WDW deluxe resort VS Universal deluxe resort - tickets for both

[pooh2001]

I compared Arrive in 2025 Monday late evening May 5 – Friday May 9 & depart Saturday May 10 = 5 nights 2025 - 4 days in the parks Tuesday - Friday BELOW DOES NOT INCLUDE FOOD - I assume would be the same $200/day for 2 people = $1,000

Universal = 4 day park ticket = $450 per person with Loews Portofino Bay Hotel in a Mobility Accessible Deluxe King Room, w/roll-in shower get FREE* Universal Express Unlimited means Skip the regular lines for FREE, Wait time cut time by 2/3 - so if 1 hour, then 20 minutes, Like Fast Pass, Early Park Admission = Early Park Admission* to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™ and Universal's Volcano Bay up to one hour before the park open - not sure if for all guests at every resort or just deluxe
Price = Mon May 5 - Sat May 10 (5 nights) $2,476.50 + Tax + $900 for tickets = 4 day ticket Total = $3574.62


WDW = Disney's BoardWalk Inn - Resort View. Wheelchair accessible with roll-in shower
With 4 day park ticket - one park per day = $4,305.96
30 minutes extra ½ hour in the mornings all parks - all resorts
Extended Evening Theme Park Hours (ExEH) = Monday nights at EPCOT and Wednesday nights at Magic Kingdom.
We would only get Wednesday at MK, Monday would be a travel day
EXTENDED EVENING THEME PARK HOURS ATTRACTIONS – MAGIC KINGDOM = we would do only 11 rides listed as of July 2024

WDW cost - Universal cost = $732.34
So Universal is only $732.24 less expensive than WDW

Which would you do ?
Which is best for a person in a wheel chair ?

 

[DanceDisney23]

With a wheelchair, I would look at how much the Hard Rock Hotel costs. You can’t stay closer to the parks than there. Very convenient. Portofino is the farthest distance to the parks out of the three deluxe resorts.

I don’t have any experience navigating the parks with a wheelchair, but I noticed significantly more people in ECVs at Disney compared to Universal. I wonder if this is a statement about each park’s accessibility.

From a bang for your buck perspective, Universal is the better value. But personal preferences play into the decision as well, of course. And again, it may be different when you are navigating the resorts and parks in a wheelchair. I can’t speak to that.

 

[Brian Noble]

So Universal is only $732.24 less expensive than WDW

Another way to say it is that WDW is 20% more expensive.

The other thing that comes to mind is that the experience of the Universal parks with unlimited Express is not remotely comparable to the WDW parks without any virtual queuing at all. Adding any of the Lightning Lane stuff is going to bump your price up at WDW even more, and it's still not the same.

Don't get me wrong. Universal is not Disney. But, I enjoy both. If you are truly on the fence between them, I'd recommend Universal.

If you are instead trying to talk yourself into spending more to go to Disney, do that! That's fine too.

 

[reddog21]

Keep in mind your getting 2 less parks

From a bang for your buck perspective, Universal is the better value

I could argue it's very much not

 

[DanceDisney23]

Keep in mind your getting 2 less parks

I could argue it's very much not

Depends on your preferences. Not standing in line at two parks might be preferable to standing in long lines at four parks to some folks. Also, a 5-10 minute walk to two parks can be more palatable than a 10-20 minute bus or boat ride to 3-4 parks.

I also feel there is more to do at a Universal park compared to a Disney park in terms of rides and attractions. I remember a day at MK last summer where 9 rides were down at various times throughout the day, for hours on end. Park hopping took over an hour. I didn’t feel I got my money’s worth that day. Now, that’s an extreme case. But many Universal rides close frequently during weather, and we never have problems finding something else to do, especially with Express Pass.

