Split Vacation....I've made up my mind, what about you?

[alanmason]

So my wife and I just got back from our 7 day vacation to Orlando with our 16 month old baby boy and this year, we did a split trip. Four days at WDW Resort, and three days at Universal. We stayed off-site so we wouldn't have to move all of our things between WDW and Universal. I was torn at the end of the vacation thinking which one I liked better, they were both amazing experiences in different ways, but I think I've come up with my final call...

In the long run, Disney won my heart...but this brings up on overall issue that I have...the experience differs between park to park at the WDW. I know that this has been discussed numerous times on the shows, but I can't begin to tell you the difference a cast member's smile makes on our experience. Don't get me wrong, a lot of cast members were excellent, but some just really seem like they are hating every second of their jobs. IMO, at some parks, every cast member seemed to be doing such an awesome job (Hollywood Studios was a great cast member experience, even on marathon Sunday), while cast members at other parks were really not supportive or attentive to the needs of the guests. Magic Kingdom, overall seemed just boring to be at and that every guest seemed to be interrupting the CM conversations with each other.

On the other hand, as soon as we arrived at Universal, just to the parking lot, their team members were a lot more involved in making sure the experience was enjoyable...it didn't seem just "understood" that we were going to have fun, they wanted to be a part of the reason we had fun.

Disney is a magical place. For all four parks it seemed like each arrival is special. Whether it's through the monorail or ferry at MK, or the tram rides at Epcot, AK, HS, it's just a full experience. Half of the fun of going to the parks was watching my son's eyes light up when we got to the main gate. Even the experiences that we had visiting the resorts and the AMAZING production that is runDisney Marathon Weekend was spectacular.

At Universal we really enjoyed the ease it was to get through the parks, Only having to check the bag once made it a good experience when you have a toddler, and the Starbucks line NOT BEING AN HOUR LONG really helps. The single rider line at Universal is a god send when you have a napping kid, I just wish that WDW would expand their single rider line selection to include more so that it would better accommodate young families or individuals that can't rely on FastPass+ to get through the day.(you never know when a kids meltdown will strike, and they can be deadly if you are waiting in line to ride Peter Pan's Flight)

Honestly, I feel like it doesn't matter how much time I spend at Disney, I'll never get enough. But with Universal, 3 days is all I need to get the full Universal experience (which is still a great experience). I look forward to going back and doing another split vacation in the future! How about you, what do you think about the split vacation idea and your family?

 

[prudence64]

We had a miserable experience at islands of adventure 4 years ago and haven't been back. Now that my daughter is older and likes thrill rides we may try a split stay, but probably still only try 1 day at universal and try the main side. We drive down so think we will still stay at disney and just drive to universal for the day. We will miss out on express pass but they don't offer it for Harry potter anyway as I understand.

 

[Sargeant Tibbs]

I hate to say this but I think the college program is to blame for the increasing negative attitude and disinterestedness seen in so many Disney CMs. Not to say the more mature cast members are never rude but I've seen it more with the college kids. I hate to say this because I think the college program is a cool idea.

And since I have an inside scoop on things in WDW I have it on good authority that overall there is a huge dichotomy in the work ethic between generations. There are exceptions.

As far as Universal goes...well they are probably more attentive because they're paid more

 

[pointybubble]

I hate to say this but I think the college program is to blame for the increasing negative attitude and disinterestedness seen in so many Disney CMs. Not to say the more mature cast members are never rude but I've seen it more with the college kids. I hate to say this because I think the college program is a cool idea.

And since I have an inside scoop on things in WDW I have it on good authority that overall there is a huge dichotomy in the work ethic between generations. There are exceptions.

As far as Universal goes...well they are probably more attentive because they're paid more

As a former college program participant I can definitely see this. When I arrived I was blown away at how many of the other participants didn't see themselves as "Disney" people and really just took it because it was a paid internship (like $7 an hour at the time) and they were required to do one by their university. We had free admission to the parks and my roommates never went...often I would coax them into visiting with me, and it was their first time ever in the park! Obviously this is not every participant, but it was very prevalent and wasn't what I was expecting after an extensive interview and screening process.

I'm only 25, but I am a manager of a retail store that hires a significant number of seasonal workers in the 16-18 year old range. Even though I'm pretty young myself, I grew up in the cusp of the technology dependency age- the very last few years before children were using cell phones. It is hard to find kids in the 18-21 age range who care about a minimum wage job as it is. When you add in the contrast in how generations interact socially even from kids born in 1990 to kids in 1995, it's really not surprising to me that others are experiencing CMs who aren't what they used to be.

