DisneyJade
Two decades on the DIS, lurking and learning
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2002
Just back from a week-long WDW/Universal split stay. Here are the highlights, in a nutshell.
Magic Bands:
Loved! So easy and convenient. After using MBs to open room, enter parks, make purchases, and swipe our way into FP lines... it felt like a real chore to switch over to Universal and have to keep track of a room key, a park ticket, an express pass, and a discount card (not to mention cash and credit cards). I kept checking my pockets and purse at Uni, worried I'd lost one of the above.
Fast Pass +:
See my separate "just back" specifically on FP+, from planning to parks, here.
Animal Kingdom Lodge:
Magic! We booked a standard-view room, because we just couldn't afford an extra $1,000 for a room with an Arusha Savannah view. Well, when we checked in (on my Birthday!), we met a lovely gentleman who informed us we WOULD, in fact, be staying in an Arusha Savannah room, and Happy Birthday to Me!
Apparently, AKL hand picks one family a day to be the "Safari Family." This is always a family with a standard view booked (and perhaps celebrating a special occasion) who gets upgraded to the best view in the place. The gentleman at check in (I think his name was Joseph) told us he was the one who picked us, so we got to thank him profusely. I may have started crying.
Then they took our photo in the lobby holding a banner and delivered it to our room later in the week. Such an awesome way to start the week and a total DISNEY touch to do something special like that.
Crowds:
Wow, have crowds increased in the 4 years since I last visited. My hubby and I were there last week, from Jan 5-Jan 8 (a low crowd time nestled between the madness of New Year's week and Marathon weekend). And yet the crowds were MUCH larger than I experienced on my October, 2010 trip. Magic Kingdom was especially dense with people. We had more than one gridlock situation where we could not move in any direction.
I'm hoping Star Wars at DHS and Avatar at AK will pull crowds toward the other parks. And maybe it's finally time for that 5th gate??
Transportation:
Magical Express was great. Used their luggage handling for the first time, and loved the convenience of it. Would definitely use again.
Buses were hit or miss. One morning we waited 45 minutes for a bus to Epcot while 3 MK buses and 2 DHS buses came and went.
Dining:
Ate at these places:
MK: Gaston's - good for a snack and great theming.
MK: Be Our Guest (lunch) - high quality food and beautifully done, but the mass of people inside and the poor acoustics made us feel like we were eating in a really pretty cafeteria. SO GLAD we had the FP+ for lunch. Standby line was 2.5 hours!!! Insane.
AKL: Mara - unique and tasty dishes for a surprisingly decent price (compared to other CS places)
AKL: Sanaa - had soup and the bread service, which made for a reasonably priced but extremely filling meal. Both soups we had were excellent.
AKL: Boma - dinner buffet was our best meal of the entire trip. Hard-to-impress hubby went back for some items 4 times!
AKL: Flame Tree BBQ - thank you SO MUCH to whoever posted the tip that Flame Tree dishes could still be bought at the snack stands nearby while the restaurant itself is under renovation!!
Epcot: Sandwiches and sweets in France, brats and cake in Germany, both sweet and savory pastries in Norway - all excellent but also a little greasy. Our stomachs were not happy that night.
Haha!
We did not eat at DHS
A comparison:
Since we also stayed at Universal, and I know a lot of people are starting to do split-stays, I thought I'd share a few comps.
Royal Pacific Resort - nice, but not nearly as nice as the deluxe hotels at Disney.
Transportation - boats from resorts are quick, come often, and take just minutes to get to the parks.
In general, we really appreciated how tightly packed Universal was compared to WDW. We didn't have as long to travel between resort and park or park-to-park, and even walking distance between attractions within the parks was much shorter. (Similar to Disneyland in California). My hubby, who had not been to WDW since he was a kid, complained often of how spread out it was. (And he's really not a complainer.) He liked Uni's high-density layout much better. he felt we wasted a lot of precious vacation time at WDW just "getting" places.
Dining - Uni really has a long way to go to catch up to Disney's dining options. We ate at the new CowFish (bleh), Islands Restaurant at RPR (meh), Emeril's Tchoup Chop at RPR (decent, but not exceptional), and the Hot Dog Hall of Fame (this one was fun, quick, and actually a pretty good meal for the price.)
Attractions - for thrill seekers like us, Uni beats Disney here, hands down. I know WDW has more for kids and families, but with 4 parks compared to Uni's 2 parks... Universal should not have more thrill rides. (I am counting both roller coasters and motion simulators here.)
Also, it feels like Universal has taken amazing Disney tech (like Soarin') and kicked it up a notch by adding an excitement/thrill factor (such as in Spiderman, Transformers, Gringotts, Forbidden Journey, Simpsons).
Theming - My final comparison involves something I have always thought Disney does best... theming/immersion.
OVERALL, WDW still wins. It's all in the Disney details. The resorts are so wonderfully themed, even the bathrooms throughout the parks, down to tiny details like the ceiling overhead when you're waiting for a ride. EVERYTHING is themed. My (again) hard-to-impress hubby commented constantly on the Disney details and kept complimenting the imagineers.
Universal, meanwhile, is mostly utilitarian with a few bright bursts of good theming. Diagon Alley literally took my breath away. Just AMAZING. And Hogsmead is excellent as well. We also loved the deliberately kitschy Simpsons area and the Port of Entry at Islands of Adventure. Other than that, bathrooms at Uni could have been airport bathrooms, and while the street theming was okay, we missed the fine Disney details.
Whew!
