Should my family try Universal Studios?

Let me put it this way. We are a huge WDW loving family. Last year we bought AP's for UO and went for 8 days and absolutely loved it with no visit to WDW. We renewed our AP's and are going for another 8 days to UO staying at PBH. Our children are 10 and 7 and now vote for UO over WDW.

Express Pass crushes Fast Pass+ and no dinner reservations required make it a much more relaxed vacation.

We are paying less for PBH than POFQ and you can't even compare hotels.

We are very excited by the new water park so now even more to do.

All in all we still love WDW but now have found a new love in UO.
 
Those are great ages for universal in our family. I think it never hurts to try something new and even if you don't LOVE it, I think you'd still have a great vacation.

I would suggest going all in and staying onsite (preferably in one of the hotels that give you express pass- it's an unlimited fast pass for almost all the rides and it's not quite front of the line but pretty close), the resort pools are fantastic and onsite guests can pool hop so you can spend a day or afternoons enjoying that, I think the food is better than Disney and better priced (but that's subjective) and there are a lot of options. Finally transportation from hotel to parks and between parks is super easy with a 5 minute water taxi or 10-15 minute walk from hotel to park and a ride or super quick walk between park gates.

We were beyond shocked at how much we preferred universal over Disney our first time, and friends of all still prefer Disney but love universal for a break from the mouse trip.
Good to know...thanks!
 
My kids (boys) aged 11 and 8 love Universal and prefer it over Disney. They are thrill seekers through and hence why I think they prefer Universal.

The rides overall are indeed more intense, but no so much though that it's overbearing for people within that age group. If I had to compare some Disney rides to some at Universal rides in terms of intensity (amount of motion, drops, coasters etc.) I'd make the following "general" comparisons:

Minions, Spiderman, Transformers, Simpsons, Kong -> Star Tours
- I'd compare these rides in terms of level of motion/intensity. Much of the action happens in front of screens with the ride vehicle moving along with the action. But with Transformers, Spiderman, and Kong your ride vehicle also moves through physical environments that blend in with the screens.

Dudley Do Right, Jurassic River Adventure -> Splash Mountain
- Dudley's I'd say is near identical in Style to Splash Mount. Jurassic River adventure is quite different, but the drop is similar to Splash mountain. My 8 year old got a bit scared in the second portion of Jurassic (kind like the live action stuff in Dinosaur at Animal Kingdom)

The Mummy -> Mash-up of Space Mountain and Dinosaur
- Best Comparison I could think of. The level of darkness/speed is comparable to Space Mountain, with lots of live action stuff like in Dinosaur, but definitely scarier. My 8 year old went on once and got a bit too scared to do it again.

MIB -> Buzz Lightyear
- Similar rides. Riding in pods shooting at stuff.

ET -> Peter Pan
- Very similar in nature

Popeye's -> Kali River rapids
- Very similar in nature

Forbidden Journey -> Maybe Flight of Passage?
- The "flying" parts of forbidden Journey look similar in intensity to the videos I've watched of Flight of passage, but that is only part of Forbidden Journey. There are many areas that take you through animatronic sets and the ride vehicle pitches and swings quite intensely during those parts. Both my kids absolutely love this ride though.

Gringotts -> Mix of Dinosaur and Star Tours
- Best comparison I can think of in intensity comparison. Your on a relatively low intensity coaster track going though areas with practical sets, but also blending in 3D motion sim areas.

Then that leaves the big coasters:
Hulk, Dragon Challenge, Rip Ride Rockit. These are by far more intense than anything Disney has and I'd compare them more to coasters you'd see at a Six Flags. Maybe I might compare (in terms of intensity) Rip Ride to say Rockin' Roller Coaster at Hollywood studios, but Rip Ride has the more intense 90 degree initial hill climb and drop.

