Universal In, Disney Out.

[vcgirl925]

We found RPH to be filthy. Will never stay there again. We had terrible service and like I said... DIRTY! Yuck.

HRH we love.

Amazing how we have such completely opposite experiences there. We would choose it over any mod at Disney hands down. Our bell hop even took out ice bucket and filled it for us.
Never ever happened at a dis hotel.

 

[Suellen]

I cleaned my own room after we waited int 8:00 for our room to be ready on check in day. We took it dirty and had housekeeping ring clean bedding an towels. Then we waited a long time for the crib.

The carpet was so dirty we couldn't let the baby crawl on the flier without black knees!

Then the kiddie pool had an ashtray flipped over with cigarette butts everywhere that didn't he picked up all week despite repeated reports.

They ended up refunding our entire stay - which was about $4,000.

We have friends that have stayed since and enjoyed but I have such yucky memories if it we won't go back!!

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

We took 2 days away from our upcoming WDW trip and will be going to US/IOA for them instead.

It's going to cost me more money but I've got teenagers who much prefer US/IOA over Disney.
I can't do the coasters at US/IOA but I can enjoy the rides like Simpsons, Spiderman, Transformers (I hope! I've never done that one before). and I can enjoy the atmosphere.

 

[Planogirl]

We found RPH to be filthy. Will never stay there again. We had terrible service and like I said... DIRTY! Yuck.

HRH we love.

RPH was spotless when we stayed there. What a disappointment to end up with such a dirty room!

 

[BrinkofSunshine]

I've stayed at PBH four times and RPR once. Both are beautiful hotels. I prefer PBH because I like the layout and the room more. They recently remodeled the rooms and they're just lovely. I plan on staying at HRH or Cabana Bay and I can't wait to see how they are as well. CB looks fabulous from the pictures!

I love both Universal and Disney. They offer different experiences but they are both extremely high quality and fun entertainment destinations. I couldn't choose between the two of them and I don't ever plan to!

 

[Bullseye]

We took 2 days away from our upcoming WDW trip and will be going to US/IOA for them instead.

It's going to cost me more money but I've got teenagers who much prefer US/IOA over Disney.
I can't do the coasters at US/IOA but I can enjoy the rides like Simpsons, Spiderman, Transformers (I hope! I've never done that one before). and I can enjoy the atmosphere.

We started doing that two years ago and it added new life to our WDW trips! I look forward to US/IOA as much as WDW.Going again in two weeks Like them both for their own reasons!

 

[dsdeleon]

Our trips have been WDW only, now split stays with Universal and if the family has it their way, soon all Universal. I think it's hard for me because Disney had me obsessed with planning and Universal is more like a relaxing time so I will have to do something else constantly at home. Probably a good thing actually.

Interestingly we were not Harry Potter fans but riding the FJ made me want to read every single detail immediately. We were hooked. Everyone talks about the mass HP fans coming to Uni but Uni is making some hard core HP fans too.

As a typical family, we are also big Frozen fans. If Disney would move quickly and build Arrendale and an ice castle within a year or so with the details going in at Uni, they could easily have us back. 10 years is more likely and who knows where my $ will be going then.

 

[DRDISNEYMD]

Wow, great articles, very interesting read. You may be on to something there, that slowly Harry Potter is becoming less engrained in kids' imaginations and less a part of their literature and pop culture fascination. However, I think about attractions at WDW that are pretty memorable and that I'm assuming kids still enjoy such as Peter Pan and Laugh Floor and the like, and consider that these attractions are well made and really fun and engaging and maybe a lot of those kids haven't even seen the movies they are based on yet. So I think even if kids and people aren't invested in the books or even the movies of HP, the WWoHP really can stand alone and be enjoyed anyway and popular anyway (of course, there are probably references to things here and there that would be missed by the park guest). But, I guess time will tell!

~I totally agree with you -- this is very well said. There is no way that I would ever connect the popularity or success of a theme park attraction based solely upon the subjective merits of the IP attached. There are so many other variables that must be taken into account.

~The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is, in and of itself a fabulous addition to Univeral IOA -- and I imagine, it will be the same for Diagon Alley at US. Check out this picture of Gringott's Bank ride.

