Who else is cutting their days at Disney and adding Universal

[Disneyhabs]

Nope no desire to go to Universal we are DVC members but our family is not interested in the least in Dr Seuss or Harry Potter etc so it is a waste of time and money for us to go there.

 

[prudence64]

We had a lousy day at islands of adventure in 2011 and aren't in any hurry to go back. Might like to go to the regular universal someday, but not enough to squeeze it in this time.

 

[All American]

I was just thinking about this morning.

I am cutting 2 days from a Disney trip this August. I'm tagging along with my husband who has a business trip. The convention is off-site, and when it's over, we've decided to spend the next two days on-site at Universal's Royal Pacific instead of staying at the Polynesian, which we love.

We're really curious about Harry Potter, and as we learned about all of the perks of staying on-site at Universal, we decided to give it a try. This morning, I was thinking/hoping to myself that it's a good choice. It's tough for our family to travel to Florida from Utah, so I want to use the time for maximum fun.

 

[Dis703]

Universal holds no appeal to me so nope we are sticking with WDW. We also like the new FP vs the old system.

 

[momof2n2]

You don't have a choice for me. We cut out our WDW days altogether in favor of sea world, busch gardens, and aquatica. We're planning two days of each and are 14 consecutive day tickets ringing at $150 per person. We were running from FP+ & we aren't universal fans.

 

[SCmom3]

DH and I have long planned a kid-free trip to Disney. We'd really like to visit Universal, especially with all the new attractions that have been added. With FP- we would have pulled many FP throughout the day as we toured, doing whatever we wanted to do with little planning. Now with FP+, we will be less spontaneous, more apt to try to cram in our attractions to a few days and let the other days be at Universal or a water park. Instead of 6 or 7 day park hopper tickets, I think we'll buy 3 or 4 day non park hoppers and a 3 day pass to Universal. We also will do a split stay to take advantage of on-site express passes as well. For that trip, FP+ will result in fewer dollars from us going to Disney.
For another family trip, it will likely have less effect on our spending or touring habits. With small kids, we didn't pull too many FP so we'll probably just adapt touring to fit with the new system. Our children would not get much out of a trip to Universal so that will wait until they are older. However, when they are older, Universal's new attractions will still draw us there and we'll take our money with us.
I remember being at the park last year and wishing that there was some way to pull a FP but have a say in the return time. I got many passes for a 1 hour return window but would have preferred a 4 hour return time instead. I'm nervous how well pre-booking times so far in advance will go, but at least I can schedule major attractions around the 'crabby hour'.

 

[kneedeep]

I was just thinking about this morning. I am cutting 2 days from a Disney trip this August. I'm tagging along with my husband who has a business trip. The convention is off-site, and when it's over, we've decided to spend the next two days on-site at Universal's Royal Pacific instead of staying at the Polynesian, which we love. We're really curious about Harry Potter, and as we learned about all of the perks of staying on-site at Universal, we decided to give it a try. This morning, I was thinking/hoping to myself that it's a good choice. It's tough for our family to travel to Florida from Utah, so I want to use the time for maximum fun.

I think you will have a wonderful time. Royal Pacific is a beautiful resort and the onsite perks make touring the Universal Parks very carefree.

 

[DebbieB]

What about "No ~ I love FP+ and see no reason to change my usual plans"?

That didn't make the poll?

 

[tlady]

How are choice 3 and 4 any different???

In any event, if you add up the first 4 choices (which are "yes" votes for Univesal for various reasons) you currently get 45%. If that's not an eye-opener for Disney, I don't know what is.

 

[tazadd0420]

Added universal. Did not cut any Disney days. Only added due to DD12 now like roller coasters and huge HP fan. Still love Disney.

 

[aVASTGrl]

I wouldn't necessarily shorten my trips because of FP+, but more because of the new Harry Potter expansion. My next year's Disney trip will probably be shorter because I'm planning on spending a few days over at IoA to check it out. I WILL however, be planning less Park time and more resort relaxation time because of FP+ and the fewer rides I'll be able to go on. So I guess that means less food and souvenir money Disney will get out of me

 

[prudence64]

I wouldn't necessarily shorten my trips because of FP+, but more because of the new Harry Potter expansion. My next year's Disney trip will probably be shorter because I'm planning on spending a few days over at IoA to check it out. I WILL however, be planning less Park time and more resort relaxation time because of FP+ and the fewer rides I'll be able to go on. So I guess that means less food and souvenir money Disney will get out of me

Juh FYI, I think the new Harry potter section will be in the original park, so you'll need tickets to both to see everything.

