Orlando... Disney? Universal?

In reply to Klayfish :

I'll warn you in advance this site is kind of clickbaity, But they have a rough estimated breakdown

Disney owns and operates seven different parks and resort properties: the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida; the Disneyland Resort in California; Disneyland Paris; Aulani, a Disney Resort & Spa in Hawaii; the Disney Vacation Club; the Disney Cruise Line; and Adventures by Disney. Disney also has effective ownership of the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort and the Shanghai Disney Resort.

Operating all of Disney’s parks and resorts costs $10.68 billion every year, according to the company’s annual report. If the cost to operate was split evenly per park, that would amount to $3.25 million per park per day. Operating costs for each park include employee pay, landscaping, ride maintenance, park cleaning and more.

Not mentioned in that quote, but seen in a few places across the web, all Disney properties brought in about $18 billion last year.  

I think you're Disney bound for the sake of the wife but I have to say the Harry Potter experience was amazing.  We ate at the Three Broomsticks and the Leaky Cauldron.  Bought an overpriced wand at Olivanders.  A few trinkets at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes in Diagon Alley.  Took the train from Hogsmeade to Diagon Alley (which was particularly well done) and back.  My daughter was 7 and had read all the books (with us)/watched all the movies a million times.  She was completely over the moon about it.  Just awestruck.  

mfennell said:

I think you're Disney bound for the sake of the wife but I have to say the Harry Potter experience was amazing.  We ate at the Three Broomsticks and the Leaky Cauldron.  Bought an overpriced wand at Olivanders.  A few trinkets at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes in Diagon Alley.  Took the train from Hogsmeade to Diagon Alley (which was particularly well done) and back.  My daughter was 7 and had read all the books (with us)/watched all the movies a million times.  She was completely over the moon about it.  Just awestruck.  

 

 

Agreed - liked the rest of it but was really impressed by the Potter experience.  Part of that could have been some air conditioning and a pint at the leaky cauldron...

I don't even like Harry Potter, and the theming they've pulled off there is truly incredible. 

https://warbirdadventures.com/

mfennell said:

I think you're Disney bound for the sake of the wife but I have to say the Harry Potter experience was amazing.  We ate at the Three Broomsticks and the Leaky Cauldron.  Bought an overpriced wand at Olivanders.  A few trinkets at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes in Diagon Alley.  Took the train from Hogsmeade to Diagon Alley (which was particularly well done) and back.  My daughter was 7 and had read all the books (with us)/watched all the movies a million times.  She was completely over the moon about it.  Just awestruck.  

 

 

We're going to both. 1 day at each; I'm planning on spending the entire time at Universal in Harry Potter. My initial plan here is to get there as early as we can, hit the rides, then hit the shops. I would really like to get to all of the restaurants--3 Broomsticks, Leaky Cauldron, and Hogs Head. 

Do we want to buy a wand? What does that get us other than a trinket to throw in the basement later?

When we went, the wands are but mere props. If you buy one at Olivanders, I'm told you get the backlight and wind effect like in the movie.  We never found out for sure cuz the line was out the door and down the street at all times...

So, first of all Mndsm and his... girlfriend? wife? roommate? hostage? are wonderful people. Wow. Thanks guys. 

Secondly, I'm now finishing up the plans. Holy shnikeys is Universal nickelanddimey. I could make this reasonably "affordable" on a day to day basis, but they really like you to package things together for numerous days. 

We were going to stay at an AirBnB about halfway between the two parks, but when I looked at all the options for the universal ticket, I think I'm going to cancel the airbnb and get a hotel through universal in order to get the early park access. Especially since I want to hit two rides only, and odn't want to pay for their silly express ticket.

mtn said:

So, first of all Mndsm and his... girlfriend? wife? roommate? hostage? are wonderful people. Wow. Thanks guys. 

You cant prove that. 

And here we are. Currently in line for our 3rd ride of the day in Harry Potter (4th if you count the Hogwarts Express)—having a good time so far; I don’t think we will end up staying in HP all day and will hit a few other rides in the park. 

