What I don't like about Universal

My biggest issue with Universal is the way they segregate families. Disney has started doing this to a certain extent, but it's not nearly as bad as it is over at Universal, and they don't seem to be doing anything to combat it. When Universal decided to get rid of KidZone, they just did a like for like replacement, meaning that if you have a child that can't meet the height restriction for most of the rides in the park, you're relegated to that corner of the park. The same goes for IOA, where smaller kids are pretty much relegated to Camp Jurassic or Seuss Landing, and even most of those rides have some type of height restriction. I know families with kids <36" is a really small percentage of total guests who visit Universal, but Disney became the juggernaut that it is because they've been able to appeal to the widest possible audience. Universal has made it's dent in Disney's stranglehold on the market by strategically targeting thrill seekers (a group previously ignored by Disney), but if they want to ever equal what Disney has done, they need to do more to cater to families with small children and guests who don't want to be flung around while stapled to seats. Thrill rides are never going away at Universal, but I do think they need to do more to provide alternate attractions and experiences in their lands to give guests who don't want to ride thrill rides something to do while the rest of their family is riding.

Russell This is the reason I prefer Universal Over Disney..

Simpler terms - it is more Adult.

We got tired of child meltdowns at Disney and endless runway of strollers and motorized carts to avoid.

Some use these as battering rams to plow through a crowd. They act like I have a stroller and expect you to avoid them...

Off the top of my head:

CityWalk - You have to pay to park.

Volcano Bay - You have to pay to park.

Volcano Bay - You have to take a bus to the park and at the end of the day you have to wait in line (after spending a day running around in the sun) to take a bus back to your car.

USF - Poorly maintained older attractions -- 'Revenge of the Mummy', soul sucking smoke effect Imotep & Reggie turned off. Descending wall in the treasure room turned off. Full scarab effect is gone. Gringotts bank lobby, all of the goblins are not consistently working (including the head goblin). Men In Black - Ambush aliens don't work. smoke effects turned off.

USF/IOA - Theaters are abandoned -- Toon Lagoon and Wild West shows.

Epic Universe - No shade.

Epic Universe - Parking lot.

"all of the goblins are not consistently working"

Have you ever been on Everest?

The famous Yeti animatronic on Expedition Everest at Disney's Animal Kingdom has been permanently stuck in "B-Mode" since shortly after the ride opened in 2006.

HHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAH

@Brian Emery: The topic presented was "What I don't like about Universal". I listed what I don't like about Universal.

TH - It's called a conversation..

Sorry I hurt your Disney fallings.

I will kneel on a frozen Pee for 8 seconds for my penance.

OK Brian, so in the interest of the conversation, what don't you like about Universal?

I wish a great ride like Mummy was longer - another 45 seconds of the ride. It is sooooooooooooo fun I hate it when it ends.

Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike is too popular.

Pteranodon Flyers - very low amount of folks get to enjoy it. Have to have a young child to ride.

I agree with Russell that there is a major lack of things to do for people with small children. Unless you are going with tweens and older, its pretty much a huge waste of money. Whether or not that's a problem depends on your perspective, personally it never really bothered me living in Orlando with a small child I just didn't go, so it saved me money lol.

My biggest issue with Universal is that the rides are way too loud, fast pace, and nauseating. I'm not talking about the coasters i'm talking about rides like Forbidden Journey, Transformers, Gringotts, Kong, etc. Its just like "boom...boom...boom...boom" with thing after thing after thing, it makes it hard to follow what's going on. And the rides are excessively loud IMO to the point where it gives me a headache. I'm not just saying that because i'm old, I legitimately think the rides would be better if they were designed to progress a bit more slowly through the story, or maybe do less stuff. It wasn't always like this, in the 90s-2000s I think their rides were much more enjoyable than what they built in the 2010s. I do like the coasters they have built recently, though.

