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Theme Parks Florida Rides, Attractions, Genie+ Questions and Info. |
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6 Jul 20, 11:13 AM |
#1
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Apprentice Imagineer
Join Date: Nov 10
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To universal or not to universal
Planning for 2022.
We’ve been to Orlando 4 times previously (last time 2016). Kids will be 14 & 17 this time. We’ve always done onsite Disney. We love the resorts, love the dining plan and love the whole Disney bubble thing. Trying to decide whether to add universal in this time. Never done it before. We will be travelling August. It pushes the price up A LOT. I can only see UK universal 3 park hoppers for 14 days. So for 4 of us that’s £1200+ extra before we start. And because of the time of year, being used to fast passes and it being our first time, I feel it’d be best to do a 2 or 3 nights onsite with express passes. Again, considerable cost. It’ll add no fat off £2000 to our holiday all in I would think. For 3-4 days. My question is, as lovers of Disney, how much will we get out of universal? Harry Potter looks fabulous and themed as well as Disney. But what else is there that will blow us away? I look at lots of trip reports and I’m not sure universal (outside of Harry Potter) is as immersive as Disney with the beautiful themeing etc. Would we get more out of booking a cheap hotel and doing Busch, aquatica and seaworld just for something new? |
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6 Jul 20, 11:20 AM |
#2
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Imagineer
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I love Universal Studio's and IOA - the rides knock the socks of Disney rides - I can't see Disney being enough for your children - my son was 10 when we went and after going to US first then Disney, he was bored, he wanted the big rides. Yes getting FOLP pushes the price up - we are booking a night onsite to counteract this.
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6 Jul 20, 11:25 AM |
#3
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Guest
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It does put the price up a lot, we have a couple of times in the past decided to do one or the other for that reason. Next time we go we will do both, but just one or two nights at Universal and would get the tickets from US sellers which will save a little bit on ticket costs.
We are huge Harry Potter fans and whilst there are other things that we enjoy, they are the only lands that feel immersive for us. Although I quite like the Dr Seuss area as well. |
6 Jul 20, 11:41 AM |
#4
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Imagineer
Join Date: Sep 16
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It's possible to like both Disney and Universal a lot, but agree they are different. Disney scores higher on immersive theming, Universal better on thrill rides (Harry Potter matches pretty much anything at Disney for theming, but it's an exception), and maybe the movie side of things (though Universal in LA is probably even better for that).
If the theming and Disney bubble is your big thing, you would need to adjust your expectations to enjoy Universal to the max. Enjoy it for what it is, which is somewhere between the Disney theming focus and the (for example) Busch Gardens pure thrill rides focus. The quality is still high. Only you will know if your children would still be as into the Disney theme as they were 4+ years ago. You clearly are, and nothing wrong with that No doubt it's a chunk of extra money, you could possibly reduce costs a bit with only 1 night in Universal, which (I presume still, haven't been in there for 2 years) gets you 2 days of Express passes. You could easily hit the things that need the passes within a couple of days, and come back at more leisure on other days, if desired. Edited at 11:44 AM. |
6 Jul 20, 12:17 PM |
#5
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Imagineer
Join Date: Sep 13
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With kids that age. I’d do universal/seaworld/Busch/discovery cove over Disney.
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6 Jul 20, 12:28 PM |
#6
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Apprentice Imagineer
Join Date: Mar 16
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We would rather do Universal than Disney couldn't think of going to Florida without going there.
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6 Jul 20, 12:48 PM |
#7
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Imagineer
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Have you asked the kids what they think? They're old enough to be involved in the decision.
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6 Jul 20, 12:49 PM |
#8
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Stuck in the Tower of Terror
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We finally decided to visit Universal last year & were totally blown away by how good it was.
We were at the Yacht Club for two weeks but decided to book one night at RPR in the middle of our trip to take advantage of the Express Passes. We looked at the tickets that they sell for the UK market (14 day ones) but decided to give them a miss & bought the two day park hopper tickets from the American site which worked out cheaper & booked one night at RPR on the Lowes hotel site. With the Express passes & one night at the RPR we were able to do everything that we wanted in both parks over two days. The express lines were amazing & we were walking onto most rides with no more than a 5 minute wait.
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Hopefully November 2022 at The Yacht Club November 2019 at The Yacht Club November 2017 at The Yacht Club November 2014 at Old Key West & The Yacht Club November 2012 at The Swan |
6 Jul 20, 12:54 PM |
#9
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Apprentice Imagineer
Join Date: Apr 15
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We are big fans of US. Although the parks are not as immersive they have some great rides and themes.
TravelRepublic you can book Loews Royal Pacific Resort for £226.00 for August 2022. That will get you the express passes. If you have express passes you will only need 1 day at each IOA/US parks to get most rides done. We usually get our US tickets direct from the Universal Orlando website. One Park Per Day 2-Park 2-Day Base which for 4 adults would be £800. The only issue with these tickets you will not be able to get on Hogwarts express but they are much cheaper. Taxi over to hotel in the morning pick up express passes and walk to IOA within 15 mins. Stay one night at hotel and do US the next day. It is an extra £1000 to include US but it is worth doing at least once. Edited at 12:58 PM. |
6 Jul 20, 12:54 PM |
#10
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Imagineer
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We love Universal and prefer it over Disney and I think your children are the perfect age for Universal, try and stay onsite if you can even for 1 night
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