Help Me Decide If We Should Plan Side Trip To Universal

[Jasper Dale]

Thanks to WDW Magic, the 5 days we spent at WDW 2 weeks ago was our best vacation ever. We did so much more than I thought would be possible.

Here's my situation, and I'm hoping all you WDW Magic friends can help me again.

A few days after we returned from our last trip, I was thrilled to receive a check for a thousand dollars from a company that had owed me money for years, which I had totally written off ever getting.

We are both so "high" from our recent WDW trip that we decided to use the thousand bucks to pay for the "stay 4, get 3 nights free" special Disney is offering at the resorts. (Feb 18th to the 25th) Plus, we have a credit with Southwest for the air fare, so, presto............free trip!

The down side is that we are of limited financial means, but we manged to dine quite well at WDW our last trip without spending a fortune and plan to do the same this time.

Here's my question.

We have never gone to Universal. We have never rented a car on our previous trips to WDW and never left the property while in Orlando. Since we only have about $500 dollars "fun money" to spend not including food, taking a side trip to Univeral would take a huge chunk out of our cash.

Would it be worth the money to go? Since we really are not interested in the Isle of Adventure Park, it would only be for the Unversal park. Would it be possible for us to see the entire park in one day?

Are the attractions at Universal unique enough to justify paying for 2 one day tickets?

One of the reasons my wife and I love WDW so much, is that when we get to stay at the park for 7 or 8 days at a time, we can relax and have so much fun exploring areas of WDW that we never have time for on shorter visits.

I'm trying to figure out if a trip to Universal is worth the hassle of leaving WDW property, let alone the time i will spend planning how we will tour the park, as I know nothing about the Universal property and I know I would need to do a lot of r
Every time we go to Orlando, we go directly to WDW and never stray off property, so this would be a first for us. It would be really helpful if I could get some advice from as many WDW Magic members as possible. This forum has helped me so much in the past. Thanks for helping!
esearch to be able to "do" the park in a day.

Sorry for such a long question, but I need to know if we should venture outside the World for the first time or not?


:wave:

 

[mickeymaniacs]

WE went to Universal Studios on our last trip and we LOVED IT! WE went on the Sunday after T-Day and we didn't have alot of a wait on any rides. And for the record Shrek isn't like Mickey's Philharmagic it has a whole different spin because of the moving seats and different things that go on. The pre show is hillarious! We loved Jimmy Neutron and the Jaws ride was cool. ET is alot better than most people would give it credit for,and it has a really cool little surprise at the end. MIB is neat but I didn't like it because of the intense spinning in spots but the kids loved it. All in all it was a great experience and we plan on going back again and doing both parks. WE went to WDW and had a blast but Universal was great to see.

 

[Maerj]

If you do go to Universal, you can arrange for Mears to pick you up from your Disney resort in a bus and they will take you to Universal for around $7 round trip. I did this two years ago, just make sure that you call ahead.

Universal def has some fun things and is probably the most Disney-like theme park outside of Disney. As others have said, if you're not big on the thrill rides you will probably like Universal Studios more than IoA, so if you only do one day there, I 'd just do that park. IoA has some great stuff as well.

I would say that I really, really like Universal parks, but I love Disney, if you know what I mean. All the Orlando theme parks have something great to offer, so whatever you choose have fun! :wave:

 

[mro415]

if you call mears bus system they will come and pick you up from any disney resort for about 10 dollars a person.

I would go to universal for two days so you can do islands of adventure and regular universal. If you are going to do a one day i recommend buying a fast pass for the day so you can get on everything in both parks and see everything they also have a meal plan that you can add onto that where you can eat all day for one price. and yes.. u can really eat all day over and over.

 

[MichWolv]

There is no doubt in my mind that both Universal parks are great parks. This will be blasphemous to some, but I find Universal's attractions to be every bit as good as Disney's. Disney wins for atmosphere, efficiency of operations, and friendliness of cast members, but the attractions themselves are a dead heat.

As for whether there is anything different enough about Universal compared to Disney, that's an unqualfied yes.

The big question, though, is the limited money. Is it worth the $200 to you to see more parks and try different attractions, as opposed to going back to Disney parks a couple more days and reriding your favorites? I go to WDW, on average, once a year, but only hit Universal about one of every three trips. It isn't a lack of money, but merely a determination that I'd rather add a day at WDW for around $7, vs. $200 (three of us) at Universal. Were I in your shoes, I'd probably opt to use the money for something else.

 

[WDW 3]

Sounds like you will spend half your fun money for a one day trip to Universal. We did Universal and IOA in one day last October. It was fun, but it sounds like you can extend your vacation a few extra days by not doing it. As a previous poster said, it'll be there when you go back!

 

[Kwit35]

IOA is a very fun park, however, I would never chose Universal over Disney. If I had 10 days I would still spend every second at Disney. That is my opinion and Disney is my personal preference.