5 Ways Universal Is EASIER to Visit Than Disney World

Universal Orlando vs. Disney World has been a debate for a long time.

Universal Orlando Resort

But the debate has heated up recently with all of Universal’s announcements about their new park, Epic Universe, coming in 2025. While Disney has some exciting things on the way too, it’s not a whole new park. If you’re still debating where to take your vacation this year, we’re not telling you to choose Universal over Disney, but Universal is easier in these 5 ways you should take into account.

There’s Only 2 Parks

While not having as much to explore can sometimes be seen as a bad thing, if you’re taking a short trip and want to get everything done, Universal’s two parks (three if you count their water park) are much easier to accomplish.

Universal Orlando

This way, you’ll leave your vacation feeling satisfied that you’ve done everything but haven’t overworked yourself, whereas in Disney, it’s impossible to do the parks in two days, sometimes even three, depending on how much you want to do.

Honeydukes

Not to mention, the parks are right next to each other — you can walk or take the Hogwarts Express between them if you’ve got a park-to-park ticket. In Disney World, you have to take transportation between each park, which can take up a lot of time.

Here’s how to do the most at Universal Orlando in one day!

Fewer Hotels Means It’s Easier To Decide

Universal Orlando resort has seven hotels to choose from, and they’re all separated into different pricing tiers, similar to Disney. Disney, on the other hand, has over 20 different hotels to choose from in three different tiers, but the prices can vary so immensely inside those tiers that it’s harder to make a decision.

Hard Rock Hotel

In this situation, more hotels is actually more overwhelming to a lot of consumers, especially when it’s 20+ options. Universal’s 7 options mean that families still have their choice when it comes to how much they’d like to spend, but the decision is much less overwhelming. Plus, all the hotels will bring you near BOTH parks, instead of at Disney where you could be 5 minutes from one park but 25 minutes from another.

Check out our rankings of the BEST hotels at Universal Orlando!

More Rides For Thrill Seekers

While Disney excels in rides for families and young kids with only a few thrill rides, Universal is the complete opposite. These parks are full of rides meant for thrill seekers and families with older kids.

Escape From Gringotts

While this means it’s a little hard for families with younger kids to find attractions they’ll enjoy (Universal is working on that with DreamWorks Land!), it means a lot of families will have more fun screaming on roller coasters than they would at most of the Disney parks.

Transformers: The Ride 3D

While neither one is inherently “better” than the other, it’s important to really see what types of ride goers your group is made of and plan accordingly.

Skipping Lines is EXPENSIVE, But So Much Easier

Universal’s Express Pass costs WAY more than Disney’s Genie+, even on a super crowded day in Disney World, but many users of both systems still say they prefer Universal’s system because of how easy it is to use.

Universal Express Unlimited Pass

The Universal Express Pass allows guests to skip the line of each ride (with a few exceptions) once for $79.99 to $289.99 per person, per day, depending on the time of year. There’s also Universe Express Unlimited, which allows you to skip these lines as many times as you’d like (once again, with a few exceptions) for $109.99 to $319.99 per person per day.

Universal Express Pass

Once you have bought express, all you have to do is just walk up to the ride you’d like to experience, scan your pass in the Universal Express line, and hop on. You can use this whenever you’d like, there’s no need to secure a time and wait for your turn — you don’t even really need to plan ahead! You can just ride those 30 included attractions whenever you’d like. This ease of use makes it VERY attractive to guests, despite the higher price tag.

Check out our video where we put Universal’s Express Pass and Disney’s Genie+ head to head!

Snagging Dining is Much Easier

While Universal also has quick service restaurants and sit-down meals, it’s MUCH easier to reserve dining at most table service restaurants than it is at Disney. Now, there aren’t as many table service restaurants located inside the parks, but there are a few, plus more located just outside in CityWalk. When we looked at making a reservation at Lombard’s Seafood Grille, we found multiple same day reservations!

©Universal

And at Mythos Restaurant, one of the most popular dining spots that happens to have won awards? We found multiple reservations for the following day.

Mythos

Now, some people may argue that this is because the quality of food isn’t as good, or the theming isn’t on par with Disney, and some of our team agrees with that, but more of our team thinks Universal has some pretty amazing food that just goes unnoticed.

Check out our readers’ reviews of Mythos right here!

At the end of the day, it’s up to you to decide whether vacationing at Universal Orlando or Disney World is right for you, but it is important to recognize how different the two are from each other!