~The bank is gorgeous and those chandeliers have more bling than the mine train! It's such an inviting and welcome contrast to the well executed but somewhat dreary exterior of the facility. You certainly don't have to be a Harry Potter fan to appreciate and enjoy this -- along with everything else that US has to offer.

Exactly why I have high hopes that Avatarland will be something that both fans and non-fans of the film will enjoy.

~I totally agree with this! This same principle(s) applies to Avatarland, as well!

 

[jenrose66]

I don't think anyone is feuding.

I think people are just expressing their opinions. No biggie!

I agree. I consider myself a die hard Disney fan and have never been to Universal (well once in 1991 but I don't remember anything about it...).

Anyway, now that we are a family of 5 and feel that we are being priced out of the Disney hotels I am more open to outside options.

Next trip to Florida we will probably rent a house/condo and do Universal, Legoland, and possibly Sea World.

 

[Brian Noble]

We found RPH to be filthy. Will never stay there again. We had terrible service and like I said... DIRTY! Yuck.

That's a shame. Our RPR room was spotless, and I thought the level of service there consistently out-performed what I normally see at e.g. Beach Club or Wilderness Lodge.

 

[PAL_1]

I've never had any trouble with Bluto. But you did remind me of another one that can cause problems. Dudley Do Right, and that's especially true after the log redesign and lap bar addition. Although for me, getting into the boat is nearly as much trouble as getting out of the boat. In addition to being big I'm also tall 6'4". The pivot point for the lap bar hits right at my knees. So, to get out of the boats I need to sort of telescope my way out far enough until my knees clear and I can bend them and finish getting out while slipping on the wet floor. I had one potentially embarrassing trip where I was wearing Drifit short (I now normally also wear compression shorts underneath to avoid chafing) and as I was wiggling my way out of the seat, I could feel the shorts start to slide. It wouldn't have taken too much further for me to moon the ride op at the unload station. Fortunately I was able to readjust my shorts before thing got too far down. I now make sure I tie the drawstring extra tight before riding.

Johde, my son is 6-5, all legs. During our last visit to IOA, we learned there are 1 or 2 Dudley Do Right logs with larger seating, designed for people with mobility challenges or who otherwise don't fit. Ask for the easy access log next time - no more mooning.

 

[Anastasi]

We have stayed at the Portofino numerous times and the RPH a couple of times. Never had a problem that wasn't fixed immediately. Of course, our love of PBH may be based on the fact that we have been upgraded to the Villa Suite 3 times. Talk about feeling pampered!

We now do Universal exclusively and if we feel we need to do Disney, we do it as a day trip from Universal. But our kids are older now and they think Disney is lame. They like the thrill rides of Universal better.

 

[PAL_1]

For my family (older teens, parents in their 40s), it boils down to attractions. We live on the west coast and much prefer Disneyland to WDW. Why? One reason is there's so much new (although the original park needs help in Tomorrowland). UO has been introducing new attractions at a furious pace. To me, the World feels stale and stuck in time, with relatively little added by comparison.

I must have too much free time this morning. I decided to check my impressions against reality. I wanted to look at the most recent two major built-from-the-ground-up attractions at each WDW park. The oldest is Mission Space, so I used 2003 as the starting point for my look at UO. I listed rehabs that changed the ride experience too, such as Test Track 2.0. I did not new list restaurants, meet and greets or shows, nor did I count the faithful reproductions out west of Space Mountain or Big Thunder (despite its new ending effects), or Epcot's Three Caballeros.

I invite you to come to your own conclusions. After looking at this list, I think I've been mistaken about WDW. There are nearly as many new attractions as UO, although UO's are stacked up in the past few years. Neither resort touches Disneyland, which added a full new park and then relaunched it all since 2001.

Now that I think about it, the reasons my family now prefers UO to WDW come down to the types of new attractions, the need to plan as far as 6 months out at WDW, the cost of staying onsite at WDW, and WDW's vast, spread-out size.

