A Disney Adult at Universal!

It’s true. This hardcore Disney fan recently spent three days in the Universal Orlando Parks. My niece turned 11 (her Harry Potter Birthday!) so her Uncle and I volunteered to take her to Hogwarts. 

The Planning

It will come as a surprise to no one, I booked early (in May of 2025.) At the time of booking we could only reserve our room (we went with Cabana Bay Resort) and 3 Day Park to Park passes, including the new EPIC Universe. Universal’s version of Lightning Lane was not available for purchase at the time. 

I downloaded the app, but could not link any reservations. It turns out that this function only works if you book directly through Universal. I use an amazing travel agent. There really isn’t anything to do in the app prior to arrival. You can view maps and check wait times and even make dining reservations without tickets and hotel reservations being linked. 

In October, Express Pass and Express Pass Unlimited prices were published. Due to cost, and our length of stay, I went with Express Pass. Express Pass Unlimited is also not able to be used in EPIC Universe. Some people may have heard of the hack of staying in a “Signature Collection” hotel because they include Express Pass Unlimited for everyone in your  party, from check-in through check-out day. Those passes do not include EPIC, and the newest Premier Hotels (i.e. Helios Grand Hotel) do NOT offer this perk.

Arrival

Finally our February dates arrived! It was an icy and frigid morning in Boston. With de-icing and refueling we were detained on the tarmac for about 2 hours. Despite our late start, spirits were high when we finally landed at MCO. 

Universal Orlando does offer a paid bus service to reach property, but as we were traveling with a child who no longer requires a car seat or booster we opted for ride share. The 20 minute ride felt swifter than going from MCO to Disney Property, but Google tells me they are the same length. 

The first stop on arrival was the Vacation Desk to get our tickets. Universal Orlando didn’t send us physical tickets or linkable digital tickets. We had to show ID and our booking information in person, and a kind Team Member printed our paper Admission and Express Pass Tickets. THEN I was finally able to link them to the app, and take our photos for Universal Orlando’s Facial Recognition system (used for Admission and most Express Pass entrances.) Note, you always have to carry your physical cards because sometimes the system doesn’t work (thus the lanyards that are so popular around Universal Properties.)

Tickets in hand, we headed over to the check-in desk. Our Team Member (shout out Jonathan) at the check-in desk was lovely. It made me feel better about not being able to check-in online. The Customer Service rep I spoke with on the phone a week before our arrival said they are working on making Travel Agent made reservations linkable. So, that should be coming down the road.

Jonathan chatted with us about where we were traveling from, wished my niece a Happy Birthday and provided her with a special Birthday Button, and he upgraded us to a  Suite! He reviewed a paper map of the Resort, highlighting dining and entertainment locations and hours that may be relevant to us during our stay. This interaction proved not to be standard for Universal Team Members, we definitely noted on multiple occasions that the “Disney Difference” was missing. However, it was a truly wonderful first experience. 

Cabana Bay is priced more like a “Value” Disney resort. Our room was clean (housekeeping freshened it daily) and spacious. We had a mini fridge (a true fridge, not a beverage cooler), a split bathroom (especially convenient while traveling with 3 party members from different nuclear families), a microwave, and a sliding door to separate the living room/kitchenette from the bedroom with 2 queens. My brother ended up taking the pull out couch in the living room, so no one had to share! We had a view of the pool and lazy river, though it was too chilly to swim when we had down time from the parks. If you turned your head, you could see the peak of Volcano Bay’s Volcano. The water park was closed on our dates. I always travel with a white noise machine but didn’t notice too much volume from our neighbors (some of whom were Dance and Cheer group members.) Of note, many Cabana Bay rooms are “motel style” with exterior doors. We were on the 5th floor with interior facing doors. Also, as I mentioned, we ended up in a Suite unexpectedly so I can’t speak to the amenities of the Standard hotel room experience or how it would have compared to a true Disney Value Resort.

Our Park Days 

As I am almost exclusively a Disney person, presumably you are here for the Disney Content. I won’t go into a play by play of our 3 Park Days. I will highlight our itinerary and some of my takeaways. I am NOT a Universal Orlando expert. I just wanted to share my perspective as a Disney Person in the “Park that Shall not be Named.” I believe Universal’s target audience and mission are different from Disney, so comparing them may be unfair. However, as your Disney kids age, I think Universal is maybe worth a visit at some point. Hopefully this information helps you decide when, or if it will ever be for you. Hopefully, I have not lost my Disney Fan cred by even discussing the option. 😉

Day 1 we “rope dropped” EPIC Universe. Early Park Admission at Universal Orlando is a whole hour. Not every park has Early Park Admission. You must check the Universal App for Park Hours. During our stay Universal Studios never had Early Park Admission, and closed as early as 6pm one day. Islands of Adventure and EPIC Universe both opened at 8am for Early Park Admission and closed between 9pm and 10pm. 

Day 2 we “rope dropped” Islands of Adventure. We spent time between that Park and Universal Studios. We had initially planned to focus on Harry Potter this whole day, but to my surprise my niece turned out to be quite the thrill seeker. We spent time in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, but also spent significant time exploring the bigger coasters and screen rides throughout both parks.

