Orlando, Florida, is the unquestioned theme park capital of the world, with half of the most trafficked theme parks across the globe. These six gates represent decades of achievement by the geniuses at The Walt Disney Company and Universal Studios. Fans of pop culture adore the Florida theme parks hosted by both corporations, but anyone who plans a trip to the area understands that each company has their quirks. Whether you plan a stay at Universal Orlando Resort, Walt Disney World, or a split visit at both, you have to learn the idiosyncrasies of each one while planning your trip. Here’s everything you need to know about the differences in vacation planning at Orlando’s most popular amusement parks!
1. Web site experience
Image: Disney
The Walt Disney Company has hosted several iterations of trip planning software over the past 20 years. For most of that timeframe, they’ve built all their content around a single hub, Go.com. Once they implemented MyMagic+, however, they switched to MyDisneyExperience.com (MDE) as their central database for theme park guests.
The product is largely solid, but it does have its fair share of quirks. Page crashes occur frequently and the timeout functionality is a big problem. Disney software engineers prioritized security to the point that anyone who fails to interact with the system for 15 minutes gets automatically logged out. Other parts of the site also require log-in verification in order to view the content.
Once you grow used to the kinks at MDE, you’ll grow to love it, though. The system is robust and user-friendly. When I access my account, I can see all my hotel reservations, advance dinner reservations, ticket purchases, and FastPass selections on a single page. That’s pretty great.
Universal Studios, on the other hand, is the type of user-unfriendly site that makes me glad I got out of Computer Science. I don’t understand how a site this poorly designed exists anywhere but on archaic Geocities accounts. Simply trying to plan a trip at Universal Studios feels like an exercise in semantics. One of the first questions the planning software asks is how many guests you’ll be bringing. This is precisely the sort of argument-inducing debate that should never occur. Does the person typing count him/herself in who they’re bringing?
At several points during a Universal Studios session, you’ll have to pause to consider what the site’s philosophy is on the purchase. When you buy tickets, multiple options exist for the same purchase type. There’s little by way of explanation with regards to differentiation. We have a running joke among my friends that the quickest way to operate the website is to call Universal’s 800 number then have an operator walk you through the purchase. MDE has some warts. Universal Studios has some plague.
2. Front-of-line ticket options
Image: Disney
As stark a contrast as there is with the web sites, the difference in line skipping is even greater. The corporations take diametrically opposed positions on the subject. Disney not only wants people to utilize FastPass+ but actually shut down their previous system. They did so specifically because they couldn’t control attraction queues enough. Their overriding goal is to entice theme park guests to enjoy nine rides per daily visit. Their Imagineers structured the FastPass system as a means to manipulate behavior. The FastPass+ interface requires Disney tourists to select three different attractions at the same park, thereby assuring a three-hour window where people will remain in the same vicinity.
The Universal Express pass operates in an entirely different manner. This ticket entitled the holder to an unlimited amount of walks to the front of the line. It’s not a free “incentive” that Universal employs to interfere with park traffic patterns. Instead, it’s a means to incentivize theme park tourists to stay onsite at their hotels. People who stay at Hard Rock Hotel, Loews Royal Pacific Resort, or Loews Portofino Bay Hotel automatically receive the benefit of virtual front-of-line status as they traverse the two Universal theme parks. Guests who stay offsite can also purchase this benefit at the current cost of $99 a day.
With this pass, a savvy Universal Studios visitor can enjoy virtually every major non-Harry Potter ride as much as they want. It’s not absolutely perfect, but it’s one of the best “pay to play” options in the industry. Given all of Disney’s attempts to structure their pricing to maximize profit, it’s a bit strange they haven’t added this option. Then again, it might be the one bridge too far for Disney guests already frustrated by the have/have not mentality of many recent park changes.
3. Restaurants and reservations
Image: Disney
When planning for the two parks, this the corporate policy difference that creates the most culture shock. At Walt Disney World, acquiring a reservation is a must at many of their finest restaurants. One of their establishments, Victoria & Albert’s, has earned the prestigious AAA Five Diamond Award for 15 consecutive years. Other options such as Be Our Guest, Cinderella’s Royal Table, and Le Cellier embody the finest in haute cuisine. Eating at Walt Disney World is akin to visiting Las Vegas. Some of the finest chefs in North America serve delectable delicacies. The only catch is that you do require a reservation.
