Universal is much better than WDW!!!

[DrHfuhruhurr]

The part that simply can't be exaggerated is how much better unlimited Express is than Fastpass, or nowadays Fastpass+; it isn't even a contest. As my dad would say, if it was a fight they woulda stopped it in the first round. I own DVC and I love going to Disney but I wish they'd put a DVC resort in Universal-I don't think I'd go to WDW if that could happen. People (like me 4 years ago) that are used to Disney's system are simply blown away when they find out about Express, not having to make spreadsheets or touring plans, it simply isn't comparable. I like the atmosphere and ambiance better at Disney, but as a whole Universal is so much better because of Express. Couple that with being able to walk from hotel to park to park in lieu of worrying about buses/monorails/cars/diamond parking passes/boats/ferrys/trams, it just isn't a fair fight.

I definitely agree with this--it isn't a fair fight. The Express pass is a HUGE benefit, but as I noted above, it's a system Universal can use because it has much lower crowds, overall. It would be impossible for Disney to do something similar, due to its large number of on-site resorts and higher crowds. Universal still wins the fight, of course, but I can't really fault Disney for not having the same system--they're entirely different ecosystems.

Also, let's not overemphasize the benefits of Express Pass. It doesn't mean zero waits. On our recent June trip, we had waits of up to 20 minutes for Despicable Me, Spider-Man, Ripsaw Falls, Simpsons and others. I don't mind a 20 minute wait, generally, but the reality is it's not much different than the waits we incurred at the Disney Parks. We never waited over 30 minutes for a Disney ride, and our FP+ selections were uniformly 10 minutes or less. Now, that required us to be flexible and ride where/when it was smart, but it wasn't hard work. And it certainly didn't require spreadsheets or touring plans.

At the end of the day, I really liked both resorts.

 

[Minniesgal]

Hmm, this wasn't my experience, at all. We just returned from our vacation, where we spent three nights at RPR and then switched to WDW's Boardwalk for five nights. Maybe both resorts call those hotels "deluxe," but only Boardwalk actually felt like deluxe accommodations. RPR was nice enough, especially for the price, but I'm definitely glad we stayed there first. Otherwise, we would have been really let down after switching from Disney. The unlimited Express Pass was pretty great, but I find it pretty hard to fault Disney for not being able to follow suit. After visiting both sets of parks during a peak summer season, the one thing that is certain is that Universal doesn't have to deal with nearly as many people as Disney. Universal was crowded, but Disney was nuts. As for the "which is the better park?" argument, it's probably counterproductive to really argue about it. We loved Universal, and had a lot of fun, but after two days in the parks we'd seen it all. We haven't been in over 10 years, so there was a lot to see, but we took stock at the end and decided that we would have no desire to go back anytime soon if Diagon Alley weren't opening. The thrill rides are great, the theming is great, and you can't really get experiences like that anywhere else (that I've visited), but it lacks the intangible feeling of "escape" that Disney always gives us. And I didn't feel any stress about Disney once we were there, at all. Overall, despite the crowds, it was the more low-key of the two destinations. That probably just means that we're Disney fans, which is okay. We'll stick with WDW for the frequent trips, and skip over to Universal every once in a while when we get the urge (probably more frequently than every 10 years from now on). Also, random aside, can I just say that Bubba Gump's is hideously awful? Worst meal all vacation--including all of the fast food we picked up on our drive from Texas. Should have walked as soon as we saw it's owned by Landry's.

I totally agree with you we love the Disney resorts as resorts and will go there just to stay at the resort whereas the only reason we stay at universal resorts in for express pass. Not a fan of the universal resorts. Also think they could do with expanding the parks two days covers it and you couldn't spend a holiday there and do nothing else.

 

[lizzyb]

Going to Universal for the first time in August and am really looking forward to it!

 

[mforce1]

...I never really knew that some people could be so intimidated by an inanimate object, such as Universal/IOA. Intriguing to say the least!

 

[damo]

I totally agree with you we love the Disney resorts as resorts and will go there just to stay at the resort whereas the only reason we stay at universal resorts in for express pass. Not a fan of the universal resorts. Also think they could do with expanding the parks two days covers it and you couldn't spend a holiday there and do nothing else.

