Universal is much better than WDW!!!

[sadossey]

We are in the middle of our first trip to Universal, staying at RPR. Pool hopping today. We may never go back to Disney. This is so much better!!! The parks, hotels, citywalk, it's all better for us. We have 2 kids, 7 yo dtr, 4 yo son, and we all are having "the best vacation ever!" Much more relaxing and enjoyable esp with the express pass. No waits, no FP+, no dining res, just an all around better experience and cheaper.

 

[hermionesnape]

We are in the middle of our first trip to Universal, staying at RPR. Pool hopping today. We may never go back to Disney. This is so much better!!! The parks, hotels, citywalk, it's all better for us. We have 2 kids, 7 yo dtr, 4 yo son, and we all are having "the best vacation ever!" Much more relaxing and enjoyable esp with the express pass. No waits, no FP+, no dining res, just an all around better experience and cheaper.

Expresses Passes really spoil you!!!!! I'm addicted to them.

 

[helenb]

While we love WDW and will always go there when in Florida, I have to agree with you that Universal is a wonderful vacation experience. There is just no comparison in terms of stress levels when looking at FP+ versus unlimited express pass. And the ease of walking to everything at Universal is wonderful! At WDW we definitely need a car, but not at Universal!

 

[czycropper]

We feel the exact same way. We can't wait to go in November!!

 

[agavegirl1]

I love to do split stays in Orlando ending with US/IOA on site. So relaxing and stress free! Can't wait for Portofino in October. I've already done HRH and RP so this will be a new resort for me.

 

[LeeLee'sMom]

We love US/IOA too. This year we are starting at WDW and then ending at RPR...our first time staying on Univ property

 

[helenb]

I love to do split stays in Orlando ending with US/IOA on site. So relaxing and stress free! Can't wait for Portofino in October. I've already done HRH and RP so this will be a new resort for me.

See, we like to start at Universal, because getting there late morning/midday is not a problem. We always use that afternoon to go on Express pass rides to our heart's content, then we go to HP at early entry the next morning. At WDW it's much tougher if you can't make rope drop: 3 FP+ and that's it. So we start with Universal (including the first 'half day') and then drive over to WDW super early the day we leave, to make rope drop there.

 

[sadossey]

Expresses Passes really spoil you!!!!! I'm addicted to them.

Yes, I don't think I could do it any other way, although the parks weren't really that bad this week. Longest standby I saw was 45-50 min. It was fairly busy I guess but compared to our last 2 trips to DW it felt empty. And don't listen to people who say Univ is not for kids. Mine love it. My 4 yr old is a bit adventurous and would ride anything and would do transformers and Spider-Man til we passed out, The Despicable Me ride is great. My daughter is not as bold but loves it here too and The Seuss area is great for kids. I don't know that we would ever go back to DW. And we got to stay at RP for not much more than a value hotel at Disney.

 

[helenb]

The 3 main onsite hotels at Universal are deluxe hotels, and in that sense, they are comparable to deluxe hotels at WDW.They are far nicer than a value resort. But the deluxe resorts at Universal have a huge advantage in terms of location, because *everything* is accessible on foot (or by the water boats): both parks and Citywalk. At WDW, we like to stay at the Epcot resorts because they are close to Epcot and DHS and the Boardwalk, but if you want to go to MK or AK or Downtown Disney, you're SOL without a car.

Additionally, it's pretty clear that unlimited express pass blows FP+ out of the water.

Honestly, if they had Universal hotels and perks at the WDW parks, it would be the perfect combination for us. But given that's not the case, we go both places and enjoy the best parts of each.

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

I haven't even been yet and I'm already loving the experience!!! We decided to do this trip pretty spur of the moment - booked in mid-May and we leave next week . I love not feeling like I'm at a disadvantage because we didn't start planning a year ago - for example, it was so nice to pop on OpenTable last week and book the three meals we wanted at exactly the times we want. No stressing about booking FPs. So excited!

 

[lazer]

I haven't even been yet and I'm already loving the experience!!! We decided to do this trip pretty spur of the moment - booked in mid-May and we leave next week . I love not feeling like I'm at a disadvantage because we didn't start planning a year ago - for example, it was so nice to pop on OpenTable last week and book the three meals we wanted at exactly the times we want. No stressing about booking FPs. So excited!