 

[DOOM1001]

Juh FYI, I think the new Harry potter section will be in the original park, so you'll need tickets to both to see everything.

Yes,to ride the Hogwarts Express train between Hogsmeade at IOA and the London Diagon Alley area you need a 2 park pass.The new Diagon Alley area is at USF.The folks at Universal aren't dumb,when the Hogsmeade area at IOA opened about 4 years ago the attendance at IOA went up like 32%,with USF attendance only going up 8%,now you have to do both.

 

[Disneychick75]

Love Disney and love Universal more. We cut a day from our Disney trip. We used to spend a 7-10 days at Disney and now it's down to 5.

For the doubters, I would not knock Universal until you try it. Kind of reminds me of my dad and his anti-Disney attitude. He went once in 1974, hated it and won't give it another try.
The first time my daughter (7 at the time) and I went to Universal, it was as a lark because we were at Disney World but we loved it! Universal has its own magic.

 

[aVASTGrl]

Juh FYI, I think the new Harry potter section will be in the original park, so you'll need tickets to both to see everything.

That's good to know, thanks! I usually do the park hoppers, or whatever they call them, anyways...I just spend most of my time at IoA

 

[amberpi]

We actually added days to our upcoming trip. We do Universal (always stay over there for FOTL - love that aspect) once every 3-5 years and I'm a huge Potter fan. I find a lot of their attractions the same thing over and over with different themes - but I do enjoy it. Without FOTL access though I wouldn't even consider waiting in those lines for the fun to be had. That said, FP+ works GREAT for our touring style, so we're going for a bit longer than our usual. We like to RD, leave for the resort or lunch at Epcot, have some drinks, hit the pool, take a nap and the fact that we can schedule our FPs in the late afternoon, early evening before a late dinner is just awesome. No more guessing and waiting and hoping we can get a FP for a time that is agreeable.

 

[Goofey Drool]

The last time I went to Disney was a few years ago... it pretty much had the same attractions it had in the 90's when I first went. I know how many on here love the nostalga but I kinda like to see new things. Our plan next year is to go to Sea world, Animal Kingdom and spend a day or two just relaxing at offsite resort. All the FP+ and crowd complaints do not make it very appealing when the cost is so high. Just think more room for the DIS veterans to soak in the magic.

 

[MichiganDVC]

Only saw the options "because FP+ stinks". Way to skew a poll!

Didn't have a category for me to check:
Love Disney and Love Universal, lengthened our trip by three days this time to add two day Universal tickets to the mix!!
Poll is REALLY skewed!!

You don't have a choice for me. We cut out our WDW days altogether in favor of sea world, busch gardens, and aquatica. We're planning two days of each and are 14 consecutive day tickets ringing at $150 per person. We were running from FP+ & we aren't universal fans.

Sorry folks! I was trying to add all the perspectives I read from the original thread that started this morning. And I did have 8 choices already... Well, 9 if you count the repeat.

 

[MichiganDVC]

The last time I went to Disney was a few years ago... it pretty much had the same attractions it had in the 90's when I first went. I know how many on here love the nostalga but I kinda like to see new things. Our plan next year is to go to Sea world, Animal Kingdom and spend a day or two just relaxing at offsite resort. All the FP+ and crowd complaints do not make it very appealing when the cost is so high. Just think more room for the DIS veterans to soak in the magic.

I go 3-4 times each year and every trip has a new purpose for me. Last summer was the "water parks, DTD, new restaurants, and Animal Kingdom Lodge" trip. Of course, I did the old faithfuls as well. But the purpose was new things. This fall I went to F&W with a group of friends (two who got engaged during the trip!) This February it was a 36 hour trip where I practiced FP+ at MK. This June will be pre and post cruise trip where I hope to do BoG and 7DMR, in addition to perfecting my FP+ touring plan.

So although I get the whole "I don't want to ride the same rides again" problem, there is so much more do to. I'd love to take a pontoon out on Bay Lake one of these days and go fishing. Or do a round of golf. Or actually make it to Splitsville. I guess there's always my NEXT trip, right?

 

[keys2kingdom]

Uni got a one night stay and a 2 day park ticket out of us in 2011 and they'll get a 2 day park hopper out of us this year. Sort of hurts me to say it but I'm more excited about Harry Potter expansion than I am about Fantasyland expansion. We'll stay in our DVC unit but hit Uni's parks for 2 days. In the past this would NEVER have happened but the whole Harry Potter thing was a game changer.