We can easily spend 5 days at Universal and do nothing else.

The parks are undergoing a huge expansion right now.

 

[RMulieri]

We can easily spend 5 days at Universal and do nothing else.

The parks are undergoing a huge expansion right now.

Same here..

 

[RMulieri]

We have stayed at Poly, Contemporary, Beach Club ,Boardwalk ,Swan and Grand Floridian at Disney ( as well as alot of the moderates and values)..Portofino bay at Universal blew them out of the water for us..We loved the theming, the employees were fantastic, the restaurants great and you cant beat the perks. .We have felt pampered on each of our stays there, and even our last visit when I broke my fingers on my left hand on Disaster at the studios, the hotel and Universal went above and beyond making everything right and comfortable for us.We even spent 2 days doing absolutely NOTHING since my hand was all bandaged..We still had the best time .

 

[schumigirl]

two days covers it and you couldn't spend a holiday there and do nothing else.

Not for us.

We spend all our trip at Royal Pacific and go to at least one of the parks most days..........not always for the whole day but with 18 nights we can pick and choose what we want to do any day.........we spend lots of time at the resort enjoying everything it has to offer. And for us it is a resort to enjoy and we do.

We mooch around a bit at mall at Millenia and maybe a day at the beach as we always have a car for all of our trip, but yeah basically we have our whole vacation at Universal and we never get bored. And sometimes we do absolutely nothing......not for long though as there's so much to do.

18 nights this year at RPR and we have no desire to visit the mouse. Plenty for us where we are at RPR and Universal.

 

[agavegirl1]

We have stayed at Poly, Contemporary, Beach Club ,Boardwalk ,Swan and Grand Floridian at Disney ( as well as alot of the moderates and values)..Portofino bay at Universal blew them out of the water for us..We loved the theming, the employees were fantastic, the restaurants great and you cant beat the perks. .We have felt pampered on each of our stays there, and even our last visit when I broke my fingers on my left hand on Disaster at the studios, the hotel and Universal went above and beyond making everything right and comfortable for us.We even spent 2 days doing absolutely NOTHING since my hand was all bandaged..We still had the best time .

Now I am REALLY excited for Portofino Bay! I fell in love with the pictures!

 

[RMulieri]

Now I am REALLY excited for Portofino Bay! I fell in love with the pictures!

I hope you love it as much as we do..We cant wait to go back and we are booked for Jan 2015

 

[Gru]

We have a tripped planned for this August. Originally we were doing 2 days at Universal and 7 days at Disney. We bought 5 day Disney tickets and were planning to add two days when we got there. After reserving FP+ and second guessing times and trying to get dinner reservations, I was not looking forward to this vacation at all. Last night we decided not to upgrade the Disney tickets and spend more time at Universal. Two years ago we stayed at Royal Pacific and visited Universal for the first time. It was so relaxing! We loved the ease of taking a midday break and not having to plan everything. The best character interaction we had was at Universal. We were shopping when Spiderman just came up to my kids and started a conversation. He was so funny! So nice not to have to book a meet and greet! Now I am at least excited about half of my vacation!

 

[DrHfuhruhurr]

...I never really knew that some people could be so intimidated by an inanimate object, such as Universal/IOA. Intriguing to say the least!

Yeesh. I was considering writing up trip reports for both resorts, since I've benefited from a lot of the advice on these forums. But, if this is the type of attitude people are going to have in response to honest critique, what's the point?

Knowing the internet, I shouldn't be very surprised that people will pledge allegiance to the most absurd things and fight in the dirt to support their "cause," but it's still surprising that a forum about amusement parks could generate such battle lines.

 

[mforce1]

Yeesh. I was considering writing up trip reports for both resorts, since I've benefited from a lot of the advice on these forums. But, if this is the type of attitude people are going to have in response to honest critique, what's the point?

Knowing the internet, I shouldn't be very surprised that people will pledge allegiance to the most absurd things and fight in the dirt to support their "cause," but it's still surprising that a forum about amusement parks could generate such battle lines.

