Stay at Disney or combine a day or two at Universal?

[Luckybee]

We did the last 2 days of our latest trip in early December at US. My older kids absolutely loved it, my younger ones kept asking "can we go back to Magic Kingdom?", so age does play a big part. Also, remember, to get the most out of the HP experience you have to get the park to park ticket (so you can ride the AMAZING Hogwarts Express train), which is significantly extra money, and for us, being able to ride that train was the only reason we got the park to park extra because theres really no way you can do both parks in one day. Also, I agree on there being WAY too many motion simulator rides in US, you have to take a dramamine to get through the day.
'

But it very much depends on the type of motion issues you have. I get pretty bad motion sickness esp in cars and when we first went back to Uni a few years ago I was really concerned about the motion rides. So far knock on wood few of the motion rides at Uni have bothered me at all. I cant figure it out. I mention this because on our first occasion I medicated, felt like crap as a result and it turned out I didn't need it at all.

 

[ChristineOH]

We had ten days at CBR in 2015. One morning mid-trip, we grabbed an overnight bag, took a cab to Hard Rock Hotel at 7:00 am, checked in, checked our bag at bell services, picked up our tickets and express passes, and made it to the gate at Florida Studios by 8:00 am. We came back to the hotel mid afternoon for our room key and swimming. Back to the park at night and late dinner at CityWalk. We spent the night at HRH, got up early, checked bag at bell services, hit the parks for early entry, and the back to HRH late afternoon to get our bag and catch a cab back to CBR. It was exhausting, but so fun!

But, we were only paying $150 a night at CBR, so it was cheaper to be double booked that one night than pay for two nights at HRH, which we would have had to do if we did a split stay with Universal at the end. (HRH was around $330 a night if I remember correctly.) It seemed easier to pack an overnight bag rather than pack everything up to move for a split stay. We also were not on DDP, so two days away from Disney wasn't an issue there. And, we still used Magical Express each way. There was no cost issue there, because the cab to the airport would have been about the same as the cab back to WDW was. But we like the convenience of ME. Another consideration was we had to be at Universal early both days, because the HP rides were excluded from express pass at that time. Now, if you did something similar, you maybe wouldn't feel the need to get there so early.

 

[DisneyOma]

Did you skip the Harry Potter areas?

I can’t think of anything more magical than kids running around in wizard robes performing spells and drinking butter beer as if they had stepped into a movie. But I’m a Potter fan.

If Uni was trying to be a thrill park they are an utter fail at it. I can go to Six Flags and ride 10 or more large coasters in one park. I would classify Uni as a theme park that is trying to keep the teenage boy demographic. I think they are very successful with that type of theming. YMMV.

As much as we also love WWoHP, I wish Disney had gotten the rights, as I think Universal theming sucks. So much of backstage Hogwarts is right there in your face, from the blank sides, the trash bins backstage when you go through the greenhouse part of the queue, etc. Having a main drag right in back of the area means you can hear all the traffic, especially the fire trucks, police, ambulances, etc. Also, they made everything too cramped - it's almost impossible to get into and walk around the shops, for instance. Heaven forbid someone in an ECV wants to go in, as the aisles are incredibly narrow. I thought they'd improve it in Diagon Alley, but they didn't really. Disney would have given HP a lot more space, and have plenty of room to give it what it deserves. Universal is road-locked, and they keep jamming more stuff into an already tight space. I like how WDW can spread out and flow. That's probably why we feel more tense when we go to Universal - it feels all jammed in, so we go every other trip or so.

 

[ArielSRL]

I’m going to wait a bit, til my boys are closer to their teens or in their teens, to do Universal. We recently bought DVC so we’ll mostly stick with WDW. We are gonna venture off to Legoland in a couple years but otherwise, we are sticking with Disney for awhile. For reference, my two (boys) are 3 and 6.

 

[have2getaway]

We had ten days at CBR in 2015. One morning mid-trip, we grabbed an overnight bag, took a cab to Hard Rock Hotel at 7:00 am, checked in, checked our bag at bell services, picked up our tickets and express passes, and made it to the gate at Florida Studios by 8:00 am. We came back to the hotel mid afternoon for our room key and swimming. Back to the park at night and late dinner at CityWalk. We spent the night at HRH, got up early, checked bag at bell services, hit the parks for early entry, and the back to HRH late afternoon to get our bag and catch a cab back to CBR. It was exhausting, but so fun!

