Should my family try Universal Studios?

Amy M

DIS Veteran
Joined
Feb 19, 2015
We have just returned from our 4th summer vacation at Disney. I am already thinking about our next trip and Universal came to mind if we decide to take a year off from Disney to try something new. My girls LOVE Disney (and so do my husband and I). Next summer my daughters will be 10 and 8. Are these good ages to head to Universal? I haven't been there since the late 90s and that was when I was just 19. Will they find Universal as exciting and Disney?
 
We were there in Jan for three days. We are a Disney loving family, and while we enjoyed WWoHP for a bit, the rest of the theme parks just didn't hold much interest for us. Everything seemed the same--put you in front of a screen, slap on some glasses and shake you about. Hotels were good. Food was tasty--especially my room service at Hard Rock. The ages of your kids are good, but for me, if it meant taking a year off Disney, I'd pass.
 
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If you've been to Disney 4 times then it's time to try Universal. :) Your kids are a great age for it. A lot of kids that age prefer Universal to Disney. No doubt it's as exciting as Disney. We really like it better. We are big Harry Potter fans with certainty tips the scales but we just enjoy the parks more. Give it a try. Life's too short not to. :)
 
Your kids should be big enough for the rides at Universal. They tend to more intense than Disney. The parks are way more compact than at Disney. There are several very cool rides. The Harry Potter stuff is excellent.

I don't think the food is as good as Disney. The stuff in City Walk outside the parks themselves are not bad. Disney has more places where you can sit and watch a show. You can fully do both parks in three days. So you may want to add a day at Seaworld or a beach day if you plan on staying for a week.
 


Well . . . you are asking on a Universal board so you likely know the outcome of threads like this . . . Yes! And I think you really want to do it too since you posted it on a Universal board.
As for excitement - Universal is more exciting than Disney. If you don't have a thrill rider, you'll still find enough to do but I've noticed people don't realize all there is sometimes and miss a lot outside of rides.

10 and 8 are great ages. There are some height minimums they may not make but they won't miss out on much. My petite 11 year old is tall enough for all but two coasters. My averaged sized 8 year old is also tall enough for all but two coasters. So - I'd guess your kids would make most height minimums.

As for days, we go frequently enough that it was hard for me to judge how many days someone new to it would really need - but then we took our nephews. We had planned for three days but had room for four. We ended up upgrading their passes. We loved having that fourth day. That was before Volcano Bay so we would have needed more with that. My family has done 6 days in the parks - on two different vacations - and found enough to do. I could have done it faster without kids but kids take more time. And I don't just mean stopping at the bathroom more but spending more time in play areas or slowing down to appreciate things more. We've spent a full hour at the talking fountain before! Time gets away at the ball shooting factory and I'm always surprised how long we end up spending there. And so many other things. My 11 and 8 year old still like all the play areas at Universal. (Well, except for Barney - we've never had interest in that so I forget about it). Even my 14 year old enjoys Camp Jurassic. (And Me Ship the Olive - shooting strangers with water is main appeal for him).
 
Well, i think it would be best to watch some of the movies first. Just make sure to check parent review sites of the movies and make your own decision on which shows to let them watch. Soem might be too intense for the young one. First time we went my kids had never seen the simpsons. Then they bing watched it and the Simpsons land was a whole new place for them the second time.
 
My family of four did Universal two years ago. We stayed at Hard Rock for a week with a park hopper ticket for the whole stay (with Express). We are going again this year staying at Royal Pacific for eight days with with the same park hopper/Express ticket. My kids are teen boys--17 and 13. We've never done the Disney vacation. We generally look for a relaxing vacation and while Disney was enticing, none of us (even when the kids were younger) ever really wanted the type of pre-planned, hard-charging vacation that Disney seemed to require. Universal was perfect for our family with teens. The kids are old enough to go on their own to do what they want whenever they want and so are Mom and Dad. Come and go to any park whenever you please. Hang out at the Hotel/Pool or City Walk. Everything we need is at the resort. No car needed; no transportation between parks or resorts; just walk to wherever we want to go. No planning required--free Express pass that comes with staying at Hard Rock/Royal Pacific/Portofino means no planning around long lines and no need to pre-schedule meals. We arrive at the hotel and hang out for a week--making spontaneous decisions about what we want to do along the way--and go home.

Your kids are slightly younger and so won't be doing their own thing. But, there's plenty of stuff at the Hotels, the Parks and City Walk that they will enjoy. We didn't find a week to be too long, but we are also quite happy to have a lot of down time of doing nothing in particular. If you want a pre-packaged, stress-free trip for tweens or teens without a lot of logistics and organization, I don't think you can go wrong with a week at Universal.
 


Our kids are 11 and 12 and love Universal. We're huge Disneyland fans, but all of us prefer Universal to DW. Love Royal Pacific, express pass is soooo much better than FP+, and there's really no planning involved.
 
