Hollywood Studios vs Islands of Adventure

[Walt Disney1955]

It isn't even close. This is Islands all of the way. Magic Kingdom beats Islands. Maybe, maybe Epcot in my mind. Then of course Disneyland out west. But it is at worst the 4th best park I have ever been to, maybe even 3rd. It is themed well, the rides are awesome, the atmosphere is epic and it is a rare case where it is nearly universally accepted as the better park of its original (although I had a relative who did both for the first time and he said he couldn't decide between Universal and Islands).

 

[crawale]

I will vote when I get back in November. I have never been to IOA or any Universal Orlando park but after reading this I am really looking forward to it!

If you stay in one of Universal's premier hotels - all extremely nice and cheaper than Disney's higher end hotels - you will be able to just walk onto the rides. No limit, no extra cost which makes Universal a great value.

 

[No Name]

The correct answer is Islands of Adventure.

 

[S.I.R. the Robot]

IoA has Neil Ross doing one of his most badass voices ever (Doctor Doom.) So that.

 

[Piebald]

I love IOA but HS has some magic once the sun sets that IOA doesn't. Especially with GE and TSL rounding out the park (years ago the back of the park was very depressing and shut down in the evening)

It's very close, and Hagrids and Velocicoaster are awesome (better than Guardians and Tron) but for nostalgia sake I go with DHS. But this is a tough poll.

 

[sonoma15]

I love IOA but HS has some magic once the sun sets that IOA doesn't. Especially with GE and TSL rounding out the park (years ago the back of the park was very depressing and shut down in the evening)

It's very close, and Hagrids and Velocicoaster are awesome (better than Guardians and Tron) but for nostalgia sake I go with DHS. But this is a tough poll.

Idk, IOA has some pretty beautiful views at night.

 

[SplashJacket]

It’s not even close for me.

Islands arguably is the best park in Orlando, and Hollywood Studios only beats out Universal Studios and SeaWorld.

Since Epcot’s updates started opening up, I might give it the edge, but regardless, Islands is elite. Hollywood is deeply flawed outside of Sunset Blvd and Galaxy’s Edge. Muppets, Mania, Star Tours, etc are great, but far from a fully-fledged world-class theme park.

Hagrids and VelociCoaster are incredible, Islands has the better HP attraction, the water line-up is best in the world, Spider-Man is world-class. All-around elite attraction.

Right now, I really only have a burning edge to visit Islands and Epcot.

 

[Rush]

Shouldn't even be a comparison. Islands of Adventure is a legitimate contender for the best Orlando park. The line up of rides it has is incredible, but above all, it has soul and a unique charm to it.

 

[S.I.R. the Robot]

And Doctor Doom's voice.

 

[TomboyJanet]

Well Clearly IOA, BUT............I'd like to say that DHS was Disney's first actiony park. Like It was very Universal feeling back in the day with a looping coaster, studio tour, and a ride the movies ride. The Tower of terror is definitely better than Fear Fall in every way possible. The thing is the park was smaller and not as fleshed out. Had it been as big as IOA in the 90s It probably would be the better park, based on theming and immersion. It would be cool if they had a second coaster in the 90s that was better than Slinky dash, and the park is totally lacking a water based floating boat ride thingie. A big drop boat ride could really help the park. Epcot's got Mael.....frozen, MK's got Spla....Tiana and pirates, and AK's got Kali, and each also have non dropping boat rides, such as Fiesta, Land, Navi, Small World, and Jungle. I'm shocked the Studios never got one.

 

[S.I.R. the Robot]

The Tower of terror is definitely better than Fear Fall in every way possible.

 

[BlakeW39]

Except Doctor Doom. That we can agree on.

