1 day at universal or MVMCP

Aimee Wolfe

Earning My Ears
Joined
Sep 2, 2018
Hi...my daughter are travelling to disney Dec. 20th-30th...we are only going to do 1 extra cost thing and am trying to decide between one day at universal (never been) or MVMCP. Also, if we do the universal do you think 1 day at IOA only would be fine? Quite a significant cost difference for both parks and most of the attractions we want to see are at IOA. How much does a taxi cost from disney to universal? Thanks!
 
Can't help w/ transportation costs or MVMCP (never been, but thinking of going our first time in November), but if you or your daughter are Harry Potter fans you'll probably want to take in both parks at Universal. The Hogwarts/Hogsmead area is in IOA, and the Diagon Alley area is in US. There's also the Hogwarts Express train that runs between both that requires tickets to both parks. YMMV, but I'd be in the doghouse if I tried to get my family to do just one or the other...
 
10 days at Disney? I think you can give at least 1 or 2 to Universal. :) PP laid out the reasons for park to park well.
eta- Uber or Lyft are about half the price of a taxi so they are the option I choose. $51-20 each way if no surge pricing. And you can often find first time rider promos if you google.
 
I think one day at Universal is a much better value than MVMCP. We have done both the Christmas party and Halloween party at Disney. The Halloween party is better than the Christmas party, and we are on the fence as to whether the Halloween party is even worth it. At the Christmas party, its basically just a special parade and fireworks, free cookies and cocoa, some unique characters, and that's essentially it. The parties have increased in popularity in recent years and they are selling more tickets than ever, so the benefit of short to non-existent wait times is looking like its a thing of the past.

Universal will give you a full day rather than just an evening. We have taken taxis before and it was about $40 each way if I recall, but Uber is quoting about $24 each way depending on where you're getting picked up. Since you'll be during the busy holiday season, I would purchase Universal's express pass so you can skip the lines and maximize your time there, so be sure to factor that into the budget as well. We love both Universal parks but prefer Universal Studios over Islands. We find there is more to do for us there as two adults and we spend more time there. Check out the attractions and see which park appeals to you more.
 


We have been to MVMCP several times and would not consider doing it over a day or more at USO. Not even close.

The age of your daughter might factor in as well. 10 or over would make USO a must-do and for multiple days, but really any age would make for a great day especially with the amount of time you'll spend at WDW.
 
You are at WDW during Xmas week when the party’s parade and fireworks are on during the day as standard. Therefore, you do not need to purchase party tickets to see these. The only benefit I can see to the party tickets is that they will provide the shortest MK ride times of your 10 day visit.
We will be there the first few days of your visit and I know how expensive those party days are and how likely they are to sell out. So we’ve decided to skip the party.

Have you booked accommodation yet? If not, I would consider booking at least one night at one of the Universal hotels that give you the free express pass and go to Universal over 2 days. You can save money on the park to park hopper if you want, but there really is a benefit to going to both parks. Both Universal parks are amazing and not to be missed.

I can’t wait to see all their Xmas offerings this year. Scroll back through RIx Flix’s You Tube videos to the Xmas ones he did last year to see the great variety in decorations. From watching various You Tube videos, the Macy’s parade looks better to me than Disney’s Xmas one. Can’t wait! :banana:
 
If you're doing one day w/o express pass, I would actually opt for one park. That way you can be more thorough and not be just sprinting to attractions and skipping so much. It isn't worth the extra cost to do both parks if you don't have express passes to allow you to do the majority of rides. You might as well save the money and really be able to take in the details and explore the park you choose. Either park is a great bet, and I'm guessing you'll be planning a Universal trip soon if you hit it up for one day...
 


If you're doing one day w/o express pass, I would actually opt for one park. That way you can be more thorough and not be just sprinting to attractions and skipping so much. It isn't worth the extra cost to do both parks if you don't have express passes to allow you to do the majority of rides. You might as well save the money and really be able to take in the details and explore the park you choose. Either park is a great bet, and I'm guessing you'll be planning a Universal trip soon if you hit it up for one day...
Thanks...thats what I was thinking too. Close to $200 bucks a ticket for the park to park is too much for me when we are already paying for disney. I think we will do the IOA and just really enjoy our day there. The reason we love disney is for the "magic" not so much for the attractions. We are both huge fans of the disney characters and classic movies, the music and just the overall magic of the place. But I would like to see Universal for 1 day.
 
