Spent 2 days, not a fan

[keishashadow]

for us it was the opposite. we didnt really wait much at WDW parks. Dont get me wrong, im not saying Universal is a bad place. Maybe it was just the heat and there seemed to be hordes of school groups or something. All these people in the same colored shirts with a leader carrying a matching flag.

we tend to stay out of the Magic Kingdom, it seems to always be crowded. doesnt matter when you go.

fyi there are still a few 'dead' times of the year, even at MK (early September comes to mind).

I notice your thread count is low. Not sure if you researched your trip to plan the best one for your family based upon your needs/wants. Most people i talk to who were dissatisfied with their Orlando vacations admit they just 'wing it' and hope for the best which typically leads to a frustrating experience.

 

[damo]

I am worried i will be disappointed. We are heading to US next week for a day. I got the 3 day passes from Costco and plan to use one day per year as we come down every year.

We are huge Disney fans.

I haven't ever been to US Orlando, but have been to US Hollywood as we moved from SoCal to NC several years ago.

I guess I will find out next week!

Dawn

How old are your boys? USF/IOA are such boy parks!!! Dinosaurs, superheroes, comics, Sponge Bob, Simpsons, Men in Black, Terminator, Shrek, Animal Actors Show, Horror Makeup Show, playgrounds with places to run, play, and climb, water rides... it is so much more geared to boys!!!

 

[Planogirl]

I am worried i will be disappointed. We are heading to US next week for a day. I got the 3 day passes from Costco and plan to use one day per year as we come down every year.

We are huge Disney fans.

I haven't ever been to US Orlando, but have been to US Hollywood as we moved from SoCal to NC several years ago.

I guess I will find out next week!

Dawn

Just don't go in there expecting to be disappointed. Universal is a different experience. It's just as good as the other place to me but it is different.

I agree that there is so much there for boys. Or girls who prefer "boy" things.

 

[damo]

Just don't go in there expecting to be disappointed. Universal is a different experience. It's just as good as the other place to me but it is different.

I agree that there is so much there for boys. Or girls who prefer "boy" things.

Yes. There are lots of girls who aren't big into princesses.

 

[pokee99]

Yes. There are lots of girls who aren't big into princesses.

Yeah, and then sometimes they outgrow the princess phase. My daughter was almost 6 when we went to DL, and she did the whole BBB make-over, complete with Cinderella dress, shoes, etc. Then we went for lunch at Ariel's Grotto and she got to meet and pose for pictures will all the princesses. She was in heaven!

DH said she was too young for DL. Actually - she was just the perfect age. 1 year later, she thinks princesses are dumb. That (very expensive) Cinderella outfit, plus an unworn Aurora outfit, collect dust in the closet. DL/WDW would kind of be a waste for her now, in light of that.

She is 7 now, and will be almost 8 when we go to the Universal parks, and I think she'll LOVE all the TV/Movie tie-in rides. She'll probably be too chicken for the BIG roller coasters or scary rides, but she'll likely love the rest!

I am soooo excited about going! I hope I am not setting my expectations too high, but exactly what you've posted Damo is exactly what I love about theme parks, so I think this could be my dream come true!!!

 

[RMulieri]

Yeah, and then sometimes they outgrow the princess phase. My daughter was almost 6 when we went to DL, and she did the whole BBB make-over, complete with Cinderella dress, shoes, etc. Then we went for lunch at Ariel's Grotto and she got to meet and pose for pictures will all the princesses. She was in heaven!

DH said she was too young for DL. Actually - she was just the perfect age. 1 year later, she thinks princesses are dumb. That (very expensive) Cinderella outfit, plus an unworn Aurora outfit, collect dust in the closet. DL/WDW would kind of be a waste for her now, in light of that.

She is 7 now, and will be almost 8 when we go to the Universal parks, and I think she'll LOVE all the TV/Movie tie-in rides. She'll probably be too chicken for the BIG roller coasters or scary rides, but she'll likely love the rest!

