Here is why Universal is a better value than Disney (get those flames ready!)

[Dolby1000]

Went to Universal on Sunday. Now, I had already been there on the Thursday before to experience FJ, so my focus was on a greater adventures.

Universal - posted opening time - 9:00 AM, actual opening time - 8:40 AM
Disney - posted opening time - 9:00 AM, actual opening time - 9:00 AM

Fast pass system - Universal - huge, gigantic rip off that no one actually buys so the Fast Pass riders rarely upset the stand-by line wait times. This keeps the stand by lines moving at a regular pace.
Fast pass system - Disney - Free to all and hugely impacts stand by times, leading to vastly longer wait times for everyone. Highly unfair system that actually pisses people off (i witnessed an ugly moment at SM, see my posting on the Disney boards).

So, I was at Universal for 4 1/2 hours:
2 Rides on Rip Ride Rocket
2 Rides on the Mummy
1 Simpsons Ride
1 Men in Black
Not even 10 AM yet.
Walked over to IOA
2 Rides on Fire (refuse to call this Dragon Challenge)
1 Ride on Jurassic Park (Yeah, it was open)
1 Ride on Spiderman
1 Ride on Dudley
3 Rides on Popeye (okay, I love this ride)
1 Ride on Hulk to help drying.

It was now 12:30, 15 rides in about 4 hours in 2 theme parks.

The next day (a MOnday, after SWW weekend)

Park openned at 9 and it was already a madhouse.

1 Ride on Toy Story Mania
1 Ride on Star Tours
it was already 10 AM. I had a fast pass for Star Tours at 11:35
4 More rides on Star Tours
1 Muppets
It was now 12:30 and I had 6 total rides, only about 1/3 of Universal. TOT was over an hour wait and everything else also was really long. I did only one park and far fewer rides. That darn fast pass generally slows things down, terribly.

Not saying the Universal is better, just saying that I felt I got more for my money from them than at Disney.

Dolby1000

 

[Don Disney]

Was this last Sunday? We've never been to US/IOA,but we'll be there June 6-12.I hope we can get some good rides in.Done WDW FD for the last 3 years and had a blast-twice in Sept,once in Nov.Got very used to walking on,or 10-15 min. max wait times for mostly everything,and used FP for Soarin and TSM.Do you think we'll be waiting long times for rides during this time frame? I sure hope the waits are'nt too long!!! Whatcha think? Got any tips/ideas you can help us out with? Thanks!!!

 

[cam&phoebsmom]

I have not been to Universal yet, so I don't know which is better or not. But offhand looking at your analysis you compared the Universal parks to DHS-a park that does not have a lot of rides to spread things out.

Probably the busiest ride is TSM, and the Star Tours ride just opened so it is extraordinarily popular and I am sure many guests that were there for the grand opening and Star Wars weekend were still hanging around.

Maybe if you included the Hary Potter rides the comparisons would be more "equal" ? Like how many times in one day could you realistically go on the most popular Harry Potter ride by 12:30?

 

[wintershawl]

Went to Universal on Sunday. Now, I had already been there on the Thursday before to experience FJ, so my focus was on a greater adventures.

Universal - posted opening time - 9:00 AM, actual opening time - 8:40 AM
Disney - posted opening time - 9:00 AM, actual opening time - 9:00 AM

Fast pass system - Universal - huge, gigantic rip off that no one actually buys so the Fast Pass riders rarely upset the stand-by line wait times. This keeps the stand by lines moving at a regular pace.
Fast pass system - Disney - Free to all and hugely impacts stand by times, leading to vastly longer wait times for everyone. Highly unfair system that actually pisses people off (i witnessed an ugly moment at SM, see my posting on the Disney boards).

So, I was at Universal for 4 1/2 hours:
2 Rides on Rip Ride Rocket
2 Rides on the Mummy
1 Simpsons Ride
1 Men in Black
Not even 10 AM yet.
Walked over to IOA
2 Rides on Fire (refuse to call this Dragon Challenge)
1 Ride on Jurassic Park (Yeah, it was open)
1 Ride on Spiderman
1 Ride on Dudley
3 Rides on Popeye (okay, I love this ride)
1 Ride on Hulk to help drying.

It was now 12:30, 15 rides in about 4 hours in 2 theme parks.

The next day (a MOnday, after SWW weekend)

Park openned at 9 and it was already a madhouse.

