I’m often shocked by how many people think Universal at Disney area actually owned by the same company. They are not, and there are actually some distinct differences that you need to know about — that will make your trip cheaper & easier (especially coming from a Disney mentality).
2 Parks Close 1 Park Far (+ Water Park)
The Universal Orlando has 4 parks. Two of them are right next door to each other (think Disneyland and California Adventure):
Universal Orlando — The Original Park. It’s age is showing, and they are working to mix it up a bit, but still a lovely park, and has one of my favorite Harry Potter areas.
Islands of Adventure – This park may have the best coasters of any park, anywhere — between Velocicoaster, Hagrid’s and then Hulk (at a very distant 3rd).
Those two parks are right next door to each other. You can go between them using the Hogwart’s Express (stay tuned for more on that) or easily walking.
There is also Volcano Bay — their water park. I’ve never been, but I’ve heard rave reviews.
Epic Universal — The newest park. This park is amazing, but new — and doesn’t have a ton of rides. But, even with Express pass I’d still have loved to spend another day there. It is pretty far from the other parks — not walkable. It also has it’s own set of hotels around it.
Looking for more Epic Universe Info — be sure to check out these posts:
- Ways to Save at Epic Universe
- 7+ EASY TIPS for the Universal Orlando Resort + 3 JUST For Epic Universe!
Great Transportation
Just like the Disneyland resort, there is great transportation between the different parks and also the Universal hotels and the parks.
Just make sure the bus is going where you want to go. I have heard they’re hoping to set up separate transportation between the 2 main parks and Epic Universe (think: Skyliner, although I think they’re going below ground vs above ground). Currently, it’s just busses.
FYI, it takes about 15 minutes to get between the Epic Universe area and the “main” area. You do go through “regular” Orlando to get there.
Confusing Booking – Free Help!
Much like Disney World there are a LOT of options to stay both on property and off property.
In my best ways to save with Epic Universe I detailed how we switched hotels a few times to save both time and money. Guys, you need an expert on this one.
I used Get Away Today. Their assistance is free (I’m seeing a LOT of people charging for it lately).
- They can check a few different systems to make sure you’re getting the best pricing
- They book both on-site hotels & off-site hotels (we stayed at the Fairfield close by one night, and it was lovely).
- I checked back every 3-4 weeks to make sure the pricing hadn’t changed (several times it went down, and they quickly saved me some cash!) — this would have been a HUGE PAIN to do on my own!
- They’ll happily book you several hotels for your stay and answer questions about both the park, hotel transitions, and each resort!
Use coupon code CURLS10 to save an extra $10 on your trip with them!
I’ve used them for years to book Disneyland, and I will say for a long time their Disney World & Universal booking were confusing — but it’s gotten a LOT better in recent years, and they’re a valued partner now!
You can still my trip calculator as well:
Citiwalk=Downtown Disney
Ok, if you’re familiar with Downtown Disney or Disney Springs, that’s similar to Citiwalk. AND, similar to Downtown Disney at Disneyland — Citiwalk is what you walk through to get to the parks from the transportation hub.
There are a bunch of restaurants in there, and entertainment options.
Frankly, I just usually zoom through it on my way to the parks, but it’s there, and may be an option if you want to get out of the parks for a bit (we’ll talk more about food in a couple of sections).
Pro Tip: Stay at the Hard Rock, Portofino, Sapphire Falls or Royal Pacific and you can take a boat to the parks (or walk — which is usually what we do — about 10 minutes from Royal Pacific or Hard Rock). You get to skip City Walk which is really nice (in my opinion). And yes, I did use Get Away Today to book those. 🙂
Universal Express = Lightening Lane
Every park has their own system to pay more and “skip the line” (Knotts oas Front of the Line Passes and Dollywood has Time Saver).
In the Universal sphere they’re called Universal Express. There’s a few options where you can skip each ride just once or in the older parks you can get one that allows you to the skip the line as many times as you’d like.
At Epic Universe these must be purchased separately (or as a combo with the other 2 parks). However, you can get Express Passes if you stay at either the Hard Rock, Royal Pacific or Portofino resorts (but not Sapphire Falls — even though it’s considered “deluxe” as well) you get express passes included for your stay (for everyone named on your reservation).
This is a huge perk and one that Disney does not give with their nicest resorts.
