I wouldn't go back to US/IOA unless we stayed on site

[mickeyinjune]

We stayed at WDW and drove to US/IOA for 3 days it was not enjoyable.
1) I4 always is busy or there is an accident.
2) you were only aloud one express pass at a time, and even if you got one there wasn't any thing with a shorter line to go on while you waited for your time. and the people who stay on site get to go right on whcih slows the ride even more.
3) to me the parks seemed small and the noise level was really high.(we walked all the way around the park by 1pm).
4) we got there about 10am and were tired by 2pm. the early closing of the parks at 8pm made it impossible to go back.
5) I think they should lower the price of parking or for free after 4pm when the parks close at 8pm.
6) we had a person who neede at wheelchair, there are none avavilable where you park you have to go to the half way point to get one.

Sorry this report is so negitive but this place wasn't anything like WDW.

 

[The Hunt]

We just got back, and we did stay on site--the experience was totally different, as a result. My wife in particular liked the Universal parks better than Disney. But I agree with you that it makes sense to stay on site.

 

[jtopicz1]

1) I4 always is busy or there is an accident.

And this is IOA/USF's fault because...?

you were only aloud one express pass at a time, and even if you got one there wasn't any thing with a shorter line to go on while you waited for your time.

One is certainly better than none. When you go to any amusement park during the summer, you kind of have to expect that there may be crowds. I'm suprised that all rides had the same amount of wait time. Spidermans wait was the same as Jurassic Parks all day??

3) to me the parks seemed small and the noise level was really high

Maybe next time you could ask the other guests to keep the noise down....IOA/USF would make such a great library.

but this place wasn't anything like WDW.

Thank god for that!

Jim

 

[Seahag]

