So, first off, a huge thanks to everyone who gave us advice and tips for our current Universal/Disney trip. I just want everyone here to know that many tried to warn us we would become converted to Universal after our trip, and to those of you who did, you were right! Here’s why:
The hotel was less expensive and just as nice—We stayed at the Portofino Bay resort and were just blown away at how nice the resort was. The beds were heavenly. I ended up paying $240 a night with an AP rate, which is only a little more than half of what we are paying at the Polynesian ($457). we stayed 3 nights at Universal and we honestly all could have stayed longer.
Express Pass is 10 times better than FastPass—I am a Disney planner at heart, but Disney has taken it to a whole new level with their fast pass system to the point where it isn’t enjoyable. Universal has the Express Pass down pat. It made our trip at Universal so much more relaxing and enjoyable. We literally never waited. It spoiled us for our Disney trip. I get now why everyone said go to Universal last because the kids won’t want to wait at Disney.
More Intense Rides—So, my husband and boys loved the rides at Universal. Two of our triplets are thrill seekers and Universal is more up their alley in terms of the rides. One of our boys liked the rides at both, but is still really into Mickey.
Newer Rides—I haven’t been to Universal since 2000, and couldn’t believe how many new rides they have. It was DH’s and the boys first trip, and they kept asking me what the ride was like, and I couldn’t tell them because they were all so new. ET, Spider-Man and a few others and that’s it. Disney seems to keep rides around longer, or at least it seemed that way. I like the nostalgia, but just surprised at some of the rides that have stayed open versus the ones they have closed.
Less Expensive—Our whole experience at Universal was less expensive by an insane amount than when we compare it with Disney. We paid less for everything at Universal—tickets, food, resort. We were able to upgrade our 3 day Universal tickets for a 15 month Universal Annual Pass to $80 total for our entire family. Disney offered us a similar option, but it was like $500 per person per ticket to upgrade to a 12 month annual pass. I mean, really?? That’s not even comparable!! There’s no way we could ever justify buying annual passes at Disney at the price they are charging.
More Relaxing Vacation—Okay, so for us this was the most noticeable difference. Universal’s Express Pass made our entire vacation. Our triplet boys are 9 and do have some delays and sensory and anxiety issues. They have had a hard time at Disney with waiting in lines. But it’s not just the EP that made our Universal trip more relaxing. We also liked that we didn’t have to do ANY planning. No reservations for dinner, fast passes, or anything else. We never waited long to eat, and transportation was a piece of cake compared to Disney. Of course, Universal is smaller, which is part of it, but just seems as though Disney has gone out of their way to make things more difficult than they need to be, especially their fastpass system.
We still are enjoying our Disney stay at the Poly, and will still go back to Disney. There are definitely things that Disney does better—parades, character interaction, dinner shows, etc., but that said, we honestly plan to spend more time at Universal on our next trip. Thanks to all that gave us advice. We are so glad we gave Universal a try! We can’t wait to return!
