Just totalled our trip...

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

And the no cell phones on rides is an inconvenience while waiting in an hour long line, and makes communications with your party impossible. WDW doesnt ban cell phones on any rides to my knowledge.

That's because WDW doesn't have the same type of rides as USO does. WDW would institute some sort of no loose articles rule if someone had their eye hit with an object like what happened (among other things) with Dueling Dragons (which is why they stopped dueling too) and other rides.

I'm not saying the lockers aren't a pain because they are but it's not that USO has some rigid rule just because, they have it on specific rides for safety reasons.

I'm not saying that they should accept the WDW bands, they just have no equivalent. I wouldn't mind if it were a card.

Right but why do they have to have the equivalent? USO isn't the same as WDW. They don't have the same system set up.

If USO gave a specific number of EP to each guest that came with their ticket I would see a lot more meaning to USO getting something similar. I'm not saying there aren't positives to MBs, I liked them myself, but it's like comparing apples to oranges in respects to one theme park having it and another not. Disney didn't used to have MBs and before they came along they were still different than USO and they are still different than USO even after MBs. Millions of guests also visit WDW without MBs and I'm sure enough of them are blissfully unaware of what they even are lol.

I hear you on the paper tickets that aspect just didn't bother me a lot but I get it.

Maybe it's just getting burned out on going? IDK. I don't go often enough to either WDW or USO and for me personally I see cons to both and pros to both. But I totally get you on maybe USO just isn't your thing any longer. There's nothing wrong with that

 

[georgina]

Constantly being approached for adding days/parks to tickets as well as front of line passes. ?

Mackenzie asked some other questions, but this I don't get at all -who approached you, and where? I have never been approached this way, and I go a lot! Took the family at Thanksgiving, no one ever commented on the number of days on our ticket.

We always get actual card-sized tickets from UT. I love the atmosphere - sorry you don't!

 

[JenzyHP]

The value of a 2 day WDW is a bargain compared to 2 day a USO - even with 2 extra days....

I guess to each their own opinion but WDW made me pretty angry with this last price increase and charging for parking at resorts. In my opinion, WDW nickels and dimes EVERYTHING.

 

[js]

Im not a Universal fan either but I would say the music at HS and AK last week was annoying since it was January 10 and 11, and they were still piping in Christmas music. Im done listening to it by December 26 and certainly dont want to hear it in the parks the second week of January! I think I would have preferred Universal’s music lol

 

[mamapenguin]

I have never had any of that experience. Universal is my favorite park. I have APs to Uni and WDW and Uni is the only one I’m renewing. I have never been approached to buy anything extra. I own the Islands of Adventure soundtrack.

Maybe it was just bad timing, I either go early or around 3:00pm because I have after 4 express pass. The middle of the day seems to have the longest lines.

 

[Alynw]

I love both parks, but have found with ticket prices the way they are we do either a WDW vacation or a Universal/IOA vacation. No more split stays for us. When we do US/IOA we usually add in some smaller, local attractions. In November we did US/IOA, Haunted Halloween Night at US, Bohemian Rhapsody in IMAX, Medieval Times, The Void, Blue Man Group, and the Outta Control Comedy Show.

We do the same thing, both parks and then other surrounding attractions. We usually do 4 day disney, 4 day wdw and then things like gatorland, cocoa beach, blue man, sleuths mystery dinner show, disney springs, the void and so on....this year we did universal, wdw, sea world, discovery cove and then all the other stuff and turned out to b to much, need some down time....but yea, i agree...i think were goin doin the same as you and start only going to 1 park a year and rotate them out..prices are getn outa hand

 

[Alynw]

First, it feels like a money grab from the second you drive into the parking lot. I'm aware that WDW is all about separating me from my money as well, but USO makes an overt effort to upsell at every turn. Pushed preferred parking when we pulled in to the lot. Constantly being approached for adding days/parks to tickets as well as front of line passes. Secondly, the atmosphere of the park is second rate. Customer service lacks, the music is annoying they pipe through the park. Thirdly, the logistics of the park. No magic bands, using literal paper tickets printed from internet. No cell phones allowed on certain rides, locker usage requirements. We had to use a locker on Harry Potter ride, did child swap with my grandson, time expired - credit card reader would not work, cash dispenser wouldnt work, got an employee over. He opened it and then said "you rode twice didnt you?". Really?

I find this hard to believe. Ive been going to universal and disney annually for 10 yr now and not once have they ever even suggested preferred parking let alone try pushing it. And i have never and nor have i ever seen anyone get approached about adding days or parks to a ticket. Both universal and wdw are in the business of making money and they both have unique experience to offer. When it comes to upsell and making money off every aspect, no one does this better than disney. I love both parks and neither disney or universal push preferred parking or walk around and just approach people and ask about upgrading tickets. Disney has customer rep and kios setup everywhere for fastpas and universal has customer reps setup for express pass.