I am soooo excited about going! I hope I am not setting my expectations too high, but exactly what you've posted Damo is exactly what I love about theme parks, so I think this could be my dream come true!!!

We took our daughter at age 8..She has also outgrown the Disney princesses ( a few years ago she was Princess everything).She LOVED universal and IOA.SO much so that she was given the option between Universal and Disney for our next trip, she picked Universal ( though we will do a day at Epcot and MK and stay at Universal).She wasn't tall enough for most of the huge rides,is a bit of a scaredy cat but still had a blast.

 

[CentralFloridian99]

I love both, but if i had to choose one, I'd give the edge to Disney. I don't mind driving from park to park. I understand UO isnt for everyone, especially the non thrillseekers. I have fun at both and I don't need to complain

 

[MrsDuck]

My family spent a week in Orlando, two of which we spent at both Universal parks. We were pretty excited to go. My wife and kids had never been and the last time I went to Universal Studios was in 2000. I had never been to IOA as well.

I am not going to say the parks were bad. We just found them to be really loud; smokers seemed to be everywhere and honestly there just wasn’t much to see. IOA was ok. The Harry Potter area was nice, but gets packed fast. The other areas were ok as well. I was disappointed with Universal studios. I miss the King Kong and Jaws attraction.

For my family, I thought it was overpriced for what there was to see and do. We have agreed to spend our time at WDW (which we did for 4 days).
Anyone else leave disappointed with Universal?

OP, you essentially summed up our feelings about Universal perfectly. We aren't huge fans and really only go for WWoHP and HHN.

Different strokes for different folks I guess!

 

[Metro West]

I love both, but if i had to choose one, I'd give the edge to Disney. I don't mind driving from park to park. I understand UO isnt for everyone, especially the non thrillseekers. I have fun at both and I don't need to complain

I can't say I "love" either Disney or Universal...they are both huge corporations that want my money and time so "love" isn't the word for my feelings towards them.

I used to have an AP to Disney but it got too expensive to keep both APs especially when they renewed around the same time so Disney went bye-bye. I don't miss it much at all...although I do miss the Haunted Mansion but that's about it. I guess I'm about the only person on the DIS who doesn't gush when I talk about Disney.

I enjoyed my constant visits to Disney and will probably get an AP again sometime in the future but I can live w/o Disney for a while.

 

[CentralFloridian99]

I can't say I "love" either Disney or Universal...they are both huge corporations that want my money and time so "love" isn't the word for my feelings towards them.

I used to have an AP to Disney but it got too expensive to keep both APs especially when they renewed around the same time so Disney went bye-bye. I don't miss it much at all...although I do miss the Haunted Mansion but that's about it. I guess I'm about the only person on the DIS who doesn't gush when I talk about Disney.

I enjoyed my constant visits to Disney and will probably get an AP again sometime in the future but I can live w/o Disney for a while.

Money is a big factor in Disney APs. I just got seasonal passes.

 

[BryceMc]

I LOVE Universal. I've been going there for as long as I can remember, and as a 16 year old, I love it even more. I can't wait to take my kids there when I'm older and ride Revenge of the Mummy with them, or see their giddy reactions after they ride Spider-Man. Now, I love Disney too, but I prefer Universal.

Next trip in around 15 days!

 

[DawnM]

14, 12, and 8.

We have decided to go on Tuesday of next week. Hopefully it won't be too crowded.

Dawn

How old are your boys? USF/IOA are such boy parks!!! Dinosaurs, superheroes, comics, Sponge Bob, Simpsons, Men in Black, Terminator, Shrek, Animal Actors Show, Horror Makeup Show, playgrounds with places to run, play, and climb, water rides... it is so much more geared to boys!!!

