What we like better about Universal.

[EdmondD]

Sounds like an excellent trip! Definitely look into the hotels with Express Passes. They're definitely worth it.

That's our plan!

 

[oakleycat]

We love Universal for all the reasons above, but mainly HP, Express Passes, thrill rides, great pools and good food at reasonable costs. Can't really make a comparison as we have never taken our kids to WDW (we have been before they were born), but we have DL here and that's enough for us. We have our third Universal/Disney Cruise vacation coming up in April and can't wait!

 

[Arbond]

We went to Disney 3 times, when the kids were younger. Since then, though, we have taken them, and 3 high school senior trips, to Universal. In late April, my wife and I are going back - on our own!

Disney has it's own..."magic", of course, and it's own place for family memories.

That said, as an adult, I will be going back to the Universal bubble from now on, with an occasional trip back to WDW for nostalgia only. The hotels, the restaurants, the ease of getting around, and the more adult fun is what takes me back.

 

[GoldmanTrust]

We went to Disney 3 times, when the kids were younger. Since then, though, we have taken them, and 3 high school senior trips, to Universal. In late April, my wife and I are going back - on our own!

Disney has it's own..."magic", of course, and it's own place for family memories.

That said, as an adult, I will be going back to the Universal bubble from now on, with an occasional trip back to WDW for nostalgia only. The hotels, the restaurants, the ease of getting around, and the more adult fun is what takes me back.

Second this. WDW is great for nostalgia and just to get into that Disney vibe. Like I said earlier we did MNSSHP last September and will do it again this year. That is enough for us, while we “need” 2 weeks at Universal.

Universal is just perfect for families with older kids and then adult trips. We have an 8 year old girl that likes to think she is older. So Universal is perfect for her. Plus, when she was six she told us that she hates princessess but loves Hermoine, so it was an easy choice for us.

 

[ZuuL]

I’m at the other end of the spectrum, universal rides do nothing for me. They either all movie screen watching rides or a limited thrill rides....if ever we go again it’s one day and done (with express passes)

 

[keishashadow]

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

I don’t see the posts you refer to since I avoid them like the plague. Interesting phenom wherein people tend to identify strongly with one park or the other said threads often disenintegrate into outright ugliness.

Just had to take peek at yours today, don’t often see the U focus type often on this boards. Can’t say I agree with all your points but I do appreciate how you make them in both measured fashion & with a cool head.

Majority of our trips include split stays, perhaps that’s why I don’t find myself comparing the two on a point-by-point basis. Perhaps if both weren’t on our future itineraries, I would feel otherwise.

All the parks, including Sea World, have a totally different vibe. IMO when you compound it by how one individually decides to tour/experience the parks, it truly is difficult to compare them, as each have their inherent charms.

 

[michbaron]

Harry Potter > everything else lol I really love both universal and Disney but some things we especially love about universal is the ability to walk everywhere from the hotels, the security is a huge deal to us and feels so much safer, our APs were much more affordable than the Disney ones, the theming of the lands is amazing, we get better room rates at universal, typically way less crowds when we’ve gone and I’m almost certain you can pool hop at their hotels too!

 

[macraven]

Yup, pool hoping is allowed and many do that

 

[nextidiot]

Our family did a split stay last summer spending a night at HRH and going to USO for two days (one park each day) and 5 nights at the WDW Swann for the Junior Beta Convention. Now, to be fair, my boys are both teenagers, but we ALL enjoyed our two days at USO much more than our 5 days at WDW.

Here are my random thoughts:

For us, Disney is too geared to families with younger kids and their rides are technologically outdated (except for Avatar, which was AMAZING!).

Their so called "fast pass" system, and dining reservation system, is convoluted, confusing, frustrating, and just plain stupid. Why, oh why, would anyone want to schedule every aspect of their vacation 180 days in advance and then be bound by a strict schedule of this park on this day or else. For example, we had a Fantasmic! dinner package booked (dinner at 1:30 PM, mind you), enjoyed a mediocre Italian dinner, only to have Fantasmic! rained out for the night, and we paid a small fortune for the privilege.

The transportation at Disney is as efficient as it can be, I guess, but waiting 30 to 45 minutes on a bus back to your resort at the end of a long day, and then having the bus drop you at the adjacent resort instead of your intended resort, is just silly.

Yes, it actually happened. We waited at MK for 35 minutes, finally got a bus. Everyone on the bus was going to Swann, but we were dropped at Dolphin instead (Driver said it was his final stop before DS). Granted, it was a short walk through the Dolphin lobby and across the courtyard, but at the end of a long day, it wasn't welcomed.

The resorts at Disney are sprawling complexes of disconnected buildings. You're either a mile from the food court, a mile from the bus stop, a mile from the pool, or all three. While we only spent one night at HRH, we could easily access all areas of the resort without hailing a cab just to get to the bus stop.

The Disney parks are much bigger and require much more crossing, backtracking, bypassing, etc. than USO. At USO, you can pretty much tour in a clockwise or counter clockwise fashion and hit every attraction in order, bypassing and backtracking only for shows or scheduled events. And if you happen to find yourself on the wrong side of the park during a parade, you're hosed.

Many of USOs attractions have indoor/air conditioned queues and very efficient single rider queues.

On our 2015 trip, even without Express Passes, we were able to tour both US and IOA in the course of two days all while leaving the parks for extended periods of time for off-site meals.

I won't say we will never return to WDW. But if we do, it will likely be with our future grandchildren. In the meantime, we are USO junkies.

