Is universal relevant?

[Tynxuk]

Originally Posted by 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

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We feel pretty much the same, we had done 11 nights at Disney and after 2 days of Universal felt we had done what we wanted but preferred the more relaxed atmosphere of the Disney bubble, hence our Disney only return holiday

[Andybear]

Originally Posted by 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?

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The Pirates of the Caribbean films are based on the ride though, not the other way around. The original ride came out in Disneyland in 1967.

[Floridarules]

Originally Posted by 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 .

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The beauty of Florida is that there is so much to choose from. You don’t have to go to Universal, we have not been to Disney for 6 years as our kids are older. We stopped doing Disney partially because they don’t have many big rides. I still get the appeal 👍
Everyone’s different - not sure ‘relevant’ is the correct word, more ‘appealing’ or not dependent on what you want😄😄

[Mexy02]

Originally Posted by 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?

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Lord of the rings but more likely to be Nintendo land .

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by Andybear

The Pirates of the Caribbean films are based on the ride though, not the other way around. The original ride came out in Disneyland in 1967.

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That is really interesting.

[TGT]

Originally Posted by 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.

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...

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.

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I could have written this - I love the Harry Potter stuff, and even Jurassic Park, but folks rave about the rides at Universal yet there's only the Hulk isn't there? Simulators make me sick, including Hogwarts, although I do like the Gringott's one. I think the best thing at Universal is the raptor interaction.

I am not interested in Dr Suess, or comic book stuff (sorry Marvel or is it DC fans - I'm not remotely interested). So, generally, when there has been a new Harry Potter thing we've been, otherwise we stick with Disney (more interesting) or LEGOLAND (way cheaper). I bought a 3 day pass for the price of 2 but didn't go back for the 3rd day.

Before Harry Potter we visited the Studios (mom & I) we wandered about for 20 mins, got bored and went back to IofA - it's picked up now and is much better than back then (after Jaws and the studio tour closed) but back then it was even more boring than now.

[keeley78]

It's just personal taste, to us Universal is very relevant, none of us are fussed on the Disney parks but we love universal, not sure we will ever go back to the Disney parks, universal is a must for now, we are staying at Disney for the last 3 nights of our holiday but only to do Disney springs, Boardwalk in the evening & a few other things, we won't miss the parks at all only done Disney on 2 of our 4 holidays there & we weren't that blown away by it the second time around, with the exception of tower of terror (for me) we much prefer the rides & theming of the universal parks

[SimonB]

Personally I prefer Universal. Saying that it’s from an on-site perspective. Universal seem to look after on site guests better and we just prefer the ambience there.

Harry Potter is a big attraction for us but the demise of Duelling Dragons a negative.

Saying that, when I last checked Universal prices had shot up.

[ihearttc]

We went to Florida last week and spent nearly 10 days at Universal (with 2 days at MK and Epcot in the middle). Admittedly we didn’t get to experience Epcot properly due to a massive thunderstorm for most of the day but my boys loved Universal and hated Disney. I thought Disney was too busy and crowded.

[deanobrown]

Originally Posted by ihearttc

We went to Florida last week and spent nearly 10 days at Universal (with 2 days at MK and Epcot in the middle). Admittedly we didn’t get to experience Epcot properly due to a massive thunderstorm for most of the day but my boys loved Universal and hated Disney. I thought Disney was too busy and crowded.

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I feel the same as you... I'm really surprised hearing how many people say Disney is more relaxing. I always feel like it's really busy & it stressed me out whereas Universal is always quieter and I feel more relaxed!