 

[txbuckeye71]

I find this hard to believe. Ive been going to universal and disney annually for 10 yr now and not once have they ever even suggested preferred parking let alone try pushing it. And i have never and nor have i ever seen anyone get approached about adding days or parks to a ticket. Both universal and wdw are in the business of making money and they both have unique experience to offer. When it comes to upsell and making money off every aspect, no one does this better than disney. I love both parks and neither disney or universal push preferred parking or walk around and just approach people and ask about upgrading tickets. Disney has customer rep and kios setup everywhere for fastpas and universal has customer reps setup for express pass.

I was just there, and the parking attendant's first words were "We are really recommending Preferred Parking today, its going to be crowded" We were there an hour before park opening. And on more than one occasion we were asked how long are we in town and we should upgrade our tickets. Hey to each his own, just my experience. USO will be fine without my business.

 

[bigeyedfish]

I briefly considered extending our trip two days and heading to Universal. Until I did the math. Nope! And their website (at least mobile) is not user friendly at all.

 

[kateandy08096]

Honestly that price is nothing. We go on average for 2 weeks have DVC fly from Philly to orlando and do that every 3 months either WDW or Disneyland. We definitely love our DVC

 

[kydisneyfans]

4 People (49,47,21,20) at CBR 7 nights. 2 days at USO. Did 6 day hoppers as well(we never went back to Universal for second day). Flew SWA from DFW and Rented a car.

Park Tickets $2262.80
Universal Tickets $1171.48
Rental Car $350.83
Parking at Airport $95.83
Airfare - $995.88
Resort $1670.89
Food, Souv., Misc. $2404.89
Total $8952.60

Not Sure how many can afford this, but they charge what the market allows them to. TBH we did play it loose with the magic bands, we ate and drank (adult beverages) as we desired. Nominal souvenirs.

We just did a comparable trip-4 of us: 46, 45, 21, 19. 7 night at Animal Kingdom Lodge
Park Tickets: 2592 for Gold AP's. We bridged discount tickets from UT and used Disney gift cards bought at 10% off to pay the difference. Total cash cost:$2227. We'll make 2 more trips on the tickets at least.
Universal tickets-0
Rental Car-used Magical express
Airport parking-$63
Airfare from Louisville-$836
Resort-0-DVC
Park spending-food/$900-took $1000 in gift cards bought at 10% off.
Shipt food delivery/Uber/Offsite dining-$200
RunDisney race entries-$500

Total cost: $4726, plus we have passes to enter the parks through mid Dec.

 

[Alynw]

I briefly considered extending our trip two days and heading to Universal. Until I did the math. Nope! And their website (at least mobile) is not user friendly at all.

Universal is considerably cheaper than disney. 4 day base ticket at universal is $220 rite now with promo and this offer has been around since last summer, they always offer buy 2 get 2 days free.
4 day base ticket for disney is $408, few bucks from being double the cost of universal.

 

[tink fan]

OP
Thanks so much for posting your totals. We don’t live a drivable distance, don’t belong to DVC, and cannot take advantage of Florida resident or military discounts so it was helpful to see what a family comparable to my family would spend.

We have never been to Universal but I want to add it to a future trip. I had no idea the 1 and 2 day tickets were comparable to the cost of Disney’s 1 and 2 day tickets. We would not visit more than 2 days at Universal. I think we would still do it just to see Harry Potter. Could that be done in one day for someone who has never been and wants to get the “full experience.” We would not be staying at universal so we wouldn’t have the front of line passes or early admission.

 

[Alynw]

OP
Thanks so much for posting your totals. We don’t live a drivable distance, don’t belong to DVC, and cannot take advantage of Florida resident or military discounts so it was helpful to see what a family comparable to my family would spend.

We have never been to Universal but I want to add it to a future trip. I had no idea the 1 and 2 day tickets were comparable to the cost of Disney’s 1 and 2 day tickets. We would not visit more than 2 days at Universal. I think we would still do it just to see Harry Potter. Could that be done in one day for someone who has never been and wants to get the “full experience.” We would not be staying at universal so we wouldn’t have the front of line passes or early admission.

Universal has crowds like disney, so depending on the time of year u go will determine how bad the crowd and wait times will be. Its sounds like ur main goal is harry potter and if ur a hp fan, its worth it. Universal is made up into 2 parks and both parks have a different harry potter world with different rides. So to answer ur question, yes u can see both harry potter worlds in 1 day and enjoy them but this will require a park-to-park ticket which is more expensive than a base ticket but u will also get to ride the Hogwarts express train from one hp world to the other which is pretty cool. If ur wanting to experience all of universal and not just hp, then no u wont be able to do it in 1 day. I would recommend 1 day per park. Keep in mind, u can not ride Hogwarts express with base tickets. Good luck on ur future trip.

