Universal and Sea world compared to Disney World? Help?

[klmall]

We have been to Disney as a family 9 times and to Universal 4 times I think. As our son grew older Universal became more and more a "family" park for us with more rides that appealed to all of us to ride/enjoy together since DH hates thrill and fast rides.

And Universal literally saved a spring break vacation for us once! It was the first time we went at Easter since DS was in high school and also had a friend along. We took advantage of a code and stayed at AKL and to make a long story short, it was our worst Disney hotel stay ever! Bad room assignment(s); had to move! bad bus rides, mean CMs, messed up dining reservations and birthday cake problems.

We moved to the Hard Rock Hotel for our last two vacation nights (first stay on property) and we began touring the parks! Unbelievable! FOTL passes made spring break crowds almost disappear. We covered our must-do rides in half a day and went back and swam in the pool. We easily got meal reservations and went back to tour that night and the next day. I felt like we had died and gone to heaven!

It took me four years to get DH to agree to go back to Disney though!

And more comparisons:
---Universal is just as much fun as Disney; has broader appeal to us as a family with movies for all ages but one of my favorite places as an adult is Dr. Seuss Land! I love the trolley that rides over the shops and places and the Cat in the Hat and all the great psychedelic colors!
---Universal's mixture of walk-through attractions, scary stuff and simulator rides plus roller coasters and flume rides really offers more appeal to a broader range of ridership.
---Evening fireworks and night shows are nowhere as good at Universal IMO! I am looking forward to seeing the Macy Parade though while we are there in December. But I hear that their Halloween Parties are definitely the best for adults!

And we're definitely hitting both Disney and Universal this December!

 

[macraven]

if you want to spend a day at busch gardens, you can get the luxury bus that universal has for about $20 rt costs.

if will pick up guests at all 3 hotels.


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Can you tell me more about the luxury bus to Busch Gardens? What time does it leave and return? Do you have to stay onsite to use this?
Thanks![/QUOTE]

Hi, I'd also like to know about the bus to BG! Does it pick up from the Hotels?

you sign up in the lobby, the night before, at your onsite hotel for a seat on the bus.
this is the procedure for both the Seaworld and Busch parks transportation.



the sw, w & w busses are free.

the one for busch costs.
it was $10 some time back but now i think it was $20 a person for rt.
i had planned to do busch last monday but changed my mind on sunday morning.
(i will be doing it next year while i stay at universal.)


it left in the morning and i think it arrived after the park opening.
boarding to return to the hotels was around 5ish.

it is only for the guests that are staying at one of the 3 onsite hotels at universal.

 

[damo]

Staying onsite at Universal/IOA is where we feel most happy. WDW is fun but there are just too many things in which we have no interest making everything way too spread out and time consuming. Disneyland is pretty near perfect in our eyes.

 

[Andrea from PA]

We have done WDW at moderate resorts and we've done a Universal/Sea World. Without a doubt, the on-site hotel at Universal won out. So amazing to walk to the parks. The pools are much nicer. Everything is more relaxed.

We did split the family a bit. The thrill ride lovers stayed longer in the parks while me & the younger kids spent time at the resort pool and just checking everything out at HRH.

SeaWorld can be done in a day, but my family loves it for a few days in a row. This gives us time to see the silly shows (Pet Shanigans, etc), the must see shows (Shamu) and let the thrill seekers go on the rides a few times.

I strongly encourage Universal/SW combo! There is enough for the younger kids, just take it all at a slower pace.


I could never combine WDW and Universal parks in one visit. The feel of each provides a very different vacation.

We are going to WDW in December. It was a tough choice, but the holiday decor at WDW won out. We are planning Universal for HHN 2012.

 

[disneybirds]

We just got back from US/IOA and spent 3 days there. We stayed at the Comfort Suites, so we had early entry to HP but not the front of the line passes for the rides. We stayed most days until 2 or 3, went back to the hotel, and then came back after dinner for an hour or two. We had ridden most rides multiple times and were done after 2 1/2 days.

Our youngest doesn't like rides in the dark or scary rides, so she was limited in what she would ride. We really enjoyed the water rides - but I would wear a poncho. You will get drenched on the water rides!

 

[PAL_1]

Why hasn't anyone mentioned Legoland? It's heavenly for younger kids. The older ones should find it interesting too.

