Disneyland vs. Universal Studios Hollywood, Version 2.0

As part of our Go West 2016 vacation, we spent 2 days at theme parks.

Disneyland

Last summer, we visited Disneyland for the first time, and our experience was far from magical. If you had told me that we would be back the following year, I would have thought you were crazy. But then Star Wars: The Force Awakens came out and was kind of a big deal in our house. When we knew we’d be in the LA area, we decided to go to Disneyland for a day to check out the Star Wars updates.

Our overall Disney experience was much better than last year. Highlights include the following:

• We went to get a fast pass for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and we were able to get on the ride immediately. Like, seriously, no wait.

• We also walked right into the Haunted Mansion

• Since we were staying across the street from Disneyland, when we were feeling hot and tired, we went back to the hotel for a few hours. We had a nap in the air conditioning and were very refreshed when we returned.

• We rode Star Tours 4 times and had a long wait only once. Since we had seen the fireworks from the hotel the night before, we opted to skip them and there was no line for Star Tours.

• My husband, who despises roller coasters, rode Hyper-Space Mountain with us.

• Launch Bay was awesome. The props are cool, and the photo ops are fun. Our son also personalized a new phone case, which says his name in Aurebesh.

• And, of course, Dole Whips!

Universal Studios Hollywood

We also decided to return to Universal Studios Hollywood so that we could visit two new things: the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which opened earlier this year, and the Walking Dead Experience, which opened this summer.

• We lucked out and were able to ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey in about 30 minutes. In fact, it’s a good thing we experienced this ride in Orlando, as the line moved so quickly in places that we barely saw some of the digital projections.

• We walked right into the Walking Dead Experience. It was fun, but we were stuck behind some kids who were too scared to move and in front of two ladies who couldn’t move fast enough, so we didn’t get the full experience.

• We lined up for the Studio Tour. It was about a 45 minute wait, and the line moves constantly, so that isn’t as hard on the feet as standing still.

• We were hungry, so we decided to head out to Universal Citywalk to eat, and since it was another hot, hot day, we also made the insightful decision to go see Ghostbusters. We sat in reclining leather chairs in the air conditioning and watched an awesome movie during the hottest part of the day.

• When we walked outside after the movie, the smoke from the forest fires north of the city had created a hazy filter that made the sun appear red. After having walked through the Walking Dead Experience earlier, it was a little eerie to see the sky looking so apocalyptic.

• When we went back into the park, we headed for Hogsmeade, where my husband went to The Three Broomsticks for a Hogshead beer while my son and I lined up to ride Flight of the Hippogriff.

• After the roller coaster, it was time for some butterbeer and spell-casting. The interactive wand that we purchased in Orlando works at the Hollywood park too. We were able to pick up a map free of charge.

• We rode the Simpsons Ride, which is always fun, and we did the single-rider line for Transformers and had no wait time at all.

• Since we opted to leave the park for lunch and watch a movie, that means that we rode everything only once, which is fine with me as we were at the park last year.

Taking a break from both parks was also worth it. When you pay so much to spend the day in the park, you might feel pressure to go hard and do everything, but by taking a break, we returned refreshed and enjoyed ourselves much more as a result.

Having been at both Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood two years in a row, we have no reason to go back to either park anytime soon, and if we do return to Universal, it will be in Orlando where the Wizarding World experience is much more developed.

So, which park was better this time around?

• We lucked out with our timing this year and both parks had relatively short wait times for most of the rides.
• Universal still beats Disneyland for the way that they cover and cool people in line and keep the lines moving.
• Universal Studios Hollywood isn't a big enough park that it's worth it to go back regularly. Disneyland is a large park (we didn't ride everything), and there is also California Adventure.
• Perhaps it's because we've already experienced the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and that the Walking Dead Experience was underwhelming, but I think I enjoyed our day at Disneyland more than our day at Universal this time around.