 

[Touchdown]

Roller Coasters:
Not even close RnRC and Slinky are fine, but Veliciocoaster, Hagrids and Hulk are elite coasters
+1 IOA

Water Rides:
DHS says what’s that?
+1 IOA

Dark Rides/Simluators:
Alright here it gets interesting both have some of the best rides in exhistance. I love Rise, but if you would ask me to pick between DHS (Rise, Mickey, Mania, Star Tours, MF) and IOA (Spider-man, FJ, Kong, Cat in the Hat) I’m going to lean towards IOA, I could ride Rise and Spidy all day they are amazing, FJ, Kong, Mickey and Mania are a half step behind but worth multiple rides, and the rest are take it or leave it, but I end up deriding the IOA rides more on visits
+1 IOA

Drop Ride:
ToT is my favorite drop ride anywhere, FoF is a small S&S space shot.
+1 DHS

Shows:
Neither particularly stands out as must do for me but DHS has way more so
+1 DHS

Food:
Mythos and Butterbear
+1 IOA

Night Show
The Lights of Hogwarts are great and I love how often they happen but Fantasmic is epic
+1 DHS

IOA wins

 

[BlakeW39]

Roller Coasters:
Not even close RnRC and Slinky are fine, but Veliciocoaster, Hagrids and Hulk are elite coasters
+1 IOA

Water Rides:
DHS says what’s that?
+1 IOA

Dark Rides/Simluators:
Alright here it gets interesting both have some of the best rides in exhistance. I love Rise, but if you would ask me to pick between DHS (Rise, Mickey, Mania, Star Tours, MF) and IOA (Spider-man, FJ, Kong, Cat in the Hat) I’m going to lean towards IOA, I could ride Rise and Spidy all day they are amazing, FJ, Kong, Mickey and Mania are a half step behind but worth multiple rides, and the rest are take it or leave it, but I end up deriding the IOA rides more on visits
+1 IOA

Drop Ride:
ToT is my favorite drop ride anywhere, FoF is a small S&S space shot.
+1 DHS

Shows:
Neither particularly stands out as must do for me but DHS has way more so
+1 DHS

Food:
Mythos and Butterbear
+1 IOA

Night Show
The Lights of Hogwarts are great and I love how often they happen but Fantasmic is epic
+1 DHS

IOA wins

Much as I think IoA is the superior park, I have to respectfully disagree on the issue of concessions. Food at Universal is awful, most of it is truly inedible, I'd-rather-starve type stuff. Mythos is good, and I love Butterbeer but food is the one area I feel that Disney pretty much always outclasses Universal.

 

[Touchdown]

Much as I think IoA is the superior park, I have to respectfully disagree on the issue of concessions. Food at Universal is awful, most of it is truly inedible, I'd-rather-starve type stuff. Mythos is good, and I love Butterbeer but food is the one area I feel that Disney pretty much always outclasses Universal.

At Epcot and AK? Absolutely, but we’re talking about DHS, the park with the worst food.

 

[BlakeW39]

At Epcot and AK? Absolutely, but we’re talking about DHS, the park with the worst food.

Yeah but even DHS has edible food. IoA food in most cases is so bad, I literally won't eat it. I had a churro last time I was there and even it managed to be disgusting.

 

[UNCgolf]

Yeah but even DHS has edible food. IoA food in most cases is so bad, I literally won't eat it. I had a churro last time I was there and even it managed to be disgusting.

I had a burger at Universal that I had to throw away. It's almost amazing to be able to make a burger inedible when there's a massive, highly successful industry that revolves around mass producing burgers as quickly and cheaply as possible.

 

[Jrb1979]

Yeah but even DHS has edible food. IoA food in most cases is so bad, I literally won't eat it. I had a churro last time I was there and even it managed to be disgusting.

It's why I don't eat in either Universal park. Having City Walk right there is very convenient. Much better options.

 

[BlakeW39]

It's why I don't eat in either Universal park. Having City Walk right there is very convenient. Much better options.

I eat at Confisco and Potter pretty often. Those are the best options inside the park barring Mythos, which due to requiring reservations ahead of time is a bit inconvienient for me.

 

[UNCgolf]

I eat at Confisco and Potter pretty often. Those are the best options inside the park barring Mythos, which due to requiring reservations ahead of time is a bit inconvienient for me.

We had a horrendous meal at Confisco -- the place was almost empty and yet the service was abysmal, and then the food itself was lukewarm as though they'd cooked it then forgot to actually bring it to us. It also wasn't good in general; actually being hot would have been nice but would not have made a huge difference. We waited for like 20 minutes before anyone took our order, then we waited forever for the food, then we waited another 20+ minutes for anyone to come and let us actually pay. That final wait was long enough that I actually considered just getting up and leaving without paying because we were wasting so much time.

You're not the first person I've heard say it's pretty good, but our experience was so bad that I'll never go back. Next time I'm there I'd just walk out to CityWalk to eat instead (which has several good options).