As an aside, butterbeer is amazing. I thought it was going to be gross, but holy cow is that good.

Next, beer. And Disney tomorrow. 

I’m glad you’re having fun, you guys deserve it.

I'm writing this from the Orlando Airport waiting to fly home to Philly. Stayed on the compound and did Mickey's parks Tues-Fri. Epcot is my favorite by far of the bunch. I'd be happy just going there if pressed for time and can only go for one day. Crowds weren't too bad. 30 minutes was probably the longest wait in line for ride. Never go near any parks on New Years Eve. Magic Kingdom was at capacity people wise that they wouldn't let more people in. Get fast passes as much as possible. As others have said, the experience is turned up to 11 at Mickeyland...

I took SWMBO to the air port this morning, she and her best girlfriend are there, again, until Wed.  Their 3rd Disney World trip in less than 2 years, thankfully the best friend's husband and I have only had to join them once.

I don't get it, but she lets me buy guns and cars, so I try not to question it too much.

mtn said:

And here we are. Currently in line for our 3rd ride of the day in Harry Potter (4th if you count the Hogwarts Express)—having a good time so far; I don’t think we will end up staying in HP all day and will hit a few other rides in the park. 

As an aside, butterbeer is amazing. I thought it was going to be gross, but holy cow is that good.

Next, beer. And Disney tomorrow. 

Weathers gonna be perfect and all the tourists are gone. It will be busy-ish, but worth it. 

Mndsm said:

mtn said:

And here we are. Currently in line for our 3rd ride of the day in Harry Potter (4th if you count the Hogwarts Express)—having a good time so far; I don’t think we will end up staying in HP all day and will hit a few other rides in the park. 

As an aside, butterbeer is amazing. I thought it was going to be gross, but holy cow is that good.

Next, beer. And Disney tomorrow. 

Weathers gonna be perfect and all the tourists are gone. It will be busy-ish, but worth it. 

Was perfect today. We’re now back at the hotel for a nap now—we sampled some of the fine local cuisine for breakfast at about 6am at this little place called Waffle House. Very nice joint, 6/7 would go again. Then we were there for opening—hit all the HP rides, MIB, the Rock roller coaster (which was our favorite ride of the day), and the Simpsons ride. In between there was really good food, pretty good beer, and awesome ice cream. 

Glad we went, also glad it was only one day. Someday I’d like to come back in February. It got crazy crowded after 12:00. 

Today was Disney. It was a good day. My wife was in charge, and her best friend who goes at least once a year—usually 2-3 times a year—put the day together for us. 

The TLDR version of this is that, while I get it and did enjoy myself, it isn’t what I’d pick. I’m not saying it’s not for me, but there are a few other things I’d rather be doing—including Universal. 

We started the day at Hollywood Studios. Walked back to Toy Story and quickly walked back out and went to Star Tours. We’d been planning on hitting the Toy Story rides but they were 2-3 hours at opening. We did go back a little later to get to the Mania ride/game, which was fun, but the absolute best part of the Toy Story area were the “Toy” soldiers. Made me smile big. And wonder what would happen to those dudes if I had a magnifying glass. 

Next we got in a Minnie Van, which is a great service, and headed to magic Kingdom. We did Splash mountain, pirates, haunted mansion, Peter Pan, Big Thunder Mountain, and then got another fast pass late in the day and did Splash again. 

Somewhere in there we spent about $73,349.99 on coffee, skewered bacon (why have I lived almost 30 years and never seen this before?), dole whip, Turkey leg (meh—it was good, but nothing for me to write home about), and a free peach cobbler since my wife was wearing a happy birthday badge. 

Enjoyed all the rides, though clearly aimed at kids-and that’s not a bad thing. This is where I saw my first bit of Disney magic (well, second—thanksmndsm)—the little kids were eating this up. Next part of this was seeing a girl come out of Bippity Boopity-clearly thought she was the princess. And she was. Same with kids meeting all the characters. 

