure what the point was to that..Nothing wrong with an honest days work and there is nothing gained by taking an elitist attitude about it.I have seen absolutely the nicest people working at Universal and some not so nice ones.Disney doesn't own the market on wonderful employees, in fact I have seen some pretty crappy Cms there as well.

 

[longing4disney]

It is quite evident that Universal missed the whole point of Disney's Fast Pass system. Universal just saw it as a way to make extra money. Some of those poor people with Universal's version of fast pass still had to wait over 30 minutes for some rides....and they had the privilege of paying $20 more to wait over 30 minutes!! (or stay at the overpriced resorts) It is quite evident that Universal doesn't care much about returning customers.

I agree with all the other PPs.
We stayed at HRH when we visted UNiversal 5 years ago. For the 15 day trip, we stayed at Disney's Contemporary, Holiday Inn Sunspree and HRH. I cannot agree that Onsite hotel at Universal was overpriced. HRH was much cheaper than Contemporary, a Disney Deluxe, but of equal quality. The FOTL was wonderful. I much prefer it to Disney's EMH. I know what quality is as I have stayed in 5 star hotels and resorts all over the world from London to Paris, all over Asia and even in North Africa. So I am not only comparing hotels in the USA.

Universal is different from Disney. They are both wonderful in their own way. We will be going to Orlando again end of this year. We will only stay at Contemporary and HRH this time, and I can tell you the HRH deluxe room cost about half of my Comtemporary Tower TPV room. We will stay in both because they are different but are both good and worth staying in their own rights.

 

[back2disney]

I love Universal. It is more hip. I think DLR is #1 based on ride density though, Universal/IOA #2, DisneyWorld a distant transportation hog #3

 

[AJA]

I'm sorry you didn't have a good time. I can see how spending one very crowded day can give the wrong impression. I've never been to IOA during peak times (our first trip was in January before HP and then again last Sept). It's very different w/o the crowds.

You should give the hotels a shot though, before judging them. I can assure you they aren't overpriced. Our rates in Sept and now again in May are around $160 per night, compare that to AKL at Disney and it's almost half price (and AKL isn't even one of the more expensive Disney deluxe hotels!).

Of course off property hotels can be just as nice and are more inexpensive but that's true for any large theme park.

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience. But you visited during one the busiest times of the year. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is the most popular attraction in Orlando right now... people are traveling all over the world to see it. It is pretty much a given that it is going to be packed.

I found it ironic that you said some of the TMs are good enough to work at Disney, because many of them do. I'm often puzzled by those who claim Disney's CMs are far better than the Universal TMs. They are very often the same people! Or, they've worked at one or the other in the past.

 

[JessicaR]

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience. But you visited during one the busiest times of the year. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is the most popular attraction in Orlando right now... people are traveling all over the world to see it. It is pretty much a given that it is going to be packed.

I found it ironic that you said some of the TMs are good enough to work at Disney, because many of them do. I'm often puzzled by those who claim Disney's CMs are far better than the Universal TMs. They are very often the same people! Or, they've worked at one or the other in the past.

Excellent post. Both points covered bears repeating. Harry Potter is CRAZY get there at gate open or park closing. Often there are employees working both parks or have at some point.

I also am sorry your experience was not up to par - hope you can repeat it differently.

 

[baileybrad]

We were in Florida visiting my father. We decided to drive up to Orlando and spend a day at Islands of Adventure. We had never been to Islands of Adventure, nor have we been to Universal Studios. We went on Tuesday.

I purchased and printed tickets online to save time. It still took us about 40 minutes waiting in line to get in. Come on Universal, you can do better than that!

We went first to "Wizarding World" for the Harry Potter stuff. Since our son is really into Harry Potter, this was the main reason we were there. Everything in this section was well done, but it was not made to handle the large number of people. The castle was impressive, but I saw some people who had stood in line for 1-2 hours not be able to ride because the bar wouldn't pull down enough. These people were not that big. One was a high school football player in great shape. Those seats were very poorly designed. I spoke to that football player later and he said that castle ride was the only ride in the whole park that he couldn't ride. Too bad.

