4. Stability and re-rides for attraction malfunctions

This was one of the more unusual items where we found ourselves missing just a bit of that Disney magic. Walt Disney World thrives on spectacular guest service. One of the quieter ways this shows up is if you happen to be on an attraction that malfunctions at Walt Disney World, there is a good chance you may get to re-ride that attraction (depending on the circumstances). This is not a 100% of the time case, but it does seem to happen more often than not.

While I imagine there are situations where Universal Orlando Resort does the same, our experience was that the Universal cast members were not so quick to address issues of ride malfunctions, and there are times when ride closures might arrive in an avalanche.

Our first encounter with this was on the Incredible Hulk roller coaster. After waiting through a surprisingly lengthy Express Pass queue, we rode the coaster only to find out that all the speakers in our car malfunctioned, so there was no atmospheric sound. As we had several guests in our party who were riding it for the first time (and who would not be able to return anytime soon), we brought up the malfunction to the team member on duty as we exited the ride. It appeared to be an issue specifically with our car rather than the whole ride.

While he was polite, the response was simply a shrug and a brief word that they would look into the issue. It wasn’t a huge problem, but it was disappointing that we didn’t get that usual “second chance” we’d come to expect from Disney.

We ran into another ride issue on Dudley Do Right’s Ripsaw Falls. Our party were literally about to board when the ride went down due to a malfunction. Unfortunately, there was nothing the team members could do, so they sent everyone out of the queue. In this case, we had a more positive experience—the team member at the front mentioned that our party could return and mention her name to get back into the queue if the ride opened later. It didn’t, but this was a nice gesture. However, there would be no such luck for the parties behind us.

We ran into another closure on Skull Island: Reign of Kong Finally, we headed to Dragon Challenge, hopeful that our luck would improve. As it had been with Ripsaw Falls, we were literally about to get on the ride when it closed due to inclement weather. Once again, while the cast members were very nice, there wasn’t much offered in the way of hope for a future re-ride without waiting in the full queue again.

Now, of all the differences, this situation is a mixed bag. Even Disney can only do so much when a ride goes down, and there are times when they are hit by multiple closures like anyone else. They cannot give Fastpasses to all guests in line or even promise re-rides in these situations. However, it seems across the board, our experience over the years with Disney cast members in situations like these proved to be more accommodating than what we found at Universal. It wasn’t that the Disney cast members were simply nicer. Rather, it seemed they were empowered to do something about it.

With Universal, both the frequency of ride malfunctions and the lack of any clear direction for guests who found themselves faced with one proved disappointing. Universal Orlando Resort is an amazing resort with many advantages over Walt Disney World. However, it seems there are still a few areas where Disney maintains the edge of over half a century of theme park experience.

When you visit Universal Studios Orlando, what are some other elements you miss compared to Walt Disney World?