WWYD? ... Would Universal Be Worth It?

[WaltD4Me]

My brother and family are going to Disney the first week of October. My nephew is nine and currently really into Harry Potter. His 10th birthday will happen during the trip and my brother is trying to decide if it would be worth it to go to Universal for the day. It would be my brother, SIL, nephew (9) and niece (4) the debate is that it won't be cheap, they will have to get there (they won't have a car) and of course tickets. The only thing they really want to see is Harry Potter and Spiderman. My SIL really doesn't do rides...no rollercoasters for sure and my niece is well, four, so really not that much there for her. Also my nephew is little for his age and wouldn't be able to go on the bigger coasters, at 50 inches though, he would be able to do Forbidden Journey, but not Dueling Dragons. Also they have free dining, but would obviously have to pay for meals at Universal. On one hand they think it would be an awesome birthday present for my nephew, but on the other it is such a huge added expense. And they would be going on a Sunday...would they need to buy FOTL passes too? I've never been to Universal, so I'm really interested to hear your thoughts. Would they all enjoy it? My SIL who doesn't do rides? My 4 year old niece? Smaller nephew? Is there enough for them to fill a day to make it worth it?

 

[kaligal]

All the Orlando parks have thrill rides.

All the Orlando parks have stuff for kids.

Uni's thrill rides are more thrilling than Disney's, but they have stuff for kids there.

I think Uni is a lot of fun. Worth it to me.

I don't know their family's finances. If they can afford it, they should go. If not..well, obviously not.

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[WaltD4Me]

All the Orlando parks have thrill rides.

All the Orlando parks have stuff for kids.

Uni's thrill rides are more thrilling than Disney's, but they have stuff for kids there.

I think Uni is a lot of fun. Worth it to me.

I don't know their family's finances. If they can afford it, they should go. If not..well, obviously not.

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I know these things, but Disney isn't for everyone and I wouldn't recommend it to everyone...I would think the same goes for Universal. My brother isn't a "Disney Only" person (like me) he's willing to leave Disney for a day (unlike me) and if the kids were a little older they would probably just go, but at the kid's ages, for what it would cost, he doesn't want to go if it's basically going to end up being just for Harry Potter.

 

[ADP]

Is Universal worth it? In my opinion....YUP! It will require additional expense, but I think trying it out and getting a different feel on your vacation is a good thing.

A couple things to consider Lisa:

Look into the 1 or 2-day park to park ticket with round-trip transportaion option from your Disney hotel. Using this option will also save you the parking expense. Visiting Universal Studios would be a good idea too if you can swing the extra cost getting into the second park. I think you can do the major attractions at both parks in 1 day during the 1st week of October. http://www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com/universal/tickets.htm

October at Universal isn't a busy month during the week (except for Halloween Horror Night event nights). Wait times for attractions shouldn't be that bad. Remember, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey is not an Express Pass attraction anyway. I'd suggest going on a Mon or Tues to avoid the crowds and long wait times and get to the park when it opens, sooner if possible. Mon and Tues are not HHN event days/nights.

Food at Universal can be pricy, but some restaurants take AAA. If someone has AAA show your card and save (usually 10% sometimes more).

Here's an article I put together discussing ways to save money at Universal. Some of it is relevant to your situation and some of it isn't, but it might help.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/columns/universal-orlando-money-saving-tips-strategies.cfm

I'll probaby be at Universal the first week of October too (at least 1 day). Have a great trip!

 

[Scarletyoshi]

I will preface this by saying that I am a huge Harry Potter fan. For me, the whole Hogwarts area was worth the price of admission on it's own. Its Hogwarts! And you get to go inside! The rest of the park was just really delicious icing on a Hogwarts shaped cake. Spiderman blew me away and that was without the recent HD upgrade. I even enjoyed the Dr. Seuss area. I'm going on my first trip to Disney and I'm definitely going back to Islands for a day.

That being said, my family's demographics are different than theirs. All adults who love thrill rides. We were staying onsite which gives you the amazing unlimited express passes. I cannot imagine doing the park without them and will definitely be looking to purchase them if needed. You dont have to buy those ahead of time so the best thing to do is wait until you're in the park and see what the lines look like.

