2. Crowd Control

Another dramatic difference we noticed between Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort was efficiency of crowd control.  While navigating Disney crowds on a busy day is ugly business, Disney cast members are well trained and prepared to direct and disperse huge crowds, and generally this works well. While Universal does a laudable job at this, be ready for some distinctly uncomfortable “every man for himself” crowd control situations during your visit.

There were several of these at Universal that we noticed that bypassed “momentary bustling” to total pandemonium. One attraction where this is problematic is Poseidon’s Temple. While the concept of the attraction remains extremely cool (as is the wonderfully air-conditioned building), jostling a massive crowd from one dark enclosed space to another becomes messy quickly. While a few well-placed cast members could help alleviate some of the awkwardness, with almost no one directing the crowd, the journey can quickly devolve into a somewhat violent cattle call.

Universal seems to have a particular penchant for releasing barely-restrained crowds in dark, constricted spaces. Nowhere is this more apparent than in trying to get a locker for their thrill rides. The Incredible Hulk’s lockers are outside, but even trying to get to these proved an exercise in patience. Worse were the lockers for the now-deceased Dragon Challenge, where guests frantically crammed into a tiny hallway to store their belongings.

Image: The Conmunity - Pop Culture Geek, Flickr (license)

The most bedlam crazy example lies inside the queue for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. After entering the attraction’s stunning replica of Hogwarts, guests are directed to either continue forward in the queue or divert to the side to place their belongings in lockers. If you are an introvert or suffer from social anxiety, you would be well-advised to rent a locker at the park’s entrance rather than facing the maelstrom of humanity which is the locker rental section for this ride.

The problem is that such-said lockers are tightly crammed into several constricted corridors. Rather than directing guests through an orderly line or to open stations with cast member assistance, the result instead is a sea of tightly pressed bodies all attempting to go different directions. Getting to a locker and gaining enough room to place your belongings inside is challenge enough, but escaping the corridor is an experience to match the worst nightmares of any claustrophobe. The whole design is utter madness and seems like a proper recipe for a Hogwarts-Edition Ballroom Blitz. It’s such a bizarre setup that it seems to border on dangerous.

Part of the crowd control issues seem to stem from Universal having fewer cast members on hand to direct crowds in sticky situations. With the lockers, queue design and cramped space contribute to the issue. Either way, be prepared when visiting Universal Studios Orlando on a busy day to face some crowd situations a fair deal dicier than most you might face at Walt Disney World.

3. Free FastPass access

Paid FastPass is one of the easiest-to-spot differences between Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando Resort. While Disneyland has made the jump to the paid Maxpass system, guests familiar with Walt Disney World's free FastPass+ will likely finding themselves missing it compared to Universal’s alternative.

The most obvious disadvantage to Express Pass is the cost. Particularly during peak season, it is not a cheap addition to your theme park ticket, and on a high-attendance day, it’s a near-necessity if you want to see all the attractions in a single park. If you want to save, you can opt for the “one ride per attraction” version, but the cost still is hefty if you have more than one party member.

There is another issue with Express Pass compared to Disney’s FastPass+. At initial glance, Express Pass offers superior flexibility. You can choose whichever attraction to visit at whatever time of the day, a huge boon over FastPass+ and its rigid choices and time limits.

However, the issue with this is that if a large number of guests choose to use Express Pass on an attraction at the same time, you could be facing a very long queue despite having paid for the Express line. As much as the time blocks on FastPass+ can prove a pain, the fact that Disney carefully limits the number of guests visiting the FastPass+ lines means that even if you have to wait a few extra minutes, you will usually not be stuck in a queue nearly as long as the stand by line. With ExpressPass, there will be times that you roll the dice, and you may feel like you’re not getting quite as much bang for your buck as you’d hoped.