 

[Anthony1971]

I like both but we do prefer Disney as we own DVC. If I did not own DVC it is likely we would spend more time at Universal.
Express pass is great.
Here is the questions only you can answer. Is this for the rides or just to be in the parks. Food?
Universal is just not very accommodating with rides it is an endless loop of putting things in a locker. Mostly we will take nothing including phones. I do however enjoy the rides that require this. Disney rides are far more accommodating but are also less thrill rides. Where Disney does have lockers -Tron- it is far more organized Universal is a locker station outside the ride and some rides have very sensitive metal detectors.
Food- in the parks without question Disney is far better. Universal does have decent places to eat outside of the park most of which you pass to get in the parks so this can be overcome but still leaving the park is what you will need to do to remotely compare. The resorts are not owned by universal (except the new value ones?) The food at the resorts is very good and overall wins at Universal. Plus they have a Stabucks in every resort sorry not a Joffrey fan... If I have to pay I am buying Starbucks and do at the parks as well.
Disney has far more to see if just in the parks one could easily spend 2 days just wandering and not see everything in a Disney park with the exception of HS. Universal especially Universal studios the layout is not so good especially with the added attractions it was much nicer years ago. Harry Potter is nice but small in both parks compared to Pandora or Star wars.
What makes Universal nice is in fact its compact size easy to navigate and easy to plan but this in and of itself is its biggest downfall compared to Disney. Disney in and of itself is immersive if you are staying on property. Universal you will see the outside world.
one is not better than the other but there are differences. IMO Disney can command a higher price but in the same it is money wasted if the difference is not what appeals to you. In universals defense the deluxe resorts with the express pass cause many a lot less stress if straight rides all day is your end goal.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

FYI the stay more save more rate for the Portofino Bay mobility accessible king deluxe May 5-9, 2025 is $519.20/night + taxes = $2,336.41
https://reservations.universalorlando.com/ibe/index.aspx?hotelID=14841&lang=en-us&hgID=641&currID=1

Oh my bad, I see you're adding the Friday night too.

Are you adding LL access on at Disney? That'll increase your costs significantly over 4 days.

 

[jessi5000]

The new DAS system means most people wont qualify, vs universal's system which is more wheelchair friendly.

 

[Minnie1222]

Go to Universal if you've never been.

 

[djmeredith]

Another way to say it is that WDW is 20% more expensive.

The other thing that comes to mind is that the experience of the Universal parks with unlimited Express is not remotely comparable to the WDW parks without any virtual queuing at all. Adding any of the Lightning Lane stuff is going to bump your price up at WDW even more, and it's still not the same.

Don't get me wrong. Universal is not Disney. But, I enjoy both. If you are truly on the fence between them, I'd recommend Universal.

If you are instead trying to talk yourself into spending more to go to Disney, do that! That's fine too.

Agree 100%! Express Pass is a game changer for your overall theme park experience, and it's included in your Deluxe resort cost at Universal. I also love both resorts, but from a purely cost/benefit perspective, Universal is the better value.

Someone recommended checking Hard Rock since it is closer. You may also want to consider Royal Pacific because it is easily walkable to Islands of Adventure (comparable distance of Hard Rock to US park). It's almost always cheaper and I liked it better than both Portofino and HR when I finally tried it.

You can probably save even more on the hotel at Universal if you use the Annual Pass discount method. AP holders get a significant discount on hotel rooms, so a lot of people upgrade one ticket to the lowest level AP just for the hotel discount. For more info, check out the thread over on the Universal section. Lots of great info over there.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

The new DAS system means most people wont qualify, vs universal's system which is more wheelchair friendly.

Universal's wait-outside-the-line accessibility pass also isn't for strictly mobility issues. Both parks have accessible queues for the most part.

 

[msmayor]

As much as we enjoyed Universal during our trip this past June (3 nights at Portofino Bay), if I could only choose one it'd be Disney every day.

The experience and vibe of Universal is so different from Disney, IMO, with many more thrill rides for 'big kids'. We enjoyed Portofino Bay, but Disney resort theming felt so much stronger than Universal.

The streetmosphere of Disney, to me, is far more preferable than that of Universal.

Don't choose on price. Choose on the type of vacation you want.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Disney's rides are all very accessible, not sure the bigger rollercoasters at UO are. We enjoy both but much prefer WDW. We have stayed at Portofino and it's very nice, but usually we're done at UO after a day and a half so what we do occasionally is add a night a Portofino to our WDW vacation and with EP do all the rides at UO in a day and half, then head down the road for the rest of the week at WDW

 

[Minnie1222]

Don't choose on price. Choose on the type of vacation you want.

This