But, we were only paying $150 a night at CBR, so it was cheaper to be double booked that one night than pay for two nights at HRH, which we would have had to do if we did a split stay with Universal at the end. (HRH was around $330 a night if I remember correctly.) It seemed easier to pack an overnight bag rather than pack everything up to move for a split stay. We also were not on DDP, so two days away from Disney wasn't an issue there. And, we still used Magical Express each way. There was no cost issue there, because the cab to the airport would have been about the same as the cab back to WDW was. But we like the convenience of ME. Another consideration was we had to be at Universal early both days, because the HP rides were excluded from express pass at that time. Now, if you did something similar, you maybe wouldn't feel the need to get there so early.

You are right! The cost of the room is a factor. The room at the Polynesian is not cheap and to add on the least expensive hotel with Express Pass is $284, and we would really love to try Portofino Bay! I agree, though, that it would be hard for us to give up Magical Express.

 

[have2getaway]

We did the last 2 days of our latest trip in early December at US. My older kids absolutely loved it, my younger ones kept asking "can we go back to Magic Kingdom?", so age does play a big part. Also, remember, to get the most out of the HP experience you have to get the park to park ticket (so you can ride the AMAZING Hogwarts Express train), which is significantly extra money, and for us, being able to ride that train was the only reason we got the park to park extra because theres really no way you can do both parks in one day. Also, I agree on there being WAY too many motion simulator rides in US, you have to take a dramamine to get through the day.
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How old were your younger kids versus the older ones at the time?

 

[Upatnoon]

Disney and Universal both offer excellent experiences, but they go about it differently and target different audiences.

Both theme park complexes offer something for everyone and every age group, but Disney targets younger kids, princesses and their nostalgic parents and grandparents.

Universal targets older kids with Harry Potter, more thrilling attractions and is more boy-focused.

There are no princesses at Universal that I can think of until they open Nintendo land. The attractions at Universal are more contemporary and more focused on more current movies. For example, their new attraction is "Fast and Furious, Supercharged." Universal has been more quick to yank attractions over the years than Disney.

The Universal complex is great in that is compact. You can move from park-to-park with ease. The Citywalk area offers lots of good dining options at different price points right outside the theme parks. The hotels at Universal are of excellent quality. A trip to Universal requires less planning, especially if you get Express pass. No planning out every hour of your trip because of fastpass+. No ADRs needed.

When you have two great theme park areas, it puts vacationers in a tough spot because they want to "do it all" and it costs a lot of money to do that.

Disney and Universal want you to stay at their bubbles and have priced their vacations accordingly.

My advice is to not fight it. Do a big Universal vacation. Do a big Disney vacation. Some can do both in the same trip but that get expensive and is exhausting.

Of course, it can be hard. When your 11 year old son (and his dad) wants Universal and his 8-year-old sister (and her mom) wants Disney, what do you do?

 

[disneydreamer1980]

How old were your younger kids versus the older ones at the time?

My older daughters were 17 and 13 and loved US while my 7 and 2 year olds were the youngest and more into WDW. I aLso have a 10 year old who loved both equally.

 

[have2getaway]

My older daughters were 17 and 13 and loved US while my 7 and 2 year olds were the youngest and more into WDW. I aLso have a 10 year old who loved both equally.

We have a 16 year old son, who went to both parks last year with his Dad and doesn’t want to go back to either. We really wanted him to come with us on this trip, but he said he’s had his fill. He enjoyed them, but is at the age where he is into other things. Our younger boys (triplets) are almost 9 and will be nearly 10 when we go next year. I have been to Universal twice before, but my husband and boys have never been. My last trip was 2000, so Spider-Man was there, but nothing else. I enjoyed Universal, but felt that there were too many simulators then, although I recall thinking Spider-Man was amazing. Our younger 3 loved Disney and can’t wait to return. I know at least two will enjoy most of Universal, and they will all like Harry Potter, but not sure they will know what they’re missing either? We are currently planning to pull them out of school for a week in January, but could go longer if we went over February break. We were just trying to avoid the crowds. We are also trying to keep in mind we will want to return when Star Wars opens, but not sure if we would want to do Universal then or not? We could go and stay at a moderate and make this trip less expensive, but we really enjoyed the convenience of the monorail and felt it added so much to our Disney trip to stay at a monorail resort. We live in upstate NY and while we certainly could drive, would prefer not to. The cost of airfare for 5 is what is pressuring us to try to see as much as we can in each trip.

