Would you rather spend a day at Disney's Hollywood Studios, or Universal Studios?

[TubaGeek]

And some things at Disney are much better.

I think people are always grasping at straws to prove one is better than the other. The numbers shows the choice is pretty clear, but that doesn't mean Universal is substandard.

For me, it's simply a smaller, less kid/family oriented experience at Universal.

I'd rather spend a day at DHS even if the only thing they had was Fantasmic and Tower of Terror. That's how much I love Tower of Terror.

I've been roasted for this, but I'll say it again. It's all about content. Disney's content wins every time. Transformers, The Simpsons, *Gasp* Harry Potter, and The Mummy are just rides with boring content to me. Do others have a different opinion? Sure, but it's not even a contest for me.

DHS needs work and is getting it in the next 3 years, so I think the situation for Disney will be that much stronger in 2017 and beyond.

Please, define "content".

 

[Chef Mickey]

Please, define "content".

Movies rides are based upon, concepts, characters, themes, etc.

 

[Frankie The Beer]

DHS for me this time of year. The Osborne Lights by themselves blow away anything at UO, but I have special reasons behind that.

 

[scottnj1966]

Well after 8 years of not visiting Universal we broke down and checked it out again after all the Harry Potter lands were built. I have to say both parks have changed considerably. I enjoyed it. As everyone knows I am a huge WDW fan but its time to kick it into gear to catch up. Disney Studio's has been in a very sad stack. I was really hoping for Cars and Star Wars announcements.

 

[gustaftp]

I thought I would resurrect this thread after visiting Universal Orlando for the first time today.

My thoughts are:

Universal Hollywood > DHS > Universal Orlando

USH has the whole REAL movie studio thing going for it. The backlot tour and stunt shows were the highlights of my day at USH. In fact, the fact that it is a real movie studio is why it tops my chart.

DHS seemed to have much stronger theming and immersiveness than USO did. There are parts of USO that are not themed at all (I'm looking at you, "World Expo") or feature jarring theming (the exterior of Transformers doesn't blend into neither the NYC area nor the San Francisco area. Yet other parts - New York and Diagon Alley definitely give Disney a run for their money. USO is WAY TOO heavy on the 3D / motion simulator rides. I found myself craving a dark ride with immersive sets. And while Gringotts and MIB were amazing, the only ride that seemed to have truly have that spirit was ET. And gosh, that Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit rollercoaster, well, I didn't enjoy it at all, and it also weakens the New York theming.

Despite the weakness of Hollywood Studios in its current state, I think that in the broader context of what it was and where it is going, it has a much stronger overall theme with a broader array of attraction types.

 

[Kitchandro]

After the embarrassing removal of several great rides and the annoying retheming of much of it to cater for Harry Potter (ONE film franchise), for years I would have said Universal Studios has lost a lot of its magic.

But the huge own goal of Disney’s Hollywood Studios removing The Great Movie Ride and The Studio Backlot Tour has made it a much more even playing field.

Still, the best attraction at either park is the Tower of Terror, and with Indiana Jones and Rock ‘n Rollercoaster not far behind, Disney tips the balance in terms of rides, with only Revenge of The Mummy really rivalling them.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Universal, hands down, especially now! I really enjoy Uni. They have been creative and the entire atmosphere has changed even though it wasn't all that bad to begin with, it is much better then Disney at this moment. The only draw that I have right now to DHS is more curiosity then excitement. I think TSL will be interesting as will STL, but, I am not a fan of either franchise so, more just to see what they have done with it. GMR was a great ride in it's day, but, it's day had long since gone by. I will miss it to a degree, but, it was time to retire it for something new. How they do it will make all the difference.

 

[Kitchandro]

I thought I would resurrect this thread after visiting Universal Orlando for the first time today.

My thoughts are:

Universal Hollywood > DHS > Universal Orlando

USH has the whole REAL movie studio thing going for it. The backlot tour and stunt shows were the highlights of my day at USH. In fact, the fact that it is a real movie studio is why it tops my chart.

DHS seemed to have much stronger theming and immersiveness than USO did. There are parts of USH that are not themed at all (I'm looking at you, "World Expo") or feature jarring theming (the exterior of Transformers doesn't blend into neither the NYC area nor the San Francisco area. Yet other parts - New York and Diagon Alley definitely give Disney a run for their money. USO is WAY TOO heavy on the 3D / motion simulator rides. I found myself craving a dark ride with immersive sets. And while Gringotts and MIB were amazing, the only ride that seemed to have truly have that spirit was ET. And gosh, that Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit rollercoaster, well, I didn't enjoy it at all, and it also weakens the New York theming.

Despite the weakness of Hollywood Studios in its current state, I think that in the broader context of what it was and where it is going, it has a much stronger overall theme with a broader array of attraction types.

Yep, I agree with a lot of this. Theming is the most important thing with great parks.

