Disneyland vs. Universal Studios Hollywood, Part 3: Conclusions

I compared the parks in terms of parking, ticket gates, and lines here.

And, I reviewed the rides and attractions here.

Here are my final thoughts on Disneyland/California Adventure vs. Universal Studios Hollywood.

Restaurants 

For our family of 3, our meals at Universal were about $10 cheaper than at Disney.

One thing we noticed is that the West Coast parks need to learn from Universal Studios Florida. When we were there last year, the lines in the restaurants were well-managed, and once you had your food, there were attendants who would escort you to your clean table. 

At both Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood, my husband stood in line for food, and I hovered around waiting for a table to open up and jumped on one as soon as I could because others were doing the same thing I was. I'm not a fan of feeling stressed and slightly stalker-ish.

Fireworks

We had planned to stay at Disney late enough to see the fireworks, but since our viewing area for Fantasmic was behind a tree, our view for fireworks wouldn't be much better. We had also given up on the idea of a magical day much earlier in the day, so what was one more disappointment? We hopped on the Disneyland Railroad and rode it to Tomorrowland where we had a parcel to pick up. We managed to see a few fireworks from the train, and we managed to get this photo before we left.

Magic Factor

Everyone talks about Disneyland being a magical place, but that just wasn't our experience. We had good moments, but our overall experience was below average in comparison to previous theme park visits. We found Diagon Alley at Universal Studios Florida to be much more magical than Disneyland was.

Casting magical spells at Universal Studios Hollywood

 I should mention that we did feel the magic on our Disney Cruise. 

Pixar Party on our Disney Cruise

Other

When we were at Universal Studios Florida last year, we were able to get free ice water at any of the kiosks that sold drinks. All of the kiosks we saw at Disneyland sold only bottled water. We were able to refill at fountains, but since it was so hot, ice would've been nice. To be honest, I can't comment on the water situation at Universal Studios Hollywood because our two re-fillable water bottles lasted the day because they covered queues kept us cool in line.

At Disney, all of the bathrooms I visited had paper towel, whereas Universal had Dyson Airblades which have a lower environmental impact.

Leaving the Park

After having had enough of waiting in never-ending lines at Disneyland/California Adventure, we headed out to the tram area to discover that we would have the pleasure of one last extra-awesome line for the night. People were rude and pushy, and we saw a young family cut in front of an elderly couple, taking their spot on the tram. We waited really long and I thought I was going to cry because my feet hurt from standing in one place. 

In contrast, at Universal, we walked out of the park gates, walked a short distance to the escalators, and were in our car in about three minutes. We were already back at our hotel with our shoes off in less time than it would have taken us to get on our tram at Disney. 

Conclusion

In the end, we didn’t find Disneyland to be the “happiest place on earth.” In fact, when I looked around, I saw far more miserable people than I saw happy people. Would we go back? Well, there were rides that we didn’t get a chance to ride, so next time we’re in Southern California, we’ll probably get a one-day park-hopper ticket to try out those rides. Other than Star Tours, there were no rides that we’d be willing to wait in line for again.

Universal Studios is certainly our park of choice. Part of that is because our son is 12, so the rides and characters at Universal are more to his liking. However, we also appreciate how well the park runs in comparison to Disneyland. When it comes to rides, the Universal parks in Florida are the best, but we also appreciate the fact that the Hollywood park is a working studio, and we enjoy that aspect as well. With the addition of Wizarding World in 2016, Universal will certainly be our priority.

Disneyland vs. Universal Studios Hollywood, Part 2: Attractions

After our recent trip to the LA area, I decided to compare Disneyland/California Adventure to Universal Studios Hollywood. Read my commentary about parking, ticket gates, and lines here.

Rides/Attractions

We didn’t ride every ride in the parks, so I’ve reviewed the ones we experienced.

Disneyland 

Star Tours - My son was looking forward to this ride, and it did not disappoint. We rode it 3 times and had 3 different experiences. The line, which is mostly indoors, moves fairly quickly. 

Jedi Academy – Our son had heard about the Jedi Academy and wanted to participate. We were at the first session in the morning, and he was not selected. Due to long lines elsewhere in the park, we didn’t make it back until the last session of the day. He was thrilled to be selected to participate. He learned how to use his lightsaber and had the chance to battle Darth Maul. At the end, he received a diploma which will be a great addition to his scrapbook.