1 Ride on Toy Story Mania
1 Ride on Star Tours
it was already 10 AM. I had a fast pass for Star Tours at 11:35
4 More rides on Star Tours
1 Muppets
It was now 12:30 and I had 6 total rides, only about 1/3 of Universal. TOT was over an hour wait and everything else also was really long. I did only one park and far fewer rides. That darn fast pass generally slows things down, terribly.

Not saying the Universal is better, just saying that I felt I got more for my money from them than at Disney.

Dolby1000

I like that you got to ride a lot of rides. I personally prefer Disney only because I can't do too many thrill rides and neither can my DH. However, this does point out some good differences. I love the atmosphere. I haven't been to Universal in a VERY long time. However, once we have a child or teen in our house, we will probably take a trip there for them.

And, I laugh that you are ready for the flames because they are coming. After all, you did post this on the DIS boards.

 

[Lou Holtz]

Agree in general that Universal is the better value, but couldn't disagree more with you criticism of the fastpass system. Plan better and don't wait in the longer standby line. It's free and convenient. There should be nothing to complain about.

 

[lovebug33]

The one thing about US that I think Disney is lacking is the drink system. My goodness, was it nice to buy a butterbeer mug and get 85 cent refills all day long. I wish Disney would do that. I think I got sick one day at Disney because I was too cheap to buy 3 dollar drinks. And, I agree that you can't compare DHS and US because there is a lot more to do at US!

 

[MamaJessie]

Universal - posted opening time - 9:00 AM, actual opening time - 8:40 AM

So, I was at Universal for 4 1/2 hours:
2 Rides on Rip Ride Rocket
2 Rides on the Mummy
1 Simpsons Ride
1 Men in Black
Not even 10 AM yet.
Walked over to IOA
2 Rides on Fire (refuse to call this Dragon Challenge)
1 Ride on Jurassic Park (Yeah, it was open)
1 Ride on Spiderman
1 Ride on Dudley
3 Rides on Popeye (okay, I love this ride)
1 Ride on Hulk to help drying.

It was now 12:30, 15 rides in about 4 hours in 2 theme parks.

Not saying the Universal is better, just saying that I felt I got more for my money from them than at Disney.

Dolby1000

We never hopped from IOA/US to thanks for giving me hope. Is the 20 minutes early opening a normal thing at Universal?

The one thing about US that I think Disney is lacking is the drink system. My goodness, was it nice to buy a butterbeer mug and get 85 cent refills all day long. I wish Disney would do that. I think I got sick one day at Disney because I was too cheap to buy 3 dollar drinks. And, I agree that you can't compare DHS and US because there is a lot more to do at US!

.85 refills? I had no idea! Awesome!!!!!!

 

[nytimez]

Agree in general that Universal is the better value, but couldn't disagree more with you criticism of the fastpass system. Plan better and don't wait in the longer standby line. It's free and convenient. There should be nothing to complain about.

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

Agree in general that Universal is the better value, but couldn't disagree more with you criticism of the fastpass system. Plan better and don't wait in the longer standby line. It's free and convenient. There should be nothing to complain about.

To be honest, this assessment might be true of the other parks but if we're talking DHS here, you really do spend a while waiting, whether its for your FastPass time, in a long standby line, or for a next show time. It's probably just because of the assortment of attractions, maybe a bit to do with the park's layout.

I'm glad for the Star Tours 2 update though. Ever since Toy Story Mania, I've actually been able to get on RnR without either a ridiculous wait or FP time way past when we even intended to be in the park. Star Tours should help getting people over to that side of the park again as well.

 

[ssuro11]

I just got back May 22 from a 9 day trip to Universal and Disney World. I have to agree with the thread starter about his experience. We spent 3 days/nights at Universal staying on site. We used the hotel key/ front of the line perk everyday. I would say over 50% of the time the standby line was 10 minutes or less and this was over a weekend (May 13-15).

I was at Disney World from May 16-22 and the lines were horrible. Disney's fastpass systems is horrible as it allows everyone in the park to hold a position in several rides at the same time. All this does is make the standby lines way longer than they need to be. I will not buy the dining plan b/c the need to make reservations 180 days in advance. I dont want to plan what I see or ride around eating.

To top it off, my two year old had way more fun riding the rides at Universal than any ride at Disney. She loved the two roller coasters and the Red Fish Blue Fish ride at Universal. When she rode Dumbo she asked where the water was. I was a die hard Disney fan before this trip and I am slowly changing to Universal.

 

[tinydancer09]

I haven't read anything but the OP so bare with me if I repeat.

