OK, before doing Universal, I had asked many people how it stacked up against Disney. I got many replies, but there didn't seem to be any consensus at all.
I have very strong opinions about it after seeing both and thought I'd share for the benefit of others.
First of all, I don't think it's "Coke vs. Pepsi" at all. They are very different places. I personally thought WDW blew Universal out of the water. Not even close. But I can see that some people might feel differently.
Here's the difference: Disney Magic.
OK, OK hear me out. I'm not your typical "Disney magic" type person. I'm a guy who could care less about "Magic" and pixie dust and garbage. I could care less about the Disney characters. I haven't read most of the classic books, or seen 3/4 of the movies. I don't get teary eyed seeing the castle, Mickey Mouse is just OK, and tinkerbell and the cricket kind of annoy me. In fact, I didn't believe in "disney magic" at all.
Until I went to Universal.
The total lack of magic at universal made me realize that Disney does in fact have something special about it.
But it's not pixie dust. It's attention to detail.
If you care about attention to detail, you'll notice the difference. And if you care about these things, then it all starts adding up and making a big difference. There are a million little ways in which it shows up. For instance:
a. The quality of the help is off the charts different. Universal had typical McDonald's-esque type help. Not terrible, but visibly disinterested in being there. Poorly trained, etc. I can give examples. Disney folks were usually nice and helpful (and without being fakey sappy, for the most part).
b. Sloppiness. At Universal, some things are just sloppy. Sloppy uniforms. Less well tended grounds. Cheesier sets. One great example: I was excited to see Shaggy and Scooby Doo. Then I walked a couple of blocks down and guess what? ANOTHER Shaggy and Scooby! I've never seen that at Disney and can't imagine it happening. Talk about breaking the illusion that these are the "one and only, real" characters. It just seemed sort of dumb and poorly done. I saw characters completely fall out of character in public on numerous occasions. One princess got whinny and started talking to friends.
c. Food. Just fewer options, lower quality. Burgers were fattier, Turkey legs were less tasty. (However their lemon and blueberry slushes were awsome!!)
d. Ride theme-ing. I care about this. I love the intricate details and atmosphere at Disney rides. There is little if any of this at Universal. The quality is just not there. Queing areas are usually very boring. For instance, the actual place Sherk 4D is shown is spartan.
c. Fastpass. Disney's is good, democratic, and works. Universal's had a lot of problems, didn't always work, and was undemocratic.
Other considerations.
1. The characters. I have zero attachment to Mikey Mouse, etc. In fact I like Universals character set better. Shaggy and Scoobie Doo! Cool. Curious George! Cool! Spiderman - come on! Lots of fun characters. For me advantage Universal. Your mileage may vary...
2. Traveling with younger kids. Disney is much better. Universal had some cool stuff for young ones. In fact, I absolutely adored their mini water park at Universal Studios. BUT, most rides not explicitly for kids are inappropriate for them. In Disney most rides are kid friendly, but there are a few rides kids shouldn't do. In Universal it is exactly the opposite.
3. Public. The crowd at Universal, particularly on the weekend was... different. There was a much higher "Jerry Springer Audience" quotient at Universal. I'm not saying that's bad, it's just different. What was bad was there was also a significant "thug" quotient at Universal on the weekend. And I'm not using that as code for any particular ethnic group. There was equal opportunity thugishness going on. Not like it was dangerous or anything. Just a lot more tough characters around.
4. Older kids / thrill riders. Universal is THE place to be if you are between 10 and 25. Everything is louder, faster, etc. I'm a pretty young 37. In fact I was pumped up when I heard the entrance music was the Red Hot Chili Peppers the day I went! Cool! I LOVED the intensity of the drop in the Jurassic ride. Though I can't ride coasters, I can imagine that Hulk and Dragons must be sweet rides. If that's what you're after - if it's all about the rides and intense rides at that - then IoA and Universal will be a great choice. Still, for me, it didn't make up for the lack of quality and (to me) a sort of juvenile sense about things. Every darned ride seemed to try and have some element of scary or "in your faceness". Even Dr. Seuss and ET! It wasn't thoughtful thrills, it was just BAM, in your face. Bigger and Louder. That played well with my 11 year old, but got old with me. Even the sense of humor seemed geared to that age group. Shrek has a fart joke in it. When I saw it I just sighed. I'm not a big fan of fart humor. It just seems dumb to me. My 11 year old, of course, loved it - it's the first thing he mentioned.
Overall, the theming isn't close in most places. Studios is OK, but not great. IoA had my hopes up. The entrance and most of the adventure area is pretty much Disney quality, but it goes downhill quickly as you move around. By the Superhero area, it's just loud, in your face, steel and plastic.
Again, none of this stuff is that important, but it adds up, cumulatively, to give you an impression of things.
What I will give Universal credit for is creativity. I didn't much like Terminator (3D effects were off and on and the movie itself was boring IMHO) the way it was done was different and creative. And Spiderman - wow! Too rough, but wow - really neat effects. Also, watch the video monitors in the Terminator queue. They show pictures of the waiting crowd, but have some interesting things happen.
Bottom Line: Kali River Rapids as compared to the Bluto ride at Universal is a perfect microcosm of the difference between Disney and Universal. Bluto is more intense. It gets you wetter. It moves faster. It's longer. But I prefer Kali 100 times over. Bluto is essentially a garish plastic chute. The quality of the "set" is sort of McDonald's Play landish. It gets you wet, but I noticed that TONS of water sloshes around on the floor and your feet get sopping wet (which seems to me to be sort of a poor design - when you may or may not get really wet, but your shoes are guaranteed to be sopping wet). In comparison Kali is just beautiful to look at and be a part of. From the waiting line on its attractive, jungly, mysterious. Just nice. So for me, I love being on Kali and found Bluto sort of boring and ugly. But my son who is 11 loved Bluto.
So think about what you like, what floats your boat, and what bugs you and you'll have a pretty decent idea of how you'll feel about each location.
For my wife and I, we ended up leaving early both days we were at the Universal parks to go back to Disney. At Universal we tried to get ride to ride to do each thing. At Disney we just liked BEING there. The cumulative effect of all those things just make Disney a nice place to be. And that is the "Magic" as far as I'm concerned.
Do others agree with this assessment?
Side point - what the heck is up with the resorts at Universal. I felt it was way overpriced, and I felt we got nickeled and dimed all the time. Can't believe I spent $240 for one night.
with the whole concept. In the next few years I know we will be checking out Universal because DD will want to and I think it might be nice to see what else Orlando has to offer but it is Disney that has my heart.
It's just not our type of place. They do have some pretty good rides though. 
