First Trip to Universal (WDW Comparison)

[coachb]

We take trips almost yearly to the World, but have never made it over to Universal. We went last week for my daughters 16th birthday.

Here are my thoughts. Would love to hear yours…

Universal Wins in…
1) Ease of Getting In/Out of Parks
One of my least favorite things about WDW is the effort it dimly takes to get in and out of the gate.

We literally never waited even a minute to board a bus. Security - same story. Never waited a second. Scanning tickets - Waited for about five minutes to get through once. Every other time, no wait there either.

2) Wizardly World of Harry Potter
Beat theme area I’ve ever experienced. Amazing!

Universal Loses…
1) Paint and General Upkeep
2) Employee Friendliness and professionalism
3) Every land with the exception of Potter and maybe Jurassic World
4) Hotel cleanliness/paint

 

[CynBeth]

We stayed 2 nights on Universal property for the first time before Disney around Thanksgiving and loved it! We were at Portofino and thought it was lovely. We had park to park tickets and the express pass because of staying at that level hotel and enjoyed just going with the flow not having to book dining in advance and being on our phones all of the time. We either took the boat or walked. We found the employees we encountered absolutely wonderful. We are not roller coaster people but loved the motion simulator rides and shows we got to see. The closing cinematic evening show on the water and the projections on Hogwarts Castle at night were amazing and enjoyed the holiday parade as well. I have family members with food allergies and were able to accommodate at the hotel restaurant for breakfast and the CS or TS at the parks we had lunches and dinners.

 

[monorail81]

Universal Loses…
1) Paint and General Upkeep
2) Employee Friendliness and professionalism
3) Every land with the exception of Potter and maybe Jurassic World
4) Hotel cleanliness/paint

just curious which hotel you stayed in.

 

[ELG13]

I always find it so bizarre that WDW website/apps etc are so glitchy and unreliable at times. This gigantic machine of a company just can't see to get their IT worked out. I say that in response to ticket scanning. It's so cumbersome at WDW. We are AP holders so now it's easier but we are about to go on a trip with my stepdaughter, her BF and we are also brining my neice. Coordinating that has been so ridiculous, and I'm a Travel Agent lol. They definitely bdont make it easy to travel In a group. And managing all the MDE stuff between them all is crazy.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

The one thing that pleases me about it...No reservations to get into the parks..This also includes Sea World..That's my only avoidance now as the chances to get into a Disney park will be slim depending on the time your there.

 

[SSH]

2) Employee Friendliness and professionalism

We go to UO often: I find UO team members extraordinarily friendly. So are WDW's for the most part, although we had a couple of surprisingly sullen, even angry responses to what I felt were fairly polite, reasonable questions during our last WDW trip. (The poor CMs were likely recovering from bad guest experiences before we approached them, so didn't take it personally.)

I realize above is anecdotal: so not discounting your experience at all. Especially now that UO has reinstituted masks this past week. Playing mask police adds 1000% more stress for team members, which inevitably tests their patience and demeanor.

 

[JIMINYCR]

On our last trip DS and I went to both WDW and Uni and had stayed at Sapphire Falls in Uni. It had been years since I had visited Uni...DS had visited Uni last year with a friend.
Ive always enjoyed Uni for their different action based attractions. They arent afraid to give guests the thrills we are looking for and dont cave to the... Oh my child got traumatized because I wasnt choosing appropriate rides crowd. I was very impressed by the HP areas and rides, all the shops and theming. And I'm not a HP fan. The shows were very entertaining, I kind of give Uni a better nod for those in comparison to WDW. Entering the Uni parks were faster, the employees at both were helpful and gracious, which didnt surprise me because many Dis CM's also work Uni. But there was a lack of magic that only WDW brings. The resort was fabulous and comfortable, even though it lacked the Disney touch I enjoy.
Overall a Uni visit is worthwhile. I'd never just do a Uni visit but in combination with a WDW trip. Both parks give a guest something different to enjoy on a vacation. I wouldnt pass Uni up.