Fun aside, or not fun, but the line for Peter Pan was the longest we stood in. We wouldn’t have done it, but it’s my wife’s favorite—her first ever ride at Disney some 23 years ago. It was probably a 100 minute wait. The looks on the dad’s in the room was all about the same. It was a look that said “so. This is the road to becoming a serial killer. Peter Pan.” When we got done with the 2 minute ride that... wasn’t really entertaining, my wife laughs and looks at me “I thought it was longer!”

Anyways, we moved on to the monorail and went to Epcot. Epcot was cool. I’d go here again, for me. Beer was good, food was good, fireworks were cool. Best part for me though was watching the trains in Germany and talking with the cast member who took care of them. We’d walked 25000 steps by then, so didn’t go around the world—but we get some fish and chips, shawarma, a few beers, and a Chinese drink with tea and whiskey and coffee. 

Then after the park closed, we went to Disney Springs and walked around some more. Because we didn’t walk enough. Didn’t buy anything and are now back in the hotel. Tomorrow, back to the real world. And mtn’s advice on visiting Disney and universal(since now having spent nearly 24 hours in the two, is clearly an expert), along with his comparison on the two. 

Glad you had a good time overall.  If you do again, tell your wife's friend to get more familiar with how FastPass+ works and how to get more....there was no need for you to stand in a 100 minute line. 

Klayfish said:

Glad you had a good time overall.  If you do again, tell your wife's friend to get more familiar with how FastPass+ works and how to get more....there was no need for you to stand in a 100 minute line. 

We couldn’t book fast passes until a week prior—weren’t many left. She was actually logged into our account and texting us with new fast passes that she got us as they added more later in the day. We had 4, and one that we didn’t use for spaceship earth. That was the only bad line we stood in both days. 

So, some more rambling thoughts and comparisons between the two. First of all, for both, the suggestion that you have to be OK with literally lighting money on fire is accurate. It doesn't HAVE to be accurate, but it is--moreso for Universal than Disney, just because at Disney it is much easier to have a bag with you the whole time, which means it is much easier to bring food into the park. 

• We did a lot of things "wrong" for Disney--and we knew this going in. First thing "wrong" was that due to the tickets, we couldn't book fast passes until a week prior. Normally, it is a month from what I understand. If you do it as soon as you can, you can easily knock out 3 rides of your choosing, daily, with nearly no wait. We did do it right by monitoring the app as they give out more as the day goes on IF they aren't too busy. We took advantage of this and grabbed 2 more (only used 1 though). 
• Second "wrong" thing was not staying on property. This was a money decision, as well as a decision to stay at Universal--and we stayed at Universal to get Early Entry, which is the same reason that you want to stay on a Disney property. So call that one a wash, but we could have gotten in earlier had we stayed on property. Also could have done a breakfast reservation, but that was too expensive. 
• Third "wrong" thing was coming when we did. Way better than it would have been last weekend, but still not ideal. 

Conversely, we did everything more or less right for Universal. We stayed with a partner hotel and got in an hour before the park opened. We had a loose, but well thought out plan for how we were attacking the day. We were first in line to get in, speed-walked to Harry Potter, straight to the Gringotts ride. There was no wait, but we did let people pass us in line as we looked at the stuff they wound us through--very cool for a HP nerd like me. After that ride, we went straight to the Hogwarts Express, which again had no line. We didn't linger on this one, but took it straight to Islands of Adventure. There, we went straight to the Hogwarts ride, which at this point was about a 45 minute wait--but again, we did not mind. The line took you through Hogwarts, and it was really pretty awesome to do at least once. Then we went on the other ride, which was a kiddy roller coaster, a 25 minute wait. We were done with those 3 rides by about 10:15. 