But overall, we just absolutely love Universal for not just the ride attractions, but so many other reasons too such as:
- More relaxed park outing, nowhere near the level of planning as required by Disney (FP+, strict touring plans when busy, ADRs)
- Close proximity of parks. They are literally next to each other so you can walk back and forth making Park to Park option useful rather than spending a lot of time travelling between parks
- On site resorts are minutes away via Water Taxi/Shuttle bus
Thanks for all of the details about rides. We love the rides you were using as Disney comparisons, so I think they will love some of the attractions Universal has to offer!
 


Fully agree. If you're going during a slower time period Cabana Bay is a great place to stay. Priced the same as a Disney "value" resort but higher scale (IMO) than Disney's value properties. Plus not mentioned above you still get the advantage of early entry, as well as there's a bowling alley in the resort plus a Starbucks!

My kids loved this place.
We would most likely be going in the summer. In the summer which resort would you choose?
 


We love Disney and tried Universal last December and love it too. Now we usually do a split stay. As previously mentioned Hard Rock and Portofino are awesome and have great pool areas and the Express pass can't be beat. CityWalk is a great place to eat and walk around. I was worried when everyone said you don't have to plan much but have found that to be the most relaxing part of going to Universal now :-)
 
Do or Do not, there is no try..

Seriously, I always do both so as not to waste the airfare. I love both parks.
 
I have a 7 year old girl.

She loves Universal. We live in Scandinavia, so it's quite a trek for us to Florida. Last year when deciding if we should visit Universal or Disney she chose Universal because of Harry Potter. She is a HUGE fan, and us - the parents - have become a little bit infected. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is awesome. The Hogwarts express is one of the sweetest rides in the parks.

Anyways, we bought a two week pass from Undercover tourist last September and LOVED the parks. In February we had to have our fix again, so we went to Los Angeles and visited Universal there. And now again this September doing the Two week 3 park explorer tickets.

What we like about Universal:

1. Relaxed vacation, no planning needed really.

2. Travel is easy, everything is pretty quick.

3. The size is manageable, staying for longer takes all pressure off.

4. Universal just rocks. It's such a fun experience for the family to enjoy.
 
Universal is a great add-on to a Disney trip, but for us, it's no replacement. I definitely don't think we could spend a whole week there. We went for the first time in 2015 for 3 nights (kids were 13 & 11), and we had great fun. We are going back next year at the kid's request and staying another three nights before we move over to WDW. Last time we stayed at RPR which is a beautiful resort, but we have HRH booked for next year to try something different.
 
Universal is a great add-on to a Disney trip, but for us, it's no replacement. I definitely don't think we could spend a whole week there. We went for the first time in 2015 for 3 nights (kids were 13 & 11), and we had great fun. We are going back next year at the kid's request and staying another three nights before we move over to WDW. Last time we stayed at RPR which is a beautiful resort, but we have HRH booked for next year to try something different.

Yep, it's not for everyone to spend all their time at Universal.......lots of folks don't understand how we can stay 18 nights, well, 19 this year and not get bored. Especially as the other question folks ask is how come you don't do Disney and Seaworld coming all the way from the UK.........

We all do what suits us best.........we spend a lot of time around about and not just in the parks.....HHN of course is a big attraction :D........we just don't feel the need or desire to go anywhere else........

But I'm always glad to see folks come over to Universal and enjoy it.......would always tell someone to of course give it a try..........
 
Yep, it's not for everyone to spend all their time at Universal.......lots of folks don't understand how we can stay 18 nights, well, 19 this year and not get bored. Especially as the other question folks ask is how come you don't do Disney and Seaworld coming all the way from the UK.........

We all do what suits us best.........we spend a lot of time around about and not just in the parks.....HHN of course is a big attraction :D........we just don't feel the need or desire to go anywhere else........

But I'm always glad to see folks come over to Universal and enjoy it.......would always tell someone to of course give it a try..........