Jim, I TOTALLY agree with you, I have NEVER stayed on site , in fact I used to visit when there was NO on-site hotels.
IMHO, US & IOA are 100 times better than any Disney park you could drag me to.
This November will be our first time staying on site, & I know I will be spoiled, & never stay anywhere else.
Thank the gods that it's nothing like Disney, I'd have to go on vacation to who knows where !!! LOL
~~~No offense to anyone who is a Disney fan, but me & the man LOVE US & IOA so much more than Disney.~~~

Small park ??? That I just don't get, I thought it was HUGE !!!
Maybe I have short legs

 

[WDWMaria]

Originally posted by mickeyinjune
We stayed at WDW and drove to US/IOA for 3 days it was not enjoyable.
1) I4 always is busy or there is an accident.
2) you were only aloud one express pass at a time, and even if you got one there wasn't any thing with a shorter line to go on while you waited for your time. and the people who stay on site get to go right

I'm sorry you didn't have a great time. However, I go to Orlando freqently and make it a point NEVER, EVER, EVER to get on I4 for any reason. With your National Car Rental map, or any car rental map, you can find an easier and alternate route to just about anywhere. I know it doesn't help change what happened, but for future reference I take Apopka Vineland Road (the road that you make a left onto out of Hotel Plaza Blvd) all the way up to Sand Lake Road. Make a R on Sand Lake and L onto Universal Blvd. Much easier that way. Never traffic except on Sand Lake, but you're not on it for that long.

As far as the express passes, Fast Pass at Disney is the same way. One at a time.

But staying onsite is wonderful and you would enjoy it.
Maria

 

[KimCon]

I would go back to US/IOA without staying on site, but I hope I never have to!! I always want to stay on site!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kim

 

[Mouser]

As I have always said..if you go to Universal looking for "Disney Parks", you will be disappointed for Universal is NOT Disney. You are however, visiting two of the greatest parks I have ever been too, just as clean, just as nice and just as friendly as Disney. They are loaded with atmosphere and have some of the best rides I have ever been on..awesome attractions, the best Orlando has to offer. Universal is Universal, Disney is Disney..both wonderful places, but if you want Disney, stay in their parks for you will not find it at Universal. However, I make a point of telling people, if you want to have a great time and ride some truly wonderful rides go spend some time at Universal and you will not be disappointed..we get our moneys worth there every trip.

 

[h20jag]

Hi mickeyjune!
Don't blame you one bit for only staying on-site during busy months at UO. The differences in all parks is what we all really get to capitalize on. You essentially get to "name your poison" for that particular vacation.
As you pick up more tips here, combined with your recent first-hand experience, you'll come to find all the pertinent info on maximizing your absolute best trip to UO.
No, it's not Disney. And good thing too.
Jim

 

[Bete]

We are taking our third trip this year in October and we enjoy both, Disney and Universal. We have annual passes to Universal and I think one key way to beat the crowds is taking advantage of early entry which is a privelege for annual passholders at Universal and IOA.

With that said I think you have to plan for the parks and you will find a good way to work around the express tic system with those other rides that are not on the express system.

Also, I think 10am is probably one of the worse times to arrive at IOA or Universal or Disney.

We are spoiling ourselves on this 3rd trip with staying on Disney premises. All the other trips we did not stay on site, either way. You have to be savy enough to skip one ride with a long wait and come back to it later, if possible. I will agree it's better to stay on site at Universal but the same is true of Disney.

 

[Rob_b]

We just got back. We stayed at WDW and went to US/IOA for 2 days. We used mears transportion and had no problems with traffic. They monitor traffic and take alternate route is there is a jam.

We were able to do both parks without any problems. Crowds seemed small.

One day we took a boat to Portofino at night. We were not impressed. It was empty. No activity. Has anyone noticed that all the decorations are painted on. The buildings are flat. The shutters/ledges are painted. THe bell in the bell tower is painted. Even if it was meant to appear this way, it looked very cheap. Food was way over priced(even compaired to WDW). I paid $3 for a soda. Not sure if I would stay here.

To me the biggest advantage of staying on site is the ability to take a swim or nap at noon then go back to the parks. We were dead tired both days.

 

[JessicaR]

One day we took a boat to Portofino at night. We were not impressed. It was empty. No activity. Has anyone noticed that all the decorations are painted on. The buildings are flat. The shutters/ledges are painted. THe bell in the bell tower is painted. Even if it was meant to appear this way, it looked very cheap. Food was way over priced(even compaired to WDW). I paid $3 for a soda. Not sure if I would stay here

Hi Rob,

Portofino is not as bustling as Hard Rock. If you wanted that atmosphere I am sure Hard Rock would have been the place. Yes the decorations are all painted on and they spared no expense to duplicate Hotel Splendido in Portofino Italy by bringing in Italian artists . This form of art is called Trompe l'oeil which translates to trick of eye. It is an illusion in paint. We stayed there last December and quite honestly we found the food to be less expensive than at the Contemporary in Disney.

Staying at a Disney property (or vice versa) and traveling to Universal the entire trip would leave me personally with a lesser experience. Being able to stay on-site at Disney makes my visits to Disney Parks much more enjoyable. Staying at a Universal on-site property and visiting Universals parks makes the experience complete.

Perhaps as you said in a previous post your staying at a Disney property and travelling to Universal and doing thier parks only without ever entering a Disney Park was just too dissapointing to you. Maybe next time you could combine the two so you could have both! If you are ever able to stay a night or two try out one of universal's properties to compare for yourself. I agree it is a great advantage when you can take a mid day break for a swim or nap.

 