 

[snoopboop]

As much as we also love WWoHP, I wish Disney had gotten the rights, as I think Universal theming sucks.
...
Also, they made everything too cramped - it's almost impossible to get into and walk around the shops, for instance. Heaven forbid someone in an ECV wants to go in, as the aisles are incredibly narrow.

Interestingly, that's precisely WHY Disney didn't get the rights... because Jo Rowling had very specific ideas about how the Wizarding World would be brought to life, and Disney was not willing to abide by her wishes. Universal was willing, and so they got the rights. It was important to Rowling that the shops be recreated as they were described in the books and seen in the movies.

Seriously, anyone who says that the theming in WWOHP "sucks" is blatantly choosing to put Disney on a pedestal and view Universal through a tainted lens.

I'm confused about your complaint regarding the trash cans... would you rather there be no trash cans in a line that regularly got to be 120 or more minutes when WWOHP first opened? Just before the greenhouse section of the queue, there is a cart that (during busy times) sells food and beverages. What would you have guests do with their garbage when they are finished eating and drinking?

 

[DisneyOma]

Interestingly, that's precisely WHY Disney didn't get the rights... because Jo Rowling had very specific ideas about how the Wizarding World would be brought to life, and Disney was not willing to abide by her wishes. Universal was willing, and so they got the rights. It was important to Rowling that the shops be recreated as they were described in the books and seen in the movies.

Seriously, anyone who says that the theming in WWOHP "sucks" is blatantly choosing to put Disney on a pedestal and view Universal through a tainted lens.

I'm confused about your complaint regarding the trash cans... would you rather there be no trash cans in a line that regularly got to be 120 or more minutes when WWOHP first opened? Just before the greenhouse section of the queue, there is a cart that (during busy times) sells food and beverages. What would you have guests do with their garbage when they are finished eating and drinking?

Rowling was wrong. She has no education in theme park planning. It shows.

Seriously, seeing blank backs of buildings from inside the park is rotten, cheap theming. Look at the backside (outside of the park) view of EE next time you are at AK - they even themed the parts you can't see from inside the park.

I'm talking about the backstage garbage/dumpsters, etc you can see from the queue. They are not for guest use, they are behind a poorly done fence and gate.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Rowling was wrong. She has no education in theme park planning. It shows.

Seriously, seeing blank backs of buildings from inside the park is rotten, cheap theming. Look at the backside (outside of the park) view of EE next time you are at AK - they even themed the parts you can't see from inside the park.

I'm talking about the backstage garbage/dumpsters, etc you can see from the queue. They are not for guest use, they are behind a poorly done fence and gate.

I never noticed any of this. I wasn’t really looking for it, though.

 

[snoopboop]

Rowling was wrong.

It’s her IP, but I guess you know better. OK.

 

[Luckybee]

Rowling was wrong. She has no education in theme park planning. It shows.

Seriously, seeing blank backs of buildings from inside the park is rotten, cheap theming. Look at the backside (outside of the park) view of EE next time you are at AK - they even themed the parts you can't see from inside the park.

I'm talking about the backstage garbage/dumpsters, etc you can see from the queue. They are not for guest use, they are behind a poorly done fence and gate.

I'm going to operate on the premise that you're kidding/sarcasm. You have to be....you really really have to be.

I haven't seen Pandora yet so with that exception in mind can you tell me anything at Disney that has been done as well as WWOHP. We've been going to D for a very long time. We still love Disney...but the first time we saw WWOHp we were outright blown away. The theming , right down to Moaning Myrtle in the bathroom is mind blowing.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

WWOHP was mind blowing...totally felt like you were walking through the book/movie... never had such an immersive experience before. But my first love is and always will be WDW, no place can match the magical feeling there. But I have to admit, US did a great Job with the WWOHP.

