thelionqueen
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 7, 2005
First of all, to all the Universal lovers out there, please don't flame me, this is my opinion of Universal & Islands of Adventure..these are just my personal observations.
OK, where to begin...Well, after reading about the Kids free + 3 extra days deal, I decided it was time to try Universal. For $200 for all 4 of us for 5 days seemed like a no brainer, so I went for it.
We planned 2 whole days, one for each park...turns out, only 1/2 day was needed.
First of all the cost of parking is a joke! Maybe it's because I have never had to pay for parking @ Disney that this threw me off, but anyway, to pay $14 for "preferred" parking that still took over 10 mins. to reach the park is ridiculous. I still kept an open mind and made the trek. Got to the shops (I know it has a name, but don't know what it is) another 10 minutes walk to the parks. What I did notice with all this walking is the difference of patrons. Now, without trying to offend anyone, I am going to try to describe the guests as diplomatically as I can. Let's just say that I felt like I had walked into east LA. Many of the people were teenagers and 20-25. Many had foul mouths and were acting like gangsters. Using "street lingo" very loudly and offensively. I truly felt intimidated just with the type of visitors I was seeing.
After FINALLY getting into Islands of Adventure, I was surprised. I thought the theming and colors were very nice. I liked all the water features, but the rides were way spread out and WAY overloaded lines. We decided we HAD to go on Spiderman with our boys and ended up waiting well over an hour. The way the line spread out was very misleading and had I known how long the line was, I never would've ridden it. As it turns out, Spiderman was singlehandeldy the most expensive ride we've ever ridden, it cost $200 (it was the only ride we rode). The ride itself was great, but not worth the length of wait.
We headed over to Toon Lagoon and beyond and the kids were trying out the water features all the way there. Let's just say the kids there (and completely unattentive parents) were completely out of control, rude, dirty and unpleasant. I told my kids to stay out from now on. The shops had almost NO ONE in them which indicated to me the level of quality overall of the park and it's merchandise. Again, just my personal opinion, no flames please. Then I saw younger guests drinking alcohol. I think that reason may have been the one that pushed me over the edge. I firmly believe that alcohol should not be served at a theme park where children abound. I didn't see anyone drunk or acting badly, but I'm sure it's only because I didn't stay long enough.
Finally after walking and walking and walking and finding almost no rides that DS4 could ride, I was done. I wanted out, and I wanted out now! Honestly, I would have paid another $200 for someone to just get me out quicker, seriously.
Basically, Universal was DIRTY, overpriced, unbelievably long lines, served alcohol and attracted a crowd that I didn't feel comfortable being around. Again, just my .02, but if you're used to Disney Quality and have younger children, I would suggest skipping Universal and spending your money @ Disney.
OK, where to begin...Well, after reading about the Kids free + 3 extra days deal, I decided it was time to try Universal. For $200 for all 4 of us for 5 days seemed like a no brainer, so I went for it.
We planned 2 whole days, one for each park...turns out, only 1/2 day was needed.
First of all the cost of parking is a joke! Maybe it's because I have never had to pay for parking @ Disney that this threw me off, but anyway, to pay $14 for "preferred" parking that still took over 10 mins. to reach the park is ridiculous. I still kept an open mind and made the trek. Got to the shops (I know it has a name, but don't know what it is) another 10 minutes walk to the parks. What I did notice with all this walking is the difference of patrons. Now, without trying to offend anyone, I am going to try to describe the guests as diplomatically as I can. Let's just say that I felt like I had walked into east LA. Many of the people were teenagers and 20-25. Many had foul mouths and were acting like gangsters. Using "street lingo" very loudly and offensively. I truly felt intimidated just with the type of visitors I was seeing.
After FINALLY getting into Islands of Adventure, I was surprised. I thought the theming and colors were very nice. I liked all the water features, but the rides were way spread out and WAY overloaded lines. We decided we HAD to go on Spiderman with our boys and ended up waiting well over an hour. The way the line spread out was very misleading and had I known how long the line was, I never would've ridden it. As it turns out, Spiderman was singlehandeldy the most expensive ride we've ever ridden, it cost $200 (it was the only ride we rode). The ride itself was great, but not worth the length of wait.
We headed over to Toon Lagoon and beyond and the kids were trying out the water features all the way there. Let's just say the kids there (and completely unattentive parents) were completely out of control, rude, dirty and unpleasant. I told my kids to stay out from now on. The shops had almost NO ONE in them which indicated to me the level of quality overall of the park and it's merchandise. Again, just my personal opinion, no flames please. Then I saw younger guests drinking alcohol. I think that reason may have been the one that pushed me over the edge. I firmly believe that alcohol should not be served at a theme park where children abound. I didn't see anyone drunk or acting badly, but I'm sure it's only because I didn't stay long enough.
Finally after walking and walking and walking and finding almost no rides that DS4 could ride, I was done. I wanted out, and I wanted out now! Honestly, I would have paid another $200 for someone to just get me out quicker, seriously.
Basically, Universal was DIRTY, overpriced, unbelievably long lines, served alcohol and attracted a crowd that I didn't feel comfortable being around. Again, just my .02, but if you're used to Disney Quality and have younger children, I would suggest skipping Universal and spending your money @ Disney.