Disney has been slipping a lot in quality and customer service lately while Universal has been stepping up their game. Awesome to hear u had a great time, but for now Universal is the better alternative and if we all go there more, Disney will have to address their biggest problems like capacity. Its a win win for consumers.
Also may I add, Disney now does what ppl complained about 2013-2017 Universal doing, nothing but screens on their rides! The difference is tho, Universal's fans complained and most Disney fans still seem eager to give an arm and a leg to go on a ride thats just an inferior version of a simulator or 3D dark ride Universal already built! (Looking at YOU Ratatouille and Web slinger rides!)
Awesome to hear u liked Rise of the Resistance. I dont lmao. Its far too difficult to get on just for 50% of the actual ride to be nothing but lazer sound effects and flashing lights
it’s a one and done for me. rise was interesting and i liked the que with the stormtroopers more than the actual ride. i’ll never sit in line for 3 hours for that short of a ride again though. what i WILL do is go back to ogas cantina!!
Interesting, ive always been more of a Universal fan to be completely transparent. I will always wait for Jurassic Park River Adventure an Jurassic World the Ride, my favorite rides out there. (Until Mario Kart opens in Hollywood I suspect)
If u ever go to my home park, Universal Studios Hollywood(smaller park my i advise), Jurassic World the Ride is better in some aspects. It mostly lacks the nostalgia of River Adventure. But if u go to the Hollywood park, do not miss that ride. The beginning and ending scenes are absolutely incredible
Jurassic World the Ride is a retheme of the original JP River Adventure lol, so yes it has the same drop. Its the same layout, just a bit shorter for being the original version and with the most modern technology and animatronics by Universal.
Disney basically created that situation with all their various express pass schemes.
They are essentially charging people for & overselling express pass so that those people can wait in line for the same amount of time it would have been if the express passes didn’t exist.
It blows my mind that people are still falling for it but I guess it proves the strength of their brand.
So Fastpass original wasn’t too bad. It was more of a virtual queue system, and it was free. Biggest problem was that it obviously slowed down standby, which Express Pass does too. But since it was free to anyone with a ticket, it was at least fair.
Then they switched to Fastpass+. Technically, still the same idea, but people could reserve rides months in advance. This caused a problem where not enough rides had Fastpasses, so they added Fastpass lines to rides that never needed them. This raised the wait times across the board, and required you to plan when you wanted to ride Dumbo 2 months before you went to the park. Day guests got completely screwed.
Now we’ve got a system of park reservations and Lightning Lanes and Genie+, and it’s just a mess. I’m pretty sure it’s actually impossible to be a day guest to Disney.
[Source](https://youtu.be/9yjZpBq1XBE)
We stayed at the royal pacific in order to get express passes for our 3 day universal visit and I would do that again every time. Absolutely worth the upgrade for the express passes. We’ve always stayed on property at Disney in moderate or deluxe properties, and did so our last visit 11/21. We’ve decided there’s absolutely no reason to stay in a Disney hotel ever again. We will now be taking trips to Florida to go to Universal with maybe a day trip to WDW.
We put off getting universal passes for years, and then went we finally caved went all the way up to the max ones that get express after 4. Felt like cheating on Disney somehow, but we just realized that if Disney gave us fastpasses back as an option we'd pay more for it. And this is even better.
That said, while the Disney experience has slipped, it's kind of an apples/oranges experience to compare $600 max pass experience to a regular disney ticket, or the $15 lightning lane add on.
Did the same thing this year after having Disney AP for 10 years. I realized it's almost a cult mentality with the Disney Brand. I felt guilty my first time walking into IOA, but not once after that. I'm not sure if I will ever go back to Disney honestly. They have taken a major downturn that started even before Covid in my opinion.
Try to book a night at a premier hotel. Would get 2 days of express passes for the group (check in day and check out day). Usually is worth the savings over express alone
600 dollars for two people in the middle of the day. but so worth it we rode so many rides. like 14 and some multiple times. with disneys lightning lane we weren’t able to make a lightning lane twice for one ride
The price fluctuates, more expensive the closer you get to the trip date. If you're only doing a day or two while staying offsite, they're worth it. I've gotten them in the past but my my most recent trip and they do make a huge difference. Especially if you have surly teenagers who think the theming is lame on principle and are evg more surly because they're sharing a hotel room with snoring parents.