Indiana Jones Adventure - We waited in line for close to 2 hours, most of which was outdoors. Once we were in the tunnels, we walked through very quickly. I'm not sure why they don't get people into that section of the queue quicker. We thought the ride was pretty fun.

Storybook Land Canal Boats - The line for this moved fairly quickly, but we had bad luck with our storyteller. She was monotone and seemed totally disinterested in what she was telling us. I also thought the boats moved too quickly to be able to see all the detail in the displays. I know I missed at least 1/3 of the displays. 

It's a Small World - We decided to ride this iconic ride. It was visually stunning. My husband took lots of pictures of stereotypical depictions of Indigenous people to discuss with his students in the fall. 

Matterhorn Bobsleds – My son and I rode the ride because my husband is not a fan of roller-coaster-type rides. The line was pretty long and would have been in direct sunlight much of the time had we not been in line in the evening. We enjoyed the ride, but there are moments of complete darkness, so keep this in mind if someone would be uncomfortable with that.

Disney California Adventure

Soarin’ Over California - We waited in line for over an hour, and about half of that was outside, often in direct sunlight. Once inside, there were interesting displays to look at, but I could only read the ones near me, and we stood in one place for a very long time, so I didn’t get a chance to read the rest. I was really looking forward to this ride, as we rode a similar one in Vancouver a few years ago (Flying Over Canada), but this one paled in comparison. The transition between locations was sudden, and I didn’t smell any scents or feel water spray like I did for the Flying Over Canada ride. I think we were supposed to, so maybe something wasn't working quite right.

Animation Academy – Our son is an artist, so he loved this experience. We went twice and had different animators each time. We found the first animator to be excellent, but the second animator was less engaging.

Monsters, Inc. Mike & Sulley to the Rescue – We lucked into a really short line (only 15 minutes). When we walked out of the ride, the line was quite long. I commented that I was glad that I had ridden when I did because the ride wasn’t all that great and I would have felt ripped off if I had waited much longer than I had.

Radiator Springs Racers – This was the ride we were most excited about. We went to get Fastpasses, but they were already out by the time we got there. Since it was such a hot day, and since we’d heard that it’s cool to ride it at night, we decided to give up going to World of Color and get in the line at 7:00 pm. 

After being in line for over 2 hours, it was finally our turn to ride. We ended up in the same car as the really nice family we’d been chatting with in line, and my husband and I shared a smile that said, “what a perfect way to end our time at Disney”. Even though we’d had some low points, we were going to end on a high point. We were (I’m guessing) about 1/3 of the way through when the ride stopped. After a couple of minutes, the lights came on and there was an announcement that we should wait in our cars until an attendant arrived to walk us out of the ride. 

They gave us a return pass, but the ride would not be running again that night. We could use it the next day. Except that was our last day at Disney. Needless to say, our son was heartbroken.

Universal Studios Hollywood

Studio Tour – We went on the Studio Tour twice – once first thing in the morning and once in the evening for the night-time tour. It’s cool seeing the backlot, building facades, and the picture cars.

There are also 3 rides/experiences during the tour: King Kong 360 3D, an earthquake experience, and Fast & Furious Supercharged. Our wait for both tours was 45 minutes. So, in other words, decent wait time + awesome studio tour + 3 rides = AWESOME. 

Entrance to Fast & Furious Supercharged

The night-time tour was cool as many buildings were lit up, and there were characters along the way. 

We had great tour guides, and I remember thinking, before the tram had even moved, that the tour guide had been far more engaging than our Storybook guide at Disney (and the tour hadn’t even started).

Transformers: The Ride 3-D – This is one of our favourite rides at Universal. It’s exciting and has a story line which begins while you are in line. This time, however, we skipped over the line by going into the single-rider line. This way, we were able to go on the ride, relax for about half an hour with a cold Starbucks drink, and ride the ride again in the time it would have taken us to line up in the regular queue to ride once.

The Simpsons Ride – This is another fun ride with a great storyline, which begins while in the queue. Early on in the line, there are televisions playing segments of Simpsons episodes. The “It’s a small world” parody was particularly funny for us given the not-so-magical experiences we’d had at Disneyland. The line for this ride is completely covered and moves regularly. This is a virtual ride with great effects.

Despicable Me Minion Mayhem – The line for this ride was long and outdoors, but much of it was covered and had cooling fans. The pre-ride show is funny, and the ride is exciting and heart-warming.

