Walt Disney World or Universal Studios?
On our last trip to Orlando, we were able spend several days at Walt Disney World and several days at Universal Orlando. We'd been to Universal Orlando before, but it was a really, really long time ago. Like, before Islands of Adventure long time ago, so we thought we ought to give it another chance... and we liked it! But this is a Disney blog, so I think you already know where we land on the titular question: Walt Disney World or Universal Studios?
But in this post, we're going to tell you why we prefer Walt Disney World to Universal Studios based on our experiences. And then, in the next few posts, we'll explore some broad categories that impact the theme park experience and dive deeper into why we said what we said about each category. While incredibly personally biased, being that we are Disney-trained and worked at Disney, we are going to go about this in as factual a manner as possible. Because there are some things that Universal is doing we wish Disney would do!
Who is the Audience?
Sometimes it feels unfair to compare Universal Studios and Walt Disney World, and that's because these two theme park complexes seem to cater to different audiences. Walt Disney World makes pretty clear the audience they are for: Children of All Ages. This means we're going to find things for little kids, grandparents, and everything in between (but mostly children). If you've learned anything from us, we hope we've shown you that Disney is not just for children and people with children. When I go, I frequently go with a group whose average demographic is somewhere between 30 and 60, and we have a great time. But what one can expect from Disney is clean, safe, G-rated fun. There is very little that is intentionally scary for a child, or anyone for that matter. The belief in magic is heavily relied upon and Disney invites you to suspend disbelief and immerse yourself in a world of fantasy. And they do it really well.
Universal, on the other hand, has made the likely wise decision not to directly compete with the Disney demographic. Their experiences currently cater most to the demographic ranging from teenagers to adults. Yes, there is Seussland at Islands of Adventure, but it is a surprisingly small little chunk of theme park dedicated to little children. Universal will gleefully frighten you, and it can be assumed that this is what teens want. The majority of rides are thrill rides based on pop culture. In fact, we dare say Universal has the ability to keep its rides more relevant to current pop culture based on the ride mechanics they've chosen which rely heavily on 3-D glasses and screens allowing them to re-shoot a video and update a facade rather than rebuild a track, set pieces, and animatronics like Disney does for most ride updates.
As an author, however, we fall into both the "adults" and "children of all ages" category, so technically, both theme parks should cater to us. And they do. They are just different.
Now for Some Ratings in Key Categories...
The best themed corner of Universal Orlando is arguably Diagon Alley, which is part of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Theme
Universal is learning how to make the theme park immersive, but they're not there all the time yet. Evidence of improvement exists in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which is gorgeous and feels 100% immersive and alive. It is a stroke of genius to sell quality robes and wands because guests themselves are the ambiance, the wizards, that are running around learning spells. But the rest of Universal needs some oomph. Islands of Adventure is pretty, but no one land feels completely separate and immersive. You would think they would be, being islands, but they are actually small peninsulas. And don't even get me started on Universal Studios where the theme is "whatever is popular at the moment on top of concrete".
Disney does a much better job, in our opinion, of eliciting all senses to immerse you. Think of the sounds you hear in Galaxy's Edge, Pandora, or Dinoland U.S.A. Think of the smell of Main Street U.S.A. Think of how, once you enter a land at Disney, it's hard to tell you were ever not in that land because quite often you round a corner, cross a bridge, or go through a tunnel. If you're in Galaxy's Edge, for example, you are 100% in Galaxy's Edge. You can't look across some water and see a coaster. Coasters don't exist in Galaxy's Edge, so you won't see them.
Disney: 1
Universal: 0 (Although we'd love to give half a point for the Wizarding World)
Whatever park you're in at Universal, you're likely looking at a skyline like this with some coaster tracks somewhere in there
Attractions
We're going to call this a draw, but we have thoughts. First of all, we enjoyed attractions at both parks, thoroughly. The rides at Universal were quality rides, for the most part, as they are at Walt Disney World. We went into the attractions at Universal thinking we'd be disappointed because of the ride mechanics. We were not disappointed. Ultimately, who cares what the mechanics are, as long as you are having fun.