You are at WDW during Xmas week when the party’s parade and fireworks are on during the day as standard. Therefore, you do not need to purchase party tickets to see these. The only benefit I can see to the party tickets is that they will provide the shortest MK ride times of your 10 day visit.
We will be there the first few days of your visit and I know how expensive those party days are and how likely they are to sell out. So we’ve decided to skip the party.

Have you booked accommodation yet? If not, I would consider booking at least one night at one of the Universal hotels that give you the free express pass and go to Universal over 2 days. You can save money on the park to park hopper if you want, but there really is a benefit to going to both parks. Both Universal parks are amazing and not to be missed.

I can’t wait to see all their Xmas offerings this year. Scroll back through RIx Flix’s You Tube videos to the Xmas ones he did last year to see the great variety in decorations. From watching various You Tube videos, the Macy’s parade looks better to me than Disney’s Xmas one. Can’t wait! :banana:
Yeah already booked 10 nights at disney. Only looking to do 1 day at universal
 
10 days at Disney? I think you can give at least 1 or 2 to Universal. :) PP laid out the reasons for park to park well.
eta- Uber or Lyft are about half the price of a taxi so they are the option I choose. $51-20 each way if no surge pricing. And you can often find first time rider promos if you google.
Problem is the price for park to park..
Cant really afford almost $400 for 1 day
 
I think one day at Universal is a much better value than MVMCP. We have done both the Christmas party and Halloween party at Disney. The Halloween party is better than the Christmas party, and we are on the fence as to whether the Halloween party is even worth it. At the Christmas party, its basically just a special parade and fireworks, free cookies and cocoa, some unique characters, and that's essentially it. The parties have increased in popularity in recent years and they are selling more tickets than ever, so the benefit of short to non-existent wait times is looking like its a thing of the past.

Universal will give you a full day rather than just an evening. We have taken taxis before and it was about $40 each way if I recall, but Uber is quoting about $24 each way depending on where you're getting picked up. Since you'll be during the busy holiday season, I would purchase Universal's express pass so you can skip the lines and maximize your time there, so be sure to factor that into the budget as well. We love both Universal parks but prefer Universal Studios over Islands. We find there is more to do for us there as two adults and we spend more time there. Check out the attractions and see which park appeals to you more.
What do you like about universal more than IOA? Just curious.. think we are only going to pick 1 park this time because of the price and because we will only have 1 day...
 
What do you like about universal more than IOA? Just curious.. think we are only going to pick 1 park this time because of the price and because we will only have 1 day...

The studios side has the bigger harry potter area, the IOA side has the big coasters and the water rides and a smaller HP area.

If you want thrill rides, the IOA side is the better choice.
 
What do you like about universal more than IOA? Just curious.. think we are only going to pick 1 park this time because of the price and because we will only have 1 day...

We are two adults, and find there is more for us to do on the Universal side. On the IOA side, we generally skip all of Seuss Land aside from walking through it. Not much in the way of rides that appeal to adults only. In the Lost Continent section, we will occasionally do Poseidon's Fury but its a time sucker. And the Sinbad show is closed now. We also will only do the water rides there once, and we strategically plan it so we do it right before going back to the resort because you do get drenched. So those are not rides we do more than once. So after all this, it leaves us with Forbidden Journey, Kong, Spiderman, Hulk, and Dr. Doom. We sometimes will do Raptor Encounter (character meet) and sometimes Flight of the Hippogriff, but we often skip it because we have to squish and its not all that exciting to us. We also do Hogwarts Express, but that requires a park to park ticket.

Universal has more that we like to re-ride - Rip Ride Rockit, Mummy, Men In Black. DH loves ET and Simpsons, and I love Despicable Me. We also will stop and have a drink in Springfield. We just seem to spend more time doing things there.

As with everything, YMMV!
 
I like the Universal side better by just a hair. Diagon Alley could fill a whole day for us! Plus we love MIB, the Mummy, RRR and the Simpsons plus the shows on the UO side.
 
I prefer the Universal side too. Pretty much for most of the reasons listed in the above 2 posts (MIB, ET, Simpson’s Land, Despicable Me etc).
Also, I know this is not the general agreed consensus, but I prefer Transformers to Spider-Man, even though both are great.

I’m not a fan of big scary coasters though, and find that the water rides at IOA make you too wet, so perhaps take my opinion with a pinch of salt if you like more intense rides.
 

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