I just made a generalized comment that, was in no way shape or form, directed towards anyone in this forum; however, thank you for proving my point.

 

[RMulieri]

Yeesh. I was considering writing up trip reports for both resorts, since I've benefited from a lot of the advice on these forums. But, if this is the type of attitude people are going to have in response to honest critique, what's the point?

Knowing the internet, I shouldn't be very surprised that people will pledge allegiance to the most absurd things and fight in the dirt to support their "cause," but it's still surprising that a forum about amusement parks could generate such battle lines.

I dont see any "fighting in the dirt to support allegiance" , just people stating their opinions and pretty decently too...You want dirt fighting, go over to the themepark forum and post ANYTHING positive about Universal or a negative about Disney and watch what happens.Universal boards are a pretty friendly bunch I think

 

[Bluer101]

Yeesh. I was considering writing up trip reports for both resorts, since I've benefited from a lot of the advice on these forums. But, if this is the type of attitude people are going to have in response to honest critique, what's the point? Knowing the internet, I shouldn't be very surprised that people will pledge allegiance to the most absurd things and fight in the dirt to support their "cause," but it's still surprising that a forum about amusement parks could generate such battle lines.

Don't worry about the things you can't control. Start a trip report as almost everyone on the darkside are nice.

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

I do think overall that for teens they will prefer Universal but real young probably Disney. But I disagree that there aren't enough things at Universal for a young kid to do. There are rides at both parks real young kids are too young for.

 

[sadossey]

I do think overall that for teens they will prefer Universal but real young probably Disney. But I disagree that there aren't enough things at Universal for a young kid to do. There are rides at both parks real young kids are too young for.

My kids are 7(girl) and 4(boy) and both loved UO with plenty for them to do. We went to DW the last two trips to Orlando and everybody agreed that Uni was more fun. My daughter cried on the way home from UO and on both DW trips I think she was glad to leave. At Disney it's just too much rushing around, dinner reservations, bus rides, etc. where Universal provides a real vacation experience for us.

 

[Spacepest]

I wouldn't want every trip to be a Universal only trip, but the changes are good that my next trip will focus on Diagon Alley.



We did this last year. It was a great way to get in a day of Disney Magic. We were able to get in an 8 hour Magic Kingdom day using the MNSSHP tickets. IMO, it is hard to go to Orlando and not do any Disney, so this was a good compromise.

My husband and I are probably going to do this on our next Florida trip: stay on site for Universal, do one of the hard ticket events at Disney, if we do Disney at all.

Our vacation time is very limited and my husband hates what a logistical nightmare a Disneyworld vacation has become. We love theme parks, and we've stayed onsite at other theme park properties and have enjoyed perks like unlimited express pass/front of the line. Stay deluxe at Disneyworld, and you only get 3 fastpasses a day like everyone else (and long lines of everthing else too), there's no comparison.

Last Disneyworld vacation, Disney lost money on us, because we had to uber plan everything and spent a great deal of time trying to make fastpass, show, and meal reservations. We spent very little time shopping due to this and only brought home a few souveniers (maybe $100 worth), where as in previous years we'd easily drop a couple grand or more in shopping alone.

 

[agavegirl1]

Yeesh. I was considering writing up trip reports for both resorts, since I've benefited from a lot of the advice on these forums. But, if this is the type of attitude people are going to have in response to honest critique, what's the point?

Knowing the internet, I shouldn't be very surprised that people will pledge allegiance to the most absurd things and fight in the dirt to support their "cause," but it's still surprising that a forum about amusement parks could generate such battle lines.

Absolutely write trip reports. Post them in the appropriate forums. People posting to trip report threads are not there to pick a fight with your experience. They are genuinely interested in reading about it and seeing the pictures. Also, it is a little friendlier on the "Dark Side". We enjoy theme parks here.

 

[CTDisneyfan816]

I always do both when I go down. I don't look at it as a competition or one over the other. There are things I like about both parks. Though I will say if Marvel ever is taken back by Disney, that could change things.