Why I made the switch to Universal Orlando

[EllieBadgeAdventures]

I have to admit that I am a Disney Fanatic! My office walls are covered in Minnie Ears. My amazon wish list looks like it was made by a 7 year old princess. I have been on Disney cruises, to the Tokyo Disney Resort, to the Paris Disney Resort, DCA, and to World more times than I can count! I love Disney! That being said, I have finally reached the tilting point and moved my WDW vacations to Universal Orlando. Don't cast stones yet!! Hear me out!

I grew up in a family that lived paycheck to paycheck and a trip to Walt Disney World as a kid wasn't even an option. After watching the episode of Boy Meets World where Cory goes to WDW, I wished upon all of my lucky stars for a chance to visit that magical place. Fast forward to 2005, I was finally a nurse with the funds to fulfill my childhood wish! I whisked my little brother and little cousin off for a trip of a lifetime. It was amazing in every way. We stayed in a Savanah View room at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We had the free Disney Dining Plan that included an Appetizer, Entree, and Dessert! We had the free Magical Express, free Magic bands, free fastpasses, free after hours for guests, free parking at the hotel, and the free specialty seating for Fantasmic! It was easy! It was fun! It was worth the cost of the trip! I went back year after year. I had no desire to try Universal Studios, Seaworld, or anything outside of the Disney Bubble. I was officially hooked on Disney!

After that first trip, I started noticing little changes like appetizers not being included in the dining plan, parking not being free, and benefits being taken away despite the increase in prices. It was like a fire ant bite, irritating as all get out but tolerable. After 2020 my biggest fear became a reality. Disney lost the courtesy of trying to mask that they were giving me much less and charging me way more. My easy vacation became a nickel and dimed affair. We now have to pay for everything that once was free! And there seems to be no CARE whatsoever from the Big Dog Bob Paycheck.

I knew that I was starting to teeter when we decided to book hotels off property. Gasp! I broke the Disney Bubble! It just made more sense to stay in a hotel off property for $80 a night with free breakfast verses $180 on property for an All Star Resort. There were no more perks to keep me in the bubble. Let's be honest. There is no longer extended hours unless I pay for a Deluxe hotel which can be more than 10x the price of the off property hotel. There is no longer free fastpasses or free dining plans....actually there are no dining plans at all! There is no more Magical Express. What is Disney giving me for staying on property?

Finally last summer I could no longer justify the cost for a full week at WDW. What!? Maybe I was overcome with an Eeyore mindset, but the cost for what I was getting was no longer balanced on the scale. I decided to check into the cost of a Universal Orlando trip and found an excellent price on their top tier annual pass! Did you know that you can stay in a Premier resort at Universal for a Disney Value Resort price? Did you know that if you stay at a Premier Resort you get a free express pass for everyone in your party and can get into the parks early? I didn't either! SO WE DID IT! We invested in an annual pass! Let me sum this up for you... in the last year my husband and I have flown out to UO 5 times, stayed a total of 4 weeks and paid less than a 1 week trip to WDW. Every time we turn around we get discounts for having an AP. We don't have to wait in many lines, and a lot of days we sleep in and don't get to the parks until 4pm and can still ride all of the rides with the help of our annual pass after 4pm express pass . We even got a HHN ticket free with our pass! Now obviously I can't just not go to WDW. So we have added a day here and there for Disney while on our UO trips. Unless something drastically happens at Disney, I don't think we will be going back to the Disney Bubble life.

 

[EllieBadgeAdventures]

@BaybeeYoda

 

[mom2missmous]

We haven't totally left the bubble yet as we are DVC owners , but I do agree with what you said! We have vastly changed how we do our Disney trips now, choosing to stay mostly at the resort to relax by the pool with a few dinners out ( it is SOO hard to get the reservations we really want now with the more limited capacity and narrow window we are allowed). We now are also card -carrying Universal annual passholders and have been gradually increasing the number of on-site stays and days we visit USF ! The only real reason we spend more time on Disney property is that with the contract we bought years ago, it is relatively cheaper for the room and the resorts themselves are still nice.

 

[wdwrule]

I have to admit that I am a Disney Fanatic! My office walls are covered in Minnie Ears. My amazon wish list looks like it was made by a 7 year old princess. I have been on Disney cruises, to the Tokyo Disney Resort, to the Paris Disney Resort, DCA, and to World more times than I can count! I love Disney! That being said, I have finally reached the tilting point and moved my WDW vacations to Universal Orlando. Don't cast stones yet!! Hear me out!

