To Universal or not to Universal?

[kimj88]

Hi All! Going in January to WDW for 8 nights...me, DH, DS9, DS4. It is DH and my first trip since 1997 and both DS9 and DS4's very first trip ever and it is a surprise for them. We were going to do one day at Universal, but are now reconsidering since it will be like $400 more just for the tickets and transportation there from WDW. Neither son is a big thrill ride lover so no worries missing that, but I know there are nice things there for the younger set too. Should we cough up the money and go for a day or just maybe try it next trip and stick around WDW? We do have 9 day park hoppers and I am sure we will have plenty to do. What do you all think?

 

[ghtx]

Stick with WDW.

You'll have plenty to do.

Spend the $400 some other way (e.g. the luau or the hoop-de-doo).

 

[shyjade]

As big Harry Potter fans I had planned on spending 1 day of our upcoming Disney trip at Universal. After looking at the rides available at IoA and the cost for 1 day tickets plus transportation, we decided to skip it again. We are NOT thrill ride fans...Haunted Mansion and BTMRR more our style...never been on RnRRC, ToT, EE, SM, Splash, etc. I just couldn't justify the cost to walk around Harry Potter, stand in a lot of lines, and drop a small fortune (souvenirs would be too tempting I'm sure).

I think it's a personal preference and only you can decide if it's worth it for your family but for mine, it's not.

 

[Skjhjb]

Last year was our first family trip to WDW. We only had 4 days...then 5 days down at my mom & stepdads condo in DelRay Beach. On our drive home we used up our fifth Disney ticket day, and then the next day went to Universal.

We are HUGE Harry Potter nuts, so that was our main reason for doing Universal. We loved the Potter section....the rest of the park? We kept commenting how 'it sure isn't Disney'.... We had a great day, but on our trip in May 2014, we won't be going back to Universal.

I'm a bit sad now that the Potter section has expanded, but we missed SO much at Disney, we want to spend our entire 7 days immersed in Disney.

Was it with it? Absolutely...I'm not a thrill ride gal either, but the castle ride in Potter was my favourite ride of our entire trip to Florida. Much preferred Disney as a park, but the Potter ride was my favourite ride of the trip.

 

[MrsDuck]

I'm a huge Harry Potter fan (the only good thing at Universal/IoA) and even the WWoHP doesn't do much for me. I say stay in Disney.

 

[Planogirl]

We're just the opposite. We find the Universal parks every bit as good if not often better than the Disney parks and certainly more cutting edge with new big attractions popping up on a constant basis. Universal is not Disney though so if you go looking for Disney you won't find it. You might want to ask on the Universal forum where the answers will often be the opposite from here.

That said, that is a lot of extra money for one day. Only you can decide if it's worth it but I'd have my doubts and I'm a huge Universal fan.

 

[KatieCharlotte]

We're going to Islands of Adventure for the first time because my older kids are big Harry Potter fans. Otherwise, I don't really think it's worth the extra money. If you plan to go back to Orlando, I would wait until they're a little older and can appreciate the thrill rides, especially since they've never been to Disney and will have plenty of new things to see and do.

 

[Mouse Fanatic]

I find Universal to be more of a thrill ride park, there are lots of roller coasters. Harry Potter land is pretty awesome, but not $400 dollars worth of awesome.

 

[GeneralTso]

DEFINITELY Universal!!!

They do an outstanding job, many aspects of that park are better than Disney.

The Harry Potter and Dr. Seuss lands are fantastic.
Eat at Three Broomsticks. It's big fun.

 

[Gr8t Fan]

Hi All! Going in January to WDW for 8 nights...me, DH, DS9, DS4. It is DH and my first trip since 1997 and both DS9 and DS4's very first trip ever and it is a surprise for them. We were going to do one day at Universal, but are now reconsidering since it will be like $400 more just for the tickets and transportation there from WDW. Neither son is a big thrill ride lover so no worries missing that, but I know there are nice things there for the younger set too. Should we cough up the money and go for a day or just maybe try it next trip and stick around WDW? We do have 9 day park hoppers and I am sure we will have plenty to do. What do you all think?

We're HUGE Universal fans in our family, but I'd say stick with Disney until your kids are a little older and (possibly) become a little more adventurous. Since you haven't been to WDW since 1997, there's going to be A LOT to see and taking a day away to see Universal (at a cost of $400!), might be cramming too much in. Also, the new HP area in Universal won't be ready until Summer, 2014, so I'd wait to see that too.

 

[dawnhaze]

I wouldn't spend that much on it if neither kid likes thrill rides. There are other attractions at US/IoA, but not $400 worth, IMO.

I had fun at Universal. I did everything I wanted in both parks in less than a full day in January, even with BTGs, and I do like thrill rides. (I don't like water rides, though, and there are some of those I skipped.)

 

[pepe of ohio]

We've been to WDW 49 different times and have no inkling to visit Universal... Major thrill rides are not our bag... We're from Ohio and have Cedar Point 2 hours away and haven't visited there in over 40 years...

We wouldn't spend that kind of money for one day, it takes time put of WDW, even though we do down days at Disney, we enjoy their grounds too much to travel outside the property....

We like the attractions at WDW that are mostly family orientated... We all get to ride, see and enjoy....to us there's a difference between an attraction and a ride... Disney's attractions are the best...!

 

[momandseandodisney]

Hi All! Going in January to WDW for 8 nights...me, DH, DS9, DS4. It is DH and my first trip since 1997 and both DS9 and DS4's very first trip ever and it is a surprise for them. We were going to do one day at Universal, but are now reconsidering since it will be like $400 more just for the tickets and transportation there from WDW. Neither son is a big thrill ride lover so no worries missing that, but I know there are nice things there for the younger set too. Should we cough up the money and go for a day or just maybe try it next trip and stick around WDW? We do have 9 day park hoppers and I am sure we will have plenty to do. What do you all think?

