Is universal relevant?

[Princesa]

Hi,

I know this is going to be controversial, but we’ve just got back from America and whilst at universal I said that if the Harry Potter stuff wasn’t there, I’m not sure if I’d want to visit again. We’ve done universal on three of our holidays now, basically every other one. We’ve done Disney on all of them.

This trip, we spent about 6-7 hours in each of the two parks. I wanted to go to volcano bay but didn’t, so I’d like to do that next time and I’d feel like we got more value out of our tickets if we did. We also did city walk at night for the first time and I really liked the atmosphere there.

I just felt some areas of the park felt dated. There were characters out and no one was getting photos with them, I assume they didn’t know who they were either! I think one was Olive from Popeye, and I tried to explain Popeye to my kids but I barely remember him.

A lot of the rides are 3D simulators, and I get a bit bored with that. I also hate having to put my stuff in a locker for these - I understand for a rollercoaster but not for these. Plus they charge for the lockers if you get stuck in a queue longer than 30 mins. Thinking about it, I put everything in there so I’m not sure how I’d have paid if it had taken longer...

I also found that they close early. We went after 6 on one evening and I activated the Coca Cola cup. The woman did warn me that it would only work til 9 but I thought I’d get a few drinks, so worth it. We got into Universal Studios before it closed at 8 and had time to ride the train over to IOA. We got there and rode the Forbidden Journey and at 8:30 I went looking to get a second refill and all of the food places were closing and wouldn’t give me one. The girls went on the pterodactyl flyers on their own as you have to be small enough to go on these and I asked the woman where they’d come off at, she pointed at the exit of the ride so we sat there to wait for them. We were sat in an area that stank of sewerage, I think it may have possibly been the water fountains. As DH waited, I went looking for an open stall to refill my drink. I asked at one place who told me they were closed, but they neglected to tell me there was a Coca Cola refill station literally next door to them and I missed it. Only noticed it later on when DH pointed it out and I finally got a second drink.

We continued to wait for the girls and after about 20 mins I was getting concerned that they hadn’t come off the ride. Eventually they came around the corner and they’d fame from a different exit! I wasn’t happy that they could have got out or got lost when I thought we were sat by the only exit.

Wow, that turned into more of a rant than I thought! I love the Harry Potter areas, I think them and their rides are amazing. I also like the Simpson’s area. So I would go back, but I just feel it needs some newer stuff pumped in, even if it’s replacing Betty boop and olive with characters that people will want photos with.

[JLH]

It’s relevant according to personal taste I guess . We are the opposite have done Disney once and universal each time ( except for a park free holiday ). For me having three thrill ride loving boys it’s totally more relevant than Disney .

[Princesa]

Yeah I can see how it’s probably more relevant for teenage boys. I love thrill rides too, and I enjoyed rip ride rockit and hulk, but didn’t find much else that wasn’t a 3D show, though the 3D does seem better than at Disney.

[Adultdisneyfan]

For us, no.

But honestly I think they complement each other. Guests who go for Disney night visit Universal and vice Versa.

After all they are so far apart (10+ miles) they might as well be in a different town.

Each to their own and without one another there would be no need to expand and evolve.

So I hope both remain relevant but for us it’s the Mouse every time!

[Mo&Chris]

First year we went to Florida, we went for 3 weeks, with 2 week tickets for both Disney and Universal, planning to start at Disney, overlap in the middle and finish the trip at Universal.

After the second day at Universal, we headed to Disney and extended our tickets for the rest of the trip. Haven't been back to Universal since.

It felt very much ride/shop/eat/ride/shop/eat/give us your money! We didn't feel the same chilled atmosphere there is at Disney were we could just sit and relax.

If the rumours of a 3rd park, with LOTR theme area, come true, we may give it a second chance, but we're not likely to go pack til then, other than City Walk for Hard Rock Cafe.

/Mo

[cornishfrogboy]

I would agree with some of your very valid points. Harry Potter is brilliantly done, I miss Jaws, though! We also like the bigger rides as our boys get older and adrenaline rushes become more important. I do believe that the two franchises complement each other whilst offering different experiences aimed at different family groups. given a choice of one or the other, we would now opt for Universal.

Equally, my now 11 and 15 year old struggle with the relevance of the more traditional Disney characters, Donald, Mickey etc. They did not really watch them at all.

The investment in any major themes and also the licencing fees must be enormous and huge decisions must be made on what to exploit and what not. I was surprised that Disney did not in some way go bigger on Pirates of the Carribean . I have not yet seen Avatar and very much look forward to the completion of Star Wars. The price of a Disney ticket for just those two attractions is very high though.

The only certainty on our next visit (and Orlando has shrunk to around 8 days of our next 21 day vacation in 2019), will be a Discovery Cove ultimate.

I love Florida as a whole and theme parks in general are becoming less important to us. What Orlando has done, is open our eyes to the region as a whole. We initially just went on a 'once in a lifetime' to see Disney.

MO... Could you tell me what LOTR is in this rumoured 3rd park?

[Mexy02]

I think it’s just personal choice .

[HEMANCLOFTY]

Sorry to hear you didn't have the best experience.

For us (me, DH and DS13) as much as we love Disney for the overall magical experience, as stand alone theme parks the Universal parks are much more relevant. Thrill rides, simulators, themeing, fab water rides and Harry Potter - they just hit all the spots for us! And we haven't even tried Volcano Bay yet.

If it came down to not having enough in the budget to do all the parks, then we'd choose Universal over Disney 😀

[Bouncing Tigger]

We were the same as you. We'd expected to go for three days but did all we wanted in a day.We're not HP fans so a lot of it goes over our heads although we liked FJ. To us Universal just didn't have the magic that Disney has and I felt it was drab grey concrete everywhere. We were watching a parade and there were hardly any others watching too which is a shame. However we loved VB and thought it was far superior to the Disney water parks. Each to their own though.

[Mel49]

Disney gets my vote but my kids (DS 22, DS 14 and DD 11) and DH vote for Universal every time as they prefer the rides to Disney. Last time with DS we only did one day at Disney and 3 at Universal and time before with kids only did MNSSHP for my fix and Universal at least 4/5 days.

I love Disney for the theming and shows as I'm not that big a fan of "thrill rides" whereas the rest of the family prefer "thrill rides" and I sit and people watch while they ride them. Next month it is just DH and me again and at the moment 3 days at Disney, Wild Florida, possibly Clearwater and Winter Garden but no Universal planned. Next Year though with kids Universal will again take priority but with the advent of Uber my plan is to have peaceful shopping days while they get their fix !

Everyone has a different perspective as my DH feels Disney is too slow to update their parks, rides are dated and prices far too high