I grew up in a family that lived paycheck to paycheck and a trip to Walt Disney World as a kid wasn't even an option. After watching the episode of Boy Meets World where Cory goes to WDW, I wished upon all of my lucky stars for a chance to visit that magical place. Fast forward to 2005, I was finally a nurse with the funds to fulfill my childhood wish! I whisked my little brother and little cousin off for a trip of a lifetime. It was amazing in every way. We stayed in a Savanah View room at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We had the free Disney Dining Plan that included an Appetizer, Entree, and Dessert! We had the free Magical Express, free Magic bands, free fastpasses, free after hours for guests, free parking at the hotel, and the free specialty seating for Fantasmic! It was easy! It was fun! It was worth the cost of the trip! I went back year after year. I had no desire to try Universal Studios, Seaworld, or anything outside of the Disney Bubble. I was officially hooked on Disney!

After that first trip, I started noticing little changes like appetizers not being included in the dining plan, parking not being free, and benefits being taken away despite the increase in prices. It was like a fire ant bite, irritating as all get out but tolerable. After 2020 my biggest fear became a reality. Disney lost the courtesy of trying to mask that they were giving me much less and charging me way more. My easy vacation became a nickel and dimed affair. We now have to pay for everything that once was free! And there seems to be no CARE whatsoever from the Big Dog Bob Paycheck.

I knew that I was starting to teeter when we decided to book hotels off property. Gasp! I broke the Disney Bubble! It just made more sense to stay in a hotel off property for $80 a night with free breakfast verses $180 on property for an All Star Resort. There were no more perks to keep me in the bubble. Let's be honest. There is no longer extended hours unless I pay for a Deluxe hotel which can be more than 10x the price of the off property hotel. There is no longer free fastpasses or free dining plans....actually there are no dining plans at all! There is no more Magical Express. What is Disney giving me for staying on property?

Finally last summer I could no longer justify the cost for a full week at WDW. What!? Maybe I was overcome with an Eeyore mindset, but the cost for what I was getting was no longer balanced on the scale. I decided to check into the cost of a Universal Orlando trip and found an excellent price on their top tier annual pass! Did you know that you can stay in a Premier resort at Universal for a Disney Value Resort price? Did you know that if you stay at a Premier Resort you get a free express pass for everyone in your party and can get into the parks early? I didn't either! SO WE DID IT! We invested in an annual pass! Let me sum this up for you... in the last year my husband and I have flown out to UO 5 times, stayed a total of 4 weeks and paid less than a 1 week trip to WDW. Every time we turn around we get discounts for having an AP. We don't have to wait in many lines, and a lot of days we sleep in and don't get to the parks until 4pm and can still ride all of the rides with the help of our annual pass after 4pm express pass . We even got a HHN ticket free with our pass! Now obviously I can't just not go to WDW. So we have added a day here and there for Disney while on our UO trips. Unless something drastically happens at Disney, I don't think we will be going back to the Disney Bubble life.

Haha your story sounds almost identical to mine! Welcome!

As a family we used to go to WDW every year from when our youngest was about four years old until she was around 16 or so. Great memories that I’ll never regret. We used to often get the ‘free’ dining plan as well which was convenient. We never had a desire to visit UO due to our love/fascination with WDW and how dare we take one day away from WDW to visit UO. LOL my avatar and username is still WDW related but that’s ok.

I still miss WDW but we’re totally hooked now on UO. I think both parks have their own type of ‘magic’. Honestly I think it’s all about the wonderful memory making which does not matter necessarily where we are. But I do agree… UO seems so much more affordable. And so much more freedom. Less detailed planning for us means more flexibility and low key.

The most magic we feel is in the Harry Potter areas as we’re huge fans. We are also a big thrill roller coaster family so Velocicoaster etc are must-do’s every trip.

Speaking of every trip… we used to go to WDW once per year. Because APs are affordable at UO, we’ve gone once per month since last August. Not all of us at once but usually 2-3 of us at a time due to college attending etc. (Also due to cheap Spirit/Frontier flights which most people hate but we’ve had good experiences with for a 2 hour flight and only take a small suitcase each as our one personal bag for the weekend). You can’t beat $33 flights each way!

Anyways you’re not alone. You’ll find a new love at UO. I do still miss WDW in small doses but we are so into UO right now. The AP hotel rates are amazing! Although the premiere resorts have been pricey lately but it’s so nice to experience the other ‘prime value’ and ‘value’ resorts. They are all amazing in their own way. For example, DD and I stayed at Aventura in a deluxe queen room last week for only $167 per night and the room was huge with endless windows! We did still get a mini Disney fix by Uber-ing to Disney Springs the one morning and last year we attended the Holiday party at MK. But UO is our current true love right now.

