21 Days at Disney, worth going to Universal?

[Andybear]

Originally Posted by captbnut

I thought we were the only people who thought that! Harry Potter amazing, the rest meh.

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I didn't really like Universal when I was there in September apart from Harry Potter. I liked Islands of Adventure but not enough to go there again for the foreseeable future.

[Cherokee331]

Personally I enjoy Universal and did a day visit to each park 2 weeks ago. It is less crowded and just different to Disney really.

[rosiebun3]

First visit we stayed near universal and had 14 day tickets. We purchased 5 day tickets for Disney as an afterthought. We had 3 teenage children at that time and thought Universal would suit them better. Went to universal 7 of the days and enjoyed it but loved Disney.
Since then have been back to Florida 4 more times. 2nd time we stayed at RPR over night mid trip to use FOLP. We were finished by late morning of 2nd day and went back to Disney early.
We loved the Harry Potter areas but not so much the rest. Would go back if they opened more Harry Potter themed areas.

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by disneytime

We love Disney and can easily spend 21 days there. Everyone keeps telling me to do Universal, is it something you’d recommend and if so how many days?

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Yes, I'd recommend visiting Universal, especially if you haven't been before. I'd suggest at least a day in each park - so at least 2 days in total if you want to visit Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. Although a third day to do anything you missed and revisit the attractions you loved is also a good idea.

Universal doesn't quite have the same "magic" that Disney has. However, I think the theming in Islands of Adventure and some parts of Universal Studios is almost as good as Disney's. And some of Universal's rides are just as good as, if not better, than Disney's. We have just as much fun at Universal as we do at Disney, albeit over less days because there are less parks.

[HFJohnson]

I'm a die-hard Disney fan and was initially disappointed when we visited Universal last month. I expected it to be a real competitor for WDW but in reality I found it closer to your standard theme park in terms of atmosphere etc. It was little things that bothered me like all the side show game stalls you have to pay for and, in IOA, salespeople who would try and chat to you and then offer you a free breakfast and $100 in return for finding out about their version of DVC (I think - I didn't hang around to find out).

Having said that, it did grow on me and we did have a fun couple of days. Also, the Harry Potter areas are worth the admission price alone, with the Escape from Gringotts ride being a real highlight in terms of theming etc.

I would highly recommend a stay onsite to get the express passes as this made it very stress free. We did two days which gave us time to do all the rides we wanted, however we didn't have any time spare to relax and use the hotel pool so if we went again (and I would like to go back despite my initial negativity) I would like to do three nights to give us more time plus a day for Volcano Bay. If visiting Florida for three weeks I would start with Universal before moving on to Disney, rather than visiting during your Disney stay.

[novocastrian]

Originally Posted by Ridersmom

I have always wondered why some people seem upset by the fact Universal is not Disney. I think the parks are great and lots of fun but I go without comparing it to Disney. You can like and enjoy both.

When I was a true ride wimp I found Universal studios had lots more I enjoyed than any other park, including all the Disney parks. At that time pre AK, much of Disney seemed less adult oriented.

If one of your daughters don't like thrill rides, she can look and find lots of other things to do. I really enjoyed Men in Black and still like it much more than Buzz Light Year. Not sure a 5 year old would though.

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This ^^

one mans 'magic' is another mans 'twee'...

personally i prefer universal but can take disney in small chunks... 21 days there would be a stretch to far..

always find it weird that folk say universal is "all simulators" when the consensus on here is the greatest ride at Disney (FOP) is a simulator...

[BevS97]

FOP is a simulator but it’s the only one in animal kingdom and it’s quite different to the ones we did in IOA. There we did three rides in a row which were exactly the same but with a different movie (Simpson’s. Jimmy fallon and minions).

I don’t mind them using simulators in an interesting way. Like the Harry Potter rides. But I think those three are very very similar.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by novocastrian

This ^^

one mans 'magic' is another mans 'twee'...

personally i prefer universal but can take disney in small chunks... 21 days there would be a stretch to far..

always find it weird that folk say universal is "all simulators" when the consensus on here is the greatest ride at Disney (FOP) is a simulator...

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So Disney has FOP ( which is outstanding ) and Uni / IOA a fair few more

Minions, Jimmy Fallon ( which i liked ) and Simpsons are just the same ride ( as Bev has said )

Lets not compare FOP with anything Uni/IOA has, if we need to compare newest for newest we come to Fast and Furious, which i was really looking forward to,how silly i looked with that ride, in the waiting area i was like a big kid, selfies with the props etc etc, then the ride happened

[Hopefulholiday]

I just really hope the new HP ride will be open when we go next Summer as I think without a replacement for duelling dragons my dh & ds may be disappointed as they’re not so keen on simulators

[Nimbus]

Originally Posted by novocastrian

always find it weird that folk say universal is "all simulators" when the consensus on here is the greatest ride at Disney (FOP) is a simulator...

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Yes. It's not simulators that people have a problem with. If Universal built a fantastic amazing simulator - one that people really enjoyed - then people wouldn't complain.

I think when people moan about Universal being "all simulators" what they actually mean is that Universal "has too many unremarkable rides that are fairly similar to one another" - where the similarity to one another happens to be the use of screens.

It's worth noting that Universal only has 3 true simulators - the 3 that Bev mentions. The others are dark rides that happen to use screens.

Originally Posted by BevS97

There we did three rides in a row which were exactly the same but with a different movie (Simpson’s. Jimmy fallon and minions).

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Well, yes. If you go on the same type of ride one after another then they will seem very similar.

It would be a bit like going on BTMR, 7DMT and the Barnstormer at Disney, remarking how similar they are, and saying Disney is full of family-friendly rollercoasters.

(BTW, the mechanics of the 3 Universal rides you mention are quite different even though they are all screen-based motion simulators. My experience of Minions is quite different to that of the Simpsons ride in the same way that BTMR is quite different to 7DMT).