WDW Versus Universal Studios

We just went to Universal Studios a few months back. My boys are 13 and 15, and it was really great. There were "older" things for them to do there. And WOW is that Harry Potter area really cool. All the rides in the whole park are so fun, especially for bigger kids. I'd say you might need at least a day and a half, if not 2 days there. You will be glad you went.

We do this fairly frequently. There are two parks at Universal, Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios. Each can be done in a day, or in a less crowded time of the year (and if you don't necessarily need to ride everything) you might be able to do both. Although this has become mo difficult since the addition of Harry Potter, which is definitely worth seeing. Very well done. The dining issue at Disney is a fairly easy fix, you can double up two dinners for a nicer sit down dinner to make up for the one you lose and be sure to grab your breakfast at Disney before you leave, that way you are basically just losing a snack. enjoy!

I think for your kids age they will enjoy Universal a lot, specially with the new attractions.
My husband and I actually love Universal better, specially in Halloween!

Good question, I'll be following. I have the same thoughts.

I definitely think Universal Studios is worth going to, especially given your childrens ages. We went almost 2 years ago and my children really loved it, especially the older ones (which were younger than yours). I think your kids can enjoy a few more rides.

We did the 2 day pass, 1 park each day. It was the perfect amount of time. We were able to get around the entire park without rushing and feeling like we missed everything. That was the huge downside to WDW in my opinion.

Universal might be great for those ages, there are a lot more thrill rides and Harry Potter is pretty fantastic. The main HP ride was terrifying for my 6 year old daughter, but my 8 year old son loved it. I'd say go to Universal, and maybe give it two days -- depending on the time of year you might spend close to a day in Harry Potter if the lines are really long. The rest of Universal is still great, comic book character thrill rides (spier man and hulk, etc) plus Jurassic Park and a few more cool random things. You could do it in a day probably, hit HP first thing since those lines will be longest.

We just went to Universal and Islands of Adventure last week. Stayed at Hard Rock hotel - It was amazing!! It's affiliated w/ IOA and Universal so you get free Express Pass (like FastPass at Disney except it's a more efficient system b/c you don't have to get a ticket and return; you just walk right on). My kids are almost 6 and 7. We spent 1 day at IOA and 2 at Universal (about 7 hours at each park on each day and about 4 hours at Universal on 2nd day). The effects on the HP ride are amazing, BUT if you are not there when the park opens (you get in 1 hour early if you stay at Universal Hotel), it could take HOURS to get on the ride, which lasts about 4 minutes. There are some great roller coasters at both parks if your kids are thrill seekers, and the parks are definitely targeted for older kids. The food at the parks is expensive and there aren't as many options as WDW, but CityWalk is right outside the exit of both parks and there are several good restaurants there. You can walk (5 min) to both parks from Hard Rock or take a 5 min. boat ride. The hotel is perfect for kids your age; arcade, movies on big screen by the pool (dive-in movies) every night, great waterslide and heated pool, shuffleboard & ping pong. We were upgraded to a club level room (7th floor) for some reason (and at no cost to us). COMPLETELY worth every penny - whatever it would have cost if we did in fact have to pay - b/c they have a free continental breakfast (and it's quite good), snacks at 12pm, appetizers/wine/beer from 5-7pm (different theme each night; we had enough to eat and didn't even need dinner 3 nights we were there) and dessert at night from 8:30pm-9:30pm. They also have soda/water/coffee available all day, and you can take it with you to the parks if you want. They had sushi one night; cake pops for dessert and they catered to our multitude of food allergies. We saved a TON on food by staying on the club level. We would go back to Hard Rock in a heartbeat, and if you have to pay for Express Pass b/c you're not staying onsite, it would be $87/pp. The lines for the popular rides would have been intolerable without the Express Pass and we weren't even there during a busy time. I'd say do something different and try Universal & IOA (which is where HP is). I'd get at least a 2 day pass. It's a little too much to see both parks in a day.

Hi,

We just returned from our latest WDW trip and this time we took a day trip to universal. My oldest as well as myself wanted to see the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I have to say, I was so disappointed. Maybe it was because we are big WDW fans, but the cost was outrageous and to me, not worth it. We felt as though Universal was simply a cleaner Six Flags. As for the dining plan, we simply used our extra dinner and booked a character breakfast one day ( so 2 sit downs in 1 day) and our extra table service as a breakfast another.

Your kids are a good age for both Universal parks. My daughter is 5 and can't go on most of the rides there or they are too loud. My step daughter (13) loves the Harry Potter area.

Universal Studios has more to see and Islands of Adventure has more rides. I think your kids would like both. I am not sure how many days to recommend, I am pretty sure they are a little smaller than the Disney parks.