Rides at Universal rely pretty heavily on screens, 3-D glasses, and motion simulation. This is both smart, and disappointing if you like to see craftsmanship in set design and animatronics. It's smart because it allows Universal to quickly update their rides. But it is somewhat disappointing that there isn't a ton of variability. We would say that on a given day at Disney, we've done a coaster, a dark ride with animatronics, a 3-D screen ride, a boat or plume ride, and more. At universal, we did a boat ride and several, several, screen rides.
The other thing to keep in mind is the thrill-factor. Rides at Universal aim more to thrill you and can be motion-sickness inducing. This didn't bother us, but is just a thing to note.
Both parks have excellent attractions. It's a draw.
Dining
We plan to dive deeper into this because this was really REALLY disappointing at Universal, with the exception of butterbeer, and we assume everything else that was sold at the butterbeer stand. Mobile order took FOREVER, dining locations seemed to be chronically understaffed, service was slow and not with a smile, and it was nearly impossible to find anything keto (or, we assume, for any dietary restrictions). Universal claims to do well with dietary restrictions, but we didn't see evidence of this. In fact, we didn't see evidence of much variety at all at quick service dining locations. Everything, with a few exceptions that drew incredibly long lines, was burgers, pizza, and hot dogs. If you wanted a taco, you could have it, after waiting in line 60 minutes. Salad? Forget about it. It's a cup of lettuce with two slices of tomato and two slices of cheese. I can't overstate how disappointed I was in the dining.
Disney, on the other hand, has a pretty efficient mobile ordering system, and even with quick service, there is a ton of variety. I didn't have a single quick service burger, hot dog, or pizza at Disney, though I could have. Instead, I had bowls of fruit, cheese plates, grilled vegetable skewers, fajitas, all without needing to wait more than 20 minutes.
Disney: 1
Universal: 0
This is basically half of citywalk, with the larger half on the other side of this lagoon.
Shopping
Another challenging category. This is because we think Universal has a hard fail in one category, but is doing something we wish Disney would do in another.
The hard fail is Universal Citywalk. Has it actually gotten worse over the years? I remember going to Citywalk many years ago just to go to Citywalk (not even the park), and it was great. Good dining, seemingly stretching forever, good shopping, good drinks. Now I compare this to Disney Springs and.... there is no comparison. Especially when it comes to shopping. It seems to use that Citywalk shopping consisted of the Universal Studios Store (big and full of Universal merch), and several kiosks, all of which were closed. Compare this to Disney Springs where you find several stores of luxury brands. Our favorites are the Lego Store, Basin, World of Disney, Pin Traders, and Ghirardelli. I could spend a day at Disney Springs. I struggled finding any shopping to last me an hour at Citywalk.
Within the parks, however, we found more variety in Universal's merchandise. One thing that surprised us was we noticed third party and small business items being sold. For example, at Universal, we saw several Magic Candle Company candles for sale. One will not find these at Disney. It is because these candles are meant to evoke trademarked scents and Disney is protecting its intellectual property? We think that could be. So it shows some bravery that Universal has just gone ahead and embraced that. "You guys made a scent that smells like butterbeer? Great! We'd like to sell it in our shops!" I wish Disney would feel secure enough to do the same.
So, for shopping, Citywalk is a hard fail. But the variety of merch at Universal is pretty good due to opening up to carrying things that aren't Universal branded. Despite that, we think Disney has the edge here.
Disney: 1
Universal: 0 (Except for Harry Potter merch)
Staff
I don't know if Universal was just understaffed or what, but I didn't find anyone to be particularly helpful. People did their jobs... no more and no less. And in this moment in time, it does feel selfish for me to ask people in the service industry to step up and put a little extra into their work. But Disney does it and the people working at Disney do it.
Every Cast Member I interacted with at Walt Disney World was fantastic. And every worker I encountered at Universal was polite and competent, and no more than that. I'll share some personal experiences in a future post that may help define what I mean here and on what basis I make this observation. But for now, I'm going to say Disney staff are excellent. Universal staff are fine. And there's a difference.