WDW
Mission Space: 2003
Soarin': 2005
Expedition Everest: 2006
Nemo and Friends: 2007
Toy Story Midway Mania: 2008
Star Tours 2.0: 2011*
Test Track 2.0: 2012*
Voyage of the Little Mermaid: 2012
Seven Dwarves Mine Train: 2014

Universal Orlando
Shrek 4-D: 2003
Revenge of the Mummy: 2004
Disaster 2.0: 2008*
The Simpsons Ride: 2008*
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit: 2009
Harry Potter Forbidden Journey: 2010
Minion Mayhem: 2012
Transformers: 2013
Hogwarts Express: 2014
Gringott's Bank: 2014


Edit: Might as well add the Disneyland Resort

Disneyland Resort
(DCA opened 2001)
(Bug's Land 2002)
Finding Nemo Sub Voyage: 2003*
Many Adventures of Pooh: 2003
Tower of Terror: 2004
Toy Story Media Mania: 2008
Star Tours 2.0: 2011*
Radiator Springs Racers: 2012
Luigi's Tires: 2012
Maters Junkyard Jamboree: 2012

*Ride systems that received new stories, but otherwise remained unchanged

 

[Planogirl]

For my family (older teens, parents in their 40s), it boils down to attractions. We live on the west coast and much prefer Disneyland to WDW. Why? One reason is there's so much new (although the original park needs help in Tomorrowland). UO has been introducing new attractions at a furious pace. To me, the World feels stale and stuck in time, with relatively little added by comparison.

I must have too much free time this morning. I decided to check my impressions against reality. I wanted to look at the most recent two major built-from-the-ground-up attractions at each WDW park. The oldest is Mission Space, so I used 2003 as the starting point for my look at UO. I listed rehabs that changed the ride experience too, such as Test Track 2.0. I did not new list restaurants, meet and greets or shows, nor did I count the faithful reproductions out west of Space Mountain or Big Thunder (despite its new ending effects), or Epcot's Three Caballeros.

I invite you to come to your own conclusions. After looking at this list, I think I've been mistaken about WDW. There are nearly as many new attractions as UO, although UO's are stacked up in the past few years. Neither resort touches Disneyland, which added a full new park and then relaunched it all since 2001.

Now that I think about it, the reasons my family now prefers UO to WDW come down to the types of new attractions, the need to plan as far as 6 months out, and the cost of staying onsite.

I think that we feel the same way. Much in WDW's list looks (and is) lame to me. I can't say the same about Disneyland.

 

[PAL_1]

^I think it comes down to pioneering new, immersive interactive entertainment experiences. UO is the property pushing the cutting edge. I have to wonder: If JK Rowling weren't so protective of her intellectual property, would we have the vibrant, engaging environment of Cars Land at DCA? I don't believe so.

Come on already WDW, build that Star Wars land and don't cheap out while you're doing it. And we'll see whether Avatar Land is the real deal. I hope so!

 

[clsteve]

^I think it comes down to pioneering new, immersive interactive entertainment experiences. UO is the property pushing the cutting edge. I have to wonder: If JK Rowling weren't so protective of her intellectual property, would we have the vibrant, engaging environment of Cars Land at DCA? I don't believe so.

Come on already WDW, build that Star Wars land and don't cheap out while you're doing it. And we'll see whether Avatar Land is the real deal. I hope so!

Looking at the videos and newscasts starting to filter out on Daigon Alley, the bar is most definitely raised for Avatar.

That's the good thing for Orlando visitors: TDO cannot ignore that they're now behind on the technological innovation and "wow" factor scales. I doubt they have any other choice (I hope) but to ramp it up many notches for Avatar. Especially since USF will have opened at least one, if not 2 more elite attractions/areas besides Daigon Alley by the time Avatar sees any guests.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Looking at the videos and newscasts starting to filter out on Daigon Alley, the bar is most definitely raised for Avatar.

That's the good thing for Orlando visitors: TDO cannot ignore that they're now behind on the technological innovation and "wow" factor scales. I doubt they have any other choice (I hope) but to ramp it up many notches for Avatar. Especially since USF will have opened at least one, if not 2 more elite attractions/areas besides Daigon Alley by the time Avatar sees any guests.

I agree. Hopefully that rumor that the boat ride got cut isn't true.