I would also add that the program is rough. My roommates and I were no stranger to 12 or even 16 hour days in which they were tasked to something as basic as slicing cheese the entire time. You are sharing an apartment with strangers, for better or for worse, with no privacy. You can't even hang pictures on the walls and you are subject to random inspections. I've never worked for a company that had so many rules, all of them strictly enforced, and with those rules following you home. So I think a lot of kids don't know what they are getting themselves into as well and aren't prepared for that. I know I wasn't, to be honest, I struggled with it and I feel for these CMs.

 

[mummabear]

Well this upcoming trip will be our first time ever not going to Universal on a trip, usually we do all the parks (well not LEGOLAND).
We discovered Busch gardens last trip and enjoyed it so much we dropped a Disney day to go back to BG for a 2nd day.
Well I enjoy Universal-particularly IOA I don't feel it is good value for money/per day compared to others,
-it doesn't have a great rider swap program (I have had others disagree with this but my experience between 2 trips is that they won't let a stroller into the waiting room, which if you have a child asleep in it leaves you screwed plus it means the kids sit in a small cell for x amount of time just waiting on their parents compared to Disney where I can take the kids on another ride or character meet or watch a show or something),
- the food isn't great,
-the characters aren't great for my kids to meet (and by this I mean there are loads of kids that would be super happy to meet Dora but my lots have no idea who Dora, Scooby or SpongeBob are) with the exception of Curious George who we love(like LOVE), LA's Despicable Me area is great but doesn't take up a huge amount of time and there just isn't a lot for 3 kids 5 and under (not their target market),
- I appreciate that the Harry Potter areas are amazing but we have 0 interest in Harry Potter ourselves.
-Individually I don't mind the 3D screen motion rides (or whatever this ride system is called) I think Transformers is really cool (I really don't like the Simpsons one) but I hate that that is what most of their rides are now. One or two fine but all of them blah!

I'm sure we will be back when our kids are older/taller but it won't be for awhile, in the meantime we will now make the drive to Tampa on our Disney off days.

 

[AllieBoo]

I hate to say this but I think the college program is to blame for the increasing negative attitude and disinterestedness seen in so many Disney CMs. Not to say the more mature cast members are never rude but I've seen it more with the college kids. I hate to say this because I think the college program is a cool idea.

And since I have an inside scoop on things in WDW I have it on good authority that overall there is a huge dichotomy in the work ethic between generations. There are exceptions.

As far as Universal goes...well they are probably more attentive because they're paid more

Unfortunately, the lack of work ethic in the younger generations is not confined to Disney- I see it everyday at my job and it makes me sick!

 

[bumbershoot]

We had a miserable experience at islands of adventure 4 years ago and haven't been back. Now that my daughter is older and likes thrill rides we may try a split stay, but probably still only try 1 day at universal and try the main side. We drive down so think we will still stay at disney and just drive to universal for the day. We will miss out on express pass but they don't offer it for Harry potter anyway as I understand.

IMO to do it as a one day experience is setting you up for another less than stellar experience. Onsite, more than a day, really getting to experience the place, IMO is the best way to try to get a great time.


Op wait until your little dude is older and can ride everything at uni. That's where we are now.
I haven't encountered CMs who truly FEEL the land they are in like I've experienced at uni. Talking to the HP TMs you start to think they ARE wizards. Talk I the Jurassic Park Discovery Center people and you are there at InGen before the first movie. Amazing.

 

[disneywalkers]

We do this every September. We spend 10 days doing Disney parks, 3 at Universal, 2 at Busch Gardens and last year added 2 at Legoland. This year we are buying universal season passes and trading those legoland days for more at universal. My kids are crazy about Busch gardens and would love to spend more time there. I think you get a different feel at all of them and I can't imagine being on Orlando area and not trying them all out. It's been a few years since we've done sea world but we live only 3.5 hours from sea world San Antonio so we don't do the Orlando one but every few years.

 

[kathy884]

So many fun choices in Orlando -- My next trip is going to be a mini SeaWorld get-a-way // Staying at the Marriott Residence Inn SeaWorld. Purchasing a Discovery Cove package -- non Dolphin swim one is $199 and includes 14 day admission to Aquatica and SeaWorld. The one with the dolphin swim which we'll get for our son is $289. The hotel has shuttles to SeaWorld and Aquatica, and you could walk to SeaWorld. Discovery Cove is a $7 cab ride -- figure $10 with tip. Day 1 -- SeaWorld // Day 2 Discovery Cove // Day 3 a.m. and early afternoon Aquatica -- back to SeaWorld late afternoon / evening and doing Dine with Shamu

We love Disney // really like Universal too // I think though SeaWorld is our favorite. Anyway our next mini trip will be all about the SeaWorld parks that are right in Orlando.