Disney: 1
Universal: 0
Cleanliness and Safety
Both Disney and Universal were clean and reasonably safe. I did trip on some raised concrete at Universal, tearing up my knee, but it was the day after a tropical storm and torrential rain, so I think this was probably a tripping hazard that was an anomaly. I also, probably, should have been looking at where I was walking rather than snapping a picture in one direction while walking in another. So, I'll be fair.
Now, the fact that literally no one even paused when I did this was sort of surprising. But that falls under staff, doesn't it?
Other than that, Universal was clean and the rides felt incredibly safe with very secure restraints. I also didn't experience a single breakdown. I experienced two breakdowns at Disney (not while riding but while in queue) and both were fixed quickly, but I was also at Disney about 4x the length of time I was at Universal.
It's a draw.
Ease of Planning
We have a lot to say about this, and we will in later blogs, but it all boils down to the fact that a person could go to Universal at the drop of a hat. No park reservation needed. And if I have a multi-park pass, I can go between parks whenever and however often I like at Universal.
The line skipping mechanism at Universal is called Express Pass, and I could have bought that ahead of time, or anytime during the day I wanted to if I decided later on in the day that I needed it. In fact, I could have updated my ticket type to park to park any time that day too if I hadn't already started with it.
There is just much more ability to modify your plans or change your mind at Universal. Compare this to Disney where you must make a park reservation for each specific date you plan to be in the park (sometimes well ahead of time lest they become unavailable to you later), which means you must have committed to what days you are going where. And then you can park hop but only after 2pm. And if you didn't buy Genie+ that allows Lightning Lane use at the beginning of the day, there is a chance it could sell out. Disney requires more planning, hands down.
Universal: 1
Disney: 0
Security & Parking
One of the most pleasant experiences at Universal was security. Because of how Universal Orlando is laid out, all security is in one central spot. That means you can go through it once, and then enjoy Citywalk, Universal Studios, and Islands of Adventure without going through security again unless you leave the complex entirely. We aren't sure how this works when staying at a Universal Resort, so please tell us what the differences are if you have!
Basically, security is encountered in a hub between parking ramps. From there, you can proceed to Citywalk and then either park. And all parks are within walking distance of each other, much like at Disneyland California which also was able to take advantage of a similar security setup. But that's not all. Security is in a covered area so you're never getting rained on, and it's airport style. This signals to us that it at least FEELS very thorough and allowed us to feel completely safe.
That said, we also feel safe at Disney, but on our last trip, I noticed changes in their security process that made me question whether they were using new technology that just makes security less intrusive, or whether they are being a bit relaxed. Part of me would love to explain what I think Disney is doing technology-wise with security, but I avoid putting those things out in the world for reasons. But at Disney, one can easily go through security multiple times in a day. It's not a big deal, but I liked that it was so central and organized at Universal.
Part of security's centrality at Universal is also due to the parking situation. Again, we think it's great. Universal uses ramps so cars can be parked vertically rather than horizontally on one large pavement like at Disney (with the exception of Disney Springs). And Universal's ramps are great, outfitted with escalators and moving walkways to get you to your car with as little fatigue as possible. We recognize that building a ramp is probably more expensive than building a large pavement and then servicing it with trams, but environmentally and in regards to space, Universal again gets the edge here.
Universal: 1
Disney: 0
Locker System
Another major difference between Universal and Disney is Universal's ubiquitous locker system. It seems like almost any attraction that might even remotely be considered a thrill ride at Universal has lockers nearby that you can use, free, for the duration of your ride, to stow your things. This is because the ride vehicles have little to no space to put personal items, especially backpack style bags. At Disney, ride vehicles can almost all accommodate full size backpacks. The amount of space for stowing stuff is really generous on rides at Disney. The coming exception will be the Tron Lightcycle Power Run, which has a ride vehicle made that looks and rides like a cycle, and therefore has hardly any storage.