The rides that had special effects were done very well.
But there were various parts around the park that were in dire need of paint and repair.

Universal has no idea what crowd control is. They need to develop an understanding. I'm wondering if they even have a limit to the number of people they will let in. If they do have a number limit, then it needs to be much lower than it was on the day we went, because the park was not made to handle that number of people.

I will come clean here and admit that we love Disney. We've been in Disney when it was both very crowded and when it was not. Disney does a much better job of crowd control. And part of that is by using the Fast Pass system.

It is quite evident that Universal missed the whole point of Disney's Fast Pass system. Universal just saw it as a way to make extra money. Some of those poor people with Universal's version of fast pass still had to wait over 30 minutes for some rides....and they had the privilege of paying $20 more to wait over 30 minutes!! (or stay at the overpriced resorts) It is quite evident that Universal doesn't care much about returning customers.

Some of the workers at Islands of Paradise were just plain rude. I think some were rejects from 7-eleven The nice workers really stood out at Islands of Paradise. Some were good enough to even work at Disney

The highlight of the day was when we got to the hotel. We stayed at Hyatt Place. It was the most wonderful experience. The room was outstanding and clean! The TV was huge and had every possible type of connection built into the wall. It was the best "free" breakfast we've ever had. I highly recommend Hyatt Place at Universal.

We live a little over an hour away from Cedar Point in Ohio (the roller coaster capital of the world!!). With having Cedar Point close by, and going to Disney....there is nothing we'd miss by not going to Universal again. We (wife, son, myself) agree that while we're glad we saw the Harry Potter stuff, we really have no desire to ever go back to Universal. Many people must disagree with us since Universal continues to operate, but I won't be spending our money there again in the near future.

[One positive thing.....Accidentally discovered that you get a AAA discount throughout the park....food, merchandise, etc.)

We just returned from a visit to the 2 Universal parks over the very busy Spring Break period. This poster provided some helpful information. But some of the information could be considered a bit misleading.

1- Poster was smart to purchase tickets on-line ahead of time. However, he most likely did not arrive at the gates around 1/2 hour prior to posted opening. This resulted in his family arriving to visit the most popular attraction in Orlando at this time much later than needed to have an opportunity for a enjoyable and successful visit.

2- Poster most likely visited during the Easter period and only visited one day. This is a recipe for disaster. Also, it appears that the poster did not understand how the various components of WWofHP were set-up and the best way to avoid the bulk of the crowds. Also, some of the other folks visiting at the same time were not aware that the FJ ride has seats available for testing the ability of one's body-size to fit on the ride prior to waiting in-line. Since several of the rides at the parks are extremely high-speed and can be dangerous, it is imperative that riders are secured safely in the seat. Many of Universal's rides have test seats located outside the attraction that can be tested for fit prior to waiting in line to ride.

3- We, too, love Disney. We are DVC owners. We have taken over 40 vacations to Disney in the past 15 years. We have taken 2 trips to Universal over the past 4 years, staying in 2 of their hotels. We love both experiences. The vibe is different at each location. One is not necessarily superior to the other. They are just different. Many of the rides at Universal are just flat-out cutting edge. Just like the new experiences at the Disney Studios' updated Star Tours ride is now wonderful, along with the newer Toy Story Mania attraction. The Disney experience does seem to cater to small children much more so than Universal. The IOA Dr.Suessland is amazing but there is not an abundance of things to do for the very small ones at Universal. We are always amazed at lack of strollers in the Universal Parks vs. the Disney Parks.