I do love Universal but to be fair it was Star Wars weekend and the debut of Star Tours 2.... Crowds are to be expected. Usually DHS does take longer becuase of shows and such but still, I got in and out of this park before 2 or 3 PM

 

[bumbershoot]

i witnessed an ugly moment at SM, see my posting on the Disney boards

I just skimmed through your past posts, and see nothing about FP. Where is it?

lovebug33, 85 cent refills of *what*? I don't think you're supposed to get soda in the bb cup, and I haven't read before that refills of butterbeer are that cheap with the mug.

 

[WheelCEO]

not that i would ever pay for the fast pass system at universal (i have never encountered a crowd so it is just a big waste of $$) but the system is far superior IMO than disney's. I would GLADLY fork over $70/fast pass to not have to stand in 1-2 hr lines on busy days.

Not to mention, if you stay at a universal resort the fast pass is free.

 

[tinydancer09]

Not to mention, if you stay at a universal resort the fast pass is free.

"Free" with stay. Don't forget you're paying for that hotel. But I'm just being difficult. I completely agree with you. I dislike how universal takes advantage of it and nickles and dimes us for everything else.

 

[schumigirl]

"Free" with stay. Don't forget you're paying for that hotel. But I'm just being difficult. I completely agree with you. I dislike how universal takes advantage of it and nickles and dimes us for everything else.

Universal is far from the only place that is happy to take your money.

We do not go to Disney now. Far too expensive and there`s not much there for us now. Last time we went MK there were no FP left for Splash and when we last went to AK we couldn`t get a FP for EE.....all gone. At DHS the FP time for ToT was about 3pm later that day.......this was around 9.45am.

There`s no such thing as Free. you are already paying for it within the price of your ticket.

Staying at the Royal Pacific for for us represents excellent value for money. The Express Pass is a great perk but for us it`s the whole experience of staying there that makes our whole trip so wonderful.

 

[aubriee]

Maybe if you included the Hary Potter rides the comparisons would be more "equal" ? Like how many times in one day could you realistically go on the most popular Harry Potter ride by 12:30?

I refuse to get into a discussion on which is better--Universal vs WDW. I go to Orlando several times a year and usually stay at WDW, but have also stayed over at Universal. I have Annual Passes for both parks and enjoy both parks. However, I usually get better room deals at WDW and love their dining plans. When I go down, I go to both parks and enjoy both parks, but tend to spend more time at Disney just because it is bigger and there is more to do. Personally I love their fast pass system. It is free and if you know how to use it, it saves you tons of time. I never stand in a line that's more than 20-25 minutes long and yet always ride all my favorite rides several times a day.

As far as how many times you can ride FJ, last August/early Sept I spent a week onsite at RPH. Every morning I was there for early entry and rode FJ multiple times, using the single rider line. One morning I was going to see how many times I could ride it without either getting bored or sick. I never got sick and rode it twelve times in a row before I got bored, then rode the Hippogrif ride, wandered over to get a butterbeer, and was still out of there before lunchtime. The TMs got to where they knew me so well, there where the branch in the line is where single riders move into the left lane, they'd just hold up the standby line, laugh, point their staff toward me and say, "you know which line to go into. How many times is this for you this morning?".

This past Oct we were at WDW, but got to Universal before opening, went straight to FJ, went through the standby line once, then did single rider about four times, then Hippogrif, then my husband did Dueling Dragons, then we wandered through the shops, and got a butterbeer and Hogshead ale and was still out of there well before lunch.

In Dec I was solo again and used the single rider line to do FJ multiple times, did Hippogrif, wandered around the shops, did Spiderman twice, Dudley Do Right, and Popeye Bildge Barges. I then ran over to to the Studios and did Mummy (single rider) four times, Simpsons, MIB (multiple times--again using single rider), saw Shrek 4 D and Terminator, ate lunch at Bubba Gumps and was ready to go back to WDW by 2:00pm.

I've never bought or needed front of the line passes. I get to both parks before rope drop, ride my favorites several times while the lines are short, use the fast pass system at WDW, and use the single rider lines at both parks, plus I refuse to go at busy times of the year. (I'm down there in late August/early Sept, late Sept/early Oct, mid Oct, early Dec, Jan, or early May.)

 

[ducky_love]

It seems like this is a little bit of apples to oranges? Comparing only to DHS during SWW and the grand reopening of a very popular ride seems unfair. Did you have this same experience at other Disney parks?