Kind of a long "just back" but I hope it helps someone planning a trip or just makes for an interesting read for those like me who read trip reports for entertainment.
Magic Bands:
Loved! So easy and convenient. After using MBs to open room, enter parks, make purchases, and swipe our way into FP lines... it felt like a real chore to switch over to Universal and have to keep track of a room key, a park ticket, an express pass, and a discount card (not to mention cash and credit cards). I kept checking my pockets and purse at Uni, worried I'd lost one of the above.
Fast Pass +:
See my separate "just back" specifically on FP+, from planning to parks, here.
Animal Kingdom Lodge:
Magic! We booked a standard-view room, because we just couldn't afford an extra $1,000 for a room with an Arusha Savannah view. Well, when we checked in (on my Birthday!), we met a lovely gentleman who informed us we WOULD, in fact, be staying in an Arusha Savannah room, and Happy Birthday to Me!
Apparently, AKL hand picks one family a day to be the "Safari Family." This is always a family with a standard view booked (and perhaps celebrating a special occasion) who gets upgraded to the best view in the place. The gentleman at check in (I think his name was Joseph) told us he was the one who picked us, so we got to thank him profusely. I may have started crying.
Then they took our photo in the lobby holding a banner and delivered it to our room later in the week. Such an awesome way to start the week and a total DISNEY touch to do something special like that.Crowds:
Wow, have crowds increased in the 4 years since I last visited. My hubby and I were there last week, from Jan 5-Jan 8 (a low crowd time nestled between the madness of New Year's week and Marathon weekend). And yet the crowds were MUCH larger than I experienced on my October, 2010 trip. Magic Kingdom was especially dense with people. We had more than one gridlock situation where we could not move in any direction.
I'm hoping Star Wars at DHS and Avatar at AK will pull crowds toward the other parks. And maybe it's finally time for that 5th gate??
Transportation:
Magical Express was great. Used their luggage handling for the first time, and loved the convenience of it. Would definitely use again.
Buses were hit or miss. One morning we waited 45 minutes for a bus to Epcot while 3 MK buses and 2 DHS buses came and went.
Dining:
Ate at these places:
MK: Gaston's - good for a snack and great theming.
MK: Be Our Guest (lunch) - high quality food and beautifully done, but the mass of people inside and the poor acoustics made us feel like we were eating in a really pretty cafeteria. SO GLAD we had the FP+ for lunch. Standby line was 2.5 hours!!! Insane.
AKL: Mara - unique and tasty dishes for a surprisingly decent price (compared to other CS places)
AKL: Sanaa - had soup and the bread service, which made for a reasonably priced but extremely filling meal. Both soups we had were excellent.
AKL: Boma - dinner buffet was our best meal of the entire trip. Hard-to-impress hubby went back for some items 4 times!
AKL: Flame Tree BBQ - thank you SO MUCH to whoever posted the tip that Flame Tree dishes could still be bought at the snack stands nearby while the restaurant itself is under renovation!!
Epcot: Sandwiches and sweets in France, brats and cake in Germany, both sweet and savory pastries in Norway - all excellent but also a little greasy. Our stomachs were not happy that night.
Haha!We did not eat at DHS
A comparison:
Since we also stayed at Universal, and I know a lot of people are starting to do split-stays, I thought I'd share a few comps.
Royal Pacific Resort - nice, but not nearly as nice as the deluxe hotels at Disney.
Transportation - boats from resorts are quick, come often, and take just minutes to get to the parks.
In general, we really appreciated how tightly packed Universal was compared to WDW. We didn't have as long to travel between resort and park or park-to-park, and even walking distance between attractions within the parks was much shorter. (Similar to Disneyland in California). My hubby, who had not been to WDW since he was a kid, complained often of how spread out it was. (And he's really not a complainer.) He liked Uni's high-density layout much better. he felt we wasted a lot of precious vacation time at WDW just "getting" places.
Dining - Uni really has a long way to go to catch up to Disney's dining options. We ate at the new CowFish (bleh), Islands Restaurant at RPR (meh), Emeril's Tchoup Chop at RPR (decent, but not exceptional), and the Hot Dog Hall of Fame (this one was fun, quick, and actually a pretty good meal for the price.)
Attractions - for thrill seekers like us, Uni beats Disney here, hands down. I know WDW has more for kids and families, but with 4 parks compared to Uni's 2 parks... Universal should not have more thrill rides. (I am counting both roller coasters and motion simulators here.)
Also, it feels like Universal has taken amazing Disney tech (like Soarin') and kicked it up a notch by adding an excitement/thrill factor (such as in Spiderman, Transformers, Gringotts, Forbidden Journey, Simpsons).
Theming - My final comparison involves something I have always thought Disney does best... theming/immersion.
OVERALL, WDW still wins. It's all in the Disney details. The resorts are so wonderfully themed, even the bathrooms throughout the parks, down to tiny details like the ceiling overhead when you're waiting for a ride. EVERYTHING is themed. My (again) hard-to-impress hubby commented constantly on the Disney details and kept complimenting the imagineers.
Universal, meanwhile, is mostly utilitarian with a few bright bursts of good theming. Diagon Alley literally took my breath away. Just AMAZING. And Hogsmead is excellent as well. We also loved the deliberately kitschy Simpsons area and the Port of Entry at Islands of Adventure. Other than that, bathrooms at Uni could have been airport bathrooms, and while the street theming was okay, we missed the fine Disney details.
Whew!
Kind of a long "just back" but I hope it helps someone planning a trip or just makes for an interesting read for those like me who read trip reports for entertainment.
