DVCNews Debates: Other parks

[Mkeef]

THe only park we've been too outside of WDW is US/IOA. We enjoy it there but can do everything we want in a day. We probably won't go back for a few years because we don't feel the need to. We just don't feel the same immersion in the fantasy that we do Disney. When we plan out trips, whether it be 1 week or more we plan the whole trip around WDW. We won't fly 4500km for any other reason than to be a part of the magic.

[athenna]

I havent been to any of the other parks recently...Havent done Sea World in about 10 years, and dont care if I ever go back....I think it's been that long since I've been to Universal, too.....I would like to get back there someday, but only because we want to see WWOHP...But this is a long time from now, we aren't even doing WDW parks right now...Too expensive.

[mosi61]

Being a member and passholder to Disney it only makes sense that we vacation at Disney. Like other posters have said the other parks just don't have that at home feeling. My two boys want to go see the Wizarding World at Universal. I am taking two days from my late summer trip to visit the two parks at Universal Orlando. I am doing this for them more than me and the wife. I hope it is everything they hope for and so that hey can have that experience of the park. I then want to see their reaction if they notice any difference between Universal and Disney, like we have noticed in the past.

[Maturod1]

I've wanted to go to IOA just to check out the Harry Potter addition. But we feel we have a lot to still do at Disney and being that we fly in we don't want to go through the transit hassle of finding a rental or using public transport. Also another big thing is we use the DDP and it sort of feels like wasting money if we don't use that days credits but trying to make up and use them on other days, especially because we go deluxe dining, would prolly send us both into food comas. Someday it will happen but not very soon. Maybe when we visit family down there we can go as it won't feel like we are being torn from disney.

[CFRivera]

We've visited the other parks. SW was most interesting when we did the behind the scenes types of experiences and we visited US to go see the Blue Man Group we will probably go back to US sometime to check out the Harry Potter addition but that's it. I agree with a lots of the previous posters...none of them have that WDW feeling.

[gcbsdad]

I live in Tampa so I go to Busch Gardens all of the time. Love it for thrill rides and some animals but it is just a park. If it was not so close I don't think I would go that often. I have also been to SW and IOA/US a few times and again they are fun and I would go back but, to me, it's not in the same category as Disney. I am a big kid and WDW really brings out the kid in me every time I go.

[sharonuk]

For years we had annual passes to SW and Aquatica. When the free beer & Clydesdale horses went away, so did we. Inbev just wasn't interested in the parks. Blackstone has since purchased the parks and are willing to put capital into the parks and we have revisited SW, but it still doesn't feel the same as when Bud owned & operated them. Deep down, I think Auggie Busch had a lot of Walt Disney in him.

To be truthfull, the area outside the bubble needs to add another major theme park. I would love to see BG leave Tampa and set up shop on I-192 just west of AK. Right now the Lake Buena Vista area has more beds than the ques can handle.

While the other parks may seem like competition for WDW, what I commonly hear is "X park was fun, but it sure wasn't Disney". In some respect the other parks make you appriciate just how great WDW is. I know I point out a lot of the negative aspects of WDW, but that's only because I don't want them to get lazy and allow WDW to become just another park. I like visiting other parks because they are fun, but driving back onto WDW property just has that "ahhhhhhh" feeling I never get at US/IOA/SW/BG or Camden.

I totally agree!

We usually do "other parks" when we visit, and it is nice sometimes to see/do something a little different. WWOHP was fab! However, driving back through the gates into WDW has such a lovely feel to it.......

[akvhutch]

We went to see WWoHP and Jurassic Park on our last trip. It was really great, but my DW can not do coasters & I do not want to be abused by them! Consequently, it was sort of a waste of $$ for us (rental car, 1 day tickets, etc). I like the parks fine, but just not enough to go more than every 10 years or so. One of my favorite things on a WDW vacation is not having to drive. The most stringent mental requirement is getting on the right bus and I truly enjoy that fact. As for the other parks, not worth the price to rent a car & go IMHO!

When you've invested in DVC & Annual passes, it is very hard to justify spending $ for what promises to be an experience that is not likely to be anything more than even to WDW! As the saying goes "the worst day at Disney World is better than the best day elsewhere"!! With few exceptions, I find that to be very true!!

[TimK]

Like others, it's often impossible to justify the cost. For our family of 4, we could add another day to a Disney park hopper for $40-50 while a single day at Universal would put us back $400 or more. If we have Disney APs then there's zero cost for just sticking with The Mouse.

The one time we went to Universal was a trip where we didn't visit WDW at all. Came to town primarily for a Disney Cruise and planned a couple of days at Universal afterward. It would probably take something similar for us to visit US / Sea World, etc. again.

Southern California has something called the City Pass which provides 3 days at Disneyland / DCA, 1 day at Sea World and 1 day at Universal Hollywood. That's something we are strongly considering for a trip in 2013.

I believe there is an Orlando City Pass too but WDW doesn't participate. Not really an option.

[KNWVIKING 2.0]

I believe there is an Orlando City Pass too but WDW doesn't participate.

The Orlando Flex Pass. Many variations and levels, most popular is the US/IOA/CW, SW, Wet-n-Wild combo. 14 days of unlimited access. You do pay for parking, but only pay once per day if you park hop. Wet-n-Wild parking was half the price of US or SW. We'd pull into the lot, pay for parking, then just drive out & head to the other parks. It was several years ago but we only paid aprox $200.00 per adult. Pretty good value considering what it included for 14 days.