Myself and my DS 15 are doing a trip in Jan too, was thinking about universal but then i seen the ticket price, and I think I may decide against it, I am subscribing to this thread to see peoples thoughts on either side of the situation . . .

 

[Sheilby]

On my kids' first Disney trip in 2010 we opted not to do Universal. The boys were 10, 7 and 3. We did regret it a lot when we got to MCO to go home and saw the all the Harry Potter stuff everywhere. However, we had a great time in Disney and we really didn't want to miss a day there.

This year we are coughing up the money to go for one day, but we are not going to MVMCP in order to save some money. Kids are now 13, 10 and 6 (almost 7). We are HUGE Harry Potter fans. I have read them the books for years. They will have an amazing time at Disney. At the ages of 9 and 4 I'm not sure I would bother to go to Universal, especially on a first trip. There are more height restrictions in place, so it does depend a bit on their heights.

I would probably think about taking them in a few years after the Wizarding World expansion is finished.

 

[hgeisler]

Last year was our first family trip to WDW. We only had 4 days...then 5 days down at my mom & stepdads condo in DelRay Beach. On our drive home we used up our fifth Disney ticket day, and then the next day went to Universal.

We are HUGE Harry Potter nuts, so that was our main reason for doing Universal. We loved the Potter section....the rest of the park? We kept commenting how 'it sure isn't Disney'.... We had a great day, but on our trip in May 2014, we won't be going back to Universal.

I'm a bit sad now that the Potter section has expanded, but we missed SO much at Disney, we want to spend our entire 7 days immersed in Disney.

Was it with it? Absolutely...I'm not a thrill ride gal either, but the castle ride in Potter was my favourite ride of our entire trip to Florida. Much preferred Disney as a park, but the Potter ride was my favourite ride of the trip.

This! I like Universal, but my main beef with them is they replaced all the attractions from their classic movies (King Kong, Back to the Future, Alfred Hitchcock,Earthquake, etc.) and replaced all of them with attractions based on newer movies. That's one thing I enjoy about Disney, the sense of tradition is still there. While they add new attractions, they still pay homage to some of the old (eventhough I still miss Mr. Toad, Snow White, the OLD Figment, and Horizons).

 

[mrsclark]

If neither of your children is into thrill rides I would probably suggest skipping it. However, if anyone in your family is really a big HP fan it might be worth the visit.

DH and I just returned from a trip to FL, we did 9 nights at Disney and 2 nights at Universal. To each their own, but for us, while Universal has at least 2 rides that best Disney (Spider-Man and MIB), the overall theme, execution and level of detail and imagination is not (to us) anywhere near the level of Disney. The exception is WWOHP where the detail in the castle and Hogsmeade was absolutely amazing! That is why I stated that if you have big HP fan it is worth the trip. Just from the perspective of people without kids (and these were my observations only - I could be completely off base) Disney seems to have plenty to do for people of all ages, while US/IOA seems to be geared towards teens and adults (lots and lots of rides there have height restrictions). The crowd at Universal seemed older to us kid-wise than Disney too.

 

[mm1971]

We're just the opposite. We find the Universal parks every bit as good if not often better than the Disney parks and certainly more cutting edge with new big attractions popping up on a constant basis. Universal is not Disney though so if you go looking for Disney you won't find it. You might want to ask on the Universal forum where the answers will often be the opposite from here.

That said, that is a lot of extra money for one day. Only you can decide if it's worth it but I'd have my doubts and I'm a huge Universal fan.

Good post. It seems to come down to whether your family enjoys more thrill rides or not. We went when the HP section was newly opened and thought that part of the park was awesome. After walking around with my then 8 and 10 year old children and go on very few attractions, we decided it was not worth it for us to do again. I would suggest going on YouTube and viewing some of the rides. Decide if you feel your kids will enjoy them. If so, the $$ is most likely worth it. If not, then I would stay at Disney. I do agree that Universal is not Disney. I enjoyed both Universal and IOA before I had children, but I LOVED coasters and thrill rides. My children do not so it is less attractive.

 

[KeroKero]

While there are definitely more thrill rides at Universal, I wouldn't NOT visit solely for that purpose. The caliber of rides in my opinion, while not better than the attractions at WDW, are different and we really appreciate them. Plus its fun to be immersed in movies like Men in Black, Jurassic Park and The Mummy (one of my most favourite coasters)

The WWoHP is AMAZING, especially to a HP fan like myself. Since WWoHP was built we've never done a WDW trip without at least one day dedicated to Universal & IOA (we are always able to do both parks in one day).

It's a touch decision ... cause I do find that the tickets are crazy in price, but I still think its worth it

 

[HM]

When we do Disney, we only do Disney. Then we set up another trip that's for the other parks for another year. That's what I'd suggest for you. US/IOA deserve three days in my opinion and then another two for Seaworld and some time at your resort and you have a full trip.

 

[LucyBC80]

It pains me to say this, because Universal is now for me a 3 day visit minimum but if you have a 9 day park hopper you should skip Universal. The price to add non expiration PLUS the tickets to Universal would be too much in my opinion.

We truly enjoy our time there, there is lots of things to do and see, specially if you're a Harry Potter fan. We did 3 days this past trip and we're planning on 4 days for next November when we go back. We're even staying at one of their onsite hotel to make use of the Express Pass.