Planning a trip to Universal Studios doesn’t require that sort of forethought. Only a few restaurants onsite require any advance consideration, and you can generally find a seat at even the most popular establishments once you arrive.
Yes, there are busy times that change the math a bit, but Universal Studios requires much less planning with regards to meals. Whether you consider that a positive or not is a matter of personal opinion. Either way, the presence of Universal Orlando CityWalk ensures that you can eat on your own schedule. The tradeoff is that the meals will be a bit more cookie cutter, akin to most of the options at Disney Springs. There’s one notable exception at Universal Studios, and that’s Mythos, the Greek-themed restaurant that’s considered one of the finest theme park dining experiences in the world. Otherwise, Disney wins in terms of quality, while Universal wins in terms of convenience.
4. Purchasing tickets and packages
Image: Universal
In this facet of trip planning, the situation is murky. Both sites offer ticket prices on their web sites that you can beat if you’re willing to shop for the lowest possible prices. Some travel organizations even provide discounts and occasionally even special incentives as well
The trick is that you have to learn what you should expect to pay for Disney and/or Universal tickets. That feels like a moving target in an era when theme park pricing is rising at a fairly constant rate. What you’ll discover is that you can save a few dollars off the price of tickets if you use a third party retailer rather than going directly through Universal and Disney. You should only use reliable sellers, though. Fraud prevention is more important than spending 10 percent more on tickets, after all.
Saving money by purchasing directly requires you to investigate packages, and what Disney experts can tell you is that you won’t truly save money that way. To wit, every year, they offer the same free dining package, and it quickly sells out. People who do the math, however, realize that they are, if anything, paying more for the same items than if they purchased tickets, meals, and hotel accommodations separately. To Disney, the price is the price, although they’ll try to dress it differently from time to time.
Universal Studios is a bit better in this regard, but what they primarily do is sell the Harry Potter brand. Their packages focus on their seminal intellectual property and how guests will have a better trip by getting a wizard package rather than a standard muggle vacation. It’s hogwash from Hogwarts, but people who monitor Universal pricing occasionally do find decent discounts. Disney should do better in this regard. Then again, given their industry dominance, they have no need to do so.
5. Travel and accommodations
Image: Universal
Staying onsite at both locations will provide guests with the same perk. On certain days, the theme parks will either open earlier or close later. The companies reserve those extra hours of operation for the people paying more money to stay onsite. Personally, I love this option and feel it’s one of the strongest benefits possible for a theme park vacation. I experience a moment of tremendous satisfaction when other guests have to leave the park while I get to stay and enjoy much shorter lines for my favorite attractions.
At the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, this incentive is more than just a serendipitous bonus. It represents one of the best ways to ride the Potter attractions that otherwise come with the worst wait-times of either theme park. At Disney, Extra Magic Hours are a nice addition. At Universal, the extra park hours are an advantage you must exploit to maximum advantage.
Planning the travel phase again circles the discussion back to Disney’s favor, though. Yes, you can easily grab a ride from the airports in Orlando and the surrounding areas to Universal Studios. There’s even a shuttle service to onsite hotels, albeit for a fee. In the age of Uber and other crowdsourced driver services, you’ll have no trouble with transportation while you’re in Orlando.
Still, Disney deserves special mention for Disney’s Magical Express, its airport shuttle service that takes all the aggravation out of travel. Simply stated, you put a Magic Express label on each piece of your luggage before you board your first plane. No matter how long your flight is or how many connections you have (and I sincerely hope your answer is not more than one), your luggage will arrive at your Disney hotel a few hours after you arrive. You save yourself all the frustration of baggage claims, adding a level of serenity to your travels. Note that this is available only to guests staying onsite at Disney, though.
Universal cedes a major competitive advantage to Disney by not duplicating this premise. It’s not that big an expense for Disney yet it’s a major incentive for guests debating whether to stay onsite at Disney properties. I love the liberating feeling of sending my luggage off on a trip where I don’t have to worry about it for the rest of my flight(s). Requesting Magic Express tags represents one of my favorite aspects of planning a Disney vacation.