 

[kathy884]

All the parks too to save money are hiring a lot of part time seasonal workers, so they don't have to provide benefits. Also the Disney College program is almost like slave labor for Disney. The kids still love it and have a great experience, but they do get some pretty nasty shifts. -- working till midnight -- and then getting an early morning shift back to back to that was not at all uncommon for my nephew who was in the program. They get the shifts the full time and part time workers don't want. With the kids not having cars and using the buses that sometimes means only five hour of sleep or so with some of the ugly scheduling. // Still I know my nephew would always be the type of cast member who would always have a smile and go that extra mile. // We were in Orlando for a few days in December -- the week before Christmas week with more moderate crowds. We did a party at the MK, a park to park day at Universal, and a weekend day at SeaWorld that included all their evening Christmas shows (so it was really just a mini sampling of the various parks). We saw lots of smile from staff at all three parks with in this trip the Universal staff as the ones who did the most to go above and beyond. // If anything knowing how little staff are paid, I was impressed with the customer service. With the vast number or parks and personnel I can see that there could be different experiences for different people.

 

[Meriweather]

We had a terrible time at IoA this year.
We went with DS, DDIL and DGD (17 mo). There was pretty much nothing for her to do.
We ended up spending all that money to walk around the parks.
We did ride the train and she did get to go on the carousel.
DS is a big guy and couldn't fit in any of the coasters.
DDIL and DS went back the next day (we had 2 day tickets). DH and I opted to toss our tickets and take DGD to MK for the day. So much better.
Disney is our home. We will just go there.
We have been to USF/IOA many times and always find them to be a 1/2 day park for us.
The Harry Potter areas are themed great......but still not that much to do.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I think the Universal parks and the Disney parks are all great. I think of them as six great parks, not Disney and Universal. None are better or worse, just different.

 

[BeerMe]

We're doing a very split vacation this year - 1 week at Hilton Head Island for a little golf and to visit Savannah; 1 week at Universal; 4 weeks at Disney.

It's nice to be retired.

Leaving on Wednesday! Staying at SOG for 1 week the rest of the time in different condos.

 

[jtowntoflorida]

I haven't been to a Universal park since we attended the IoA soft opening in 1999, but I'm very much looking forward to visiting in 2015. So, I have no opinion one way or another regarding the experience in the parks there.

HOWEVER, it was our experience in December that the CMs at DHS are the best on property, and the MK CMs left something to be desired. For the first time ever, we saw a lot of CMs talking with each other instead of interacting with guests, and they just generally didn't seem as into the "show" as the DHS CMs. I wonder if it's because of DHS's focus on the movies/entertaining? I also think that the Osborne Lights just seem to make everyone seem happier when they're going on...it's very festive and having finally experienced them, I can see why so many people love them. MK, on the other hand, seems more like CMS are just there directing traffic or something.

 

[goodferry]

I hate to say this because we have ALWAYS been a Disney family, we are long time annual passholders and own DVC, but Disney is not doing the job it used to. From the reservation process, resorts, parks, dining, everything is so much harder at Disney than it is at Universal. The reservation process is ridiculous. My Disney Experience is a hot mess 90% of the time. It took me 40 minutes just to make a 3 night reservation at the Beach Club, and in the end I wound up having to call anyways, which also took forever. Universal, five minutes and done, no issues.
Park touring, there is nothing like the front of the line access you get when you stay on site at Universal. You don't HAVE to do rope drop, no dealing with scheduling your rides months in advance, it's like an actual vacation instead of a constant stream of rushing from attraction to attraction praying you can finally get the My Disney Experience app to work so you can manage all 3 of your Fastpasses. Dining reservations? Not a problem. Open Table is so easy to use, no credit card hold, no punishment for canceling a reservation last minute.
It seems now like Disney cast members seem are just trying to get through the day instead of trying to make your experience wonderful, and I don't just mean the kids. We had lunch in the Magic Kingdom last trip and my 10 year old was chatting with the manager after our meal and she gave her a Golden Fastpass and told her she could use it to go to the front of any line she wanted that had Fastpass. My daughter asked "Even to see Anna and Elsa" to which she said yes. So off we went to meet the Princesses. We get to the Fadtpass line and there was a CP student and a trainer. Zoe holds up her Fastpass with a big grin, the trainer rolls her eyes and looks at the trainee and says "Let me show you how to handle this" she turns to my daughter and says "You are NOT allowed to use these here, you are going to have to leave and try it at one of the RIDES" she acted like we were trying to pull a fast one. My daughter replied "I am sorry, the lady that gave it to me said it would be good here. I didn't know it wasn't allowed. The trainee says "Well, now you know." It's ok to have rules and we absolutely wouldn't have tried to use it if we thought it was "illegal" but there's a polite way of "dealing" with people and that wasn't one. Did this ruin our trip? No. Did I think she should have broken the rules and let us go? No. But this is one example of how NOT to provide good customer service. She should have said something like " I am sorry sweetie, but I am not allowed to take these here. Do you like Peter Pan? Cause that ride is just around the way, and you could use it there. Also if you want to see Anna and Elsa you can stay for the afternoon parade, they will be there." We are going back this month, but unless something has seriously changed, it will be our last trip for a long time.