We liked that the lockers at Universal were free for the duration of your ride. We didn't always like that they were at the beginning of a ride queue, which meant no photos in queue and no water either. This made for potentially miserable long and hot lines. However, stowing our stuff ahead of riding meant that the ride vehicles themselves could be more innovative, seat more passengers, and be more immersive at Universal.
Universal: 1
Disney: 0
The blurry thing in the foreground is my Walt Disney World ticket media - my Magic Band+ which is syncing to the fireworks show. You can also have a regular Magic Band (without the lights), or just use your phone.
Ticket Media
Another difference, at least for us, was tickets, and how they are held. Universal issued us a paper ticket for our multi-day pass. This led to some anxiety about keeping track of it since at Disney we are used to just linking up our ticket to either our wearable Magic Band or our phone, which is harder to lose. There were a couple times the paper ticket from Universal got damp and stuck to something as I pulled it out of my pocket. I was lucky I didn't lose it on the pavement somewhere.
Disney: 1
Universal: 0
Cost
Finally, we have to talk cost. Ticket prices overall are comparable. A 1-day ticket to Universal Orlando ranges from $109-$135 while Walt Disney World ranges from $109-$159 per day. We didn't notice any remarkable difference in the cost of food inside the theme parks either. One thing I did notice is a big difference in the cost of skipping the line.
At Disney, the skip-the-line option is called Lightning Lane, and it comes in two flavors. If a guest purchases Genie+ ($15-$29 per person per day), they can get a Lightning Lane window (theoretically) for all but one Lightning Lane eligible rides per park. In practice, this doesn't happen because Lightning Lane return times are also timed and only one Lightning Lane can be held at a time. Guests can also buy Individual Lightning Lanes for one Lightning Lane eligible ride per park (the ride itself is determined by Disney and right now, it's one per park, but that could change). This is a cost to skip the line for just that one ride, but you get to choose the time you ride. This price ranges from $9-$20 or so. So, theoretically, if one wanted to have the opportunity to skip all the lines on all the rides possible, a guest would buy Genie+ and their Individual Lightning Lane for the day at a max of $49. BUT again, because Disney is going to issue return times to you rather than letting you join the queue at any time, it's likely you'll only be able to ride about 3-8 rides by skipping the line in a day even with these services.
At Universal, the skip-the-line option is called the Express Pass. One major advantage over Disney is that there are no return times. If you have an Express Pass, you can ride every ride that is Express Pass eligible once in a day, any time you desire. Just show up, and skip the line. This seems on theme for Universal's more laid back touring approach. But wait, there's more: If one chance to skip-the-line per ride isn't enough for you, you could upgrade to the Unlimited Express Pass and basically skip the line multiple times for the same ride or any ride that is eligible. So it's a strong, strong benefit. But what of cost? While we don't think twice about buying Genie+ at Disney, the cost of the Express Pass had us positively agonize over it (and ultimately decide not to buy). Express Pass averages $89.99 for one park or $99.99 for two parks per person per day. Unlimited Express Pass averages $119.99 for one park or $129.99 for two parks per person per day. That's right.... it's as expensive or more expensive than your park admission. We hear a lot about Disney nickle-and-diming people, but this pricing was a real shock to us. However, if you stay at a Universal premier resort, guess what? Your Unlimited Express Pass is free! (A Premier resort stay runs around $312-$372 per night).
Disney: 1 (It shocks us too)
Universal: 0
So what does this mean overall? It means that Disney is doing better in terms of theme, dining, shopping, staff friendliness, ticket media, and price. But that Universal actually seems to have an edge in terms of security and parking, the locker system, and ease of planning a vacation there. In other words, there is healthy competition!
We'll always be a Disney person at heart, but Universal is fun. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter is amazing. I would go again if someone with me wanted to go, and I would have another butterbeer. So we hope no animosity is detected here and that you all take this post for what it is: A compare and contrast opportunity between the two parks that call themselves each other's competition in Orlando.
We hope you enjoyed this post. Do you think we got something wrong? Tell us about it over on our Facebook page where you can follow us to see new posts every week. Until next time...
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