nighttowll
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 29, 2013
There have been so many threads listing why people like / think Disney is so much better than Universal. I’ve lost track of how many people go to Universal and then compare it to Disney. They complain how it isn’t like Disney or how Disney does X better.
So I thought I’d turn the tables. Don’t get me wrong I like each in its own way. I think they each have their own pros and cons. However, on our last trip to Florida, we spent a week at Disney and found ourselves commenting more than once that X is better at Universal. The trip actually made us realize how much we really enjoy Universal.
So here are some of the things we like better at Universal:
Food
This is probably the biggest thing we like better about Universal.
First off, Auntie Anne’s pretzels verses those nasty Mickey heads, need I say more!
For us, there is no contest between the two as far as food. The quality and price are ten times better at Universal, and we don’t have to make a reservation in advance. We can decide in the moment when and where we want to eat, and we actually like the food on the menus at Universal. Oh, and they have butter beer and sweet tea at Universal as well!
We aren’t big fans of most of the menus at TS restaurants at Disney and usually struggle to find things to eat. For instance, at CRT, the chicken is the only thing on the menu I’d eat, and even that isn’t something I’d normally order. I also thought the dessert was gross, beautiful but bad tasting. Then when you factor in the high cost. It just isn’t for us. I’d rather eat cheap pumpkin pasties then fancy Disney desserts any day.
We really love most of the bakery items at Universal, but have ended up throwing away most of the snacks we’ve tried at Disney.
Starbucks
This deserves its own point. Universal has Starbucks at each of its hotels. Then they have Starbucks in each park, and they have Starbucks in Citiwalk. That’s 8 Starbucks in a fairly small area at Universal, verses 6 at Disney spread over a huge area. For the size of Disney, there are just not enough Starbucks to go around, especially when you can use a snack credit for a drink. We aren’t big Starbucks people, but when we go on vacation it is one thing we tend to like to splurge on a couple of times. It’s just not worth it to us to fight the crowds at Disney for a drink. It isn’t worth the 30 + minute detour that takes most of the time. We really like being able to grab a quick drink at universal without a long line or huge crowds.
Atmosphere/ Theming
We prefer the theming in IOA to anything at Disney. At Disney, I feel immersed in the movie or world when on the ride, but not so much when I’m just walking through the park. At IOA, the theming feels immersive outside of the attractions. There is so much attention to detail, and one of our favorite things to do at IOA is to simply stroll around with a snack or drink and really explore all the little details. There are interactive areas you can touch to activivate effects as well as hidden picture ops and Easter eggs. We really do enjoy simply strolling around IOA, not so much at Disney.
I will agree that US outside of Simpsons and Diagon Alley is lacking in overall theming. US really reminds me more of how I feel at Disney with each ride having its own theming, but me not really feeling like I was transported into another world like I do at IOA.
Size / Ease of Access
It might not seem like a benefit to some, but we like that Universal is so small. We love how close together everything is. We love being able to walk everywhere and not need to take transportation unless we want to. We love how easy and convenient it is to change parks, return to the hotel, or go to Citiwalk for a meal. Within 20 minutes you can pretty much get anywhere on property. Buses and boats are also frequent and take very little time to arrive at their destination.
During my hour + transits this last trip at Disney, I was really missing Universal transportation and the ability to walk.
Hotels
Not going to go into a lot of details, but in general, we find the quality of the category a step up at Universal. For instance, a value at Universal seems more like a moderate at Disney. I especially liked the fact that at CB at Universal the rooms open to an interior hallway. Even at the moderate we stayed at at Disney the rooms all opened outside, and you had no option for walking inside if there was bad weather.
TMs / Customer Service
Again not going into a lot of details, but overall we have had much better interactions at Universal than at Disney over the years. Better general interactions as far as check in and just general park interaction and better customer service in regards to issues. We have also had a few medical problems at each place and Universal handled everything so much better.
Early Park Opening and What’s Available
I’m not sure how this compares at each park, but AK opened early on our last trip (not referring to EMH). I didn’t expect the rides to be open which they weren’t, but I expected the shops and restaurants in the area you’re confined to to be open. What’s the point of getting in early if I can’t go ahead and grab breakfast, maybe do some shopping, get ready for the day to begin? We realized we’ve been spoiled by the fact that Universal lets you in early every day, and you can do all that stuff before official opening time. It was so frustrating having to waste park time to eat when we could have been riding. Again, we’ve been spoiled by the dark side where they don’t hold your coffe and pastries hostage until official opening time.
Interactive Queues and Single Rider Lines
I know Disney does have some interactive queues, but I’ve got to give the points to Universal as they did it first. I really enjoy the preshows and setup for the Universal rides, plus the optional free “tours” they have at some. I usually prefer to skip the Disney queues and preshows and don’t feel I’m missing out. However, with some of the Universal queues, we will actually make a point to make time during our trip to do standby solely to experience them.
I like the single rider option at Universal. Almost every ride offers it. At Disney, only a handful offer the single rider option.
Please note, this isn’t meant to be a bash Disney or a Universal rules type post. I could easily make a what I like better about Disney post, but we see those all the time. I know I’m not comparing apples to apples here and many of the things I like best about either place, wouldn’t necessarily be possible to replicate at the other. These are just some of things we noticed that we prefer, and why we plan to spend more time at Universal than at Disney in the future. We still had a wonderful Disney trip and wouldn’t trade it for anything.