I also love how both parks and Citywalk are all easy walking distance from each other, including most of their hotels to the parks.

Lol I’m rambling but I feel you! UO is more flexible, has its own magic, friendly helpful staff, and feels like more bang for your buck. You’ll LOVE the discounts and after 4 express with premiere. So excited for you!

 

[djshortsleeve]

I think my family is done with WDW. Last trip we stayed off property for half and at Yacht Club for half. The Marriot was much better.

 

[jimmymc]

Split stays are amazing. I still like staying on property at WDW with DVC points, but I agree that staying at a premier Universal hotel to get Express while you're there is a huge value.

 

[tgbanks3]

Lot of complaining on the boards and on the show; this week's show in particular. And I get it. Nobody wants to pay more and get less. But here's the deal. People are still flocking to Disney. Still hearing complaints about long waits and huge crowds. So what exactly can they do to fix it? Ryno mentioned that they no longer give out deals for the single mother. If they were to do that, the parks would be even more crowded and we'd have more complaints. The reason you can stay at Universal for cheaper is because they're still trying to draw the crowds that Disney has on a daily basis. You think that once Universal is maxed out they're going to continue to keep these low costs? It's a simple supply and demand problem. The demand is there. As long as it's there, they're not going to lower costs. If they did, there would be an even bigger issue with demand.
If someone has a reasonable answer then I'd love to hear it. But this person would then become famous the world over for solving the issue with supply/demand.
Complaints about the magic not being there is totally reasonable. Complaints about understaffing/shows remaining closed are totally reasonable. But complaints about costs are unfounded at this point.

 

[ZJ5/9D47]

I’m a big fan of UO but some of your comments seem a bit exaggerating. WDW value and UO premier the same cost? Yeah…no. And UO hardly gives any hotel discounts since January. Random weekend in August after school starts at cheapest UO premier per night is $700 vs cheapest WDW value of $215…both lowest tier and same type of bedroom. Unlimited Express is expensive but the room quality is better for the price. Your level of UO AP is over $800 now post-tax…around 50% more per park than WDW. Free HHN ticket? Basically useless if going for more than one night and what passholder only goes one night? You don’t get a credit to upgrade. Express after 4 is nice but only once for each attraction. Crowds are often minimal at that time anyways so saves an hour or maybe two if the park is open really late. Early admission is two rides at studios or 3-4 rides at IOA and only one park each day unless peak holiday. At the studios side one ride is the Minions…for kids and not even 3-D. IOA is usually spent in line for Hagrids. And you can’t eat breakfast at the Harry Potter restaurants unless you are staying on site and have the special package. Express at UO cuts waits in half while at WDW it used to be 20 minutes.

So while I agree the grass there is green…it’s not 100x greener.

 

[easyas123]

Another Disney die-hard, bubble-loving goer here....WDW for us was always a long weekend mid winter getaway we very much looked forward to.
Universal is getting our business next long weekend for a multitude of reasons, chief among them is I don't want to have to be on my damn phone 24/7 and pre reserve a park or fight the hoards for a dining reservation. None of that is relaxing to us.

 

[EllieBadgeAdventures]

Actually last Fall with my AP discount I scored Royal Pacific for $180 a night. When I looked at the hotels on Disney’s site the All Stars were running $189-$239 a night for the ALL STAR hotels! We used our HHN ticket for 1 night and did both parks for several days that trip. It was awesome! We did the $1200 AP and did half down and half over the year. It comes with free parking, several specialty tickets and no blockouts! At that point last year, Disney wasn’t even offering annual passes for out of staters. I think that was what changed my mind. Plus everywhere we ate we got an AP discount! Now don’t get me wrong! I still absolutely adore Disney, but UO just seems to be more consumer friendly vs Disney. Disney feels a lot like some peoples wallets are getting pretty stacked and it’s coming straight from our purses!!

I’m a big fan of UO but some of your comments seem a bit exaggerating. WDW value and UO premier the same cost? Yeah…no. And UO hardly gives any hotel discounts since January. Random weekend in August after school starts at cheapest UO premier per night is $700 vs cheapest WDW value of $215…both lowest tier and same type of bedroom. Unlimited Express is expensive but the room quality is better for the price. Your level of UO AP is over $800 now post-tax…around 50% more per park than WDW. Free HHN ticket? Basically useless if going for more than one night and what passholder only goes one night? You don’t get a credit to upgrade. Express after 4 is nice but only once for each attraction. Crowds are often minimal at that time anyways so saves an hour or maybe two if the park is open really late. Early admission is two rides at studios or 3-4 rides at IOA and only one park each day unless peak holiday. At the studios side one ride is the Minions…for kids and not even 3-D. IOA is usually spent in line for Hagrids. And you can’t eat breakfast at the Harry Potter restaurants unless you are staying on site and have the special package. Express at UO cuts waits in half while at WDW it used to be 20 minutes.