Both Orlando studios parks had incredibly good theming originally, which has become shockingly haphazard in recent years.

I think a lot of the modern imagineers and executives have a lot to learn about this, as their failure in this department is prevalent across all the parks. Look at how Tomorrowland and Epcot have regressed in this department, Toy Story land and Pandora don’t fit at all, and the obsession with Marvel and Harry Potter has gone too far at Universal too.

They are obviously incredibly creative with whatever theme they settle on, but they don’t seem to understand the importance of this theme fitting with the the park as a whole.

 

[cheezbat]

I currently rank both Florida Studios parks at the bottom of my park lists, especially since DHS is such a joke with three super stale shows, clogged dead-end paths, and only FOUR rides...and Uni with its screen fatigue...gutting some of my all time favorite attractions (T-2, Jaws, and Twister).

That being said, I think I'd still take Uni Florida over DHS just because it still has a stronger lineup to me: Mummy, MIB, ET, Transformers, and Diagon.
I LOVE Tower of Terror, but the only things I really go to DHS for now is Tower, Indy Stunt Show, and One Man's Dream. (The occasional ride on RNRC too of course) talk to me in five years and hopefully both parks are in far better shape.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

There are parts of USH that are not themed at all (I'm looking at you, "World Expo")

I love the theme and execution of World Expo! One of the prettiest areas of USF!

Sadly, half of Expo has been turned into Simpsons land, reducing the effect, apparantly to the point where the visitor is now left unaware that there is a magnificent theme to this area.

I found myself craving a dark ride with immersive sets.

Yes! Yes to this for both parks. USF is just Screenz.

DHS for its part committed suicide by destroying the rides that took you places, especially the GMR. The park now feels flat, empty, the visitor leaves unfulfilled.

 

[NickMaio]

Wow..... I cant believe how close the votes are.....oh ya its a WDW forum.

But seriously....all love for Dis aside. Uni has SOOOO much more to do.....even with the two expansions.

 

[Jeff456]

When the poll was started the parks were significantly closer DHS still had the great movie ride lights motors action, backlot tour etc. Clearly now US with Potter is the far superior park.
With star wars land and toy story it might be different!

 

[DisneyAndUniversalFan]

Right now currently, definitely USF. HS has 4 RIDES and a bunch of once and done shows. Uni just has much more to do right now. Tower Of Terror is actually the best ride of both parks but the lineup is much better at Universal. Mummy, Gringotts, MIB, Simpsons, ET, and Transformers. So right now it's Universal Studios Florida.

 

[Cheekylittlerobot]

I know I'll get roasted for this but...
NEITHER. Mostly because both of them consist of 95% of franchises that I strongly dislike, don't care about, or just don't know anything about and don't look interesting. No offense to anyone who likes them, they're just not my thing. Don't even get me started on the minions...

(The 5% I do like is the Muppets and frozen lemonade at HS. Never been to UNI, but I've read about it and modern UNI sounds uninteresting to me.)

 

[ColinP29]

Expecting unbiased opinions about Universal on a Disneyworld forum is a long shot.

Asking people not on the forum would push it in favour of Universal a lot more

 

[FettFan]

Back in 2014 when this poll first hit, I said DHS.


But now? Let's look at the fruits of DHS's labors....
1. Magic of Disney Animation closed in favor of Star Wars Launch Bay.
2. Because Launch Bay is a thing, they scrapped Star Wars Weekends.
3. Scrapped Great Movie Ride in favor of "Ren & Mickey". (I'm blaming Launch Bay for this, as common freaking sense would dictate that an animated Mickey attraction be housed in the former Animation studio)
4. "Toy Story Land" = Moved the entrance to Midway Mania, built a rinkydink roller coaster that will no doubt be crazy uncomfortable for anyone over 6' tall to ride, and a glorified carnival ride of flying saucers.


So yeah....four years later, and I'm definitely Team Universal. In fact, I would say that DHS is edging out Animal Kingdom as the worst of the four parks.

 

[TheDuke]

Well, I'm not a DHS fan at all, but I still might barely prefer it. There obviously a lot more to do at Universal, but nothing there comes close to ToT or RnRC. Still love Hollywood Blvd.(my favorite into area for any of the parks, even more than Main street) and Sunset Blvd. too even if the rest of the park's theming is a mess.

 

[Librartist]

Universal because Disney's Hollywood studios doesnt really exist any more. They tore down all of the sets & studios in order to make way for Star Trek in 2019. Universal has Harry Potter and the Kong ride is amazing.

 

[higgipoker]

Tough call but Fantasmic and the Star Wars fireworks just push Hollywood into the lead for me.

Otherwise both parks have a handful of attractions I really enjoy.

 

[TheDuke]

Tough call but Fantasmic and the Star Wars fireworks just push Hollywood into the lead for me.

Otherwise both parks have a handful of attractions I really enjoy.

Fantasmic is another reason to prefer HS.