I can tell you at the moment I have year passes to both. I went to AK after work yesterday and was able to ride 3 rides in the last hour they were open. It was beautiful and empty. I also feel like you can't pack as much in at Disney because the rides are more spread out.

 

[lovebug33]

I just skimmed through your past posts, and see nothing about FP. Where is it?

lovebug33, 85 cent refills of *what*? I don't think you're supposed to get soda in the bb cup, and I haven't read before that refills of butterbeer are that cheap with the mug.

Soda. We went to buy one of the other drink cups and the woman told us why when we can use the butterbeer mug. That was SOOOO awesome of her so that she didn't make us buy another drink container!

 

[Badge]

For me, one of the main reasons we do not visit Disney nearly as much as we used to, is the Fastpass system. I have to believe that Disney understands that it causes MORE problems than it fixes. The Fastpass system is flawed and needs some help. They should not have return times so close together. On some rides it seems like by the time the 4:00 pm people have got on the ride, the 4:15 people have shown up and only one or two groups of people from the standby line have made it on. I don't know what could be done to save the system, but it needs to go.

For those that can remember, Universal once had a "Fastpass" system as well, but they were smart enough to notice the problems it caused and thus removed it quickly after installing it. Now the system works really well. If you want to pay extra for a special "perk" you can, but if you don't, you will not be missing anything. For the people that complain about having to buy it, just stop and think about all the stuff you buy extra but don't need to enjoy what you came to do. If you go to the movies, you don't NEED the 10 dollar popcorn, but you still buy it. You go to the car wash, you don't NEED to pay extra to have somebody clean the inside of your car. I could go on and on.

The reason people buy the perk, is becuase unlike Disney, it works! Very few people use the Express line, so the standby line does not stop moving. Also, for many of the major rides, Universal was extremely smart and has two cars loading at once. One car is set aside for Express riders and the other for Standby. If no Express, Standby people fill it up. This way, both lines get to move and they both never stop moving for a long period of time.

When we go to Universal, we always stay onsite becuase not only are the rooms amazing, but you get the perk for free. If Disney offered this perk to its hotel guest (Deluxe ONLY), we would be coming right back to Disney, but the Fastpass system would have to go. The main reason (and I know this sounds crazy to the diehard Disney fan out there) for the fast pass system, is becuase of greed. The reason almost every ride has Fastpass, even the ones that don't need them, is becuase Disney wants to keep as many people OUT of the lines as possible so they can spend more money on food or in the shops. Sure, you might not do this, but many other people do. Ok, my rant is over.

 

[ssuro11]

For me, one of the main reasons we do not visit Disney nearly as much as we used to, is the Fastpass system. I have to believe that Disney understands that it causes MORE problems than it fixes. The Fastpass system is flawed and needs some help. They should not have return times so close together. On some rides it seems like by the time the 4:00 pm people have got on the ride, the 4:15 people have shown up and only one or two groups of people from the standby line have made it on. I don't know what could be done to save the system, but it needs to go.

For those that can remember, Universal once had a "Fastpass" system as well, but they were smart enough to notice the problems it caused and thus removed it quickly after installing it. Now the system works really well. If you want to pay extra for a special "perk" you can, but if you don't, you will not be missing anything. For the people that complain about having to buy it, just stop and think about all the stuff you buy extra but don't need to enjoy what you came to do. If you go to the movies, you don't NEED the 10 dollar popcorn, but you still buy it. You go to the car wash, you don't NEED to pay extra to have somebody clean the inside of your car. I could go on and on.

The reason people buy the perk, is becuase unlike Disney, it works! Very few people use the Express line, so the standby line does not stop moving. Also, for many of the major rides, Universal was extremely smart and has two cars loading at once. One car is set aside for Express riders and the other for Standby. If no Express, Standby people fill it up. This way, both lines get to move and they both never stop moving for a long period of time.

When we go to Universal, we always stay onsite becuase not only are the rooms amazing, but you get the perk for free. If Disney offered this perk to its hotel guest (Deluxe ONLY), we would be coming right back to Disney, but the Fastpass system would have to go. The main reason (and I know this sounds crazy to the diehard Disney fan out there) for the fast pass system, is becuase of greed. The reason almost every ride has Fastpass, even the ones that don't need them, is becuase Disney wants to keep as many people OUT of the lines as possible so they can spend more money on food or in the shops. Sure, you might not do this, but many other people do. Ok, my rant is over.

could not have said it better myself. Fastpass at Disney is bad and needs to go.