@schumigirl Yes…I have read your trip reports which are awesome (and the OP should definitely read, btw…), and you always have a car and travel off-site for shopping, dinners, etc. Plus you have the massive pass for HHN which is different every year. I don't judge or question how other people choose to spend their vacation time because I don't like when others judge me, ie., "You're going to Disney AGAIN?!" Everyone should do what makes them happy :love:

And like I said, we are heading back to UO next year because we really do enjoy it there :goodvibes
 
@schumigirl Yes…I have read your trip reports which are awesome (and the OP should definitely read, btw…), and you always have a car and travel off-site for shopping, dinners, etc. Plus you have the massive pass for HHN which is different every year. I don't judge or question how other people choose to spend their vacation time because I don't like when others judge me, ie., "You're going to Disney AGAIN?!" Everyone should do what makes them happy :love:

And like I said, we are heading back to UO next year because we really do enjoy it there :goodvibes

Yep, we get that every year......you're going back AGAIN........lol........

I don't understand why folks feel the need to comment.......I always enjoy reading comments from posters like you who have such a positive attitude to both parks.........

I'm all about being happy too........:D
 
How does the dining plan work at Universal? Is it similar to Disney's dining plan? Would it be worth purchasing?
 
How does the dining plan work at Universal? Is it similar to Disney's dining plan? Would it be worth purchasing?
For us it wouldn't be worth it. I get that people like to prepay for stuff but just buy some gift cards if you want to feel like the $ was already spent. You can use it on souvenirs too then.
If you get to checkout with your first meal, you can ask the cashier if the dining plan makes sense for how you eat and you can buy the plan on the spot. No need to decide ahead. And FYI- reservations aren't really a big deal. If you have an ideal time and place, contact them or book online a week or 2 ahead (or the day before :)). It's not like Disney. :)
 
For us it wouldn't be worth it. I get that people like to prepay for stuff but just buy some gift cards if you want to feel like the $ was already spent. You can use it on souvenirs too then.
If you get to checkout with your first meal, you can ask the cashier if the dining plan makes sense for how you eat and you can buy the plan on the spot. No need to decide ahead. And FYI- reservations aren't really a big deal. If you have an ideal time and place, contact them or book online a week or 2 ahead (or the day before :)). It's not like Disney. :)
That is really nice!
 
We would most likely be going in the summer. In the summer which resort would you choose?
It depends on what you mean by "summer." If you mean mid-June through early-mid August, then stay at one of the three that include express pass. We have stayed at Royal Pacific many times and love it. It is often the cheapest of the three that have express. We have stayed at Portofino as well and really enjoyed it. The extra space was nice too as their rooms are bigger - but I didn't understand why it is often so much more than Royal Pacific when we look it up.

If you aren't going during those times, then it depends how far off of those if you need express. August 8 - you want express. August 25 - you don't need express. The three hotels that include express are all really nice though. So, if it's in your budget, you can't go wrong with those three even if you don't technically need express. If you're going at a time when it isn't needed and you're having to save more, then Cabana Bay is a great option. They were a noticeable step down from the other hotels but a great value for the money and the pools were enjoyed quite a bit by my crew. (We normally have 3 kids but had 5 kids on that trip).
 
It depends on what you mean by "summer." If you mean mid-June through early-mid August, then stay at one of the three that include express pass. We have stayed at Royal Pacific many times and love it. It is often the cheapest of the three that have express. We have stayed at Portofino as well and really enjoyed it. The extra space was nice too as their rooms are bigger - but I didn't understand why it is often so much more than Royal Pacific when we look it up.

If you aren't going during those times, then it depends how far off of those if you need express. August 8 - you want express. August 25 - you don't need express. The three hotels that include express are all really nice though. So, if it's in your budget, you can't go wrong with those three even if you don't technically need express. If you're going at a time when it isn't needed and you're having to save more, then Cabana Bay is a great option. They were a noticeable step down from the other hotels but a great value for the money and the pools were enjoyed quite a bit by my crew. (We normally have 3 kids but had 5 kids on that trip).

We would be traveling in June or July. I am a teacher, so school starts mid-August for me.
 
How does the dining plan work at Universal? Is it similar to Disney's dining plan? Would it be worth purchasing?

I got the dining plan for my upcoming trip and after looking at the fact that most CityWalk restaurants don't accept it, neither do the hotels, I am thinking of getting the money refunded to a gift card and using that instead.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top