UO vs. DIS

[brich330]

I know restrictions are very similar, and some of yet to come out for Disney. However, is anyone leaning a certain way on where they may go to this year? I’ve been to Disney World several times, but I’m thinking Universal (given its proximity of parks/resorts & oddly less attractions) may be closer to a true vacation experience.

 

[Indio]

If we hadn't already bought our Disney tickets, we'd probably go to Universal. I'm just very frustrated right now with all the work we've put into planning this July trip (which we rescheduled from June) and now having to re-plan for the 3rd time. And the current state of not knowing what's going on right now is just getting to me. Irrational I know, but that's what I'm feeling right now.

 

[butterscotchcollins]

We’re considering extending our trip and staying on UO property for the very first time/doing more than 1 day for the parks. Right now it does seem like a UO visit would be more fun and relaxing (no transportation/bus concerns, no in-park ADR concerns, they really do seem better prepared).

 

[soniam]

We’re considering extending our trip and staying on UO property for the very first time/doing more than 1 day for the parks. Right now it does seem like a UO visit would be more fun and relaxing (no transportation/bus concerns, no in-park ADR concerns, they really do seem better prepared).

We usually do both. I love the UO resorts. They are so much nicer, not always roomier though for big families. You can walk from most of them to the parks. WDW is home, but UO is a vacation. The Express Pass offered with the deluxe resorts is amazing and worth every penny. I refuse to do the bus right now at WDW, so walking or the small boats at UO is perfect. You should give it a try. I think now is the perfect time. UO will have time to work through stuff before WDW. We will be doing both in mid-July.

 

[butterscotchcollins]

We usually do both. I love the UO resorts. They are so much nicer, not always roomier though for big families. You can walk from most of them to the parks. WDW is home, but UO is a vacation. The Express Pass offered with the deluxe resorts is amazing and worth every penny. I refuse to do the bus right now at WDW, so walking or the small boats at UO is perfect. You should give it a try. I think now is the perfect time. UO will have time to work through stuff before WDW. We will be doing both in mid-July.

Our trips are usually too short to do more than one UO day since it’s our only vacation this year we’re doing 6 days. Originally it was a DS/resort day, 3 park hopper days and 1 UO day but with the reduced hours that doesn’t seem feasible. We also have no kids and are very spoiled so a king-sized bed at the Hard Rock might be in our near future

 

[Laurabearz]

We have an end of July trip plans at WDW, staying at pop. Two days ago I put a deposit down for a UO trip, and I think that’s the way we are going to go. Just waiting to see how the opening days go at UO before 100% committing.

 

[brockash]

I know restrictions are very similar, and some of yet to come out for Disney. However, is anyone leaning a certain way on where they may go to this year? I’ve been to Disney World several times, but I’m thinking Universal (given its proximity of parks/resorts & oddly less attractions) may be closer to a true vacation experience.

We're doing UO for the first time in almost 20 years in June. It was supposed to be Disney, but we changed it once we were canceled on for the 3rd time lol. I'll be honest I'm looking forward to it. It seems UO is attempting to provide as much as they can safely do for their guests whereas right now it appears Disney's trying to spend as little as they can and still have guests.

Honestly UO seems to have been able to handle this whole mess of a situation better than Disney and certainly with more consideration and communication. We're supposed to go to Disney in Sept., but not sure if that will still be happening or still be Disney.

 

[LolaNJoe]

We have been doing split stays with WDW and UO the last couple years, and every year we add more to our UO time. Their hotels are gorgeous and the water taxis can't be beat, and it's super easy to go between parks. Citywalk is very close, too, and easier to navigate than Disney Springs. We stay at Royal Pacific and the unlimited express pass makes it so worth it. We decided to always do UO last since it really spoils you compared to WDW. Now when we travel with friends and family, we don't stay onsite at WDW anymore since it's not worth the extra $$ to us, but a stay at RPR always is worth it.

 

[cakebaker]

Normally, there's no way I'd ever choose Universal over WDW but with all the cuts, WDW really doesn't offer anything but rides and in that department, if you like thrill rides, Universal beats them by a mile. What kept us at WDW doesn't exist now and may not for quite some time. If I were choosing today, it would be Universal. They seem to be able to handle this much better than WDW. Look at Citywalk opening vs the mess at DS- not a good sign.

 

[Jedimom33]

We love Universal. Many years ago, we'd work in a day or two during our Disney trips. Now, we mostly alternate trips, but with more Disney in the mix since we usually have APs. So we'll do Universal the year we are not doing Disney, and we always have a great time. We are supposed to be in Disney right now, changed the trip to June, then changed the trip to first of July, yesterday just cancelled. We'll go later in the year. But I did start looking at US yesterday....I do want to wait and see how the logistics work out tho. We always stay at HRH or RPH and have express pass, so if they are not doing EP, or if all virtual, just want to see how it all works first. But some of my all time theme park rides are at US/IoA, plus the Wizarding world. So much fun!

 

[glocon]

We usually do a split wdw/UO trip even tho that’s a pretty expensive way to vacation. If we had planned on going again this year, I would still do the split trip. We love both parks for different reasons, so would still do both. Last year we did 5 wdw nights and 4 UO nights. Expensive but sooo fun!

 

[epcotty]

really doesn't matter at this point. although maybe universal will have more things open percentage wise than disney will, based on what they're saying

 

[epcotty]

We're doing UO for the first time in almost 20 years in June. It was supposed to be Disney, but we changed it once we were canceled on for the 3rd time lol. I'll be honest I'm looking forward to it. It seems UO is attempting to provide as much as they can safely do for their guests whereas right now it appears Disney's trying to spend as little as they can and still have guests.

Honestly UO seems to have been able to handle this whole mess of a situation better than Disney and certainly with more consideration and communication. We're supposed to go to Disney in Sept., but not sure if that will still be happening or still be Disney.

i've also noticed that in more recent years universal has tried harder than disney with not doing all the cutbacks that disney has been doing, which is becoming more apparent now

 

[WhitneyMB]

We like alternating Disney and UO trips (Staying on-site for each), as we like spending several days at each when we go and can’t usually get away longer than a week. I understand the appeal of UO this year, when people are feeling that planning at Disney is going to be too tough. UO definitely involves less planning ahead of time (although I my Disney ADRs!).

I will say that our favorite part of OU is the Harry Potter section in each park, and we were just talking about how they are NOT built for social distancing. Can you imagine how few people will be able to enter at a time?