Universal...I was really disappointed

[STEPHILL]

Maybe I picked a bad day this trip and maybe I picked a bad day ten years ago, but Universal is just not for us. Maybe when the kids are teenagers and they are into the "thrill" rides, we'll try it again. If I do, I'll try staying at one of Universal's hotels because that seems to be the only way to avoid waiting in 20-30 minute lines.

I was impressed with Spiderman and Seuss Landing at IOA. The whole day was not a wash. It did stop raining. We did arrive early, around 9:30, the park was pretty much empty, that is the reason I cannot understand the lines we encountered. Maybe, the CM's were still tired from the night before (Halloween Party), there were still remnants of the haunted houses and stuff around by the Twister ride.

I'm not saying this is a bad park, it just wasn't for us. The food, though, is much better than Disney's.

 

[Figment22]

If I do, I'll try staying at one of Universal's hotels because that seems to be the only way to avoid waiting in 20-30 minute lines.

You can stay off-site if you're at the gate when the parks open. You can do all the big rides before the crowds hit at 11:00 a.m., which is when I figure you got to the parks.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Maybe I picked a bad day this trip and maybe I picked a bad day ten years ago, but Universal is just not for us. Maybe when the kids are teenagers and they are into the "thrill" rides, we'll try it again. If I do, I'll try staying at one of Universal's hotels because that seems to be the only way to avoid waiting in 20-30 minute lines.

I was impressed with Spiderman and Seuss Landing at IOA. The whole day was not a wash. It did stop raining. We did arrive early, around 9:30, the park was pretty much empty, that is the reason I cannot understand the lines we encountered. Maybe, the CM's were still tired from the night before (Halloween Party), there were still remnants of the haunted houses and stuff around by the Twister ride.

I'm not saying this is a bad park, it just wasn't for us. The food, though, is much better than Disney's.

I think waiting for your kids to get a bit older is a good plan. Our DS(14) never wants to go to WDW anymore. He loves UO, but mostly he loves staying at Hard Rock Hotel. You won't regret staying at one of their resorts. All theme park vacations should provide the experience that staying onsite at UO does!!!

You don't need to apologize for not enjoying your visit. It's just people saying they hated Universal, because they're a Disney person that many don't like. One doesn't really have anything to do with the other, or at least it shouldn't. The only thing in your review that I don't necessarily agree with is that we've never had a CM at WDW treat us better than the TMs at UO. As a matter of fact, IOA is the only one of the Orlando parks that we've ever had an employee go out of their way to make our visit special. Not everyone enjoys the same things, but I think there's just as many great things about WDW as UO & vice versa. With the exception of staying in a UO resort, of course. It's just 2 different experiences. Then again, I don't want to spend the rest of my life visiting the same place & nowhere else year after year.

 

[Slacking]

There's really no comparison to be made, Disney and Universal are very different parks. Disney is more theme oriented, Universal more ride oriented.

I would disagree with this. The theeming at US is stronger (IMO) than at MGM, and the themeing of IOA beats all.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

You can stay off-site if you're at the gate when the parks open. You can do all the big rides before the crowds hit at 11:00 a.m., which is when I figure you got to the parks.

I agree, we have never stayed on-site but always plan on getting there early , as you say the parks get busier from 11:00 onwards.

 

[Stinasmom]

I agree, we have never stayed on-site but always plan on getting there early , as you say the parks get busier from 11:00 onwards.

We plan on being at US/IOA December 11-14... And are staying off site (free timeshare gift from the inlaws...hard to pass up!).
Typically this is the LOWEST attendence time for WDW, wouldn't that be the case for US/IOA too? Not that we usually sleep in and will likely get there reasonably early each morning... but, I am thinking we won't have to deal with lines and crowds.
Am I off base?
thanks!

 

[JohnnySharp2]

We plan on being at US/IOA December 11-14... And are staying off site (free timeshare gift from the inlaws...hard to pass up!).
Typically this is the LOWEST attendence time for WDW, wouldn't that be the case for US/IOA too? Not that we usually sleep in and will likely get there reasonably early each morning... but, I am thinking we won't have to deal with lines and crowds.
Am I off base?
thanks!

Not necessarily no, having not been in early December I am not totally sure, however generally irrespective of how busy the park is on a particular day you do tend to find the crowds build from 11 am onwards.
It could well be the parks are relatively quiet crowd-wise, just that for us we have always got to the parks early and always find it works.
Mainly because our son is an early riser and we tend to visit Florida in the summer, naturally my advice is partly based on that I guess, hot weather and more people!
Still I do think on ANY day getting to the parks early is a good thing, it doesn't work for everyone but does for us.

