There is no question that sends Florida theme park fans into a passionate debate faster than, “Which is better– Walt Disney World or Universal Orlando Resort?”
I can think of numerous times when we’ve had articles here on Theme Park Tourist having nothing to do with the debate where readers still take to Facebook to speak their feelings on this complicated subject. There are a stunning number of factors involved. Walt Disney World has unbeatable nostalgia, atmosphere, and guest service but Universal has an edge in appeal to teens, thrill ride technology, and prices for dining and merchandise. We’ve discussed many of the advantages and disadvantages of each resort many times before here at Theme Park Tourist.
I had the pleasure of returning to Universal Orlando Resort after a decade long absence and was blown away by how much the resort had improved (particularly by the stunning Harry Potter sections). Despite being a diehard Disney loyalist, I have long held the opinion that Islands of Adventure is one of the most incredible theme parks ever built. This article is not meant to suggest that Universal Studios Orlando or Islands of Adventure are inferior parks, nor is it meant to put over Disney more than they deserve. Indeed, there are many areas where Disney has needed their feet held to the fire by a competitor as strong as Universal.
However, there are still areas where Universal Orlando Resort could learn a few things from Walt Disney World. Indeed, if you are a Disney regular visiting Universal Orlando Resort for the first time, you may just find yourself missing these four key things…
Editor’s Note: Jett’s opinions in no way reflect those of Theme Park Tourist or its staff.
1. Air Conditioning
This was the most unexpected difference we noticed between Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort. On a steaming Florida summer day, it stood out like a Disneybounder prancing through Diagon Alley…
Universal Orlando Resort has a bizarre lack of air conditioning in attraction queues, shops, and many restaurants.
While Walt Disney World gets as hot as anywhere else in Florida, it never occurred to us how ubiquitous air conditioning is in the kingdom of the Mouse. You usually don’t have to hunt far in Walt Disney World to find a shop, restaurant, or ride queue with A/C.
However, at Unviersal Orlando Resort, with the exception of well-insulated attractions like Poseidon’s Temple, the blazing heat proved inescapable. Particularly in Islands of Adventure, do not expect to find icy air conditioning on most ride queues or even in many shops. While this makes sense for the attractions with outdoor queues, a steady miasma of sticky heat carries over into many of the resort’s indoor rides as well.
The issue was most noticeable in the faces of many Universal cast members we met in shops and restaurants. A cashier at Three Broomsticks fanned herself with sweat pouring down her cheeks, looking ready to drop at any moment as she took our order. Shop attendants in other areas did the same. Indeed, the several we briefly interviewed all said the same thing: it’s not a fun situation for guests or for those who work at Universal.
If you’re visiting on a particularly sweltering day, take care to make sure you have a water bottle you can refill or frequently pick up free water from any locations with a soda fountain. You may also want to bring a small fan in your park kit.
2. Crowd Control
Another dramatic difference we noticed between Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort was efficiency of crowd control. While navigating Disney crowds on a busy day is ugly business, Disney cast members are well trained and prepared to direct and disperse huge crowds, and generally this works well. While Universal does a laudable job at this, be ready for some distinctly uncomfortable “every man for himself” crowd control situations during your visit.
There were several of these at Universal that we noticed that bypassed “momentary bustling” to total pandemonium. One attraction where this is problematic is Poseidon’s Temple. While the concept of the attraction remains extremely cool (as is the wonderfully air-conditioned building), jostling a massive crowd from one dark enclosed space to another becomes messy quickly. While a few well-placed cast members could help alleviate some of the awkwardness, with almost no one directing the crowd, the journey can quickly devolve into a somewhat violent cattle call.
Universal seems to have a particular penchant for releasing barely-restrained crowds in dark, constricted spaces. Nowhere is this more apparent than in trying to get a locker for their thrill rides. The Incredible Hulk’s lockers are outside, but even trying to get to these proved an exercise in patience. Worse were the lockers for the now-deceased Dragon Challenge, where guests frantically crammed into a tiny hallway to store their belongings.
Image: The Conmunity – Pop Culture Geek, Flickr (license)
The most bedlam crazy example lies inside the queue for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. After entering the attraction’s stunning replica of Hogwarts, guests are directed to either continue forward in the queue or divert to the side to place their belongings in lockers. If you are an introvert or suffer from social anxiety, you would be well-advised to rent a locker at the park’s entrance rather than facing the maelstrom of humanity which is the locker rental section for this ride.