At this point, it was starting to get legitimately crowded. We walked around the shops, took the train back to the other side, went to Ollivanders for a wand choosing ceremony (little kid got picked--very cool), and ate at the Leaky Cauldron. This is one spot where I'll make a direct comparison to Disney--the Fish and Chips in Harry Potter were slightly better than the Fish and Chips in the UK Epcot. But the tartar sauce in Harry Potter was the best tartar sauce I've ever had. I'd never thought I'd be raving about tartar sauce, but nevertheless, here we are. It was that good. 

We got out of HP at that point and explored the rest of the parks. Didn't get too far Islands of Adventure, but we did explore most of the other side. Top Tip: Use the single rider line. My wife and I got through a line that was 45 minutes in about 15 by using the single rider line. We were one ride apart from each other, but who cares. With that in mind, we did not get the express passes. However, if I was doing a 1 day trip again, I would even though it basically doubles your price. You could legitimately knock out the entire park in a day with the passes. We didn't because we were focussing on Harry Potter. I don't regret that, but now that I've done it if I were to do it again it'd be the same morning routine followed by the express pass and getting on all the good rides multiple times. Then we'd finish the day off by heading back to HP. I had a seriously good time just being there. 

Universal needs to adopt Disney's fast pass scheme. Disney has it down; Universal has it down to make the park money. 

If I were to do Disney again and I picked what we were doing, I'd probably basically just stay in Epcot. I'd probably want to hit Animal Kingdom, but I'd be happy just nerding out in Epcot. I'd just need to get a loan for the food and beer that I'd want to drink. 

The rides at Universal are much more exhilerating. Definitely where I'd pick for a thrill ride. Additionally, the lines themselves were more enjoyable for at least the Harry Potter rides. Disney was definitely better for families, and other than Harry Potter, the "experience" was better at Disney--Harry Potter was like stepping into JK Rowlings head. 

My last thought on this is that I am happy I went, but I'm also not chomping at the bit to bring a young family here--at least during a busy time of the year. Maybe pull them out of school for a couple days, but not during Christmas break or spring break. And "aw hell naw" to doing this in the summer.

Im absorbing all this info and also emailing these recent threads to my wife. 

We are planning to go here this coming November. with a 4 year old, a 1 year old, My inlaws, maybe also wife's brother and his family. (also 4 and 1 year olds).  Renting a house off property. 

I see all this talk about fast passes being worth their weight in gold. That also applies for rides for 4 year olds right? Because I figure that's about all we may be able to do.  And I guess that may also mean us parents need at least a pass or two as well to go along with the kid.  So bare minimum 1 adult and 1 kid fast pass but likely 2 adult passes for us.  Im really thinking in terms of minimizing wait time for the kid over anything else. 

So hypothetically what would you say a couple should budget in park expenses for a Disney trip? I mean, say you didn't want to worry about saving money, you wanted to spend what was needed to eat what you wanted, drink what you wanted, ride what you wanted...

mtn said:

So, some more rambling thoughts and comparisons between the two. First of all, for both, the suggestion that you have to be OK with literally lighting money on fire is accurate. It doesn't HAVE to be accurate, but it is--moreso for Universal than Disney, just because at Disney it is much easier to have a bag with you the whole time, which means it is much easier to bring food into the park. 

• We did a lot of things "wrong" for Disney--and we knew this going in. First thing "wrong" was that due to the tickets, we couldn't book fast passes until a week prior. Normally, it is a month from what I understand. If you do it as soon as you can, you can easily knock out 3 rides of your choosing, daily, with nearly no wait. We did do it right by monitoring the app as they give out more as the day goes on IF they aren't too busy. We took advantage of this and grabbed 2 more (only used 1 though). 
• Second "wrong" thing was not staying on property. This was a money decision, as well as a decision to stay at Universal--and we stayed at Universal to get Early Entry, which is the same reason that you want to stay on a Disney property. So call that one a wash, but we could have gotten in earlier had we stayed on property. Also could have done a breakfast reservation, but that was too expensive. 
• Third "wrong" thing was coming when we did. Way better than it would have been last weekend, but still not ideal. 

