Universal studios or Disney world

[Kt3456]

hello,

has anyone been to both and can offer some advice? My son is 4 and daughter is 7. Neither of my kids like Disney princesses or mickey/minney mouse. I don’t think they know who Donald Duck or Pluto is!
would I be crazy to take them to Disney? When they are not massive Disney fans? My son does like pirates and I’m sure they would love the fireworks. I know there is an animal kingdom, but they have been on a real safari in South Africa.
They do both however love Harry Potter and how to train your dragon and my son loves Mario so the new epic park at universal looks fantastic for this. My concern with universal is will we be saying ‘oh your’re not tall enough for that’ more often than not as I know universal is more for older kids.
has anyone taken young kids to universal studios and do you not have to be a true Disney fan to appreciate Disney world?

To me, Disney is absolutely magical. The feelings you get walking down Main Street USA, the smells, the music, they put so much effort into theming it’s brilliant! I don’t think you necessarily need to be a massive Disney fan to enjoy the rides, the rides are great standalone. I first went when I was 10 and I keep going back again and again. I wouldn’t say I was the biggest Disney fan when I first went but I was older than your children. No advice on Universal as only went when 10+ but I’m planning to take my children when they hit 4yo and 5yo so they can experience that magic of Disney and they will also be taken to Universal x

what is your budget and time?

we always do both, a split stay at Universal and Disney.

Hollywood Studios is now a lot of Star Wars and Pixar, Animal Kingdom is avatar and Epcot mine lovr

@Kt3456

check here for universal

and here for Disneyworld

we couldn’t afford both, would have to be one or the other. Ah I thought animal kingdom was just animals! Which park is your favourite?

For 4 and 7 DEFINITELY Disney in my view. Too many of the best rides at Universal will not be possible for them. Save universal for later. Depending on their heights and general “bravery” you could add some Universal days - but it’s a bit depressing going and not actually being able to do eg any of the key rides in Harry Potter.

You mean in terms of tickets as they are pretty close to each other and the same
flights and hotels cover.
we vary DD loves Epcot always has, my parents like Animal Kingdom, mine and DS are Hollywood Studios

Disney 100% you don’t even need to like Disney to enjoy it

They would be too small for all of the Harry Potter rides and most other rides in universal. Disney has 4 theme parks & 2 water parks in Orlando. I would recommend watching some you tube videos to do some research and see what the kids would like. The parks are huge so it’s a little of walking for little ones.

Definitely Disney for your children’s ages, there’s more to it than just Mickey and Minnie.
Universal is for older kids.
Personally, I would wait until they are both a bit older and then do both. Just a suggestion.

For those ages, Disney has more rides. So 100% Disney. If you go again in 5 years, do universal then, although height depending the 9 year old may still be restricted.

We went to Florida last year and Universal was 1000 better but your youngest needs to be 1m20 for it to be worthwhile. We held off until our youngest hit this height.

Disney Magic Kingdom definitely felt run down in comparison and Animal Kingdom was a waste of a day for us - very boring compared to Discovery Cove and Seaworld.

We took my son to Disney world when he was 7 and completely unbothered by Disney characters but was tall enough for every ride and had a magical time. We will do universal once he’s tall enough for everything as it feels better value to me.

That probably is a fair point DS was 42 inches at 3 which is a lot of the rides at Universal and has never been a rollercoaster fan so we have never had him too short for a ride he wanted to go on!

so interesting! We LOVE Disney, and our one trip to Universal we found Meh (kids were 7 & 9). Many of the universal rides are simulations and make me feel travel sick. We liked the Harry Potter bit, but that was it. The rest just lacked any magic.

Disney, on the other hand, we loved. My kids liked some of the Disney films (Toy story most), but Disney just has a real magic. We went first to Disneyland (5 &7), then Disney World (at 7&9 and 11 & 13) and are going again next year.

For 4 & 7, I would totally say Disney.

Download the apps for both Disney World and Universal. You'll be able to see the rides - the height requirements and wait times.

We went in March just before Epic opened, and have been watching queue times with interest - they are indeed epic at epic!

Universal has lots of big rides, that your dc may be too small for. Disney has lots of parks which may appeal more - some less 'disney' than others.

It's worthwhile doing your homework as it's an AWFUL lot of money to spend to just keep telling the kids 'sorry you're too little'.

Busch gardens was also meh - lots of closed rides and what was open had upwards of 90 minutes queues...

I would wait (and save up) until they are old enough/tall enough to ride, and do a split stay. Stay on site at Disney if you can, it’s great being in the Disney ‘bubble’ and travelling around on the monorail, boats, skyliner and buses, and resort hopping to experience all the themes and places to eat, as well as the parks and water park. Then book a few days at Universal in an on-site hotel that includes front of line passes. Harry Potter theming is incredible.

I find that early starts, pool afternoons, and cooler evenings in the park are a good way to cope with the Orlando heat.

PS if they love Harry Potter, the studio tour near Watford is a brilliant day out.

I’d say Disney, you don’t have to be a huge fan to enjoy it. My ds age 6 loves the parade and the fireworks, there are so many gentle rides (though ds did all the rides he could at 120cm, just tall enough - even did an inversion coaster and loved it!)

I would not go in summer - aim for Easter hols. The temperatures are more bearable for kids and less sticky, less chance of a downpour each day. On the days it was over 30 the kids found it harder to enjoy the long days. Animal kingdom is shady and nice on the hot days. None of us liked Epcot much as it was 32 degrees. The water parks are fine.

note the queues can be phenomenally long, even for a (ludicrously overpriced) icecream you can find yourself in a 20 mins queue. I found it all tiresome tbh but the kids seemed to like it.

Tbh we had no less fun at Disney Paris (stayed at Centerparcs). We preferred Efteling and EuropaPark - both fab for little kids.

I won’t be going back to Florida as burning air miles to be interchangeably roasted and rained on, then dealing with jet lag at the end seems like a form of tourist insanity to me! Better places to spend your long haul vacations imo.