Universal Vs Discovery cove, which would you chose?

[magickate]

Budget for next year means Disney isn't an option and we're only there a week anyway. We could chose between the following and was wondering which others would go for and why? We're 2 adults and 3 kids that are 15, 13 and 11.

Universal 3 park tickets
Or
Discovery cove discovery swim with Busch gardens, aquatica & seaworld.

We haven't been to Busch gardens or Aquatica before but we haven't tried Volcano Bay either.

Prices are pretty much the same although the discovery cove package would also give us free parking which is a nice little sweetner.

Which would you choose?

[PoohBears#1fan]

Universal.

[Floridarules]

Universal 100%👍

[sacratini28]

We've done both and would definitely say Universal with the make up of your party.
Discovery Cove is a great Day outs is seaward,however Universal offers so much more for everyone !

[cornishfrogboy]

I will go against the grain.. Discovery Cove ultimate.

In earlier years, it was Disney. Every year now during planning, we invite the family to rate the three franchises on the understanding that we will only buy into two of them. 1,2 and 3. The DC ultimate always comes in at 1 and Disney at 3. Of 9 Orlando visits, we have purchased
8 Discovery Cove (6 of them non swim with Dolphins)We never knew about DC on our first visit, but have purchased every year since.
7 x Universal 14 days
4 x Disney ultimate 14s.

For myself and the two boys, it’s the Coasters. For Mandie, it’s the Marine life in DC and SW.

The question was DC or Universal, well for us Universal other than Volcano Bay has become a little stale, but DC Ultimates have not.

[lizzie145]

Personally I dont do water parks so would do universal but I like SeaWorld and Busch gardens.

So it comes down to what rides are at each park - for my next trip, no plans yet, I want to do Busch gardens and SeaWorld though as the will have new rides. Though universal will have the new Jurassic ride

[magickate]

Thanks for the input.

I think one of the things holding me back going for universal is I'd want express passes and that adds £500ish to the cost. Throw parking on top of that too. I could look at getting one annual pass but would need to crunch the numbers a bit more.

The SeaWorld coasters are better than the Universal rides to me, I get really bored of the 3d/4d type ones but we all love Harry Potter so that's a big pull.

13 year old hasn't been to DC before so that would be lovely for her.

Like I said we only have a week so we wouldn't get full value out of either but not sure theres enough at any of the SeaWorld parks to warrant more than one day whereas Universal we could spend a few days at.

Ideally we'd go for a month and do everything but work and money don't allow!

[Stitch & Smudge]

For the express passes you could add a day at one of the 3 premier Universal hotels. Okay it wouldn’t be much less but it would give you 2 days express pass. They’ll add a rollaway bed so a room can sleep 5. However I have to agree about the better coasters at Busch and Seaworld although Busch is a long way to go if it gets closed for weather.

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by magickate

Thanks for the input.

I think one of the things holding me back going for universal is I'd want express passes and that adds £500ish to the cost. Throw parking on top of that too. I could look at getting one annual pass but would need to crunch the numbers a bit more.

The SeaWorld coasters are better than the Universal rides to me, I get really bored of the 3d/4d type ones but we all love Harry Potter so that's a big pull.

13 year old hasn't been to DC before so that would be lovely for her.

Like I said we only have a week so we wouldn't get full value out of either but not sure theres enough at any of the SeaWorld parks to warrant more than one day whereas Universal we could spend a few days at.

Ideally we'd go for a month and do everything but work and money don't allow!

See more...

You have a week... One day each in DC, SW, BG and AQ takes up 4 of them before you do anything else. When you take into account shopping, Disney Springs and a couple of other bits, then the week is done. I certainly would look at AQ more than once and also an evening in SW, when you can hammer the Coasters... plus Infinity Falls is one of the finest rides that I have ever been on.

Plus, as you say, there are no bolt ons such as a night in HRH or similar for express pass, parking charges etc. In addition, the food on LBV and IDrive is very accessible and convenient from the Seaworld area, thus reducing costs further. We tend to in and out through the day and evening, mixing AQ , SW and eating as we please.

[magickate]

Originally Posted by Stitch & Smudge

For the express passes you could add a day at one of the 3 premier Universal hotels. Okay it wouldn’t be much less but it would give you 2 days express pass. They’ll add a rollaway bed so a room can sleep 5. However I have to agree about the better coasters at Busch and Seaworld although Busch is a long way to go if it gets closed for weather.

See more...

Thankyou. I was basing it 2 x 1 night stays to get the passes for 4 days. Though we wouldn't actually use the rooms so it feels kind of wrong!