 

[DOOM1001]

Agreed. The cheapest hotel (royal pacific) was so nice compared to the values and mods at Disney. The service throughout the hotel and parks was impeccable. Smiles all around. Clean. Character interaction was great. After 15 trips to wdw only we were hesitant about uni. But were so pleasantly surprised. I will always love Disney especially because is still have a three year old. But my then 9 and 7 year olds were in heaven at uni. I also found it so relaxing.

Their cheapest hotel now is Cabana Bay,it only has early entry with no front of the line but I just came back from a couple of days in Orlando and took the shuttle over to check out Cabana Bay and it's the coolest hotel in Orlando,the retro theming is amazing!!I only spent part of a day at Universal to see Cabana Bay and see the progress of the Diagon alley construction,I can't wait for my next trip where I'll actually get to ride all the new attractions in Orlando,I got nothing in on this trip,no SDMT,no Diagon Alley,no Falcons Fury at Busch Gardens,it was still a good trip,the weather was supposed to be horrible Wednesday and Thursday but we pretty much missed the rain on the few times it rained,I think the longest rain was when we were eating in Mama Melrose at DHS,we totally missed it.As far as Disney I'm becoming a bigger FP+ convert every day,except for the tiering I don't think it could have been a better experience,we rode TSMM with our originally scheduled FP+ at 4:10 and then got my 4th FP+ for TSMM at 6:15,I never ever would have been able to ride this ride twice with no wait between 4-6pm.

 

[Planogirl]

Their cheapest hotel now is Cabana Bay,it only has early entry with no front of the line but I just came back from a couple of days in Orlando and took the shuttle over to check out Cabana Bay and it's the coolest hotel in Orlando,the retro theming is amazing!!I only spent part of a day at Universal to see Cabana Bay and see the progress of the Diagon alley construction,I can't wait for my next trip where I'll actually get to ride all the new attractions in Orlando,I got nothing in on this trip,no SDMT,no Diagon Alley,no Falcons Fury at Busch Gardens,it was still a good trip,the weather was supposed to be horrible Wednesday and Thursday but we pretty much missed the rain on the few times it rained,I think the longest rain was when we were eating in Mama Melrose at DHS,we totally missed it.As far as Disney I'm becoming a bigger FP+ convert every day,except for the tiering I don't think it could have been a better experience,we rode TSMM with our originally scheduled FP+ at 4:10 and then got my 4th FP+ for TSMM at 6:15,I never ever would have been able to ride this ride twice with no wait between 4-6pm.

Thanks for the report about Cabana Bay. We usually stay offsite and manage fine without Express so this might be an option.

 

[TuneTownMagic]

WDW
Mission Space: 2003
Soarin': 2005
Expedition Everest: 2006
Nemo and Friends: 2007
Toy Story Midway Mania: 2008
Star Tours 2.0: 2011*
Test Track 2.0: 2012*
Voyage of the Little Mermaid: 2012
Seven Dwarves Mine Train: 2014

Universal Orlando
Shrek 4-D: 2003
Revenge of the Mummy: 2004
Disaster 2.0: 2008*
The Simpsons Ride: 2008*
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit: 2009
Harry Potter Forbidden Journey: 2010
Minion Mayhem: 2012
Transformers: 2013
Hogwarts Express: 2014
Gringott's Bank: 2014


Edit: Might as well add the Disneyland Resort

Disneyland Resort
(DCA opened 2001)
(Bug's Land 2002)
Finding Nemo Sub Voyage: 2003*
Many Adventures of Pooh: 2003
Tower of Terror: 2004
Toy Story Media Mania: 2008
Star Tours 2.0: 2011*
Radiator Springs Racers: 2012
Luigi's Tires: 2012
Maters Junkyard Jamboree: 2012

*Ride systems that received new stories, but otherwise remained unchanged

Interesting list, good food for thought on how both Disney and Universal are progressing. You could also add Flight of the Hippogriff and Dragon Challenge to the UOF list if you're talking in terms of each individual attraction...which makes their list even more impressive! (Although after doing a little research, I am realizing Dragon Challenge used to be Dueling Dragons? So maybe it would be one of the things on the list that just has a star next to it?)