I also give the BIG tip that every night’s stay gets you two days of unlimited express passes — so we most often include one night at those deluxe resorts during our stay. More in that post on how to save on your trip.
Now, if you take a peek at the pricing you’ll see this is not cheap. It’s most often much more than the price of your ticket. Because the cost is so high, there aren’t many people in the Express Pass line, meaning it moves much quicker than it does at Disney. A nice perk. But a pricey one.
A Note on Epic Express Passes:
As I said above, they are not included with any of the deluxe hotels –you must purchase it separately.
However, if you’re not staying at one of those express pass included resorts, I’d encourage you to check out the pricing on the multi-day express pass options.
Personally, we did pay for express pas at Epic Universe. I think we could’ve done the day without it, but we would have missed the Harry Potter Ride — and since that was a “can’t miss” for us, we splurged, but it’s a lot! We sure did enjoy it though!
Food Isn’t a Highlight
When I say this, I mean the original parks — Universal Orlando and Islands of Adventure. Their food is just your basic park foods. Even the foods people tell me are “amazing” I think — meh.
However, the food at Epic Universe is probably the best theme park food I’ve ever had. The French Restaurant in the Harry Potter land is amazing (I recommend the Quiche and French Onion soup if it’s not blazing hot).
It shows me that Universal CAN produce winner food — I hope they bring that to their other parks.
I will say that we stayed at the Endless Summer resort and really enjoyed the food options there after a long day at the parks. There was a lot of variety that a family can choose between, and the value was pretty good for what we got. Plus, we boxed it and brought it up to our rooms to enjoy on our beds!
My hope is that Universal will up their food game in the future with their older parks, but as of this writing. It’s not there yet.
Great Shows!
I feel like a lot of the Disney shows cater to smaller kids, but they Universal Shows are so great!
We LOVE the Bourne Identity and Horror Makeup shows. Not only are they will air conditioned with good seats (a must in the hot Orlando sun), they really are fun for adults too.
I haven’t done the animal one for a long time. It’s not air conditioned (insert sad trombone sound) but I’ve heard good things….
Chill Out.
There’s no reservations.
No weird time for park hopping.
Just enjoy the day!
Less For Littles
Universal is more of a park for tweens and teens on up. It has less to do for littles.
That isn’t to say that you can’t take smaller siblings and have a good time, but you need to be aware (these are in comparison with Disneyland):
- Height limits tend to be higher
- Very few rides don’t have a height limit
- Some of the rides are just scarier (think Transformers and Harry Potter)
I definitely scared my youngest on the Forbidden Journey ride, probably taking her too early.
They do have a GREAT family swap program, that allows kids to do the lines (lines are amazing — more on that) and enjoy an air conditioned room while you wait.
They also have some fun areas for little kids including a Dreamworks area that is REALLY sweet. But, it’s just a nice playground…. There is a lot for little kids to enjoy (think Minons, etc) — but you just need to know it’s going to be more experiences, and less rides.
There are a few kid areas, Epic Universe’s Mario Land is more tailored to kids (but can be VERY over stimulating). I think the How to Train Your Dragon land would be fun for kids as well.
Just be mindful Universal doesn’t mind scaring people a bit more. Be thoughtful of rides you take timid riders on, and it may want you to wait a few years before you head to Universal.
Personally, I wouldn’t take kids much under 8 unless they’re younger siblings that just need to come along. For reference, I’d take kids of any age to most Disney parks, but think it doesn’t really get “good” til’ they’re about 3.
Pass Holder Benefits
I honestly had no idea about these until recently when I got.
Universal Passes aren’t much more than a 3-day ticket, but they do have black out dates — especially on the lowest “tier” of tickets — so, be very thoughtful of which tier you purchase. Honestly, if I had a 3-day ticket I’d at least stop by Guest Services to see how much it is to upgrade if there is any possibility of you being in the Orlando area any time soon.
Currently, annual passes are NOT good at Epic Universe (as of this writing). They do give some very mild discounts to Epic Universe, but I wouldn’t buy it just for that.
However, they offer AMAZING discounts at the hotels (no matter the tier you purchase). I think I spent around $40 to upgrade to a pass from a 2-day ticket. I saved well over $300 on hotels on my next trip.
