Universal vs. Disney

We are Disney folks. For several years we have held Disney passes and traveled Main Street U.S.A. as if it were our second home. We have hopped from one park to another riding our favorite rides and viewing attractions over and over again. I have compared and contrasted Disney with Busch Gardens with the end result being that Busch Garden couldn't hold a candle to Disney's magical flame. Disney knows how to run parks, and I went into Universal with the same preconceived notion based on my memories of Universal. I was pleasantly surprised to see I was wrong.

(This ketchup packet would never been seen on a ride at Disney)

1. Cleanliness - I've always said that Disney is the cleanest place next to my friend Krista's house and Universal did not change my mind on that.  Universal wasn't dirty, but at Disney if you drop anything- ice cream, soda, wrappers, lint- Disney fairies swoop down from the sky with a broom and dustpan and poof it is gone.  Not so at Universal.  Darcy spilled her soda inside the I love Lucy tribute exhibit and no one appeared.  She had to find an employee who told her no problem and then put up a cone to keep people away from the soda.  When we left ten minutes later it still hadn't been cleaned up.  Universal wasn't dirty, it just wasn't lick the floors clean like Disney.  Also, I found that most of the floor mats inside the doors of shops had a terrible wet, mildew odor mixed with the bleach they had used to clean it.  I had to leave one shop the smell was so awful.  Advantage - Disney 


2. Employees - This is a hard one to vote on.  Disney has twice the amount of employees maybe more.  In Disney parks there are cast members at every corner willing to help you find something or help you buy something.  Universal didn't have that many employees, but the ones we encountered were so pleasant and accommodating.  Each time we passed someone they greeted us, asked us if we needed anything, or offered to help us find our way.  The ones manning the attractions were the same way.  I even give kiddos to the employees who managed the lines and ticket handing out of the Victorious events.  They weren't informed of things, but they kept everyone cool and an in line and tried hard to answer questions.  While Disney has the same when it comes to all of that we never once encountered a disgruntled employee at all.  Maybe because the park wasn't all that crowded or maybe because they enjoy what they do.  Either way that pushed me to give Advantage - Universal by a slight edge. 


3. Parking - Disney has parking cars down to a science.  They have the correct amount of employees in parking and each one knows his stuff when it comes to moving traffic and getting cars in the correct spot.  Universal didn't have enough employees and those that were there tried to get cars in spots, but there was always some problem.  The spaces are definitely not as marked and spacious as Disney's spots.  But Universal has the covered parking garage where Disney's parking is all outdoors.  I have to say that the covered parking sure was nice when we came out to get into our car at the end of the day.  That in itself made the other stuff no big deal.  Advantage - Tie 





(This was a sign that was not necessary as the castle was so large)

4. Signage - We were only a mile from Universal from our resort, but we had trouble getting to and from the resort.  The signage for Universal both out of the park and in the park was minimal.  We got lost leaving the park each night and usually by the time we came to our senses were going in the opposite direction of our resort.  Disney, on the other hand, has so much signage outside the park that even I can't get lost.  The same for inside the park.  You want to find your way from one end of the park to the other?  There are numerous signs, and employees, to help you find your way.  Not so much at Universal.  Signage was hard to find and employees to direct you sparse.  Advantage - Disney 


5. Extra Passes - Universal had two types of parking; regular parking for $14 and preferred parking for $4.00 extra.  Inside the park if you wanted to move ahead of the regular lines then you could purchase an Express Pass.  Prices were anywhere from $20 to $40 depending on dates and parks.  Seriously?  To bypass a line?  Disney, however, offers Fast Passes that are given at the busier rides for free.  Granted you can only hold one Fast Pass at a time, but it works out quite nicely.  As for the parking?  Again, Disney's parking is superb so premium parking isn't necessary. Advantage - Disney


6. Character Greeting - There use to be a time when characters roamed the streets in parks, but not anymore.  For their safety, as well as park guests, characters are brought out sporadically to certain designated areas and lines are formed for picture taking and autograph signing.  Disney, like their parking, has this down to a science.  One cast member walks with the character directing him to his destination.  Another cast member or sometimes two walk beside or behind the character keeping kids at bay.  Once safely at the destination one cast member directs the line and the other mills around taking photos and keeping an eye on the character.  At Universal they needed some help with their character greeting.  For some reason forming lines is not something they teach at Universal.  They didn't use moveable barriers, ropes, and chains to their advantage like Disney does.  They always ended up with a crowd of people surrounding the one employee who accompanied the character and no one knew where to stand or whose turn it was next.  Advantage - Disney 


7. Dining - Eating at Disney drives me crazy because the choices are never healthy and if you spend several days at the park you leave feeling sluggish and a couple of pounds heavier.  Not to mention lighter in the wallet as everything costs triple the amount you would normally spend at a fast food restaurant.  And really the food isn't very good.  Even at Disney's premier restaurants the healthy selections are minimal.  At Universal, however, healthy choices were in abundance.  They have fewer kiosks and restaurants to begin with, but the ones we visited offered salads and healthy sides.  Most of the restaurants had signs telling you to talk to them about healthier options as well.  In Harry Potter I ordered shepherds pie that came with a garden salad, and at another restaurant another day I had half a rotisserie chicken that came with broccoli and mashed potatoes. Both meals were simply delicious and reasonably priced. Advantage - Universal


8. Bathrooms - This could have been included in the cleanliness category, but there were so many other annoyances in the bathrooms at Universal that I had to give it its own.  Bathrooms in Disney are spotless.  Most have attendants hourly that come in and restock and clean.  At Universal, other than the newer Harry Potter site, the bathrooms were horrendous.  The floors were wet and dirty.  The paper towel dispenser, and I do mean singular, was hanging over a sink so that you had to wait for the person washing her hands before you could dry your own with a paper product.  The bathrooms had one machine hand dryer so that a line would form, and in most bathrooms the toilets still had to be flushed by hand.  Advantage - Disney


9. Water - This might seem like a strange category, but in the end it was the most important.  In Disney if you want water you open your wallet and dole out plenty of cash for a cold water bottle.  For those who don't want to pay there are plenty of water fountains to fill up bottles or to sip from throughout the park but for the most part they are lukewarm.  At Universal, however, every restaurant and kiosk offer small free glasses of ice water...with a smile.  Madison noticed the cups first and asked for water.  The employee happily gave her one and then asked if he could get us all one.  The day of the concert after running from venue to venue collecting tickets we went into a restaurant for breakfast.  I sat down at a table while Tom and the girls went to get our order at the counter.  An employee wiping tables and refilling napkin holders stopped at my table asked if I was alright and then brought me over a nice glass of ice water.  The best thing to happen to us was the last day.  We stopped at a kiosk to purchase a slurpee like drink, our favorite in the whole park.  While one employee was getting it the other employee saw that Darcy had an empty bottle of water.  She offered to fill it with cold ice water, did so, and then filled Tom's coffee cup that he had brought in with him that morning.  For us that made Universal the king.  Advantage - Universal

Madison summarized it well as we left.  Disney has a better product that turns over year after year where Universal banks on movies that go out of style after a couple of years.  Disney is all about promoting their products all through the park from the entrance to the exit.  Universal, while they have the shops and kiosks, they have fewer and seem more concerned about customers enjoying their time on the attractions first.  Disney is first rate and still reins supreme in the park attraction business, but Universal's personal touches won us over.  It was a good vacation.