So while I agree the grass there is green…it’s not 100x greener.

i haven’t priced the UO hotels in a few months but last Fall I got Royal Pacific

 

[asuburbanman]

Unfortunately UO caught on and no lo her discount premier hotels. We bought in the same time frame. We were absolutely thrilled. Now unfortunately you are looking at $380 a night minimum for premier. I couldn’t do UO without unlimited express. I know G+ costs money but $15 right now can’t be beat. I anticipate within a few years it will approach $40 per person, per day.

I do think the value hotels at WDW should be more in line with UO values. Around $120-150 a night.

Where were you staying for $80 a night with a breakfast out of curiosity? Did you find parking to be easier or more difficult than resort transportation?

 

[Sue M]

I’m a big fan of UO but some of your comments seem a bit exaggerating. WDW value and UO premier the same cost? Yeah…no. And UO hardly gives any hotel discounts since January. Random weekend in August after school starts at cheapest UO premier per night is $700 vs cheapest WDW value of $215…both lowest tier and same type of bedroom. Unlimited Express is expensive but the room quality is better for the price. Your level of UO AP is over $800 now post-tax…around 50% more per park than WDW. Free HHN ticket? Basically useless if going for more than one night and what passholder only goes one night? You don’t get a credit to upgrade. Express after 4 is nice but only once for each attraction. Crowds are often minimal at that time anyways so saves an hour or maybe two if the park is open really late. Early admission is two rides at studios or 3-4 rides at IOA and only one park each day unless peak holiday. At the studios side one ride is the Minions…for kids and not even 3-D. IOA is usually spent in line for Hagrids. And you can’t eat breakfast at the Harry Potter restaurants unless you are staying on site and have the special package. Express at UO cuts waits in half while at WDW it used to be 20 minutes.

So while I agree the grass there is green…it’s not 100x greener.

A better comparison is Universal Sapphire Falls under $200/night vs WDW CBR at over $300/night. You get so much more at SF which is more like a WDW deluxe. Last Aug I paid over $300/night for CBR and this Aug paying $198 for SF, and $470 for Portofino doing a split stay. AP discount
Or Cabana Bay vs Pop. Again Universal wins in value resorts. So much more at CB. And cheaper than Pop. Plus the family suites at CB are half the price of the AllStars family suites

Also Universal APs are less than WDW. And you have a choice of tiers. Out of state WDW visitors have no choice other than the most expensive AP. I stopped being a wdw AP holder when they doubled price. Among other things.

 

[Sue M]

@EllieBadgeAdventures i remember 2005 Dining plan. Boy it was great! Even included gratuity! It was our second wdw visit, but first staying on-site at CBR! Those were the good old days. I’m sad wdw just isn’t the same anymore too. It used to be great. By 2016 I had stopped routinely going twice a year (from west coast) when APs just about doubled in price. The beginning of the end.

 

[shaqfor3]

Only thing Universal have over Disney in price are the hotels. I usually stay offsite anyway, so for me Universal look as expensive as Disney.

 

[k5xs]

I have to admit that I am a Disney Fanatic! My office walls are covered in Minnie Ears. My amazon wish list looks like it was made by a 7 year old princess. I have been on Disney cruises, to the Tokyo Disney Resort, to the Paris Disney Resort, DCA, and to World more times than I can count! I love Disney! That being said, I have finally reached the tilting point and moved my WDW vacations to Universal Orlando. Don't cast stones yet!! Hear me out!

I grew up in a family that lived paycheck to paycheck and a trip to Walt Disney World as a kid wasn't even an option. After watching the episode of Boy Meets World where Cory goes to WDW, I wished upon all of my lucky stars for a chance to visit that magical place. Fast forward to 2005, I was finally a nurse with the funds to fulfill my childhood wish! I whisked my little brother and little cousin off for a trip of a lifetime. It was amazing in every way. We stayed in a Savanah View room at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We had the free Disney Dining Plan that included an Appetizer, Entree, and Dessert! We had the free Magical Express, free Magic bands, free fastpasses, free after hours for guests, free parking at the hotel, and the free specialty seating for Fantasmic! It was easy! It was fun! It was worth the cost of the trip! I went back year after year. I had no desire to try Universal Studios, Seaworld, or anything outside of the Disney Bubble. I was officially hooked on Disney!