 

[yankeepenny]

I just got back from 2 weeks. I spent 5+ days at Uni and the rest at Disney.
I was not disappointed with the parks at Uni. You (the OP) mentioned smokers.

while I do NOT smoke, I dont understand what that had to do with the parks.

Would you mind elaborating a bit more? I am trying to understand what you are saying, and I am listening.

 

[medeng99]

Would you mind elaborating a bit more? I am trying to understand what you are saying, and I am listening.

I don’t smoke therefore I don’t care for it. People didn’t seem to adhere to a “smoking area.”

I really can’t believe this thread is still going. I was simply asking if others had a similar experience as we did. I am not saying one park is better than the other, they are different. Universal was not how I remembered it, so not what I expected.

 

[Disnewbie_N_MO]

For us, we're done with Disney. Too much advance planning needed, too crowded, too hard to get around between parks, the ginormous parking lots, the long tram/boat/bus/monorail rides, and - drum roll please - worst of all, the waits. You wait for everything at Disney. Not saying you don't wait some times at Uni, it just seems worse at the Mouse parks and restaurants. FOTL and the proximity of the parks to each other really helps cut down waiting at Uni.

Our last two trips were exclusively Universal, and our next trip (for HP2 and Transformers) will also be only at Uni. Just spent five days there, coulda used a couple more. . .

You described my feelings in a nutshell. We did Disney in 2007 and my DW and I went to US/IOA last spring. We cannot wait to take our kids this coming spring.

 

[Planogirl]

I don’t smoke therefore I don’t care for it. People didn’t seem to adhere to a “smoking area.”

I really can’t believe this thread is still going. I was simply asking if others had a similar experience as we did. I am not saying one park is better than the other, they are different. Universal was not how I remembered it, so not what I expected.

If you criticize a place that many people like then you should expect some differing opinions. I bet that you would see the same reaction on the Disney forums and really anywhere fans congregate.

 

[Rebekkap]

How old are your boys? USF/IOA are such boy parks!!! Dinosaurs, superheroes, comics, Sponge Bob, Simpsons, Men in Black, Terminator, Shrek, Animal Actors Show, Horror Makeup Show, playgrounds with places to run, play, and climb, water rides... it is so much more geared to boys!!!

I'm a girl, and I love superheroes, the Simpsons, Men in Black, Terminator, Shrek, the animal actors show, and water rides. I guess I didn't realize those things were only for boys

 

[damo]

I'm a girl, and I love superheroes, the Simpsons, Men in Black, Terminator, Shrek, the animal actors show, and water rides. I guess I didn't realize those things were only for boys

lol, I feel the same way! You know exactly what I meant. I was comparing to the other parks without actually saying I was comparing to the other parks.

 

[DOOM1001]

I'm a girl, and I love superheroes, the Simpsons, Men in Black, Terminator, Shrek, the animal actors show, and water rides. I guess I didn't realize those things were only for boys

This got me thinking about the new Fantasyland area at MK,princess meet and greet here,princess meet and greet there,Little Mermaid ride,the area looks great and the Little Mermaid ride was cute but until they open that Seven Dwarves coaster I'm not overly excited.My understanding also was that in the original plans the coaster wasn't even included and they realized they were making an area only geared to little girls so they added the coaster to at least add something everyone can enjoy.What's amazing is that the pork shank they serve at Gaston's Tavern is the greasiest,closest thing to caveman food available,can you imagine all the little girls in their princess costumes eating that monstrosity and wiping their hands on their dresses,seems like Disney found a way to sell a second princess costume after they wipe grease all over the first.

 

[hsmamato2]

we've done both places,...going back to Uni soon,but 2 days max is all my guys want to do to see new stuff....it just doesn't have the atmosphere of disney,kind of an encompassing park feel....the attractions are pretty good, but too many gaps in the 'reality' of the parks.... I don't know how to explain except Disney sort of takes you into their imaginary world,Universal doesn't. It should,but it doesn't,not like Disney. So I like it, but I don't love it.