Yay or Nay is Universal worth $400 for a day?

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Just wanted to add that the food at UOR is much better than Disney's particularly at the TS restaurants.

Yes I thought the food was very fresh and in the particular sandwich place we went into they were made to order which was nice. Like subway where you select the bread, meat and filling.

 

[amylynne01]

"Worth it" is in the eye of the beholder. To me, it's not. We don't do thrill rides, we don't do Harry Potter, and my kids are all under 5. I don't know that we'll ever go to Universal simply because we don't feel it offers a lot for our family.

 

[CentralFloridian99]

Just wanted to add that the food at UOR is much better than Disney's particularly at the TS restaurants.

I'll argue with this. Ritcher's Burger Co. had to be the worst thng I've ever ate

 

[CentralFloridian99]

I'm going to add a little more here.

Honestly, you're gonna have to do thrill rides, especially at IOA. If they aren't your thing, then by all means skip Universal.

 

[Cyrano]

Moving to Universal board

 

[ireland_nicole]

Short answer- if you're not into thrill rides, IMHO it's not worth it- especially if you're also not into water rides

 

[mabreu75]

Wow! What a varied response! Thanks for the input, I'm still indecisive.. My daughter is into HP..and getting tickets at Costco sounds cost effective enough and is this true?
"Even if you are a big HP fan, I'd suggest waiting for another trip; Universal will be significantly expanding WWoHP and it would make more sense to go after that expansion."
They are expanding?

 

[Metro West]

They are expanding?

Yes...there will be an HP section in both parks. HP2 is being built where Jaws used to be and should be ready sometime in 2013 or 2014.

 

[damo]

I wouldn't wait until the expansion. The place will be mobbed for at least two years after the expansion. I'd go now and then go again after the expansion.

There is expansion going on at both parks, so the changes will be significant.

 

[smileymomof3]

My 9 (almost) 10 year old son is a HUGE Harry Potter fan, so to us it is worth it! Not sure when we will get back to Florida. We are going for one day in December.

 

[glocon]

We love UO. Did the Disney parks our first couple of Orlando trips, then tried Universal. We were disappointed at first, because there is no "Disney Magic" there. But we did go back again and totally enjoyed it! I think after the first vist we knew not to expect Disney, but to expect Universal, and that made all the difference. Now we mostly do UO trips, and try to justify one day tickets to Disney (which we usually do).

I would really recommend staying your last night in Orlando at a Universal resort, get there early to check in and spend that day and the next at the UO parks. You will have unlimited express passes for almost every ride in both parks by staying at a UO resort. One night at a UO resort gives you express pass for both your check in day and your check out day.

And your family will really appreciate the whole no standing in line thing!

 

[IndianaJ]

We are a Disney family, but just spent three days last week at Universal without doing Disney at all.

Personally I would not break up my WDW trip for a day trip to Island of Adventure for that cost. We did it separate for that reason. Since we had never been I truly didn't know what my family would like best, and I'd have to say, IOA we spent double the time in over Universal.

It was also nice to try and immerse ourselves into the Universal Orlando atmosphere. We stayed at Hard Rock, and had three days plus Halloween Horror night for the adults.

I can say we enjoyed ourselves, and some of the rides were fantastic, but we still prefer Disney. Standout rides for us were Forbidden Journey, Hulk, Spiderman, The Simpsons, Dueling Dragons, and Despicable Me. To be honest, I've never been on a ride comparable to Forbidden Journey.

Good luck!