Live performances

One thing that Disney excels at is live performances. While the Waterworld show at Universal is cool, it pales in comparison to both Mickey & the Magical Map (Disneyland) and Aladdin (Disney California Adventure). 

I was reluctant to see Aladdin as I have issues with the racism in the movie, but friends had told us it was not to be missed. The Genie is fabulous and steals the show. I was impressed with how he made several allusions to recent events, so the Genie’s portion of the show must be updated regularly.

We also really enjoyed the Pixar Parade at California Adventure. It was a really hot day, and those poor people in the costumes danced their hearts out. I noticed that the characters connected with the little girls on either side of us but didn't pay much attention to our 12-year-old son.

My next post will include my final comparisons of the theme parks.

Currently - August 2015

Feeling so much more energetic. The iron infusions have made a difference.

Going to lots of appointments (iron infusion, hematologist, dentist). I need to make good use of the holiday time that is remaining.

Documenting our vacation with photos and memorabilia. I found an awesome 4x4 album, so I'm doing a physical album with some highlights in our digital Project Life Album.

Trying to get back into routine. In the early summer, my days and nights got reversed, and then we travelled to California and Colorado, so now I'm exhausted. I need to get ready to go back to school. Next week. Summers fly by faster and faster each year.

Still listening to Damien Rice. The concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre was easily the best concert I've been to in my life.

Watching Who Do You Think You Are? I am passionate about genealogy and only wish I had the budget and resources that the celebrities have. 

Image from here.

Wearing nothing on my feet as often as possible. Our travels took a toll on my feet - from theme parks to studio tours, to shopping malls, my feet are happy to be free (and elevated as often as possible!) for a few days.

Realizing that I need a pedicure. Off to book one right now...

Disneyland vs. Universal Studios Hollywood

Despite the fact that I'm 40 and that I've been to Southern California twice before, I had never visited Disneyland. It's "the happiest place on earth," so we decided to take a couple of days to visit. We went to Disneyland on day 1 and California Adventure on day 2. While we had some enjoyable experiences, our visit certainly wasn't magical. We had a great time at Universal Studios Hollywood though, so I thought I'd compare the parks.  

Prices

A 2-day ticket for Disneyland and Disney California Adventure (one park per day) is $185.

We went to Universal Studios Hollywood for only one day, as that’s all the time we had in our itinerary, and it is $95 per day. However, they offer a 2-day ticket (the 2^nd day has to be used within a 30-day period) for $119, which is much less than 2 days at the Disney parks.

Parking

When we arrived at the parking structure at Disney, there were multiple lanes to enter the parking structure to pay, and we found it very easy to park (cones directing the flow of traffic, attendants guiding you to a spot, etc.). We were impressed by the trams to the park entrance. 

Although we'd been to Universal before, we entered from a different direction and a bit later this time, and things were not as slick or straightforward as they were at Disneyland. There was ONE lane for entering the parking structure and we were in the wrong lane. We had to go up to the drop-off area, turn around, and drive back. 

Ticket Gates

At Disney, we lined up for the tram, we arrived at the park and lined up to pass through security, and we lined up at the entrance gate (are you sensing a theme here?) Like many people in line before us, we had pre-purchased our tickets thinking it would save time, but it didn't at all. They took the papers, scanned them, printed park tickets, and took our photos. You can imagine that this process takes a fair amount of time. 

We hadn't pre-purchased our Universal tickets because we had a lot of things on our LA to-do list, and we knew we could cut out Universal if need be since we were there just a few years ago. We were happy to be able to fit it in, and when we arrived, we had to line up for tickets and then go through security and the gate entrance, but if I compare time-frames to Disney, we would still have been waiting for the tram to take us to the park entrance. 

Lines

Theme parks have queue lines. They're awful no matter which park you go to, and your feet will hurt from standing. However, we found the lines at Universal to be much more tolerable. There's not nearly as much standing in one spot as there was at Disney. The lines at Universal kept us walking. At Disney/California Adventure, I was in direct sunlight in the queues for many rides, so I was hot, sweaty, and sunburnt. At Universal, the lines are covered and there are cooling fans as well as several water fountains. Finally, Universal has TV screens up in many of the queues, engaging riders with the characters/storyline of the ride. 

Queues at Universal Studios Hollywood - if you are outdoors, the queue area is covered.
(Left: Studio Tour line, Right: Minion Mayhem line)

Universal also has cooling fans throughout the queue lines.