After that first trip, I started noticing little changes like appetizers not being included in the dining plan, parking not being free, and benefits being taken away despite the increase in prices. It was like a fire ant bite, irritating as all get out but tolerable. After 2020 my biggest fear became a reality. Disney lost the courtesy of trying to mask that they were giving me much less and charging me way more. My easy vacation became a nickel and dimed affair. We now have to pay for everything that once was free! And there seems to be no CARE whatsoever from the Big Dog Bob Paycheck.

I knew that I was starting to teeter when we decided to book hotels off property. Gasp! I broke the Disney Bubble! It just made more sense to stay in a hotel off property for $80 a night with free breakfast verses $180 on property for an All Star Resort. There were no more perks to keep me in the bubble. Let's be honest. There is no longer extended hours unless I pay for a Deluxe hotel which can be more than 10x the price of the off property hotel. There is no longer free fastpasses or free dining plans....actually there are no dining plans at all! There is no more Magical Express. What is Disney giving me for staying on property?

Finally last summer I could no longer justify the cost for a full week at WDW. What!? Maybe I was overcome with an Eeyore mindset, but the cost for what I was getting was no longer balanced on the scale. I decided to check into the cost of a Universal Orlando trip and found an excellent price on their top tier annual pass! Did you know that you can stay in a Premier resort at Universal for a Disney Value Resort price? Did you know that if you stay at a Premier Resort you get a free express pass for everyone in your party and can get into the parks early? I didn't either! SO WE DID IT! We invested in an annual pass! Let me sum this up for you... in the last year my husband and I have flown out to UO 5 times, stayed a total of 4 weeks and paid less than a 1 week trip to WDW. Every time we turn around we get discounts for having an AP. We don't have to wait in many lines, and a lot of days we sleep in and don't get to the parks until 4pm and can still ride all of the rides with the help of our annual pass after 4pm express pass . We even got a HHN ticket free with our pass! Now obviously I can't just not go to WDW. So we have added a day here and there for Disney while on our UO trips. Unless something drastically happens at Disney, I don't think we will be going back to the Disney Bubble life.

Please PLEASE send this post via email to: guest.services@disneyworld.com

Add a request that it be forwarded to Josh D’Amaro and Bob Chapek.

I had a delightful ~20 minute conversation with Chapek’s executive assistant as a result of similar sentiments. Unlikely it changed much, but I was assured my message would be given to them.

 

[ctl]

Only thing Universal have over Disney in price are the hotels. I usually stay offsite anyway, so for me Universal look as expensive as Disney.

Universal has Harry Potter

 

[Jrb1979]

Universal has Harry Potter

Soon it will also have Super Mario

 

[Smugpugmug]

Only thing Universal have over Disney in price are the hotels. I usually stay offsite anyway, so for me Universal look as expensive as Disney.

Universal also has WAY more thrilling rides than anything Disney offers. One of my friends has a Universal AP and not a Disney one because they offer more intense coasters than Disney does (she also has zero nostalgia for Disney parks).

 

[Drew729]

I have come to enjoy Universal over our last few trips. I also enjoy Disney and am a DVC member. What I have noticed is that for us it’s not necessarily just about cost but about value.

Just a few short years ago I felt that even though Disney was expensive that there was value in what was offered and the ease of getting on a plane and the rest just happened felt very inclusive . Fast pass, magical express, dining all set up in advance and we had some really great Disney vacations and zero reason to go outside the bubble.

Here’s what happened- no more magical express so had to rent a car- thought that maybe we should check out Universal since we have a car- next I check AP cost for family and AP rates for hotels and take a chance and get a nice rate at Portofino Bay.

Universal with express pass was a great experience, Portofino Bay was a fantastic hotel and came away quite impressed.

The biggest surprise after having spent time at both Disney and Universal is the feeling/thought that staff at UO truly appreciated our visiting them and were glad to have our business. Whereas our Disney cast member interaction was fine/average but not the same level as we have seen in the past.

 

[DaviVascaino]

I just came back in February from both Disney and Universal. The issue with Universal is their CM. My goodness, they are really bad in general. Like local fare bad.

Also, most rides are simulators, kind of boring.

My kids did not enjoy Universal. Hopefully Super Mario World will be good. however, they should get their CM trained better.