4- New attractions like WWofHP and the before mentioned Toy Story Mania attraction produce crazy crowds. That is just a fact of life. But as the poster points out, the WWofHP area is amazing and should be visited by any fan of the Potter series. The issue with WWofHP is that it is literally a destination section of that park. Can anybody who has ever visited the Fantasyland area of the MK deny when it is crowded at peak times that it can be nearly impossible to make one's way around the area. That is why we would never visit Fantaslyland during such a crush time at the peak hours of say 11:00AM to 4:00PM. The same strategy for visiting the WWofHP applies during busy times.

5- The poster flat-out does not understand express pass and fails to bring up how FP at Disney is a contributing cause of the awful waits that can occur at Soar'in and Toy Story Mania later in the day. Once the FPs at Disney are distributed...some times as early as 10:30AM for Soar'in and TSM then you are relegated to waits of multiple hours in the stand by line just like the wait at FJ. We love the express pass system in place for Universal hotel guests. It is awesome. It does only help w/2 of the rides in the WWofHP but proper planning can take care of the rest. Will planning solve all the issues surrounding a 1 day visit, arriving late, during a busy time....sadly no. The FP system at Disney has some advantages if you are in the park early in the morning to get one and/or prepared to stay in the park planning a good portion of your day around a few specific rides. And jury will need to report back on the FP system once Disney implements changes that may soon be on the way.

6- We were fortunate to find the Universal workers that we dealt over our 4 night stay to be both pleasant and courteous. We find the majority of the workers that we interact with at Disney to also be very helpful and most courteous. We have had the occasional time or two when this was not the case. But these folks are all human and we are all subject to having a bad moment. Do not see the need to blast an entire workforce, especially, when no specifics are given. The crowds during busy times in the parks are not the fault of the workers.

7- We find that the Universal Parks do a reasonable job of making their parks presentable. Disney is the gold standard by which all things, themepark related, are forever judged. Thank you, again, Mr.Disney.

8- We have been fortunate to visit Cedar Point on mulitple occasions. (we lived in the Cincinnati area for many years) It is a great park. The location on Lake Erie is great. While a great park, CP is not nearly as "clean" as Universal. Not a big deal, but when that many folks visit things can bet messy. CP also has lines that can be beyond bad just like any other popular park. Some of the coasters at CP are amazing. But the attractions at Universal and Disney are the best of the best.

9- Glad the poster loved his hotel stay at the Hyatt Place. Hyatt Place has a good product. But if the poster had chosen to stay 1 night at a Universal hotel his family would have had access to express pass for 2 days during their visit. Would have enjoyed early entry to the WWofHP for 2 days. Would have had the ability to relax at their hotel during the busy part of their primary day at Universal. Yes, it would have meant adding a 2nd day of park admission but it would have also allowed them to avoid the busy period of the day at the WWofHP. They would have gotten a better understanding of how express pass works. Enjoyed all that both parks have to offer. Been able to visit a restaurant at City Walk at their leisure. Gotten a better understanding that comparing CP to Universal is apples and oranges. They would, however, missed out on that really cool TV at the HP hotel. We were at the Hard Rock Hotel for 4 nights and never even turned our flat screen TV on. We were enjoying all that our resort and the parks had to offer.

10- Lastly, it once again cannot be stressed enough, how proper planning allows visitors to have a superior visit and better expectation of what is in store when they visit the various themeparks. Money is hard to come by so not getting the most out of a visit can be very frustrating. I do believe that frustration is at the root of some of the observations made by the original poster. The perk that the poster pointed out about the AAA discount on many of the food establishments and the gift shops is something that can be found when one researches the Universal experience. We used this perk multiple times during our recent stay. Many of the restaurants at City Walk accept this discount. We used it a Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville, saving over $10 on our meal.

 

[kingken]

we love universal and this year we are staying onsite, but in past we have never had any problems with crowds as we have been in aug sept oct even labour day was'nt too bad, i was expecting huge waits in harry potter but we strolled around and got on most rides within 20 minutes, in fact the locker room was more trouble, we love the relaxed feel of universal
dont get me wrong we love disney but much prefer universal, try a differant time of year