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Never been to Universal.....but...
I am anticipating scheduleing a trip to universal. We have never been there. Can someone compare it to Disney. If I have been to Disney would I be disappointed by US and IOA? Could I spend a week to ten days there? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks Liz
I went with my family in 2004. My kids were 6 & 8 at the time. The one thing that I would do definitely is buy the fast pass that they offer. It's not done like Disney. You have to pay extra for it. At the time, it was $30. extra per ticket so we didn't do it, but I know it is no longer that much. We were in lines forever! (It was late Aug.) I know that while I was there, I was missing Disney, but my husband loved it! We didn't go in 2006, we stayed in the Disney Parks (we didn't rent a car), but I would definitely do it again now that my kids are older. It seemed like they had a lot of "big kid" rides in Islands of Adventure. Suessland was very cute, but it was soooo hot and they didn't seem to have as much shade or places to cool down as Disney. I personally couldn't do a full week there. I would do 3 days, but that is just me. My husband loves Marvel, so he loved it. If I did it, I would also stay in one of there hotels so I could get the perks of staying onsite. I would stay a few nights there and then head to WDW.
I wouldn't go there for a full week, and I'm a huge fan of US/IOA. To me 3 full days is about perfect, although I took my teen-aged son for 5 days once and we managed to keep busy enjoying ourselves - I had been afraid we might get bored and run out of things to do, but that ended up being a silly worry.
My advice for comparing US/IOA to Disney is don't!!! You honestly cannot compare the two and if you try you will end up disappointed. US/IOA is a very enjoyable vacation and it is incredibly well themed. But it's not Disney. There are a lot more thrill rides at US/IOA, but even people who don't do thrill rides can find lots of fun things to do and just enjoy being immersed in the atmosphere.
Universal Studios is themed to be like a big movie lot - the big warehouse studios, movie sets, etc. Sometimes you feel like you could run into a filming crew, sometimes you feel like you have walked right into the movie. There are more shows in US than thrill rides, although it has both. Islands of Adventure is better themed in that it's a bit more Disney-like (that's as close as I will come to comparing the two! ). You can tell definitely when you've entered another "land" or "island" as IoA calls them. This is the park with more thrill rides, but there are lots of mild things to do there also.
City Walk is a good place for a bite to eat. There are lots of really cool restaurants there. Lots of shopping.
I would suggest staying at a Universal resort if there's any way to swing it financially. They are beautiful and well kept, plus there's the benefit of the Front of the Line access. Some nights the resorts have a "Dive-In" Theatre where you hang out at the pool and they show a movie on a big screen outdoors. You can pool hop between the resorts if you want. There is water taxi service, bus service and I think there's bike taxi's too (can't remember what they actually call them) between the resorts and the parks. And you can walk to the parks from Hard Rock Hotel and from the Royal Pacific Resort.
It's hard to compare the two places, because they are not the same experience. You will hear plenty of opinions on both sides. Some people like one much better than the other. I think some people go into a Universal vacation expecting to hate it because it's not Disney. My family would pick a Universal vacation over a Disney vacation any day. I love them both.
Universal has great hotels, all three would be equal to a Disney deluxe resort. Universal is a much smaller place than WDW. You can walk to everything from your hotel, to the parks or to CitiWalk.
On the whole, Universal employess are as friendly as WDW. I've had a few bad eggs, but I've had that at Disney too.
There are several perks to staying at a Universal resort, the best being the express pass to all attractions. Show your room key and you can enter the express line. Another plus is the closeness to the parks - instead of a 15 min. bus ride to the parks, it's a 5 min. walk. Another fun perk is that a Universal resort guest can pool hop - you can visit the pools at the other resorts as well. Hard Rock Hotel has the best pool slide in Orlando, and there is a "coolness" to sunbathing by the pool.
Universal parks - the theming of IOA is top notch, and there isn't a better place for thrill rides. You can get much better deals on Universal park tickets as well.
What Disney does better is the "magic" factor, you may not feel immersed in the magic at Universal, but it's a fun place. And our biggest peeve with Universal is the dining options. They can't compare to WDW in this aspect.