Day 3 was “dealer’s choice.” Having experienced all three parks we put the reins in my niece’s hands and had her tell us her “must dos.” This means we started the day doing Early Park Admission at Islands of Adventure (IOA), in order to beat her record of riding VelociCoaster 4 times the day before. 

In our (albeit minimal) experience, many people headed to Hagrid’s first thing. VelociCoaster had a posted 10 min wait both mornings we went. I held onto everyone’s stuff so they could skip the lockers and they would ride back, to back to back until close to the official Park open. Honestly, even though I didn’t ride, these mornings were some of my favorite. I got video and stills of them on the ride and had so much fun just watching and listening to people’s reactions to this really cool coaster.

Once we hit my niece’s highlights at IOA and Universal Studios, we popped over to EPIC for the afternoon. We closed out the night back in IOA with one more ride on VelociCoaster (to total 5 for the day) and hit The Hulk on our way out of the Park. 

Overall Impressions

Express Pass felt like a must. Disney can get some long wait times, but the posted wait times at numerous Universal rides felt really intense/shocking to me. Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry and Hagrid’s Magical Motorbike Adventure would get up to 2 to 3 hours consistently! I can’t imagine waiting that long for any single ride, no matter how spectacular.

Express Pass doesn’t necessarily equate to a short wait. Often with Disney World’s Lightning Lane, rides are walk ons or take maybe 20 minutes sometimes. Meanwhile, Express Pass claims to cut your wait time by a half to a third. In the Isle of Berk we waited almost 50 minutes in the Express Pass Lane to get on Hiccup’s Wing Gliders (a Rollercoaster.) We had some walk-on experiences, but in lots of  cases waited at least 30 minutes. Still, we were able to hit all the rides we wanted. The system is working. Mornings and later in the evening (if your kids can hang) definitely had shorter wait times.

The quick service food had some surprisingly yummy offerings. We had a lot of great Quick Service experiences (once we understood the system.) In most locations (even if you see registers) you need to find a table and mobile order food to it. EPIC was especially yummy, looking at you Mead Hall (Isle of Berk) and your Nordic Harvest Salad and Stoick’s Ale. Also a big fan of all the Crepes at Cafe L’air De La Sirene. We enjoyed every meal we had at Three Broomsticks (Hogsmeade) and The Leaky Cauldron (Diagon Alley.) 

Theming is well done in EPIC Universe and the Harry Potter themed lands at the other two parks, but in general does not feel as immersive as Disney. Even in the well themed areas, line of sight is not a thing. For example, while enjoying my English Breakfast outside the Leaky Cauldron I had a full view of VelociCoaster and the screams that come along with it. Likewise, Hogwarts is in the background of photos I took of my niece and brother on VelociCoaster. I understand Disney has more space, and immersive theming didn’t used to be a thing at Universal. It just felt like a noticeable difference to my brother and I.

The Bourne Stunt Spectacular was amazing. The use of screen with actual props was very well done. The stunt actor who played Jason Bourne was very impressive. In general, we found the shows we attended were well done. We also really enjoyed Le Cirque Arcanus and The Untrainable Dragon in EPIC Universe.

Screen based rides are not for me, and rides in general are less “family friendly.” While I prefer to avoid the Teacups, I can ride everything at Walt Disney World. Full disclosure, sometimes I have to close my eyes mid-Star Tours. However, there were a lot more rides at Universal Orlando with screen elements, or that were full on screen based/simulated motion. In a similar vein, there are higher height requirements for many of the rides. Theming is also on the spookier side. My 48” child (who loves Rockin’ Rollercoaster and even Tower of Terror) would have loved the rollercoaster elements of Revenge of the Mummy, but the content would have been frightening for her. On the plus side, there are plenty of rides to appeal to true thrill seekers (especially compared to Disney.)

Streetmosphere is very cool. We saw Marilyn Monoroe in the back of a convertible just driving down the street, construction workers making music on scaffolding, characters (like Igor in Darkmoor and Beatlejuice in Universal Studios) wandering and interacting with guests, and stilt walkers out for Mardi Gras. I especially loved watching my niece chat with Stan Shunpike and Dre Head by the Knight Bus. Disney needs to bring back the Streetmosphere!

Overall, we had a wonderful trip. 3 days was plenty. It was nice to just walk into an Express Pass lane, not having to schedule anything. I loved having a whole hour before the crowds descended each door (bring back the full hour Disney!) I would definitely go again, but don’t feel a need to do so annually. I absolutely remain a Disney person, but was pleasantly surprised that I appreciated a lot of what Universal Orlando had to offer. 

My niece, who is more familiar with, excited about, Universal IP than Disney was definitely a great age/audience for this trip. She had an incredible time. It was so much fun watching her experience it all. I am extremely grateful we could take her on the trip. I will definitely bring Morgan there in the future. I don’t know if Maggie will ever grow into a thrill seeker, in which case I really don’t think Universal will be for her. As a Harry Potter fan myself, I am extremely impressed with the lands they have made. I can see us adding a day to do Harry Potter during a Disney Trip if the girls come to love the franchise as much as I do. 

Happy Planning, whatever your destination,

Jody