 

[RebeccaRabbit]

Personally we don't like to do split stays because of the ticket pricing, and because changing hotels/experiences feels really "disruptive" to me. I prefer to mentally get in a spot and stay there and relish for a while. This past triip we did an all-Universal trip (well, Uni + Seaworld). It was fun and something different, but overall we didn't like it as much as Disney personally. Uni is definitely worth seeing - especially the HP areas - and if your party is mostly teens/young adults who prefer thrill rides I bet they would prefer Universal.

I do really get what you are saying about the difference between Universal and Disney employees, though. I was blown away by how sincere, friendly, and personable most of the Universal employees were. The ones in the HP areas were really in character, and seemed to sincerely get a kick out of playing it up with the kids. At Disney we certainly encountered some starry-eyed CMs who were thrilled to be there and pass on the love, but many, many seemed beaten down by the grind, like they were swaying with the monotony and about to pass out. The conditions you guys describe for the college program are terrible! I really think Disney should care more about the well-being and happiness of its workers - if not because they actually care about people (I'm too cynical to hope for that), at least because it directly affects the guest experience and thus the quality of their product.

Also, curious what Universal does differently that is so successful. Is it really as simple as they pay more? Do they have better working conditions? Are they doing a better job recruiting the right kind of people? Is lower crowd volume/shorter hours a factor? I saw plenty of very young TMs at Universal (if anything, MORE young TMs at Universal than Disney), so you can't really say the difference between the parks boils down to a generational work ethic thing.

 

[Laketravis]

Five years ago it would be a rare comment indeed for anyone to post that they weren't spending all of their time during their visit in Orlando at WDW.

Now, it seems to be quite common. I couldn't help but notice a few weeks ago how many guests in the USO parks were wearing Magic Bands. I'm sure the staff there were pleased to see that.

And even though I've had my own frustrations with the "next generation" of labor market that doesn't seem to share much of a work ethic or devotion/dedication/ambition/take-your-pick-of-adjective, I will say that in some regards I don't blame them. I can see how it would be hard to embrace any employer who's primary intent seems to be to figure out a way to reduce the cost of your employment or even eliminate your position from the moment you were hired. So while they may seem disillusioned from the outside, they may very well have reason to be.

 

[Laketravis]

Also, curious what Universal does differently that is so successful. Is it really as simple as they pay more? Do they have better working conditions? Are they doing a better job recruiting the right kind of people? Is lower crowd volume/shorter hours a factor? I saw plenty of very young TMs at Universal (if anything, MORE young TMs at Universal than Disney), so you can't really say the difference between the parks boils down to a generational work ethic thing.

I don't know if it's what they've done but perhaps it's what they haven't done. I don't think the heads of Universal have publicly stated that their focus was on reducing labor and benefit costs long term. Disney has, and while that's just a C-level statement you can be sure it's only a whisper compared to the internal shout that carries the same message.

Not sure how I'd feel working for a company who's stated objective is to minimize my "burden" on them.

 

[broadwaybookworm]

Having just gotten back from a split stay, I still prefer Disney. While the rides at Universal are good, a lot of them were rather same-y (motion simulators, you are newbies to the world being dragged along by the characters). Also I really prefer the Magic Band system at the world. We had Universal Express but on our last night I lost my pass and couldn't get a new one, so I couldn't go on some of our favorite rides.

As for the employees, while I'm sure some find Disney to be a grind, in my stay, the employees were just as nice at Universal as they were in the World.

 

[Laketravis]

Also I really prefer the Magic Band system at the world. We had Universal Express but on our last night I lost my pass and couldn't get a new one, so I couldn't go on some of our favorite rides.

Between our room keys, annual passes, express passes, and city walk passes, I wondered many times why couldn't they just put it all on one media like WDW does?