We can easily stay 5-6 nights at a Universal resort and not get bored. We've also stayed for 2-4 nights and did all we wanted at the theme parks.
I would suggest checking out a Universal guidebook, or some of the websites that have been mentioned in the Universal forum for more info on the rides and attractions to see if Universal would be a place your family would enjoy. Happy planning!
I enjoy going to Universal though I never try to compare the two but my son (8) loves Universal more so than Disney. So when we go to Disney in 08 I am planning on surprising him with a stay at Universal before we hit Disney.
Staying at the resorts is the way to go. I haven't done it yet, plan to next summer. But I know from the other end that the lines can get long and being able to move to the front is well worth it. Plus the resorts are so nice I am dying to stay there (and splurge).
I don't think i would stay more than 3 days there, as by that point we have seen and done most everything that we want.
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I had an open mind when we first visited Universal in 2005. I remember thinking "if this wasn't in Orlando, I'd be thinking 'this is so Disney'!" We had ZERO touring plans when we got there, we just walked around and did whatever----the weather was freezing and Universal drenched us on a couple of rides and other rides scared to bemoley out of me and I left the parking thinking it was basically a mean and spiteful version of Disney. DH was starting to sour on it as well (I'm positive that the weather affected our moods) until he rode Dueling Dragons and declared it the best ride ever.
We went back a year later, totally unplanned and spur-of-the-moment US/IOA day, and I had a *much* better experience. If you open yourself up to fun, you'll find it. I've been on both sides of the Disney fence (this is NOT Disney /hey, this is pretty well themed and fun!) and we'd love to stay at the HRH someday but probably won't go for more than 2-3 days.
I agree with what everyone else said. It is definitely NOT Disney (but then nothing really is), but it is so much fun. Some of my favorite rides in Orlando are at USF/IOA (Mummy and Spiderman). 3 days is plenty, stay there if you can to avoid the lines. The line-hopper pass was $30 (I just got back last night). Another trick is to go on the "single rider" line. It is so much faster than a regular line, and you are almost always seated with members of your party either in the same car or one ahead/behind. I can't tell you how much time we saved last week doing that. Have fun planning!
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First trip DW--Nov. 1975; Senior Class Trip DW--Oct. 1979; First trip w/kids--Oct. 1995; Halloween at DW--Oct. 2002; Spring Break at DW--April 2004; Christmas/Pop Warner Nationals-POR--Dec. 2005;Cruisin'--April 2008; Mom/Son trip-POP--March 2010;Taggin' along w/DD on DH's conference-BWI--Oct. 2011; 50th birthday with the Gartner Geeks--Adults only!--BWI--Oct. 2012; The Trip That Almost Wasn't--BWI--Oct. 2013; We climbed The Summit (National Cheer Competition)--ASMovies--May 2014
I agree with everyone else. We went to US/IOA in 2003 and stayed for 5 days, and it was about a day too long. I also agree it is NO Disney, but the Hulk coaster, the Spiderman Ride, The whole Seuss World, and the Men In Black ride were AWESOME! I am SO sad to see the Back to the Future ride go - we rode it several times. We also stayed on-site which allowed us a type of "front of the line" priveledge - people who stayed on-site had their own no-wait line. The Mummy ride was not open yet when we were there.....
I usually stay at WDWand take Mears to US / IOA. The Universal hotels are very nice if you want to go that route. That gives you "front of the ride privileges" that you have to pay for if you're not staying there. It's not as well themed as WDW(but, again, ehat is?), but the rides are great. My must sees:
US
Terminator 3D
Back to the Future (if it's not already gone)
Men In Black
Jaws
Earthquake
Revemge of the Mummy
Twister
IOA
Spiderman (best ride in Orlando)
Dr. Doom Fearfall
Hulk Coaster
Jurassic Park River Adventure
Whipsaw Falls (you will get soaked)
Fire & Ice
We have a local time share and usually alternate WDW years with US/IOA years. I should mention our time share is in May because one thing I like about US/IOA is that it always seems a lot less crowded during that time of year, although we have run into local field-trips that were miserable to be around. Since we stay off property, we usually only visit the parks 3 or 4 days and that seems to be plenty of time. A suggestion would be if they offer the Orlando Flex Pass which includes Wet and Wild and Sea World that would add a couple of days of parks. I've never been to Wet and Wild because I think Disney's water parks are some of the best in the world. Sea World is definitely a 1 day park. My kids have been visiting both parks since they were toddlers and have always been able to find age-appropriate rides to enjoy even though US/IOA seems to be geared to more children 8 and over.