Bottom line: if they can afford it? GO! If it seems like its just too much money, maybe they can consider a Disney break next vacation and doing Universal all the way? The onsite hotels are amazing and they'll have access to both parks which have rides and shows for everyone. Kids will also hopefully be a little bit taller and can enjoy more of the rides.

A great site I used to plan my trip [is apparently not linkable here] The Universal forums here are also very helpful. Wow! That was long! I hope it was helpfu

 

[BriarRosie]

I was there last October. I did the park ticket that came with round trip transport from Disney resorts. I picked the earliest time so I'd be there at park opening.

Here's my take:

I don't think Express passes were valid for Wizarding World. It didn't matter. However, there were a lot of foreign tour groups. So it was more crowded than I expected.

Don't go to Forbidden Journey first unless the line to the Ollivander's show wraps around the building next to it. Do the show first, a it's the longest, slowest line. In the sun.

Before you ride FJ, you will need to stash all items in the lockers in the gift shop. The lockers are free for about an hour.

If you want butterbeer, the line inside the Hogshead Pub is shorter sometimes. Inside, with air conditioning.

The rest of the park wasn't crowded and easier to manage.

My advice is to take your son, but let your wife and daughter stay behind and enjoy Disney.

 

[cah5525]

BriarRosie offered the best advice! It is an added expense so why not just leave those behind that aren't interested or not big enough to experience it all. I took my kids at a very slow time of year and we whipped through the parks and were ready to leave by 3pm. They have no interest in going back...HP was all they wanted out of the trip, they much prefer Disney over U&IOA.

tell your brother to do a dad and son trip...his day, with dad and HP...awesome birthday present.

 

[k3chantal]

My brother and family are going to Disney the first week of October. My nephew is nine and currently really into Harry Potter. His 10th birthday will happen during the trip and my brother is trying to decide if it would be worth it to go to Universal for the day. It would be my brother, SIL, nephew (9) and niece (4) the debate is that it won't be cheap, they will have to get there (they won't have a car) and of course tickets. The only thing they really want to see is Harry Potter and Spiderman. My SIL really doesn't do rides...no rollercoasters for sure and my niece is well, four, so really not that much there for her. Also my nephew is little for his age and wouldn't be able to go on the bigger coasters, at 50 inches though, he would be able to do Forbidden Journey, but not Dueling Dragons. Also they have free dining, but would obviously have to pay for meals at Universal. On one hand they think it would be an awesome birthday present for my nephew, but on the other it is such a huge added expense. And they would be going on a Sunday...would they need to buy FOTL passes too? I've never been to Universal, so I'm really interested to hear your thoughts. Would they all enjoy it? My SIL who doesn't do rides? My 4 year old niece? Smaller nephew? Is there enough for them to fill a day to make it worth it?

During my last trip to WDW, we ended our trip with a first visit to Universal. I would say it is only 'worth it' if they can stay on property there. Why? You get into Harry Potter an hour earlier than anyone else and your Express Pass (quite frankly a better version of a fast pass) is free (I am sure the one you have to pay for is not a better version).

The whole family would enjoy it. My two year old did! Definitely enough to do to fill the day. They have a 'Parent Swap" and even though your SIL would not swap, it would be a good place for her to sit with the four year old on the rides that would not work for her. The rooms are either air conditioned or have fans. Some of them have tv's and or changing tables.

To be honest, and I am a Disney Fanatic, I was really impressed with Universal and I thought I wasn't going to be. The staff at the Royal Pacific were incredible. They were happy, informative, helpful, and immediately present when we needed them; no matter what the circumstance.

Not going to lie, it does seem more expensive overall. The one night stay at the hotel was $260.00 the tickets were around five hundred(we got two day tickets and saw both parks; one each day), and though I don't know the amount we spent on food; my husband's comment was that the biggest bill we had at any restaurant during our trip was the breakfast at Hog's Mead. (and we did Akershus, Wolfgang Puck's at Downtown Disney, etc.....when we were at Disney) But I think the TiW card obviously helped a lot.

