Universal Studios v. Hollywood Studios

[jaimiemarshall]

I had my Disney plans all mapped out and then I saw a tv commercial for Universal Studios and now a park that wasn't even on my radar is now reallllly high up there. I'm a huge Harry Potter fan and the kids love the minions, the Hulk, etc. I'm debating dropping my Hollywood Studios day and replacing it with a day at Universal Studios but I was wondering which park you think a 13 and 11 year old boy and a 10 year old girl would prefer.

Thanks!

Jaimie

 

[ChitownFamily]

I had my Disney plans all mapped out and then I saw a tv commercial for Universal Studios and now a park that wasn't even on my radar is now reallllly high up there. I'm a huge Harry Potter fan and the kids love the minions, the Hulk, etc. I'm debating dropping my Hollywood Studios day and replacing it with a day at Universal Studios but I was wondering which park you think a 13 and 11 year old boy and a 10 year old girl would prefer.

Thanks!

Jaimie

I guess it depends on a couple of things. Is your family a huge star wars family? HS might appeal more then.

Do your kids like thrill rides & coasters? Universal might be more fun.

a little background on universal- universal is two parks. The newest Harry potter addition will be opening in the next couple of weeks.

There will be 3 harry potter attraction areas. 1 (original wizarding world of harry potter) in Islands of Adventure park, 1 (diagon alley) in universal studios & the Hogwarts Express (actually travel between Universal studios to islands of adventure) In order to ride the hogwarts express, you will need to buy a park to park ticket.

 

[Burnedout]

Mine love DHS but given the choice they'd pick universal. Doing both parks there, you have scads more rides and shows and HP.

 

[kohlby]

If you have the money for it, I'd definately pick a day at US/IOA over DHS giving the age of your kids. It does take us a solid 2 days to do both parks - we actually did 6 days last trip but we're probably a little more into it than most. So, if you're planning just one day, decide which park. It is possible to hit the highlights in both parks in a day too - but that ticket will mean more money. The two parks have a shop area in the middle so you walk from one to the other, making it extremely easy to park hop. In the past, we spent more time on the IOA side than the US side. But our last trip was about 50/50 and that's before US had Harry Potter on their side. I'd also highly suggest lunch/dinner at Three Broomsticks for your Harry Potter buffs. (And use the restrooms in the HP area - Moaning Mrtyle is in the bathroom). Get the frozen butterbeer too. It's a little more expensive than the regular but so worth it.

*My kids do like DHS too - especially my eldest son who is 11. However, IOA beats DHS for him easily.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

First, Universal has two parks right next to each other: Studios and Islands of Adventure. I don't think one day is enough time for both.

I would also not drop DHS for Universal. Epcot and Animal Kingdom, maybe... but not DHS. What about adding two days?

 

[mm1971]

I had my Disney plans all mapped out and then I saw a tv commercial for Universal Studios and now a park that wasn't even on my radar is now reallllly high up there. I'm a huge Harry Potter fan and the kids love the minions, the Hulk, etc. I'm debating dropping my Hollywood Studios day and replacing it with a day at Universal Studios but I was wondering which park you think a 13 and 11 year old boy and a 10 year old girl would prefer.

Thanks!

Jaimie

If the admission cost (need access to both US and IOA in order to take Hogwarts Express)is not a problem, then Universal is a no brainer in my opinion. US/IOA has a lot more to offer than HS as it is two parks with newer attractions. We can only hope that WDW decided to refurbish and upgrade HS soon. And by soon, we are looking at 2018 and beyond since the current construction is basically through 2017.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

There is a great Universal forum on these boards where you can get a ton of information and a lot of good tips. I also vote for dropping DHS in favor of Universal based on the ages of your kids. We have done both extensively, and the Universal parks definitely offer more rides than DHS for the pre-teen and teen set.

That said, if you do go be sure to wander through Seuss land. Even though they are older it is quite amazing to see that come to life if they were ever fans!

Maria

 

[jaimiemarshall]

The boys both love Star Wars. Hmmmm I'm now thinking maybe one of my "do nothing" days may have to be a US day. Thanks for the input!!

 

[amym2]

Personally I'd keep your first WDW vacation just WDW and plan to get to US/IOA in the next couple of years. The HP additions are just opening this summer and will be crazy crowded. We were there within the first year the original HP section opened and they were limiting how many people could even get into that area. We were lucky and made it in one of the three days we were there (but it was a no-go on our 2nd try). I agree with the others who said you need multiple days at US/IOA. For the new Hogwarts Express (is that even open yet?) you need a park ticket that gets you into both parks, and that means shelling out lots of money for a 1-day ticket. If you think there's any way you can get back there in the next couple of years, I'd wait.

 

[jaimiemarshall]

Personally I'd keep your first WDW vacation just WDW and plan to get to US/IOA in the next couple of years. The HP additions are just opening this summer and will be crazy crowded. We were there within the first year the original HP section opened and they were limiting how many people could even get into that area. We were lucky and made it in one of the three days we were there (but it was a no-go on our 2nd try). I agree with the others who said you need multiple days at US/IOA. For the new Hogwarts Express (is that even open yet?) you need a park ticket that gets you into both parks, and that means shelling out lots of money for a 1-day ticket. If you think there's any way you can get back there in the next couple of years, I'd wait.

This is what I think we are going to do. We were talking about it last night and its going to be a crazy trip already with driving and 5 days at Disney so we are going to look at another trip - hopefully not in the dead of summer - in a couple of years. Thanks for all the advice

 

[puffkin]

Hands down Universal. There is TONS more to do there for kids your age and with the interests you listed. Although you would probably need 2 days (1 for each park) to give it justice.

While DHS is nice and actually has probably 3 of my top 5 rides at WDW, I think it is the weakest overall of the 4 Disney parks in terms of overall theming and experience. Especially with Harry Potter now at both parks, Universal blows DHS away.

Star Tours is fun....especially for a Star Wars fan....but outside of Star Wars Weekends there really isn't much else devoted to Star Wars so I wouldn't base a decision just on that.

 

[nighttowll]

This is what I think we are going to do. We were talking about it last night and its going to be a crazy trip already with driving and 5 days at Disney so we are going to look at another trip - hopefully not in the dead of summer - in a couple of years. Thanks for all the advice

This is what we did. Disney in one trip. Universal, Sea World, and Busch Gardens in another. We did them all for about 1/3 of what our Disney trip cost us. We stayed the same number of days in Orlando for both trips, but I was able to get us some great discounts so that helped. I'd definitely recommend going in the spring or fall when it is not as crowded. We really enjoyed Universal, but I'm not sure I'd feel he same if we had had to wait in long lines. Plus the HP section was super crowded, wall to wall people, even when the rest of the park felt fairly empty. I can't imagine going right after the new HP section opens up. I don't think I would be able to enjoy it very much with all the crowds.

I liked Universal about equal to Disney. The tweens liked Universal much better. However, Busch Gardens ended up being their very favorite of all the parks, but only because they are going through a roller coaster phase right now.