 

[disneylover102]

I’ve gone to WDW 3 times for between a week and a week and a half and have spent a maximum of a day at Universal for each trip. Disney is so much better. Don’t spend more than a day there. As far as cramming, you should be fine if you plan how to do each day (go in morning, night, get FP+, etc). Something that worked one time for us was we went to Magic Kingdom in the morning, drove to Universal and just went to Islands of Adventure for a few hours (this was before diagon alley at the other park opened) and spent the evening at Magic Kingdom. We did everything we wanted to. But if you care about Harry Potter stuff, go a full day to Universal.

 

[macraven]

Rowling was wrong. She has no education in theme park planning. It shows.

Seriously, seeing blank backs of buildings from inside the park is rotten, cheap theming. Look at the backside (outside of the park) view of EE next time you are at AK - they even themed the parts you can't see from inside the park.

I'm talking about the backstage garbage/dumpsters, etc you can see from the queue. They are not for guest use, they are behind a poorly done fence and gate.

I can’t figure out which section that is

Can you share any pictures with us that you took?

 

[have2getaway]

I’ve gone to WDW 3 times for between a week and a week and a half and have spent a maximum of a day at Universal for each trip. Disney is so much better. Don’t spend more than a day there. As far as cramming, you should be fine if you plan how to do each day (go in morning, night, get FP+, etc). Something that worked one time for us was we went to Magic Kingdom in the morning, drove to Universal and just went to Islands of Adventure for a few hours (this was before diagon alley at the other park opened) and spent the evening at Magic Kingdom. We did everything we wanted to. But if you care about Harry Potter stuff, go a full day to Universal.

I think, for this trip, we are going to stay at Disney and try a day trip with park hoppers and Express Pass. I haven’t done the math, and suppose I should, to see how much more adding one more day will be, to bring it up to 2? We watched some YouTube videos over the weekend, and the boys definitely liked Transformers, Spider-Man, King Kong, but when they say the Harry Potter stuff, Olivander’s Wand Shop, Hogwart’s Express, and the secret wand spots, they were ALL about it! They also LOVE stunt shows, and I can see them wanting to see Fast and Furious. Anyway, I think we will either add on one day at a less expensive Universal hotel for the 2 day Express Pass or do a 1 day trip. One question, though, can we upgrade to two days while we are there and pay the difference or would we have to pay for a whole extra day? I’m guessing there’s not much savings in adding an extra day anyway?

 

[macraven]

If you have 4 or 5 in your group, it is possible to come out ahead by booking a one night stay at one of the 3 deluxe hotels

Everyone in your room is allowed the free unlimited express pass and early entry for the day you check in and out

Two days of unlimited ep could be worth it
UT had some decent prices for P2P two day tickets

The value hotel will be cheaper than rpr but for the free ep, worth it if the park attendance is high

First day you might not check in early enough for EE but the second day you would

If you are a potter fan, ee is worth it

I’m ok with potter and hit they are when I meet up with my friends
When I’m at potter solo I am there for butterbeer, eaterie and their outdoor shows
I do long stays so cover it all little by little during my vacation there

Came back to add on if you do a day trip only, you can upgrade your one day tix to the 2 day tix at guest services

It needs to be upgraded before the park closes that day
The value of that one day ticket is applied to the upgraded multi day pass

 

[have2getaway]

If you have 4 or 5 in your group, it is possible to come out ahead by booking a one night stay at one of the 3 deluxe hotels

Everyone in your room is allowed the free unlimited express pass and early entry for the day you check in and out

Two days of unlimited ep could be worth it
UT had some decent prices for P2P two day tickets

The value hotel will be cheaper than rpr but for the free ep, worth it if the park attendance is high

First day you might not check in early enough for EE but the second day you would

If you are a potter fan, ee is worth it

I’m ok with potter and hit they are when I meet up with my friends
When I’m at potter solo I am there for butterbeer, eaterie and their outdoor shows
I do long stays so cover it all little by little during my vacation there

Came back to add on if you do a day trip only, you can upgrade your one day tix to the 2 day tix at guest services

It needs to be upgraded before the park closes that day
The value of that one day ticket is applied to the upgraded multi day pass

Thank you! This is so helpful. I checked the rate for Royal Pacific for next January and it was only $284 a night, which seemed low to me. How do I tell if that includes the Express Pass? Also, is there more than one type of Express Pass or is it all the same and includes early entry? I recall reading a while back there was an Express Pass that included Potter and one that didn’t, but that was a while ago and so not sure if that’s changed now?