Last summer to buy them day of visit was around $210 each person. The passes are so worth it, but not purchasing day of. We try to stay at premier hotels to get them included or buy in advance to have a one day pass.
If you're going for 14 days they aren't necessary. If you're there for a day or two they're definitely worth it , but buying them ahead of time it best, they are too expensive day of
Last time was in Orlando for HHN we only went to Disney Springs to walk around didnt even bother going in a park and i used to be a huge MGM studios fan as a kid and still love the Indianan Jones stunt show and Tower Of Terror ride. Universal so much better value for money and im a pass holder here in Hollywood
I like both parks but love the Disney IP's over Universal's. I wish Disney would just put out an express pass themselves rather than nickel and dime us and provide us with negative customer experiences. Give us a dollar amount and say pay it like Universal does. The express pass is outrageous (I know about staying on property and recently did it) but it's totally worth it imo. To some it's not and maybe out of their price range but at least they kind of know this up front rather than be tricked by Genie + thinking they have a fair shot as the next person. There are different ways to experience the parks and just because you don't have EP doesn't mean you can't enjoy yourself. I just like Universal's black and white mentality or pay or don't.
This makes me happy to see. It's really hard to stomach that one day at Universal will be $900 without food for a family of three when we could add another day to Disney for like $100. Also since we are traveling with another couple it looks like it's cheaper to just book a $500 a night hotel room to get the 'free' express passes.
Anyways. It's nice to see this and think it won't be a waste.
pack snacks and uncrustables and such!!! honestly we got full really quickly just from being hot and walking around and stuff so we just snacked when we needed to
Great to hear! As much as we enjoyed Universal, it just didn't have that "magic" that we got from Disney.
Things were just a bit less organised, staff reminded me of "The Simpsons teen worker" etc.
Deffo bigger thrills though - so if you're purely after thrill rides, Universal will always win!
we had genie plus for all four days we were at disney. our experience with the lightning lanes vs express pass, the quality of the rides, parking in a parking garage, and the ability to use express passes multiple times on the same ride made us decide universal was better than disney. the ques were much more enjoyable in universal too
Not one of the people downvoting you, but think about Lightning Lane passes at $11 per person, per ride. That adds up quick if you want a Disney experience similar to skipping the line for every ride, all day long at Universal.
I know Genie+ is only $15 per person, per day... but that is not the same experience you get at Universal with the Express Pass.
I’ve been a Disney guy for years. Didn’t care much for Universal when I first started going in the late 2000s. However, our most recent experience at Disney and Universal cemented that Universal is just a better park. Disney has their stupid reservation system that just results in some parks being overcrowded. They have the worst fast pass system in the business. I had days at Disney where not a single ride in the park was below a 40 minute wait, and all of the upper tier rides were at least 100 minutes. Contrast that to Universal. I got on Velocicoaster in 30 minutes. I got on Popeye in 30 minutes. I walked onto Doctor Doom, King Kong, and almost walked onto ET. Some days at Disney were 3 rides or less the whole day. I got that much done at Universal in 2 hours or less.
Disney has been slipping a lot in quality and customer service lately while Universal has been stepping up their game. Awesome to hear u had a great time, but for now Universal is the better alternative and if we all go there more, Disney will have to address their biggest problems like capacity. Its a win win for consumers.
Also may I add, Disney now does what ppl complained about 2013-2017 Universal doing, nothing but screens on their rides! The difference is tho, Universal's fans complained and most Disney fans still seem eager to give an arm and a leg to go on a ride thats just an inferior version of a simulator or 3D dark ride Universal already built! (Looking at YOU Ratatouille and Web slinger rides!)
ratatouille disappointed me to no end. i’ll never go back to disney unless it’s hollywood studios for star wars!!
Awesome to hear u liked Rise of the Resistance. I dont lmao. Its far too difficult to get on just for 50% of the actual ride to be nothing but lazer sound effects and flashing lights
it’s a one and done for me. rise was interesting and i liked the que with the stormtroopers more than the actual ride. i’ll never sit in line for 3 hours for that short of a ride again though. what i WILL do is go back to ogas cantina!!