 

[SharonK0527]

We just returned last week from our first ever "not focusing on Disney" trip. We go to Orlando every year and we always do Disney. This year we purchased the Orlando Flex Ticket and did Universal Studios twice, Islands of Adventure twice, Sea World twice and 1 day at Aquatica. We also went to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party one evening, spent about 1/2 a day at Hollywood Studios, and spent a day at Epcot. It was a great trip and we really enjoyed the fun of the non-Disney parks.

We LOVED Sea World and will definitely be going back. We enjoyed Islands of Adventure more than Universal Studios. Our 2nd day at US was spent re-riding the rides we really liked (The Mummy, Simpsons, and HRRR). 2nd day at IOA was also spent re-riding our favorites: Forbidden Journey, Spiderman, Hulk, Dudley Do-Right.

Since we went the same time of year you are thinking of going (early October) I can tell you that we did not stay on site so we did not have the Front of Line access and we didn't feel we needed it. While the parks weren't empty by any means, they certainly were not the equivalent of Summer or Holiday crowds.

We had a very enjoyable vacation and we now know that our trips don't always have to be just Disney. Universal and Sea World will now be making our list of favorites as well

 

[DisneyFive]

Thanks again everyone for the feedback!

We just returned last week from our first ever "not focusing on Disney" trip. We go to Orlando every year and we always do Disney. This year we purchased the Orlando Flex Ticket and did Universal Studios twice, Islands of Adventure twice, Sea World twice and 1 day at Aquatica. We also went to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween party one evening, spent about 1/2 a day at Hollywood Studios, and spent a day at Epcot. It was a great trip and we really enjoyed the fun of the non-Disney parks.

We LOVED Sea World and will definitely be going back. We enjoyed Islands of Adventure more than Universal Studios. Our 2nd day at US was spent re-riding the rides we really liked (The Mummy, Simpsons, and HRRR). 2nd day at IOA was also spent re-riding our favorites: Forbidden Journey, Spiderman, Hulk, Dudley Do-Right.

Since we went the same time of year you are thinking of going (early October) I can tell you that we did not stay on site so we did not have the Front of Line access and we didn't feel we needed it. While the parks weren't empty by any means, they certainly were not the equivalent of Summer or Holiday crowds.

We had a very enjoyable vacation and we now know that our trips don't always have to be just Disney. Universal and Sea World will now be making our list of favorites as well

That's good to hear. Glad you had a great time!!!

Regarding the flex ticket. It doesn't include entrance to Disney right? So did you need to purchase a seperate tickets for your Disney days? Of course the MNSSHP was purchased on it's own, but what about the other days at Disney? Thanks in advance.

Dan

 

[SharonK0527]

Regarding the flex ticket. It doesn't include entrance to Disney right? So did you need to purchase a seperate tickets for your Disney days? Of course the MNSSHP was purchased on it's own, but what about the other days at Disney? Thanks in advance.

Dan

The Flex Ticket gives you unlimited admission to the following parks for 14 consecutive days: Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Sea World, Aquatica, and Wet N' Wild. It also came with admission to City Walk. You can also purchase a Flex Ticket that includes admission to Busch Gardens, but we did not purchase that one. It was great to be able to return to the parks as many times as we wanted on one ticket. The Flex Ticket does not include parking, however, you only have to pay for parking once per day no matter how many of those parks you visit. So, you can start your day at Universal, pay for parking, and then hop over to Sea World in the afternoon but you do not have to pay for parking at Sea World since you already paid for parking that day at Universal. Of course, if you don't have a rental car, parking won't matter.

We did purchase our Disney tickets separately since they are not part of the Flex Ticket.

Hope this helps!

 

[DisneyFive]

The Flex Ticket gives you unlimited admission to the following parks for 14 consecutive days: Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Sea World, Aquatica, and Wet N' Wild. It also came with admission to City Walk. You can also purchase a Flex Ticket that includes admission to Busch Gardens, but we did not purchase that one. It was great to be able to return to the parks as many times as we wanted on one ticket. The Flex Ticket does not include parking, however, you only have to pay for parking once per day no matter how many of those parks you visit. So, you can start your day at Universal, pay for parking, and then hop over to Sea World in the afternoon but you do not have to pay for parking at Sea World since you already paid for parking that day at Universal. Of course, if you don't have a rental car, parking won't matter.

We did purchase our Disney tickets separately since they are not part of the Flex Ticket.

Hope this helps!

Yep, exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!

Dan

 

[keishashadow]

OP lots of good advice here but the best I can offer is to invest in 2 definitive guidebooks, invaluable for 1st time visitors to SW & U, by kelly monaghan (search amazon)