This is exactly how I feel. After many WDW trips, we are switching it up and doing Universal...and only Universal. My kids are young (2 and 5), so love hearing how much fun younger kids have!

 

[helenb]

This is exactly how I feel. After many WDW trips, we are switching it up and doing Universal...and only Universal. My kids are young (2 and 5), so love hearing how much fun younger kids have!

Don't forget, just like at Disney, you can 'prepare' your kids by having them be familiar with the Universal properties. Have them go through Seuss books, like Cat in the Hat and The Lorax, read Curious George, watch Despicable Me and Shrek, Maybe a bit of The Simpsons or Men In Black or ET if you think they can handle it, even a cartoon of Spiderman and/or Transformers. You can even pull up a few old Popeye cartoons on Youtube. It's more fun if they're familiar with the characters in the parks!

And don't forget to book a character meal at one of the hotels!

 

[Owlpost23]

Isn't US/IOA terrific??? So much fun,food is wonderful,easy to navigate-TM's are great-RPR is a tropical paradise.So glad you're having a marvelous time!

 

[RMulieri]

Glad you are having f un! We love it too and are going back for our 3rd universal only trip this Jan

 

[lazer]

Don't forget, just like at Disney, you can 'prepare' your kids by having them be familiar with the Universal properties. Have them go through Seuss books, like Cat in the Hat and The Lorax, read Curious George, watch Despicable Me and Shrek, Maybe a bit of The Simpsons or Men In Black or ET if you think they can handle it, even a cartoon of Spiderman and/or Transformers. You can even pull up a few old Popeye cartoons on Youtube. It's more fun if they're familiar with the characters in the parks! And don't forget to book a character meal at one of the hotels!

That's exactly what we've been doing Good tips! They've always loved Curious George and Cat in the Hat. And, oddly my oldest has loved HP for awhile now. Superheroes are big in our house!

 

[Bluer101]

Yep, been telling people for years. This is one of the reasons we try to go monthly.

We were just there this past weekend and return next week. Then after that right after July 4th.

 

[Heluvsme]

We will be there Monday and Tuesday and I can't wait!

Glad you're having a blast!

 

[jimsanfilippo]

This is exactly how I feel. After many WDW trips, we are switching it up and doing Universal...and only Universal. My kids are young (2 and 5), so love hearing how much fun younger kids have!

Our sons are 6 and 3 and we just won't go back to Universal because it isn't worth it in our opinions for small kids. Most of the rides/attractions are for older kids and adults. We go to Orlando every 8 months or so and stopped going to the other parks when our oldest was 2.

We're spending 8 days in WDW in July and wouldn't even dream of taking them to Universal yet. Just not worth the money for what they can (or can't) do.

 

[jimsanfilippo]

Don't forget, just like at Disney, you can 'prepare' your kids by having them be familiar with the Universal properties. Have them go through Seuss books, like Cat in the Hat and The Lorax, read Curious George, watch Despicable Me and Shrek, Maybe a bit of The Simpsons or Men In Black or ET if you think they can handle it, even a cartoon of Spiderman and/or Transformers. You can even pull up a few old Popeye cartoons on Youtube. It's more fun if they're familiar with the characters in the parks!

And don't forget to book a character meal at one of the hotels!

Those are all very good suggestions. Great advice.

 

[lazer]

Our sons are 6 and 3 and we just won't go back to Universal because it isn't worth it in our opinions for small kids. Most of the rides/attractions are for older kids and adults. We go to Orlando every 8 months or so and stopped going to the other parks when our oldest was 2. We're spending 8 days in WDW in July and wouldn't even dream of taking them to Universal yet. Just not worth the money for what they can (or can't) do.

To each their own. My research leads me to believe my kids will have plenty to do. And, my 5 year old loves HP, so we will be spending time going those things. And, he's tall enough for a lot of things. My two year old is easy and will be content just looking at things and playing. Plus, we will be enjoying a lot of down time at the pool. This is another example of why Universal and Disney are successful. Everyone has different things they love and hate. We'd never go to Disney in July, we also didn't like Busch Gardens and SeaWorld isn't our thing I'm sure many people on this board are the opposite of us. In fact, a friend just posted on Facebook today that they'd never take their kids to Disney. Poor kids (and the parents don't know what they're missing too)!

Didn't mean to come off snarky at all, after re-reading ... just wanted to clarify that