Is universal really worth it?

[Andybear]

Last year was my first visit to Universal since 1997 and I wasn't impressed overall. The Harry Potter areas were good and Islands of Adventure was fun but that was it. I won't be going again. But that's just my personal taste and opinion.

[Fancealot]

I've got a different take from most, in November i'm going to do both disney and universal, but this probably will be the last time I do universal unless things change.

I'm of a bigger build than 'normal' people so I cannot fit into most of the more extreme ride seats - I probably won't be able to get on Hagrids, definitely wont be able to get on gringotts or forbidden journey and they are the rides I would love to do (I'm a big HP fan) for me, WDW is just more 'fat friendly' in terms of ride seats, I understand there is safety limits, and i'm not asking to go on hulk or rip ride rockit, maybe... if i lose significant weight I'll treat myself to a universal trip, otherwise it's WDW all the way for me!

[Andybear]

Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy

We are just back from ..

A flight to Boston, A train to NY, A PLANE TO Dayton OH, A drive down to Cincinatti, A flight to MCO, a drive to Miami via Naples and then a flight home.

Other than the normal theme parks (Discovery Cove was great), We had a brilliant time. There is so much to do in the wider USA and as you already know, travel is both cheap and easy to arrange. That is our future for the next few years.

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All that travelling would be my idea of hell but we're all different 😀

[Kasalic]

One thing to add is that whilst the 14-day tickets are expensive, they are extremely good value compared to paying on the gate. As an example, on my recent solo trip, I was able to buy 2-day park to park tickets with 3 days free. These cost around £240 and allowed me to visit 5 days out of a 7 day period from the date of first use. The saving, in this case, was just about worth it, but I would have thought twice without the 3 free days.

One other point is having the ability to visit multiple days does mean you can spend half days, and even visit the parks after 6 pm when you can take advantage of the free parking.

[disneyfangirl01]

For us we are spending 11 nights in a universal hotel so we will be going a number of times as well as SW and Busch Gardens before then moving into to Disney.

I am hoping to get a decent price to upgrade to AP and universal In the hope I can talk the OH into a 'budget' return visit this would deffo make the ticket prices worth it to us...

[lizzie145]

Originally Posted by Fancealot

I've got a different take from most, in November i'm going to do both disney and universal, but this probably will be the last time I do universal unless things change.

I'm of a bigger build than 'normal' people so I cannot fit into most of the more extreme ride seats - I probably won't be able to get on Hagrids, definitely wont be able to get on gringotts or forbidden journey and they are the rides I would love to do (I'm a big HP fan) for me, WDW is just more 'fat friendly' in terms of ride seats, I understand there is safety limits, and i'm not asking to go on hulk or rip ride rockit, maybe... if i lose significant weight I'll treat myself to a universal trip, otherwise it's WDW all the way for me!

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Gringotts has seats for the bigger person, as does the hulk. End seats on forbidden journey are roomier.
RRR has bigger seats too and hagrid depends where you carry the weight

[Fancealot]

Originally Posted by lizzie145

Gringotts has seats for the bigger person, as does the hulk. End seats on forbidden journey are roomier.
RRR has bigger seats too and hagrid depends where you carry the weight

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When I went last time even the roomier seats were small, yes i'll try again with the tester seats but i don't hold much hope!

[taylaboo]

We get the 14 day ticket for Universal as well as a 21 day Disney ticket. We go to Universal several times at different times too throught our stay. Last time we did a one night stay at RPR to get the two days front of line passes.

[Squidgyness]

Not sure I'd do a 2 day visit Universal - or Disney! We found the 2 day tix we got for Disney in 2017 to be meh value, and I understand Universal isn't any better.

We do half/half - 5 or 6 visits to the Universal parks interspersed with 5 or 6 visits to the Disney parks, minus MK. But I understand this is a minority view. Plus, this will be our "last" (ha) trip so deffo doing both this time.

One day tickets at any theme park tend to be the worst value.

[Nimbus]

Last time we visited, we only spent 2 days at Universal and that seemed to be enough time to do everything (we did have Express passes as well). We've never spent more than 4 days at Universal in a holiday and will usually only spend 3 days there. Admittedly, we don't usually do waterparks and so would not visit VB. Three days is enough time for us to do the 2 Universal parks.

There are twice as many parks at Disney than at Universal and the Disney parks tend to be busier (especially MK). Therefore we always spend at least twice as long at Disney than Universal.