 

[Darcy03231]

I agree with the previous poster about the ages of your children. Mine are now 15 & 13 and have no interest in going to WDW again. They love the rides at US & IOA! We're going back next summer for two weeks and don't plan to spend any time at WDW. We're going to get the 5 park flex pass and just go to US, IOA, Seaworld, Busch Gardens and Wet n' Wild. We'll probably do some other things in the area too - Kennedy Space Center, Gatorland, etc.

 

[3darlings]

We just returned from a combined Disney (POR) and Universal trip and I also was a bit disappointed in Universal. We stayed onsite at RPR for 3 days/2nights and spent two days at the Studios and IOA. It is not that we didn't enjoy Universal - it is just that it didn't seem to compare to Disney. I thought we would end up liking IOA more since we are thrill ride people but I was wrong. We ended up leaving IOA the second day and going back to the Studios. My kids especially loved Mummy - that is a good ride! Spiderman is also excellent. The rollercoasters just didn't thrill us that much - Hershey Park's coasters seemed better. It didn't help that the line for Dueling Dragons absolutely didn't move (and we had FOTL.) The rides were all fine and we had fun but we just didn't find that much to do and ended up back at the Studios. FOTL certainly had something to do with that since we didn't have to wait in many lines (spoiling my kids mind you!) The theming at Universal is done very well but the inefficiency in running the rides drives me alittle crazy especially after you have been at Disney. Maybe the trick is to go to Universal first!

Also, I wasn't all that impressed with Universal hotels. They certainly are nice but didn't seem worth the cost to me (the daily parking fee particularly annoying). It seemed like we walked forever to get any place and the water taxi just wasn't all that convenient. We did spent an afternoon at the pool at HRH. The water slide was great but I didn't like how shallow the pool was and the water was pretty cold. Also, it was very hard to hear the music under water.

Overall we did enjoy our stay just not as much as I expected. I would stay at Universal again but only for one night to take advantage of the FOTL pass for two days.

 

[Bucsfan]

I think you are at a strong disadvantage to enjoy the parks because of the weather. And you honestly cannot get a good feel of IOA in 2 hours. I suggest you return when there is good weather and stay onsite. Its a great park, you just have to give it a chance. Trust me I don't think you would be disappointed if you gave it another chance.

 

[Bobb-O]

Gonna try this again and if Universal isn't for you and you are brainwashed into staying at Disney then so be it.

Four nights in Dec at HRH club level including park tickets for two people is $1480.50 which includes tax - or $370/night - I didn't have to look it up as I already have a reservation.

I did look up Beach Club concierge level water view room which would be a similar hotel amenity wise and within walking distance to a park. After adding 4 day park tickets with park hopper/no expiration/magic your way- tried to make it as close to Universal package as possible.Total is $2206.24 and I believe tax is additional. or a whopping $551/night before tax. or about $181 more each and every night.

I am not sure how 3darlings can say - wait i'll quote him or her (as the case may be)

I wasn't all that impressed with Universal hotels. They certainly are nice but didn't seem worth the cost to me (the daily parking fee particularly annoying). It seemed like we walked forever to get any place

Hmmm - lets try to keep this in perspective. Universal Hotels are hundreds less than a similar hotel at Disney and all you can complain about is the damn fee for parking. Its OLD NEWS. We all hate it. You dont think for a disney-kool-aid drinking minute that parking isnt calculated into the $500/night price (tax and tickets included price from above) at the Yacht and/or Beach Club???.

And I laughed my butt off about walking everywhere. Certainly that never happens at disney. Oh wait maybe it does. So leaving a park at disney and waiting in the hot sun and humidity or maybe in the rain for a bus for 45 minutes and a 15 minute bus drive is better that a 10 minute walk or boat ride at Universal. OK I'll give you the complaint about the boat rides - but you're on vacation. So it takes twenty minutes. Big Deal. So does disney busses.

To summarize - shorter transportation times and better rates for 4 star hotels - That doesn't happen at Disney.

No I don't want to have to make this comparison again. Go to disney - stay at the Days Inn look-a-like All Star Sports/Pop/Music Resorts or that dump Caribbean Beach - both are really only two star resorts and motels (no lobby). Thats where you belong. Or stop drinking the kool-aid.

Why can't we all just get along.

 

[tubtruck]

My favourite park in the whole of Orlando is IOA and I love the Royal Pacific Resort and the Hard Rock hotel. Not keen on the Portofino Bay then again I have been to Portifino in Italy and I wasnt that fussed with the place (no them parks there) I actually prefere them to the majority of the Disney hotels with the exception of Grand Floridian (the service is better) Animal Kingdom Lodge (Its got animals so in my biased opinion got to be good, but the rooms are not quite as nice) and SSR (I own a tiny tiny piece of it,its brand new and the furniture is top notch as are the grounds). The rest of the luxurys are not as good and to compare the polynesian to the royal pacific would be like comparing a motel 6 to a four seasons, disney luxury its a dump, a dump thats still further away from the parks than any of the universal hotels are to their parks.