IMO if feel IOA is a much nicer kept and themed Six Flags. The roller coasters are some of the best I've been on and my DH LOVES Spiderman. However, it's not a place for younger or less adverturous children. Many rides have height restrictions of 48" and over (even for the raft ride) and Suessland seems to have only a handful of rides for the little ones.
We purchased the "fast pass" ticket for $28 which entitled us to 1 fastpass per thrill ride. It was well worth it. We went in May and encountered numerous school field trips (UGH!). If you can stay on site and get the Front of the Line Pass, I do it.
The one thing I didn't like about it was they wouldn't allow you to take any kind of pack/bag on the roller coasters. (I have a small kids backpack that I've always wrapped around my legs or worn backwards at other parks.) You had to rent a locker. After the ride, the lockers were so jammed with people either renting or getting their bags, I just left mine there to come back when it wasn't so crowded. Talk about a nice way to make $.
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Michele
I'm living the dream 20 minutes from Disney! Next trip...tomorrow. Follow me on instagram at ShirtsByShell
The lockers were free for longer than 30 minutes the 3 times I've been there. Gosh I wish I could remember if it was 1 hour or 2 hours. It's basically long enough that you can wait in the regular line, ride the ride, and shop in the gift shop/buy the ride photo and still have time to spare, but not long enough to ride, say, 3 or 4 rides. I have also heard that they can increase the length of "free" locker rental based on the length of the wait-time for the ride. However, that part I don't know as gospel truth, it's more like "I think I remember reading that somewhere". If you go over your "free" limit you needed a credit card to pay for the extra time.
I am interested in this, as well. Next year me, my DH, DS9 (10 at the time), and DS4 (5 at the time) were planning on renting a cabin in Gatlinburg for a week. By the time we added in a few recreation activities, we found that we could do a week onsite at Universal for very close to the same price. We wouldn't want to do less than a week because we have to drive 18 hours each way to get there (flying is too expensive). We thought that we could "supplement" the parks with outlet shopping, swimming at the pool, I-4 stuff, and maybe Sea World. DS4 is not a big thrill seeker, but I was hoping there would be enough to keep him busy. Plus, with front of the line access, I hoped he wouldn't have to spend too much time waiting in lines for things he wouldn't ride.
We were planning to go at the end of August (value season). More input on if this is a good idea (based on your opinions, of course) would be great. We like Gatlinburg, but have gone 3 or 4 times in the past 6 years and were thinking something different (but not breaking the bank) would be nice.
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Jennifer
Last edited by jhoshowski; 04-21-2007 at 11:24 AM..
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Never been to Universal.....but...
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). You can tell definitely when you've entered another "land" or "island" as IoA calls them. This is the park with more thrill rides, but there are lots of mild things to do there also.
Michelle - with my step sisters!
/hey, this is pretty well themed and fun!) and we'd love to stay at the HRH someday but probably won't go for more than 2-3 days.
to see the Back to the Future ride go - we rode it several times. We also stayed on-site which allowed us a type of "front of the line" priveledge - people who stayed on-site had their own no-wait line. The Mummy ride was not open yet when we were there.....
W!
It's basically long enough that you can wait in the regular line, ride the ride, and shop in the gift shop/buy the ride photo and still have time to spare, but not long enough to ride, say, 3 or 4 rides. I have also heard that they can increase the length of "free" locker rental based on the length of the wait-time for the ride. However, that part I don't know as gospel truth, it's more like "I think I remember reading that somewhere". If you go over your "free" limit you needed a credit card to pay for the extra time.
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