 

[MarBee]

We had been to Disney many times before we did our first trip to Universal recently. Here is what I think was better there than Disney...
1) express pass- it is unbeatable and wish Disney offered this!
2) HP World was so immersive and amazing
3) agree about the food. Where neither park is winning any cuisine contests, the junk food at Universal felt better. (However, as a PA girl, I could never like Auntie Anne’s over a Mickey pretzel!)
4) walking and convenience was nice
5) superheroes- my son is big into them now and it was so cool for him to meet them there (the transformers were so cool!)

I will say, though, that overall I still liked Disney better because I feel like they do a better job of creating an overall “feeling” while there. I left Universal without doing everything but still feeling ready to go. However, we left Disney after spending more days there and not wanting to leave.
We are definitely going to go back to Universal, though, because we did like it!

 

[shanew21]

I will say, though, that overall I still liked Disney better because I feel like they do a better job of creating an overall “feeling” while there.

I agree with this. While I love Universal, it feels a bit disjointed and the rides all begin to run together after a while. It feels like a hodge-podge of rides and doesn't really have a cohesive feeling to it. Disney (with the exception of Hollywood Studios) does a better job of an overall ambiance in the parks. Harry Potter is the one exception. That's done very very well and I'd go so far as to say it beats any Disney "land" they have out there currently.

 

[CPanther95]

I liked Disney for the nostalgia - remembering the trips I took in the early to mid- 70's as a kid. I took the family there when the kids were very young.

The greatest gift I gave my children, and now grandchildren, is to switch to Universal when my kids were old enough to start remembering the trips well. Now when they take their families to their favorite parks growing up, they won't have to suffer through a Disney vacation.

 

[Eureka]

When we went to Universal we stayed at the Royal Pacific and loved being able to walk to the parks. (And to walk park to park. This was before the second HP area was open).

 

[kbelle8995]

You spoke what I feel about Universal. I have purchased an annual pass. I find my Universal vacays more relaxing. You don't have to majorily plan every single minute of your trip. We have become huge Cabana Bay fans. Just love the vibe and food selection.

 

[bobbie68]

Hi we have been doing Disney vacations and Universal vacations for over 10 years. We have done split and separate stays. We still like Disney and it has good points. We have great family memories but we no longer go. I agree it is more geared towards families and younger children. We will try and go after Galaxy's Edge opens. For now we stay with Universal. We love:
1. The express pass is awesome!
2. We love to stay on-site in a bubble. Love how the resorts are so close to the parks and their transportation is great. Pool hopping is cool!
3. We like the close proximity of the parks it makes it easy to park hop.
4. We like the rides and the theme it has.
5. The food choices are good and you don't have to make reservations.
6. We feel Universal is a much more laid back relaxing vacation for us. I can't stand planning 180 days where we will eat and ride.

 

[shanew21]

6. We feel Universal is a much more laid back relaxing vacation for us. I can't stand planning 180 days where we will eat and ride.

100% agree here, although I guess some of the "fun" is being able to plan everything ahead of time and not worry about it on the trip. Definitely aggravating though to have to be on 180 days out to get the restaurant you want though since theme park hours aren't even released that early. We own APs at Universal and not Disney since it's more laid back. It's easy to just plan a random trip to Universal.

I'd highly recommend trying the Avatar stuff if you can (maybe wait until your Star Wars trip). It's really neat, even for adults.

 

[GoldmanTrust]

You spoke what I feel about Universal. I have purchased an annual pass. I find my Universal vacays more relaxing. You don't have to majorily plan every single minute of your trip. We have become huge Cabana Bay fans. Just love the vibe and food selection.

I am with you on Cabana Bay. I presented the option of staying at a hotel with an express pass included to my family. No way. The short distance to Volcano bay and the vibe in hotel is incredible.

 

[kbelle8995]

I am with you on Cabana Bay. I presented the option of staying at a hotel with an express pass included to my family. No way. The short distance to Volcano bay and the vibe in hotel is incredible.

OH that short distance to Volcano is great. Even better if you can get a view from your room. LOVE THAT VIEW. PLUS Name one disney resort who has a bowling alley.

 

[shanew21]

I am with you on Cabana Bay. I presented the option of staying at a hotel with an express pass included to my family. No way. The short distance to Volcano bay and the vibe in hotel is incredible.

I wish there was a way to stay at CB but get the Express Pass, if only for the Starbucks in the lobby...

 

[Patience]

We did two trips to Universal in 2017. Things that are better at Universal:

1. Express passes!
2. Ability to walk to parks from Universal hotel and ease of walking from park to park.
3. Royal Pacific. We think it's a terrific value. Our stay in December cost us only $199 per night for a standard room at the AP rate and that included an extra $25 per night for having 3 adults in the room as one of our children is over 18. That $199 per night gave us a hotel that is, in our opinion, much nicer than a Disney moderate plus express passes for all 4 of us, and it's a short walk from the hotel to the parks and CityWalk.
4. Price of annual pass. We upgraded our tickets to AP's during our trip in February 2017 and actually received money back. Yes, a refund! So our trip in December was pretty inexpensive because we only had to pay for the hotel and food.
5. Lack of planning. Our trips required next to no planning. We booked the hotel and went. We ate when and where we wanted and walked (or took a very quick boat ride) back and forth between the parks and the hotel when we wanted to. No ADR's, no fast pass windows, no touring plan. Awesome!
6. Harry Potter areas.
7. Did I mention express passes? lol