The problem is that such-said lockers are tightly crammed into several constricted corridors. Rather than directing guests through an orderly line or to open stations with cast member assistance, the result instead is a sea of tightly pressed bodies all attempting to go different directions. Getting to a locker and gaining enough room to place your belongings inside is challenge enough, but escaping the corridor is an experience to match the worst nightmares of any claustrophobe. The whole design is utter madness and seems like a proper recipe for a Hogwarts-Edition Ballroom Blitz. It’s such a bizarre setup that it seems to border on dangerous.
Part of the crowd control issues seem to stem from Universal having fewer cast members on hand to direct crowds in sticky situations. With the lockers, queue design and cramped space contribute to the issue. Either way, be prepared when visiting Universal Studios Orlando on a busy day to face some crowd situations a fair deal dicier than most you might face at Walt Disney World.
3. Free FastPass access
Paid FastPass is one of the easiest-to-spot differences between Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort. While Disneyland has made the jump to the paid Maxpass system, guests familiar with Walt Disney World’s free FastPass+ will likely finding themselves missing it compared to Universal’s alternative.
The most obvious disadvantage to Express Pass is the cost. Particularly during peak season, it is not a cheap addition to your theme park ticket, and on a high-attendance day, it’s a near-necessity if you want to see all the attractions in a single park. If you want to save, you can opt for the “one ride per attraction” version, but the cost still is hefty if you have more than one party member.
There is another issue with Express Pass compared to Disney’s FastPass+. At initial glance, Express Pass offers superior flexibility. You can choose whichever attraction to visit at whatever time of the day, a huge boon over FastPass+ and its rigid choices and time limits.
However, the issue with this is that if a large number of guests choose to use Express Pass on an attraction at the same time, you could be facing a very long queue despite having paid for the Express line. As much as the time blocks on FastPass+ can prove a pain, the fact that Disney carefully limits the number of guests visiting the FastPass+ lines means that even if you have to wait a few extra minutes, you will usually not be stuck in a queue nearly as long as the stand by line. With ExpressPass, there will be times that you roll the dice, and you may feel like you’re not getting quite as much bang for your buck as you’d hoped.
4. Stability and re-rides for attraction malfunctions
This was one of the more unusual items where we found ourselves missing just a bit of that Disney magic. Walt Disney World thrives on spectacular guest service. One of the quieter ways this shows up is if you happen to be on an attraction that malfunctions at Walt Disney World, there is a good chance you may get to re-ride that attraction (depending on the circumstances). This is not a 100% of the time case, but it does seem to happen more often than not.
While I imagine there are situations where Universal Orlando Resort does the same, our experience was that the Universal cast members were not so quick to address issues of ride malfunctions, and there are times when ride closures might arrive in an avalanche.
Our first encounter with this was on the Incredible Hulk roller coaster. After waiting through a surprisingly lengthy Express Pass queue, we rode the coaster only to find out that all the speakers in our car malfunctioned, so there was no atmospheric sound. As we had several guests in our party who were riding it for the first time (and who would not be able to return anytime soon), we brought up the malfunction to the team member on duty as we exited the ride. It appeared to be an issue specifically with our car rather than the whole ride.
While he was polite, the response was simply a shrug and a brief word that they would look into the issue. It wasn’t a huge problem, but it was disappointing that we didn’t get that usual “second chance” we’d come to expect from Disney.
We ran into another ride issue on Dudley Do Right’s Ripsaw Falls. Our party were literally about to board when the ride went down due to a malfunction. Unfortunately, there was nothing the team members could do, so they sent everyone out of the queue. In this case, we had a more positive experience—the team member at the front mentioned that our party could return and mention her name to get back into the queue if the ride opened later. It didn’t, but this was a nice gesture. However, there would be no such luck for the parties behind us.
We ran into another closure on Skull Island: Reign of Kong Finally, we headed to Dragon Challenge, hopeful that our luck would improve. As it had been with Ripsaw Falls, we were literally about to get on the ride when it closed due to inclement weather. Once again, while the cast members were very nice, there wasn’t much offered in the way of hope for a future re-ride without waiting in the full queue again.
Now, of all the differences, this situation is a mixed bag. Even Disney can only do so much when a ride goes down, and there are times when they are hit by multiple closures like anyone else. They cannot give Fastpasses to all guests in line or even promise re-rides in these situations. However, it seems across the board, our experience over the years with Disney cast members in situations like these proved to be more accommodating than what we found at Universal. It wasn’t that the Disney cast members were simply nicer. Rather, it seemed they were empowered to do something about it.
With Universal, both the frequency of ride malfunctions and the lack of any clear direction for guests who found themselves faced with one proved disappointing. Universal Orlando Resort is an amazing resort with many advantages over Walt Disney World. However, it seems there are still a few areas where Disney maintains the edge of over half a century of theme park experience.
When you visit Universal Studios Orlando, what are some other elements you miss compared to Walt Disney World?