 

[Stacy's a freak]

I agree with splitting up your party if all agree. If only your nephew and brother want to see HP, then they can go. But if your SIL and neice may not love it, then why put them through it? I can understand wanting to be all together for the boy's birthday, but maybe they can get back at a decent hour and all have dinner together?

If you all decide to go, I agree to skip the expense of the Express pass. It will not help in WWoHP. When I was there during Thanksgiving weekend 2010 (the first T-day after WWoHP opened), we had no problems getting on rides in reasonable times - 15-20 minute waits for non-WWoHP rides. We found much of IoA to be NOT crowded at all. WWoHP was crowded but it will be that way for a bit yet. The worst was the line for Olivanders as a PP said. We were on that line for about an hour. Forbidden Journey was only about a 15 minute wait which mostly just walks you through the aweseome queue (I wish we had MORE time in line to take in the queue).

As for the little ones, I think the Suessland is adorable and VERY kid friendly. I even liked it as an adult.

Also, you my have already decided to skip the Studios and only do IoA - this will save you the cost of the multi-park ticket. For me, the Studios side wasn't "all that" but I did enjoy all of IoA.

 

[WaltD4Me]

Thank you all so much! This is just the info/opinions I was looking for.

I didnt think at all about Halloween Horror Nights. I know they won't want to go for that, so something to look into and now they are thinking of leaving Disney and pretending like they are going to the airport and then really surprising my nephew and staying at Universal for the last night...we hadn't thought of that. Now though, I do have to find out about HHN dates because they would go on Sunday Oct. 7th...flights out are Oct 8th.

Any way, thanks for the input, lots of good thoughtsl...ideas...

Aaron....I knew what your answer was going to be! LOL!

 

[hapandpam]

Just a note. We just did 2 days, 1 night at US/IOA. We bought my daughter an annual pass because we were able to save so much on our hotel room. Between the room savinigs, and generous AP discounts (food and merchandise), we made out better than buying the 2 day pass for her.

My DD is a huge HP fan and absolutely loved it. We had been to US/IOA several years ago and she said this was the highlight of our trip. We rode FJ 6 times, and drank a lot of butterbeer. Even though the wait was over 60 minutes for FJ a couple of times, the wait went quickly because the theming is so fantastic. Although the area is small, she liked it because she felt it was just like she imagined. I think your nephew will love it.

 

[Metro West]

I didnt think at all about Halloween Horror Nights. I know they won't want to go for that, so something to look into and now they are thinking of leaving Disney and pretending like they are going to the airport and then really surprising my nephew and staying at Universal for the last night...we hadn't thought of that. Now though, I do have to find out about HHN dates because they would go on Sunday Oct. 7th...flights out are Oct 8th.

HHN is staged only at the Studios and on those nights, the park closes at hour early at 5pm for set up. Sunday October 7th is a HHN event night so the park will close at 5pm for day guests. IOA is open until 7pm on HHN nights.

 

[disneym2m]

Since your nephew is a huge Harry Potter fan AND it will be his birthday, this might be a good idea for him to enjoy the experience. He could tell his friends that he spent his birthday at Wizarding World of Harry Potter.


Also, Islands of Adventure has a lot of other fun things to do with the kids. Seuss Landing is awesome. Marvel (can't think of the rest of the name) is really cool. There is an area with a lot of cartoon things to see. There are so many picture opportunities as well. Oh and don't forget about Jurassic Park area.

I usual spend a day here when I visit WDW. It is something different. I will say that I enjoy Islands of Adventure more than the Universal park.

I think that your brother will enjoy the day. And if they don't, then they spent one day and your nephew was able to see Harry Potter AND they never have to go again.

 

[Sarabi's Cubs]

We took the kids to Universal for a couple of days after a Disney cruise. I wasn't really into it but my older two are HP fanatics and loved it. My 5 yr old loved the Seuss land. He rode those rides over and over. It would be worth it as a one time treat.