So I thought I’d turn the tables. Don’t get me wrong I like each in its own way. I think they each have their own pros and cons. However, on our last trip to Florida, we spent a week at Disney and found ourselves commenting more than once that X is better at Universal. The trip actually made us realize how much we really enjoy Universal.
So here are some of the things we like better at Universal:
Food
This is probably the biggest thing we like better about Universal.
First off, Auntie Anne’s pretzels verses those nasty Mickey heads, need I say more!
For us, there is no contest between the two as far as food. The quality and price are ten times better at Universal, and we don’t have to make a reservation in advance. We can decide in the moment when and where we want to eat, and we actually like the food on the menus at Universal. Oh, and they have butter beer and sweet tea at Universal as well!
We aren’t big fans of most of the menus at TS restaurants at Disney and usually struggle to find things to eat. For instance, at CRT, the chicken is the only thing on the menu I’d eat, and even that isn’t something I’d normally order. I also thought the dessert was gross, beautiful but bad tasting. Then when you factor in the high cost. It just isn’t for us. I’d rather eat cheap pumpkin pasties then fancy Disney desserts any day.
We really love most of the bakery items at Universal, but have ended up throwing away most of the snacks we’ve tried at Disney.
Starbucks
This deserves its own point. Universal has Starbucks at each of its hotels. Then they have Starbucks in each park, and they have Starbucks in Citiwalk. That’s 8 Starbucks in a fairly small area at Universal, verses 6 at Disney spread over a huge area. For the size of Disney, there are just not enough Starbucks to go around, especially when you can use a snack credit for a drink. We aren’t big Starbucks people, but when we go on vacation it is one thing we tend to like to splurge on a couple of times. It’s just not worth it to us to fight the crowds at Disney for a drink. It isn’t worth the 30 + minute detour that takes most of the time. We really like being able to grab a quick drink at universal without a long line or huge crowds.
Atmosphere/ Theming
We prefer the theming in IOA to anything at Disney. At Disney, I feel immersed in the movie or world when on the ride, but not so much when I’m just walking through the park. At IOA, the theming feels immersive outside of the attractions. There is so much attention to detail, and one of our favorite things to do at IOA is to simply stroll around with a snack or drink and really explore all the little details. There are interactive areas you can touch to activivate effects as well as hidden picture ops and Easter eggs. We really do enjoy simply strolling around IOA, not so much at Disney.
I will agree that US outside of Simpsons and Diagon Alley is lacking in overall theming. US really reminds me more of how I feel at Disney with each ride having its own theming, but me not really feeling like I was transported into another world like I do at IOA.
Size / Ease of Access
It might not seem like a benefit to some, but we like that Universal is so small. We love how close together everything is. We love being able to walk everywhere and not need to take transportation unless we want to. We love how easy and convenient it is to change parks, return to the hotel, or go to Citiwalk for a meal. Within 20 minutes you can pretty much get anywhere on property. Buses and boats are also frequent and take very little time to arrive at their destination.
During my hour + transits this last trip at Disney, I was really missing Universal transportation and the ability to walk.
Hotels
Not going to go into a lot of details, but in general, we find the quality of the category a step up at Universal. For instance, a value at Universal seems more like a moderate at Disney. I especially liked the fact that at CB at Universal the rooms open to an interior hallway. Even at the moderate we stayed at at Disney the rooms all opened outside, and you had no option for walking inside if there was bad weather.
TMs / Customer Service
Again not going into a lot of details, but overall we have had much better interactions at Universal than at Disney over the years. Better general interactions as far as check in and just general park interaction and better customer service in regards to issues. We have also had a few medical problems at each place and Universal handled everything so much better.
Early Park Opening and What’s Available
I’m not sure how this compares at each park, but AK opened early on our last trip (not referring to EMH). I didn’t expect the rides to be open which they weren’t, but I expected the shops and restaurants in the area you’re confined to to be open. What’s the point of getting in early if I can’t go ahead and grab breakfast, maybe do some shopping, get ready for the day to begin? We realized we’ve been spoiled by the fact that Universal lets you in early every day, and you can do all that stuff before official opening time. It was so frustrating having to waste park time to eat when we could have been riding. Again, we’ve been spoiled by the dark side where they don’t hold your coffe and pastries hostage until official opening time.
Interactive Queues and Single Rider Lines
I know Disney does have some interactive queues, but I’ve got to give the points to Universal as they did it first. I really enjoy the preshows and setup for the Universal rides, plus the optional free “tours” they have at some. I usually prefer to skip the Disney queues and preshows and don’t feel I’m missing out. However, with some of the Universal queues, we will actually make a point to make time during our trip to do standby solely to experience them.
I like the single rider option at Universal. Almost every ride offers it. At Disney, only a handful offer the single rider option.
Please note, this isn’t meant to be a bash Disney or a Universal rules type post. I could easily make a what I like better about Disney post, but we see those all the time. I know I’m not comparing apples to apples here and many of the things I like best about either place, wouldn’t necessarily be possible to replicate at the other. These are just some of things we noticed that we prefer, and why we plan to spend more time at Universal than at Disney in the future. We still had a wonderful Disney trip and wouldn’t trade it for anything.