Those are great ages for universal in our family. I think it never hurts to try something new and even if you don't LOVE it, I think you'd still have a great vacation.

I would suggest going all in and staying onsite (preferably in one of the hotels that give you express pass- it's an unlimited fast pass for almost all the rides and it's not quite front of the line but pretty close), the resort pools are fantastic and onsite guests can pool hop so you can spend a day or afternoons enjoying that, I think the food is better than Disney and better priced (but that's subjective) and there are a lot of options. Finally transportation from hotel to parks and between parks is super easy with a 5 minute water taxi or 10-15 minute walk from hotel to park and a ride or super quick walk between park gates.

We were beyond shocked at how much we preferred universal over Disney our first time, and friends of all still prefer Disney but love universal for a break from the mouse trip.
 
If your family is at all into Harry Potter, Diagon Alley And Hogsmeade are must-see. You could spend an entire day exploring those areas. I recommend doing Universal, if only for a change and new experiences :)
 
We have just returned from our 4th summer vacation at Disney. I am already thinking about our next trip and Universal came to mind if we decide to take a year off from Disney to try something new. My girls LOVE Disney (and so do my husband and I). Next summer my daughters will be 10 and 8. Are these good ages to head to Universal? I haven't been there since the late 90s and that was when I was just 19. Will they find Universal as exciting and Disney?

Please check out the website www.universalorlando.com

Have a look at everything Universal has to offer and see if it would suit your family.

What some will like others won't.

Universal is amazing. There is so much to offer for everyone and your girls are a good age to enjoy it. It's not all coasters and thrill rides, nor is it all screeens, there is a good mix of rides. It's not all the same.
 
My kids (boys) aged 11 and 8 love Universal and prefer it over Disney. They are thrill seekers through and hence why I think they prefer Universal.

The rides overall are indeed more intense, but no so much though that it's overbearing for people within that age group. If I had to compare some Disney rides to some at Universal rides in terms of intensity (amount of motion, drops, coasters etc.) I'd make the following "general" comparisons:

Minions, Spiderman, Transformers, Simpsons, Kong -> Star Tours
- I'd compare these rides in terms of level of motion/intensity. Much of the action happens in front of screens with the ride vehicle moving along with the action. But with Transformers, Spiderman, and Kong your ride vehicle also moves through physical environments that blend in with the screens.

Dudley Do Right, Jurassic River Adventure -> Splash Mountain
- Dudley's I'd say is near identical in Style to Splash Mount. Jurassic River adventure is quite different, but the drop is similar to Splash mountain. My 8 year old got a bit scared in the second portion of Jurassic (kind like the live action stuff in Dinosaur at Animal Kingdom)

The Mummy -> Mash-up of Space Mountain and Dinosaur
- Best Comparison I could think of. The level of darkness/speed is comparable to Space Mountain, with lots of live action stuff like in Dinosaur, but definitely scarier. My 8 year old went on once and got a bit too scared to do it again.

MIB -> Buzz Lightyear
- Similar rides. Riding in pods shooting at stuff.

ET -> Peter Pan
- Very similar in nature

Popeye's -> Kali River rapids
- Very similar in nature

Forbidden Journey -> Maybe Flight of Passage?
- The "flying" parts of forbidden Journey look similar in intensity to the videos I've watched of Flight of passage, but that is only part of Forbidden Journey. There are many areas that take you through animatronic sets and the ride vehicle pitches and swings quite intensely during those parts. Both my kids absolutely love this ride though.

Gringotts -> Mix of Dinosaur and Star Tours
- Best comparison I can think of in intensity comparison. Your on a relatively low intensity coaster track going though areas with practical sets, but also blending in 3D motion sim areas.

Then that leaves the big coasters:
Hulk, Dragon Challenge, Rip Ride Rockit. These are by far more intense than anything Disney has and I'd compare them more to coasters you'd see at a Six Flags. Maybe I might compare (in terms of intensity) Rip Ride to say Rockin' Roller Coaster at Hollywood studios, but Rip Ride has the more intense 90 degree initial hill climb and drop.

But overall, we just absolutely love Universal for not just the ride attractions, but so many other reasons too such as:
- More relaxed park outing, nowhere near the level of planning as required by Disney (FP+, strict touring plans when busy, ADRs)
- Close proximity of parks. They are literally next to each other so you can walk back and forth making Park to Park option useful rather than spending a lot of time travelling between parks
- On site resorts are minutes away via Water Taxi/Shuttle bus
 
Do your kids like Harry Potter? Do they like thrill rides? If yes then they will love Universal.

We went to Uni for the first time last summer. We enjoyed it. The rest of my family did not 'miss' Disney. I had a hard time not visiting The Mouse but, I love Harry Potter and the themeing in those sections made the trip for me. We did have a Disney trip planned for this spring so that helped me not 'miss' Disney too much, too.

We are going back again this year since we got a season pass and I am looking forward to it.
 
