Just got back from a 7 day stay at Disney with hoppers and 19 of my son's extended family. We (DH, SIL, and me) went with my son's family (DDIL and 2 beautiful GDs) for a 3-day Universal trip afterward.
First off: the "19" stayed off-property in a huge rental in Davenport while we 3 stayed on property. They only had 3 day non hopper passes, with a
MNSSHP ticket.
** We love staying at a sky liner resort - this time, Pop.
We arrived on 10/28 and had a breakfast birthday (Chef Mickeys) for my DGD to celebrate her 13th birthday (for 7 of us) then met up with the others for a birthday evening celebration at Planet Hollywood (her choice). She wanted to see her name on the screen.
We arranged our days to coincide with my son, but basically, we met for dinner and a couple of attractions.
We like hopping with a rest in between parks - but we are getting up in age.
Went to the 10/29 Halloween party; pretty nice, but felt crowded, and did not watch parades or stage shows. Instead, we opted to ride attractions. We got in early enough to ride 7D before they opened for the party and all 20 of us that could ride got VQs for Tron at 6 PM. We had done EE for EP that morning, riding Guardians and doing most of the attractions in the front of the park
The first 3 days were wonderful with low crowds; park hopped 10/30 AK (EE) am, DHS evening (getting a few rides in), 10/31 DHS (EE) am, doing Star Wars attractions and then shows, meet and greets; EP evening (Rose and Crown fireworks dinner - would do again). Arrived around 5 PM and was watching a band in the garden of England and for the heck of it tried for, and got, a VQ for Guardians. That's how uncrowded it was.
11/1 we went back to DHS (EE), this time with the other 19, where we met up for dinner and Fantasmic. Slinky was down most of the day. My husband and SIL got in line for Slinky, which was down so the 19 others headed for Rise and did all the Star Wars attractions. the large group was never able to ride SDD because of the closures. At one point, when we were leaving TSMM, we could hear them testing SDD, but it never reopened.
11/2, the full group EP day. Guardians BGs 2 and 10, then a lot of Future World attractions. At lunch, we split off with the 3 of us dining at the Coral Reef while the group ate around the world. You could definitely feel the fuller crowd at the park on this day.
11/3 MK again with 8:30 am BBB for 4, and CRT breakfast for 22. By this day, the crowds and wait times were insane; very glad we had done the Halloween party. We used this day for a full on princess day, meeting princesses and that sort of agenda. Saw the parade and fireworks, though a less than ideal view for the castle projections.
Overall, the group had a great time. BGs for Tron came up at 11:30, but we were having breakfast at CTR. Got a receipt and were able to ride after the BG time expired.
#1: Family of 4 w/2 girls 7 and 10: never been to Disney, will not go back. (Husband does not see any value in this sort of vacation). Even though the 2 girls were thrilled with being princesses for a day and all the things they experienced, fun and memories (to him) do not equal value. The wife was miserable because he complained nonstop about how much everything cost.
#2: Family of 5 w/2 boys 5 and 12, girl 8: never been to Disney, loved it, had a great time, loved the attractions, experiences, and memories they made. Would like to go back after saving money but will take a few years.
#3: Family of 4 w/2 girls 14 and 16: never been to Disney, already planning to go back next year
#4: Grandparents - never been to Disney, loved it, and would possibly go back with their kids. Granddad really loved it. They had originally planned 2 park days and had so much fun at DHS decided to add another day.
#5: My son and family w/2 girls 10 and 13. Have been going pretty much every year (sometimes twice) since 1988. Love Disney, though he tends to be influenced by negative blogs and reviews. He had a great time!
My husband and SIL: I have been going to WDW since 1972. I would go back again, enjoyed the casual touring and slower pace; would like to go for Christmas one more time. Sadly, SIL will probably not go back due to health issues. However, she had a wonderful time!
I think the frantic, fast pace that has been adopted the past few years, partly due to crowds and fast passes,
genie+, VQs have really affected the enjoyment some have for going to the parks. Add to that the higher cost, and it definitely has an effect on the enjoyment you receive from the experience.
We went in with a plan to just go with the flow, no G+, used the VQ system and EE perk, and we had a great time. We kept up with wait times and went where the crowds were lower, didn't let it ruin our trip if we missed an attraction, spent lots of time just stopping to smell the roses, had a great time
Those who had never been, never missed anything, and got a lot of enjoyment from what they did. They had no real plan, and I was surprised with how much they got done.
Another thing I noticed: Practically every dining experience had last minute availability because so many people drop their ADRs. One evening we had already gone back to the room and were trying to decide what to do for dinner; around 5:00 we snagged a 7:40 ADR for Storybook dining. There were 3 available times.
I think it's what you make it. Everyone has different experiences, values and expectations. That's what makes the world go round.
PS, Universal was insanely busy as well. (November 4, 5, 6), even with early entry.
As for WDW vs Universal winning: It's each person's idea of what makes a great vacation. I had fun at Universal, but I love WDW. I think, for me, there's enough at Disney World where you can just chill and do something different each time. Universal parks feel much smaller, and the Harry Potter areas are super crowded. To the extent that I left the group and sat outside being entertained by the shrunken head on the purple triple-decker bus while they did HP stuff.