 

[vacation dreamer]

No I don't want to have to make this comparison again. Go to disney - stay at the Days Inn look-a-like All Star Sports/Pop/Music Resorts or that dump Caribbean Beach - both are really only two star resorts and motels (no lobby). Thats where you belong. Or stop drinking the kool-aid.



Ouch.............I was going to US/IOA with an open mind....not thinking that you should compare it to WDW, Hershey Park, Dolly, and other parks. Each park has their own theme for a reason.

I have stay at the value resorts at Disney and there is nothing wrong with them. I don't know of any other resorts/hotels with larger then life icons that entertain their guest 24/7.

Post like these make me wonder what kind of park US/IOA will be......

 

[BoyLovesBuzz]

Maybe I picked a bad day this trip and maybe I picked a bad day ten years ago, but Universal is just not for us. Maybe when the kids are teenagers and they are into the "thrill" rides, we'll try it again. If I do, I'll try staying at one of Universal's hotels because that seems to be the only way to avoid waiting in 20-30 minute lines.

I was impressed with Spiderman and Seuss Landing at IOA. The whole day was not a wash. It did stop raining. We did arrive early, around 9:30, the park was pretty much empty, that is the reason I cannot understand the lines we encountered. Maybe, the CM's were still tired from the night before (Halloween Party), there were still remnants of the haunted houses and stuff around by the Twister ride.

I'm not saying this is a bad park, it just wasn't for us. The food, though, is much better than Disney's.

Sounds like we were there the same morning 11/1? Rainy morning, cleared around lunch? We arrived around 9:30 or 10:00, walked on ET, walked on BTTF, walked on MIB 3 times (except for stopping to have the same 4 year measured 9 times). Walked on Mummy. Ate at Louie's all before noon.

 

[BoyLovesBuzz]

I would disagree with this. The theeming at US is stronger (IMO) than at MGM, and the themeing of IOA beats all.

 

[JohnnySharp2]

I agree too, the theming at both US/IOA is very very good, especially at IOA.

 

[PlutoLuvr]

We plan on being at US/IOA December 11-14... And are staying off site (free timeshare gift from the inlaws...hard to pass up!).
Typically this is the LOWEST attendence time for WDW, wouldn't that be the case for US/IOA too? Not that we usually sleep in and will likely get there reasonably early each morning... but, I am thinking we won't have to deal with lines and crowds.
Am I off base?
thanks!

We like to sleep in on vacation, too

We visited US/IOA last December 16, a Friday. We left our house at seven in the morning, drove down, arrived at about 9:30, 10:00 a.m. Parks were positively empty all day. No waits for anything. I think we were the only people in the bar section of Finnegan's at lunch. We were able to hit all of our favorite rides at both parks, do lots of holiday shopping, have a leisurely lunch at Finnegan's and we checked in to our timeshare at around 4:45 in the afternoon.

There might be times during the year where you need to wake up uber early and be at the gates at opening, but mid-December wasn't one of those times, from our experience.

FWIW, we hit MK the next day, Saturday. It was packed. Wall-to-wall people. You literally had no choice but to move whatever way the crowds were moving. It was insane. The park was officially full by early afternoon, and they weren't allowing any more guests in.

I have pix of both days of our trip -- just pix of the crowds, or lack thereof in the case of US/IOA. I'll see if DH can post them later.

 

[FayeW]

Gonna try this again and if Universal isn't for you and you are brainwashed into staying at Disney then so be it.

Four nights in Dec at HRH club level including park tickets for two people is $1480.50 which includes tax - or $370/night - I didn't have to look it up as I already have a reservation.

I did look up Beach Club concierge level water view room which would be a similar hotel amenity wise and within walking distance to a park. After adding 4 day park tickets with park hopper/no expiration/magic your way- tried to make it as close to Universal package as possible.Total is $2206.24 and I believe tax is additional. or a whopping $551/night before tax. or about $181 more each and every night.

I am not sure how 3darlings can say - wait i'll quote him or her (as the case may be)

Hmmm - lets try to keep this in perspective. Universal Hotels are hundreds less than a similar hotel at Disney and all you can complain about is the damn fee for parking. Its OLD NEWS. We all hate it. You dont think for a disney-kool-aid drinking minute that parking isnt calculated into the $500/night price (tax and tickets included price from above) at the Yacht and/or Beach Club???.

And I laughed my butt off about walking everywhere. Certainly that never happens at disney. Oh wait maybe it does. So leaving a park at disney and waiting in the hot sun and humidity or maybe in the rain for a bus for 45 minutes and a 15 minute bus drive is better that a 10 minute walk or boat ride at Universal. OK I'll give you the complaint about the boat rides - but you're on vacation. So it takes twenty minutes. Big Deal. So does disney busses.