My daughter is 11 and chooses it over Disney. She is a big harry potter fan. She doesn't do the biggest rides like rip ride (I don't either) but lots to do. If you are going at a less busy time Cabana bay (no express pass) is fabulous for your girls age group. We've stayed 4 times there with her age 8,9 and 10 x 2. Lazy river, coke freestyle refill mugs, DJ/kids pool activities, harry potter movies by pool in evenings, smores pits. It really makes for a fabulous time.
 
We first went to Uni when my girls were 9 (Three days, then visited family in the area). They are both HUGE Harry Potter fans, so they enjoyed that. But they didn't enjoy many of the other areas or rides (except bilge rat barges - a water ride - loved that!). We split with Disney the following year (so, yes, they liked it enough to go back). They continue to love Disney and ride far more rides at Disney. But because of their love for Harry Potter, they like Universal. We wouldn't be able to fill a week there, though. Mine do not really like thrill rides. For example, they first tried Everest and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train at age 10 (and enjoyed them). At Universal, they liked the two kiddie coasters (Hippogriff and Woodpecker), Bilge Rate Barges (but not the other water rides - Jurrassic ride or Dudley Do-Right), also like Gringotts and Forbidden Journey, Spiderman, Despicable Me, and the Jurassic Playground. That's it. Did not like Mummy or Men in Black, and flat out refused to try many others (I might be forgetting something).

The hotels are nicer at Uni, imo, and we liked most of the food better at Uni.

For ME - if I wanted one vacation spot to fill a whole week, I'd pick WDW, especially since your girls are still young enough to enjoy it. They will age out of WDW soon enough and likely want the thrill rides at Uni when older. If I wanted to split my week with other spots and just do three or so park days, or a long weekend, I'd pick Universal. If your girls are big Harry Potter fans, Universal is definitely worth it. If your girls are big thrill riders, then they might prefer Universal. My girls are definitely not into big coasters, etc.
 
My daughter is 11 and chooses it over Disney. She is a big harry potter fan. She doesn't do the biggest rides like rip ride (I don't either) but lots to do. If you are going at a less busy time Cabana bay (no express pass) is fabulous for your girls age group. We've stayed 4 times there with her age 8,9 and 10 x 2. Lazy river, coke freestyle refill mugs, DJ/kids pool activities, harry potter movies by pool in evenings, smores pits. It really makes for a fabulous time.

Fully agree. If you're going during a slower time period Cabana Bay is a great place to stay. Priced the same as a Disney "value" resort but higher scale (IMO) than Disney's value properties. Plus not mentioned above you still get the advantage of early entry, as well as there's a bowling alley in the resort plus a Starbucks!

My kids loved this place.
 
Fully agree. If you're going during a slower time period Cabana Bay is a great place to stay. Priced the same as a Disney "value" resort but higher scale (IMO) than Disney's value properties. Plus not mentioned above you still get the advantage of early entry, as well as there's a bowling alley in the resort plus a Starbucks!

My kids loved this place.

And a really great pool area with a lazy river...:-)
 
I went around that age to Universal as a kid and loved loved loved it! And that was in the 90's. Since then it's gotten wayyyyy better! The HP lands are magical and amazing! Like others said.. The resorts are great, RPR is our fave, you can walk to the parks, the express pass is great.. You can ride soooo many rides with it! There's a ton to see and do. We can't take a trip to FL without visiting both Universal & Disney! :)
 
I'm a UK visitor and it's the norm for us to visit both WDW and Universal when heading to the states, so I've never held a strong preference over either.

I also frequent both boards :)

Technologically, the Universal parks are far superior. The rides have a real wow factor and it feels more modern than Disney. However, they lack the tradition of Disney in my view :) although neither is necessarily a bad thing. Universal is "wow" to me, and Disney is "magic".

The food at both resorts is good - although I've never had a bad meal at Universal, while I've had several at WDW (although in fairness - I usually do 3-4 days universal plus 10-13 days at WDW each trip, so statistically more likely to get a poor meal).

Planning wise - WDW takes months for a family of six, booking ADRS and FP etc - at UO you get the express pass if you stay on site and most restaurants are walk ups so it's a far more chilled out trip. It's a lot less stressful and with EP I've never felt the need to arrive an hour before the gates open! You can have a leisurely breakfast without needing to rush. Conversely, some people would legitimately argue that UO aren't working on a level playing field, as you have to effectively buy your way through their FP system.

Transport wise - the parks are walkable or boatable which I love, and I dislike the buses at WDW at times, but when they do work, they're great.

As a UK visitor UO works out cheaper than an on site deluxe WDW trip, but that depends on where you'd usually stay. I also agree that the higher end UO resorts beat WDW hands down - portofino bay is stunning!

Age wise I would say your kids are a great age for either resort, but I'm sure they'd have a blast at UO, even more so if they're tall and enjoy thrill rides. I'd do it in a heartbeat!
 

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