They also offer discounts and some offer Express pass after 4 or free parking, depending on what tier you get.
Just something to consider.
Park to Park = Hopper
Every park system has their own “hopper” type pass — and with Universal it’s called Park to Park. You need to be careful about which parks you can go to — but a Park to Park is required to go on the Hogwarts Express as you are going from Islands of Adventure to Universal Orland (or Vice Versa).
While park to park wasn’t allowed initially with Epic Universe, it is now allowed.
I would have loved an extra half day at Epic. It’s just a great park!
You can upgrade to Park to Park if you decide you want to go on the Hogwarts Express. Just FYI.
Bonine to the Max
The Universal Parks are the first place that I realized I could get motion sick.
Oy. vey.
They have a lot of screen rides. If you’re a Disney fan — think Star Tours or Millenium Falcon type rides (or frankly Mickey and Minnie’s, that sometimes gets me too).
The magic of Bonine fixed me. It’s a single pill, non-drowsy, and magical.
Lately I’ve also added a motion sickness patch with it too — just to be sure.
If you’re a Costco member you can ask for a big bottle of Bonine (generic name Meclezine) behind the counter. Much cheaper than the small viles you get on Amazon (but I love to put those in my park bag).
Honestly, without it I can’t last at parks anymore. It’s spread to Disney parks as well… I’m a big fan of it, and I don’t notice any issues when I take it.
Lines are Rides
Universal’s lines are amazing.
Now, not all of them.
But some of them are just amazing. Ones that come to mind that you really want to walk through even if you don’t ride the ride (think Rise of the Resistance hanger type rooms)
- Escape from Gringot’s (that first room is amazing)
- Forbidden Journey
And, in Epic Universe:
- Frankenstein’s Expirement
- One TINY part in Minecart Maddens (the rest is very boring)
- Ministry of Magic (best line ever — which is good because it’s INSANELY LONG)
- Mario Cart — SO good!!!!!
Disney tends to make the “cool” parts pretty far into the ride, but these are well themed throughout.
Less Time on Your Phone
I feel like I’m on my phone 90% of a Disney day — checking wait times, getting lightening lanes, mobile ordering.
And a lot of those have perks.
But at Universal (especially with an Express Pass) I get to submerse myself a bit more.
Yes, there is mobile ordering (which I love) but you tend to sit down and then do it.
I love this part of Universal — maybe my favorite thing (as a mom of teens/adults).
YOU. GET. WET.
Not kidding there. I’m talking drenched.
Honestly, I hadn’t gotten that wet on Jurassic Park River Adventure, but the last time it threw a BUCKET of water on me. It was crazy.
But, the real wetness (i’m talking wetter than taking a shower with your clothes on) comes from
- Popeye’s
- Dudley Doo Right
So. sO. SO wet! Maybe you thought that you got wet on Kali River Rapids or Grizzly River Run. And sure, you get wet.
But not this wet.
I 100% recommend ponchos, and most important shoe covers like these (we used those exact ones — the one thing I’d recommend is to have your pants go OVER them — don’t tuck them in — my son tucked his in and the water traveled down — mine went over and I didn’t have an issue, my shoes were almost entirely dry)
Or skip them. Those are you two options. 🙂
Bags on Rides
And finally, Universal is a lot more strict about bags on rides.
But the GOOD news is, on those rides that they don’t allow bags on, they do give free lockers that are SUPER easy to use.
Some rides allow you to take a small cross body bag on (think just one shoulder or around your waist), and some rides do not allow ANYTHING on beyond your lanyard which you have to tuck into your shirt). You even have to go through a metal detector before you get to the ride. They’re serious about it. These tend to be on coasters — off the top of my head those are Hulk, Velocicoaster, and Stardust Racers.
In Epic Universe the lockers are nicely sized, but in the other 2 parks the lockers are pretty slim. They will not fit a lounge fly with the extra pocket in front. Just FYI.
So, there’s my best tip if your going from Disney to Universal Orlando.
The other tips is smart move. Especially if you have older kids. My kids LOVE Universal, far more than Disney. They love the themed lines, the coasters, the scares and the more “adult” humor.
I think you’re going to have a GREAT trip. Just be sure to check pricing with Get Away Today >> it’ makes it EXTRA special when you come home with extra dollars and great customer service!
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