To summarize - shorter transportation times and better rates for 4 star hotels - That doesn't happen at Disney.

No I don't want to have to make this comparison again. Go to disney - stay at the Days Inn look-a-like All Star Sports/Pop/Music Resorts or that dump Caribbean Beach - both are really only two star resorts and motels (no lobby). Thats where you belong. Or stop drinking the kool-aid.

Why can't we all just get along.

OK, there was no need of this! I am a huge fan of US/IOA, they are my favourite parks, but your response to this poster really turned me OFF.

Aside from the unnecessary nastiness, your figures are not accurate. You should not have calculated non expiry WDW tickets, since as far as I know, US does not offer multiday tickets that don't expire 5- 7 days after first use. Please correct me if I'm wrong, because if they are available I want to buy them! Therefore, the regular WDW tickets would have been a more accurate comparison. WDW hotel and ticket packages are still ridiculously priced, but that is why I stay offsite and buy tickets from ticketmania or undercovertourist.

We don't stay onsite at either park, and we don't arrive at the crack of dawn either. We still have fine time at all of the Orlando theme parks! (But we travel in early Dec, so it is low season).

 

[goofy!]

We just returned from a combined Disney (POR) and Universal trip and I also was a bit disappointed in Universal. We stayed onsite at RPR for 3 days/2nights and spent two days at the Studios and IOA. It is not that we didn't enjoy Universal - it is just that it didn't seem to compare to Disney. I thought we would end up liking IOA more since we are thrill ride people but I was wrong. We ended up leaving IOA the second day and going back to the Studios. My kids especially loved Mummy - that is a good ride! Spiderman is also excellent. The rollercoasters just didn't thrill us that much - Hershey Park's coasters seemed better. It didn't help that the line for Dueling Dragons absolutely didn't move (and we had FOTL.) The rides were all fine and we had fun but we just didn't find that much to do and ended up back at the Studios. FOTL certainly had something to do with that since we didn't have to wait in many lines (spoiling my kids mind you!) The theming at Universal is done very well but the inefficiency in running the rides drives me alittle crazy especially after you have been at Disney. Maybe the trick is to go to Universal first!

Also, I wasn't all that impressed with Universal hotels. They certainly are nice but didn't seem worth the cost to me (the daily parking fee particularly annoying). It seemed like we walked forever to get any place and the water taxi just wasn't all that convenient. We did spent an afternoon at the pool at HRH. The water slide was great but I didn't like how shallow the pool was and the water was pretty cold. Also, it was very hard to hear the music under water.

Overall we did enjoy our stay just not as much as I expected. I would stay at Universal again but only for one night to take advantage of the FOTL pass for two days.

I totally agree.
The walk between MK and MGM is sooo much easier.
And the Disney busses are so much faster and more convenient to get to the parks than that darn water taxi.
And the lines. I just wish people would disregard the recent threads upon threads on the resorts and Community boards about the rudeness in the Disney lines. Those people just don't get the Disney magic.

Have a magical day
​

Now seriously - There is no problem with people preferring one park over the other. Heck, we prefer Universal over Disney, although we love, love Disney too. So, I fully understand people preferring Disney over Universal. That is absolutely ok. It is when people start nitpicking, comparing and wanting Universal to be just like Disney, is when people become disappointed. It is NOT Disney. And when one has it in his/her mind that NOTHING ever goes wrong in Disney, and then looks for things to go wrong in Universal, that is when you set yourself up for complete and utter disappointment.

I urge everybody to go with an open mind. If you go in trying to compare Universal with Disney, you will automatically be disappointed. It is NOT Disney, nor does it pretend to be. You can't make comparisons. Universal has its own charm. It has its own magic. Stroll around and appreciate the theming, the detail and the uniqueness that is Universal, and Universal alone.

 

[jme829]

Wow..we were there in Sept..The park was really empty and we were able to walk on everything...We stayed offsite so we didn't have FOTL and we never had more than a 10 minute wait except for Jaws (and that was becuase of how slow they would send the boats to the loading dock).

Sorry you had a bad time...This was our first trip to US and we loved it...There was only one ride my 2 little ones didnt' do (Mummy-they were too short).

People need to realize that US is not DIsney. I said this in another post, you don't go to Taco Bell and expect the same food, service and prices as Don Pablo. While t hey are both Mexican restaurants, they are both different experiences and you can't compare them. Same for theme parks. I know that I cannot compare Animal Kingdom to Sea World, and Kings Island to Cedar Point. They are unique and all have something different to offer. But ya know what, I love to go to all of them for different reasons and I enjoy what EACH park has to offer instead of worrying that it doesn't live up to Disney.