 

Being a Disney geek, I'm a bit confused on some of this.  Not sure why you couldn't book FastPass until a week out.  If you stay off property, you can book 30 days out, if you stay on property 60 days out (there's more to it than that, but that's the upshot).  It's not that they give out more during the day, it's more about people changing their plans and dropping fastpasses.   When we go we pick up an additional 4-6 fastpasses each day, on top of the 3 we already booked in advance.  Even for headliner rides.  It's not hard.  We never wait in lines more than 20 minutes or so.

We love staying off property.  We can get a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath townhouse or condo for the price of one small hotel room at a "Value" resort on property.  Just my opinion, but getting into the parks early is drastically overrated due to my comments above.  Nothing wrong with doing it if you want, but it's totally unnecessary.  We love having a "home away from home" instead of trying to squeeze into a hotel room.

dculberson said:

So hypothetically what would you say a couple should budget in park expenses for a Disney trip? I mean, say you didn't want to worry about saving money, you wanted to spend what was needed to eat what you wanted, drink what you wanted, ride what you wanted...

If you're thinking of taking the family to Disney, shoot me a line.  As I mentioned, I'm a Disney geek.  We've made tons of trips, including having annual passes twice.  Probably spent 100 days there over the past 4+ years.

Klayfish said:

mtn said:

So, some more rambling thoughts and comparisons between the two. First of all, for both, the suggestion that you have to be OK with literally lighting money on fire is accurate. It doesn't HAVE to be accurate, but it is--moreso for Universal than Disney, just because at Disney it is much easier to have a bag with you the whole time, which means it is much easier to bring food into the park. 

• We did a lot of things "wrong" for Disney--and we knew this going in. First thing "wrong" was that due to the tickets, we couldn't book fast passes until a week prior. Normally, it is a month from what I understand. If you do it as soon as you can, you can easily knock out 3 rides of your choosing, daily, with nearly no wait. We did do it right by monitoring the app as they give out more as the day goes on IF they aren't too busy. We took advantage of this and grabbed 2 more (only used 1 though). 
• Second "wrong" thing was not staying on property. This was a money decision, as well as a decision to stay at Universal--and we stayed at Universal to get Early Entry, which is the same reason that you want to stay on a Disney property. So call that one a wash, but we could have gotten in earlier had we stayed on property. Also could have done a breakfast reservation, but that was too expensive. 
• Third "wrong" thing was coming when we did. Way better than it would have been last weekend, but still not ideal. 

 

Being a Disney geek, I'm a bit confused on some of this.  Not sure why you couldn't book FastPass until a week out.  If you stay off property, you can book 30 days out, if you stay on property 60 days out (there's more to it than that, but that's the upshot).  It's not that they give out more during the day, it's more about people changing their plans and dropping fastpasses.   When we go we pick up an additional 4-6 fastpasses each day, on top of the 3 we already booked in advance.  Even for headliner rides.  It's not hard.  We never wait in lines more than 20 minutes or so.

 

Cast member tickets.  

dculberson said:

So hypothetically what would you say a couple should budget in park expenses for a Disney trip? I mean, say you didn't want to worry about saving money, you wanted to spend what was needed to eat what you wanted, drink what you wanted, ride what you wanted...

Our breakfast, in the park, consisted of 1 very large donut, a mocha latte, and a frozen coffee drink with baileys in it. It was $22. If we'd both had regular coffee and the donut, it would have been about $10. 

Turkey leg was $12 or $13. Skewerd candied bacon was $7. Dole whip thing... Not sure, but the other desserts were actually relatively reasonable. $4 for a peach cobbler thing, for instance. Shwarma that we had was $14 (a single thing), fish and chips maybe $9, the drinks were all between $7.50 and $20, beer mostly trending to the bottom of that. 

I'll add up our credit card charges later and report back, but we did basically what you're describing. I'd budget at least $50 per day per adult if both have adult beverages and both have more than one meal. The meal plans are actually a very good idea, but we didn't do them for... some reason.