FastPass/Front of Line

When we arrived at Disney, we went and got Fastpasses for Fantasmic. We didn't end up using Fastpasses for any rides as the return times were earlier or later than the times that we planned to be back in the section of the park or the Fastpasses were gone for the day. I can see that they would be more useful if we were at the park for several days and had time to kill while waiting for the time slot for our Fastpass. There is no additional cost for the FastPass, but you can have only one FastPass for a ride at a time.

Our Fastpass for Fantasmic was a huge let-down. You need the pass to be in the area for the show, and when we got there, we found out that our designated area was on the bridge in New Orleans Square. The pass said to return between 8:00 and 9:00. We were there by 8:20, and from the only available spot, all we could see was a tree. I wish I were kidding. 

Our view for Fantasmic

We had a slightly better view when people stood up.

We've never purchased the Front of the Line option at Universal because it's pricy (double the cost). An advantage to the Front of the Line ticket is that you get to the front of the line on the ride when you want to ride and don't have to leave and return. We did use the single rider line to ride Transformers twice. The 90 minute wait for the ride was cut to 5-10 minutes. Now, we had been on the ride before and our son was tall enough and willing to ride on his own, and we met just outside the exit. I'm pretty sure there were single rider lines at Disney, but since this was our first visit, we wanted to be on the rides together. 

Next I'll compare the rides and attractions.

Gallery Wall - Family Room

I document our family life in our scrapbooks, but it's also important to document who we are in our home decor.

I had been wanting a funky gallery wall in our family room, but it took me a while to figure out what I wanted to hang. I pinned lots of ideas to a Pinterest board.

I wanted a mixture of photos, art, and words. I also wanted a variety of colours, shapes, and textures. Most of all, I wanted a casual feel.

As I collected items, I would place them on the floor to get layout ideas, and then snap a photo on my phone. 

Once we had gathered all of the items, we placed them on the floor and started hanging items one-by-one. We used 3M Velcro strips to hang most of the items on the wall.

Here's the finished product:

Here's a close-up of the alphabet word art in the middle:

In addition to favourite photos, we included other meaningful items.

A few years ago, our son made a clay plaque of our family in an art class. We loved it, and now we're happy to be able to honour it on the gallery wall.

I also liked the texture on this star, so even though I bought it at Christmas time, it's staying up all year.

We also love this key. Our first home was built in 1912, and this key was found in that house. (Don't worry, the key didn't work in any doors, so the new home-owners are okay!) I stamped a canvas texture onto cardstock and attached the key with a little ribbon and a brad. Without the glass in the frame, the dimension has a cool effect.

We love how the gallery wall turned out, and it makes us smile every time we enter the room.

MLB Quest Album

My husband is a huge baseball fan, so when we were in Chicago in 2010, we went to a game at Wrigley. He loved it and mentioned that he'd always dreamed of going to all of the ball parks. 

As I was starting to plan our summer holiday for 2011, I suggested that we go on a baseball road trip. Apparently that was the sexiest thing I could've said. 

That summer we went to Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago, and Cincinnati. 

I decided to start an album to document our baseball park visits.

I used We R Memory Keeper page protectors with a horizontal 6x12 and three vertical 4x6s. 

I created a template for the 6x12 so I can create the same header for each ball park. It includes 

• the park name
• the city
• the date visited & game time 
• the teams playing
• the names of the pitchers
• the team logo
• photos of the outside and inside of the park. 

My husband found a download for MLB fonts, and I use the colour picker in Photoshop to get the team colours for the text and background. 

The 4x6s include:

1) A photo of us or of my husband & son

2) a photo from during the game with journaling about the game. My husband writes the journaling. 

3) a park map (from the MLB site) with our tickets in the pocket.

I also include the odd insert if we have anything more from the game. The layouts are in date order. Here are some of the pages:

There are a couple of other sections in the album. I used Design F Project Life page protectors and my husband inserted baseball cards of players that we've seen. My husband is going to write about the player on the PL card. 

We need to go through our photos and find some good 4x6s for the top of these pages, or maybe I'll find some quotes about baseball. 

The last section is my favourite. It is 3x4 photos of my husband and son at each of the games with the park and date on the bottom of the photo. I love how you can see Nigel "growing up" from year to year. 

This album is easy to update as we visit the ball parks. I also love how much my husband is involved in this album. I'm very lucky to have a spouse who not only supports my documentation, but participates in it regularly.