Way to Go USF

[packy]

We just got back a few days ago from a 3 day USF, 5 day Disney vactation. It was our first time to USF and it was better than I ever imagined. We stayed at the HRH (E rate, pool view) and had a great room on the 6th floor. The hotel was very nice as were the rooms and the beds were the best I have ever slept on in any hotel. FOTL was awesome as was the ability to walk to both parks. For the record, I happened to look at my watch when we left our room at the HRH and decided to time the walk to IOA - a fairly slow stroll took 12 minutes door-to-door. We went to NBA city - great restaurant with good food - twice and NASCAR once (my kids loved it, I didn't and thought the food was mediocre at best). We also ate fast food at the parks - normal park fare - what can you say. When we went to Disney on Saturday the 25th we hit the crowds that night at MK. Long waits at many rides, very crowded, FPs ran out at some rides. After my USF experience I started to question why I was paying the amount of money I was paying at Disney, the feeling being that they do very little for their on-site guests relative to the parks and restarants (I wrote a post on the Disney Resort board saying that FP for hotel guests needs some revision - I apparently stuck a nerve with other asking the same thing as the post has received over 60 replies). I really appreciated the fact that USF appears to appreciate their best customers, i.e. those using their hotels, parks and restaurants. Last words - 'I'll be back!'

 

[poolmom]

Couldn't agree with you more. We have also just returned from 4 nights at the Hard Rock/Universal and 4 nights at the Grand Floridian. The WDW portion cost twice as much as the Universal/IOA. We sure enjoyed ourselves a lot more at the Hard Rock which is a fabulous hotel with way better amenities. The FOTL was absolutely awesome. THe rides were amazing. Citywalk was a real happening place. We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe, Nascar, Margaritiville, NBA and Mythos. All were different and all had good food. Our favourite was Mythos. The price was reasonable, all around $80 for a family of 5. We also found we could get 10-15% discount at all restaurants with either the Universal fan card or the AAA card.
Whereas at Disney, discounts were nonexistent even though I'm a Disney card member(total waste of money). Our meals there were always over $100. We did all character breakfasts, and they were all around $80-$100. Way overpriced. Universal Orlando is offering a real viable alternative to Disney. We have been to WDW many times over the past 20 years and twice with our children. I must say it will be a long time before we return to Disney and Orlando. When we do we will be going to Universal/IOA and the Hard Rock.

 

[BarryHom]

I always found the APs at Universal and even Sea World and Busch Gardens are a much better deal than Disney's. Disney does give unlimited admission and free parking for one year, but I don't recall the amount of discounts Universal and the AB parks give. The discounts alone can pay off the value of your AP, although free parking is really the only discount I care about.

 

[Cindy B]

I have to agree, we just came back from a trip.

We had never been to either USF or IOA. Our last trip to Unversal was to USH in 1985.

It was amazing, and exceeded all our expectations. Parking was easy, very quick to navigate around the parks. Early admission was wonderful on Wednesday. The Universal Express pass is a better option than the Fastpass (although it was a bit tricky to get the card working at first)

The rides were wonderful, and we did them all, in both parks. The shows were excellent as well. We thought we got a wonderful value for the money. The theming is excellent throughout the park, and our food was very tasty.

The "cast members" were very courteous and efficient. They addressed one concern we had with graciousness. (The concern was the Braille being wrong on signage)

We utilized the FREE lockers while riding quite a bit. That is a wonderful extra touch you would not see at Disney. Other extra touches we enjoyed were, the spiderman theme song playing as we parked in the Spiderman section, the moving sidewalks in the garage, the technologically advanced rides.

In fact, our kids cant wait to come with us. The Orlando FlexPass is looking like a great option for us next time we come.

I dare even say, Disney lost quite a bit of money from us as well.

 

[Carrieberry]

I'm so glad to read about both of your good experiences with Universal. My husband and I planned a trip without the kids for March, and we decided to do Universal as well this time. The biggest thing was the price difference, as the flex pass is WAY cheaper than a 7 day hopper at Disney, and with Disney constantly raising it's resort prices it was making us really mad! We were initially worried that our trip would be seriously lacking, since we have done (and loved) Disney the last three years in a row. Now we are totally excited, espescially looking at all the great simulator rides and roller coasters we get to ride! We never get to do these with two small kids, so it ended up being perfect that it will just be us this next trip. Due to cost reasons, we will be staying off site, but plan to make the most of it by going to see other Orlando attractions as well. We will not be far from Universal, and plan on doing Citywalk there as well. Can anyone tell me more about Citywalk? What are the clubs like at night? We wanted to go dancing if possible, but aren't sure where to go! Thanks again for your great opinions, now we are looking forward to our trip more than ever!inkbounc

 

[Cindy B]

Carrieberry--

This was a kidless trip too. We loved it.
Citywalk looked like fun, but DH isn't much of a dancer, so we didnt do the clubs.

The restaurants looked great, and didnt look that full last week.

 

[BarryHom]

I don't hang around Citywalk too much, but you can shake your bootie at the Groove, Motown Cafe, and the Latin Quarter. They usually turn into a dance club after 10 pm.