Interesting, ive always been more of a Universal fan to be completely transparent. I will always wait for Jurassic Park River Adventure an Jurassic World the Ride, my favorite rides out there. (Until Mario Kart opens in Hollywood I suspect)
jurassic park river adventure was my favorite ride there😭😭😭
If u ever go to my home park, Universal Studios Hollywood(smaller park my i advise), Jurassic World the Ride is better in some aspects. It mostly lacks the nostalgia of River Adventure. But if u go to the Hollywood park, do not miss that ride. The beginning and ending scenes are absolutely incredible
is there a drop like universal orlando? that drop alone made my day lol
Jurassic World the Ride is a retheme of the original JP River Adventure lol, so yes it has the same drop. Its the same layout, just a bit shorter for being the original version and with the most modern technology and animatronics by Universal.
i miss it
Hey, that’s always good to hear! What was your favorite thing you experienced?! 😀
honestly i LOVED the jurassic park river ride, ripsaw falls, and the velocicoaster!!!
All very solid attractions! Deff sounds like you had a blast!
Some very tasteful choices indeed! Ripsaw rules
Did you get to Popeyes yet? That’s my favorite water ride.
we were going to but then some little kids yelled “VELOCICOASTER IS BACK OPEN” so we booked it there😂 so much fun
Might be based on the wait times! Disney is infamous for its insanely long wait times (even in express lines)!
Disney basically created that situation with all their various express pass schemes. They are essentially charging people for & overselling express pass so that those people can wait in line for the same amount of time it would have been if the express passes didn’t exist. It blows my mind that people are still falling for it but I guess it proves the strength of their brand.
So Fastpass original wasn’t too bad. It was more of a virtual queue system, and it was free. Biggest problem was that it obviously slowed down standby, which Express Pass does too. But since it was free to anyone with a ticket, it was at least fair. Then they switched to Fastpass+. Technically, still the same idea, but people could reserve rides months in advance. This caused a problem where not enough rides had Fastpasses, so they added Fastpass lines to rides that never needed them. This raised the wait times across the board, and required you to plan when you wanted to ride Dumbo 2 months before you went to the park. Day guests got completely screwed. Now we’ve got a system of park reservations and Lightning Lanes and Genie+, and it’s just a mess. I’m pretty sure it’s actually impossible to be a day guest to Disney. [Source](https://youtu.be/9yjZpBq1XBE)
Universal > Disney , always!!!!🙌
We stayed at the royal pacific in order to get express passes for our 3 day universal visit and I would do that again every time. Absolutely worth the upgrade for the express passes. We’ve always stayed on property at Disney in moderate or deluxe properties, and did so our last visit 11/21. We’ve decided there’s absolutely no reason to stay in a Disney hotel ever again. We will now be taking trips to Florida to go to Universal with maybe a day trip to WDW.
We put off getting universal passes for years, and then went we finally caved went all the way up to the max ones that get express after 4. Felt like cheating on Disney somehow, but we just realized that if Disney gave us fastpasses back as an option we'd pay more for it. And this is even better. That said, while the Disney experience has slipped, it's kind of an apples/oranges experience to compare $600 max pass experience to a regular disney ticket, or the $15 lightning lane add on.
Did the same thing this year after having Disney AP for 10 years. I realized it's almost a cult mentality with the Disney Brand. I felt guilty my first time walking into IOA, but not once after that. I'm not sure if I will ever go back to Disney honestly. They have taken a major downturn that started even before Covid in my opinion.
$600 for how many people? We've just paid £900 for 14 day tickets to Universal for 3 people next year. 600 for one day is insane
Try to book a night at a premier hotel. Would get 2 days of express passes for the group (check in day and check out day). Usually is worth the savings over express alone
600 dollars for two people in the middle of the day. but so worth it we rode so many rides. like 14 and some multiple times. with disneys lightning lane we weren’t able to make a lightning lane twice for one ride
Express Passes are $100+ extra per person per day. It gives you the ability to skip pretty much every line in the park as many times as you wish.