[Rob_b]

Hello Jessica,


Thanks for the explaination. Now I understand.

Do you know I have never even heard of the term Trompe l'oeil. Now within 24 hours I have encounter it twice. The first was here Direct Link . Its a Disney sea preview. Then in your post you explain the art behind the Portofino.

Don't the pictures from Disney Sea look marvolous? Now I feel like and expert on Trompe l'oeil. LOL

 

[AdventureFamily]

We love Orlando. Everything about it. When our kids were younger, Disney was a bit better. Sort of a wonderland. Now DS is nine (acts older..it's cool, ya know?). DD is six, but likes older kid stuff. IOA is perfect for the whole family. BUT...staying on site is key to making the trips fun.

BTW, this November marks our first trip using a rental car. We have always done packages that include transportation. What's the best route from airport to Univeral at 10am? Thanks for the replies.

 

[DaveOBrien]

From the airport take the Bee Line Expressway. Out of the airport you'll see two major signs, one for Disney and one for Universal. Easy stuff.

 

[caveat lector]

Jim and Jim need to lighten up a tad. No reason to "Dis Disney" on the "Disboard."

I'm heading to WDW in about a month, and one of the highlights of my trip was hopping over to Universal. I haven't been in quite some time, but have fond memories. However, based on the comments, I should probably reconsider since I'm not staying on-site at Universal. This bumms me out a little, because I was looking forward to it.

Anyway, thanks for the insight.

 

[mickeyinjune]

the reason I posted this was to say That if I plan on going to US/IOA again i would look into staying on site.

Jtopic1- i wasn't accusing US/IOA of causing anything, I4 was the only way we knew how to get to us/IOA.

For my family WDW parks are just more enjoyable to us. They just seem more open and roomy, (I'm talking mostly about Epoct and MK). The noise level was loud, we couldn't even hear each other on our two way radios unless we held them close to our ear.

We did enjoy the animal planet live, and the rides when we got on them.

I understand the express pass is the same as disney, I agree that their express for on site guest it better then what disney offers, but we weren;t staying on site.

 

[CindyZ]

Well, I am just back from a Universal/IOA trip. We did not do Disney as the time we had...and the budget...made us choose. We did Disney 2 years ago, and decided to try UO this time. (my boys are 14, 11, and 5)...

We did stay ON SITE (HRH)...and this is what made the experience enjoyable. We also had 3 day passes...and that helped too. When we would use our wonderful...wonderful...hotel keys and get express passes (or as my son called it.."super express" sometimes)...I just felt bad for the people in line. Saw some dirty looks too....however...those people didn't know if I had the hotel key or if I had stood in line for an express ticket.... But I just couldn't imagine standing in those lines!!

We saw basically EVERYTHING in the park. We did end up missing most of the shows...but I think we rode everything atleast once. We did Spiderman 3 times (14 year old did it 4), Hulk 2-3 times...Dragons...you know..all the most popular rides a couple of times. Sometimes the express got us right up with no wait...sometimes I waited up to about 20 minutes (on MIB on Wednesday)...

I just can't imagine what our experience would have been like without the FOTL priviledge. So I say "YES"...next time you go stay on-site. There are discounts to be had if you do your homework. Heck, now that I know how great it is..I'd do it without the discount (Just stay less nights). Remember....just 1 night of hotel gives you 2 days of express.....and it's money so well spent. In fact....I'd rather go to the parks less...save up my money...and do the express every time!

And yes...I did find the IOA/US very different from Disney. Disney is more themed...more to see other than the rides...and it does have a certain "feel" to it that UO. Althought Disney has nothing on the beautiful themeing in the "LOST CONTINENT" land at IOA. It was so gorgeous.

Well, I'm back..and very chatty from my trip. Look for my trip report soon....I still have a week left of vacation from work!!

 

[RUN]

I don't like to sound mean, but mickeyinjune if the park was so small how did you get tired after only 4hrs. And if the lines were so long how could you have done everything that quickly? Or did you just skip stuff? You do know that Orlando is crowded during the summer right?

From my experiences in the state Universal is a lot less crowded than Disney, and if I remember correctly you only get one fast past at Disney too. And the fact that someone had a wheelchair means you don't have to wait in line. Something about your story just doesn't seem right.

 

[pathubia]

Hi,

We got back last night from 4 days at USF, we stayed at the HRH for 3 nights and are already planning next years trip. We did Disney and USF last sept. I think that we have outgrown disney, we will go back again in a few years, but USF and HRH will be a yearly event, with any luck. My DD, 8, was a little bummed out that she wouldnt be going to dis this trip, but I didnt want to go there just for 2 rides, Tower of Terror and RocK and Roll Rollercoaster.

HRH is great, universal express is the best....Cindy, we went to MIB on Wed around 3 pm, the express line was so long we went to the singles riders line, guess what, the three of us got put together anyways!!!! You just never know.

patty

 

[mickeyinjune]

TO IOARULES- You are missing the point of my post, that yes it was hard for us/ the handicapped person did not go on ALL the rides but enjoyed the shows when we went to them. It is very tiring when you have three kids and we can't get on anything without waiting 30-75 minutes. We did not go on a lot of things but we had a plan and chose which ones we wanted to do.

My second post I did say YES I understand Disney fast pass gives you only one pass at a time also. BUT the key card from UA/IOA is much better than Disney.

I did not post this to be critized how my family does the parks and I do not like the negative response. these boards are to help each other not to critize and accuse people of lying.