 

[StephPlum]

I'm not saying that they should accept the WDW bands, they just have no equivalent. I wouldn't mind if it were a card. And the no cell phones on rides is an inconvenience while waiting in an hour long line, and makes communications with your party impossible. WDW doesnt ban cell phones on any rides to my knowledge.

WDW rides are definitely not the same as US rides. The hard core roller coaster (sorry that is not BTMRR) require no cell phones. Inconvenient not to communicate with someone for an hour doesn't really rise to a huge problem. When my DD rode Hulk, I just sat in the restaurant and people watched or *gasp* enjoyed the down time with my thoughts.

 

[StephPlum]

We have never been to Universal but I want to add it to a future trip. I had no idea the 1 and 2 day tickets were comparable to the cost of Disney’s 1 and 2 day tickets. We would not visit more than 2 days at Universal. I think we would still do it just to see Harry Potter. Could that be done in one day for someone who has never been and wants to get the “full experience.” We would not be staying at universal so we wouldn’t have the front of line passes or early admission

There is a great forum on Universal right here on the dis that has lots of information. Check it out. I always recommend 3 days and park to park tickets so you can do Hogwarts Express. 1 per park and then the 3rd day to redo all the favorites. I also recommend FOTL passes and won't do US without. Much better than FP as no reservations and can reuse over and over. Staying onsite you get that + easy water taxi to the park that is so much closer than most of the disney resort.

 

[TheSouthernBelle]

4 People (49,47,21,20) at CBR 7 nights. 2 days at USO. Did 6 day hoppers as well(we never went back to Universal for second day). Flew SWA from DFW and Rented a car.

Park Tickets $2262.80
Universal Tickets $1171.48
Rental Car $350.83
Parking at Airport $95.83
Airfare - $995.88
Resort $1670.89
Food, Souv., Misc. $2404.89
Total $8952.60

Not Sure how many can afford this, but they charge what the market allows them to. TBH we did play it loose with the magic bands, we ate and drank (adult beverages) as we desired. Nominal souvenirs.

Sounds like an awesome trip for 7 nights with universal. We drive down so we have no airfare or car rental fees but for family of 4 we spend right around $3-4K for our 4 night trips and that's disney resort, food, souv. and disney tix only. One of these days we'll have a 7 night vacay there. Thanks for sharing

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

WDW rides are definitely not the same as US rides. The hard core roller coaster (sorry that is not BTMRR) require no cell phones. Inconvenient not to communicate with someone for an hour doesn't really rise to a huge problem. When my DD rode Hulk, I just sat in the restaurant and people watched or *gasp* enjoyed the down time with my thoughts.

If I knew my husband would want to ride several times and do a few other rides I would typically go to Cafe 4 (was that the restaurant you were speaking about?) and take a load off while my husband rode Hulk, Spiderman and/or Dr. Doom.

People watching and perusing the map (even if I've done it already a bunch) is one of my fav pasttimes at amusement and theme parks.

 

[StephPlum]

If I knew my husband would want to ride several times and do a few other rides I would typically go to Cafe 4 (was that the restaurant you were speaking about?) and take a load off while my husband rode Hulk, Spiderman and/or Dr. Doom.

People watching and perusing the map (even if I've done it already a bunch) is one of my fav pasttimes at amusement and theme parks.

I just had to look up the map as I don't have the restaurant names memorized (yet!). That is the one (Cafe 4). We went in September which I call surface of the sun hot and I got a free ice water and just rested inside while she did Hulk and Dr Doom. I like Spider man so I did do that with her.

 

[Darcy03231]

OP
Thanks so much for posting your totals. We don’t live a drivable distance, don’t belong to DVC, and cannot take advantage of Florida resident or military discounts so it was helpful to see what a family comparable to my family would spend.

We have never been to Universal but I want to add it to a future trip. I had no idea the 1 and 2 day tickets were comparable to the cost of Disney’s 1 and 2 day tickets. We would not visit more than 2 days at Universal. I think we would still do it just to see Harry Potter. Could that be done in one day for someone who has never been and wants to get the “full experience.” We would not be staying at universal so we wouldn’t have the front of line passes or early admission.

Universal has two parks, Studios and Islands of Adventure. The Harry Potter portions are in both parks. You could do all of the HP stuff in one day, but you'd have to get the 2 park ticket. Depending on the time of year you go, you may be able to get some of the other attractions in, but there's no way you'll get the "full experience" of both parks in one day.