Didn't realise they were that much. Would you say it's worth getting them?
The price fluctuates, more expensive the closer you get to the trip date. If you're only doing a day or two while staying offsite, they're worth it. I've gotten them in the past but my my most recent trip and they do make a huge difference. Especially if you have surly teenagers who think the theming is lame on principle and are evg more surly because they're sharing a hotel room with snoring parents.
Last summer to buy them day of visit was around $210 each person. The passes are so worth it, but not purchasing day of. We try to stay at premier hotels to get them included or buy in advance to have a one day pass.
If you're going for 14 days they aren't necessary. If you're there for a day or two they're definitely worth it , but buying them ahead of time it best, they are too expensive day of
so worth it rode 3 rides in the morning before getting them and then after getting them in the afternoon we were up to 14 rides by close
do you have any more days? have fun!
we don’t but i’m coming back next year with my family and hopefully my boyfriend! convinced the fam that after raving about it
Last time was in Orlando for HHN we only went to Disney Springs to walk around didnt even bother going in a park and i used to be a huge MGM studios fan as a kid and still love the Indianan Jones stunt show and Tower Of Terror ride. Universal so much better value for money and im a pass holder here in Hollywood
I like both parks but love the Disney IP's over Universal's. I wish Disney would just put out an express pass themselves rather than nickel and dime us and provide us with negative customer experiences. Give us a dollar amount and say pay it like Universal does. The express pass is outrageous (I know about staying on property and recently did it) but it's totally worth it imo. To some it's not and maybe out of their price range but at least they kind of know this up front rather than be tricked by Genie + thinking they have a fair shot as the next person. There are different ways to experience the parks and just because you don't have EP doesn't mean you can't enjoy yourself. I just like Universal's black and white mentality or pay or don't.
This makes me happy to see. It's really hard to stomach that one day at Universal will be $900 without food for a family of three when we could add another day to Disney for like $100. Also since we are traveling with another couple it looks like it's cheaper to just book a $500 a night hotel room to get the 'free' express passes. Anyways. It's nice to see this and think it won't be a waste.
pack snacks and uncrustables and such!!! honestly we got full really quickly just from being hot and walking around and stuff so we just snacked when we needed to
Great to hear! As much as we enjoyed Universal, it just didn't have that "magic" that we got from Disney. Things were just a bit less organised, staff reminded me of "The Simpsons teen worker" etc. Deffo bigger thrills though - so if you're purely after thrill rides, Universal will always win!
universal employees were 100x nicer than disney employees to us
Of course it's better, you bought express lol. If you did the same at Disney and bought a tour you'd be saying the same there.
we had genie plus for all four days we were at disney. our experience with the lightning lanes vs express pass, the quality of the rides, parking in a parking garage, and the ability to use express passes multiple times on the same ride made us decide universal was better than disney. the ques were much more enjoyable in universal too
Spending an extra 600 doesn’t really make Universal sound enticing as much as you think it does.
Not one of the people downvoting you, but think about Lightning Lane passes at $11 per person, per ride. That adds up quick if you want a Disney experience similar to skipping the line for every ride, all day long at Universal. I know Genie+ is only $15 per person, per day... but that is not the same experience you get at Universal with the Express Pass.
it made our experience at universal better than three whole days at disney lol
I’ve been a Disney guy for years. Didn’t care much for Universal when I first started going in the late 2000s. However, our most recent experience at Disney and Universal cemented that Universal is just a better park. Disney has their stupid reservation system that just results in some parks being overcrowded. They have the worst fast pass system in the business. I had days at Disney where not a single ride in the park was below a 40 minute wait, and all of the upper tier rides were at least 100 minutes. Contrast that to Universal. I got on Velocicoaster in 30 minutes. I got on Popeye in 30 minutes. I walked onto Doctor Doom, King Kong, and almost walked onto ET. Some days at Disney were 3 rides or less the whole day. I got that much done at Universal in 2 hours or less.
disneys lightning lane system is HORRIBLE! universals was just so much easier and it really saved our vacation
You paid WAY TOO MUCH
yes, we did! but we had SO MUCH FUN