Also their holiday offerings are very lackluster IMO. For a massively successful property that prints money I expect much more of an effort, TBH I would rate Six Flags Holiday in the park higher.

I've always found the maintenance and upkeep at UO to be very good, at least since they fixed everything up in 2009 for Potters opening. From my experiences over a long period of time I have experienced far less issues with downtimes etc at UO than Disney.

I'm going to answer this in a bit of a different way...

Things I feel Universal generally does better than Disney:

-Offering attractions at a range of thrill levels
-Crafting immersive environments that feel straight out of the IP
-Coming up with original stories for attractions that make sense within established canon and don't feel contrived
-Adding major new attractions at a fairly regular pace
-Theming dining and retail offerings to mesh well with their environment
-Managing a skip the line system without allowing regular queue lines to become obscene for those not using it
-Ensuring different parks across the resort have a similar quantity of offerings so tickets don't feel wasted if they're used at a lesser property
-Putting on separate ticket events, which often feature so many temporary attractions the normal offerings are extraneous

Things I feel Disney generally does better than Universal:

-Creating attractions that are accommodating to all members of a party with different age ranges and intensity preferences
-Maintaining high presentation and upkeep standards
-Keeping all performance aspects in character, both in large scale shows and smaller personal interactions
-Operating attractions at full capacity even on days with lower anticipated crowd levels
-Providing a range of dining options, especially for those preferring a full service experience
-Preserving older attractions rather than insisting on replacing anything over twenty years of age with the latest hot property
-Preventing the outside world from creeping into the resort experience, especially within the theme parks themselves
-Hosting seasonal events, many of which include quite a few unique offerings

The biggest thing I don't like about Universal is the same thing that the_man26 and AJ alluded to: the lack of all-ages attractions. Putting aside hand-held infants, that only leaves Orlando with Hogwarts Express, Villain Con, Kang & Kodos, Caro-Seuss-el, Constellation Carousel, and Fyre Drill. Hollywood is even worse with just the Studio Tour and Kung Fu Panda. I like thrill rides as much as the next guy, but I also enjoy rides that I can take 10 minutes to relax on that doesn't usually have a long wait. Adding attractions like trains, boat rides without drops, and Omnimovers would go a long way towards rounding out the current parks.

And no, the Seuss train and Secret Life of Pets don't count with their height requirements and restrictive seating.

I enjoy how Brian's response to what's wrong with Universal amounts to "the rides are so good I wish they were longer". There should be a word for that, where you pretend like you're insulting something but you compliment it at the same time. It's dedication.

But yeah. Lack of family options isn't something I mentioned initially, mostly because I don't go with a family so it's not something I think about a lot. For the longest time, they got away with it because that was their target demographic, and if you didn't like it, go to Disney. But I think Universal wants the crown. They're gonna need family attractions eventually.

That being said, there is a culture around Universal - I remember specifically from high school - of them being the "cool" parks. I think they're afraid they'll lose that if they cater to children too much. Not to say they shouldn't, of course.

If Pokemon and Zelda are coming to the legacy parks, hopefully this problem is one step closer to a solution. Other than that, I think they're destined to stay behind Disney.

Interesting comments above, many of which I agree with. I’ll add my own personal pet peeve: the Universal parks simply aren’t open late enough. I can see shutting down UO earlier but IOA needs to stay open until at least 11 during peak season.
I’m admittedly not sure what their summer operating hours are, but I’ve been too many times to count over the years during all times of the year and I always seem to remember the parks turning in earlier than I would’ve expected.

Wow ... No one disagreed with my perspective. That's a first.

Although I don't know what Emery meant when he commented on my Disney "fallings".

And, also referencing Emery, I would never ask him nor anyone else to kneel on "frozen Pee".

VeleociCoaster - I enjoy how Brian's response to what's wrong with Universal amounts to "the rides are so good I wish they were longer"

I am Never reverse passive aggressive, never, HAHAHAHAHAAHAH

TH - you can call me Brian we are not too formal around here.