Back in March and April, I reached out for your combined expertise on Universal Orlando Resort. You did not disappoint in your comments and suggestions. Having just returned from our trip, here are our thoughts and trip report. Please keep in mind, this is from a Disney fangirl’s perspective and the very first time I stepped outside the Disney bubble.
We departed on a Sunday from Baltimore Maryland via Amtrak’s Silver Star. Not being sports followers, we had no idea there was a Ravens NFL game that day, and Penn Station was “packed” with people. Our train kept getting delayed and we left about an hour later than scheduled. Once on board, we made it in time for lunch which was actually very tasty, as was all the dining services we experienced on Amtrak. But then engine problems in Washington DC (well beyond the electric to diesel changeover) delayed us an additional hour and a half. While we both hate flying, and driving is no better from PA, Amtrak is our only other alternative. The bedroom was comfortable but round trip came with a hefty price tag. For two people in a private bedroom, the cost was $3800. We could have flown round trip for under $500.
Our schedule was to have us in Orlando at 10:30am Monday morning. While the train did make up some of its lost time overnight, we didn’t arrive at Orlando station until noon. I notified Mears Transportation of our late arrival but our driver sat at Amtrak since 10:30 and just waited for us. Needless to say, he deserved a nice tip and was such a great driver, that we asked to have him do our return trip to Amtrak which Mears was happy to provide. Lowe’s Royal Pacific was a stone’s throw away from Amtrak at only 8 miles down I4. We promptly arrived at the hotel. The baggage service folks were spectacular but the girl that checked us in was a bit of a snot. She didn’t tell us much and made very little eye contact as though getting rid of us was her main objective.
Arriving at our room, it felt weird not to have a mapped out itinerary. We had no dining reservations, no fast passes or virtual queues reserved, nothing! Just an app with a lousy-looking map on it. My wife looked at me and said “alright! What are we doing?” I shrugged and said “I don’t know! We can do whatever we want! There is NO time schedules and the only thing limiting us are park hours!” This did NOT sit well with her. We spent a half hour arguing because every Disney trip, I have always mapped out to the minute, exactly where and when we needed to be. I explained that UO doesn’t work like that. This is no different than HersheyPark….you show up and just do whatever you want! Though I won’t lie. It did feel strange not having a detailed plan made up months before the trip.
Having already lost over half a day on our Monday tickets due to Amtrak, we ventured out on the path to CityWalk. To put things into perspective, I am 52 and my wife is 45. Both of us are not in good physical health and the walking we were about to endure is more than we bargained for. It was 92 degrees (F) with around 65% humidity. Before we even hit the water along the path, we were both drenched with sweat from head to toe. The weather was HORRID heat and it did not rain one drop our entire week there. I had an A/C cooling neck fan in my backpack which didn’t do a darn thing in the Florida heat.
Arriving at CityWalk, we just wanted some A/C so we visited the Epic Universe Preview Center. “Impressive” is the best word to describe it and unlike Epcot’s preview center, what is shown here will actually become reality. We chose Studios as our first park to explore. Not having any food since the train that morning, we went to Mel’s Diner where we waited for well over 30 minutes for our food to be picked up. The park was more crowded than I expected and getting a table in a counter service restaurant was just as challenging at UO as it is at any Disney quick service. People stalking and waiting for any sign of a family leaving a table is something I can’t stand. I realize capacity is what it is and it’s kind of nice to see it’s an issue at both resorts.
After lunch which was “meh”, being huge Despicable Me fans, we went to Minion Mayhem. I read the disclaimer out front to see how many boxes I checked. Neck or back problems? Check! I’ve had chronic neck pain and occasional vertigo for several years now. Heart issues? Check! Like I said….not the healthiest of humans on the planet. Claustrophobic? Check! I won’t ride elevators because I am that claustrophobic (and yes, our room was on the 6th floor of Royal Pacific where the stairs and I became very well acquainted). Dizziness? Check! My neck pain frequently is accompanied by dizziness. But damn it! I came to experience UO!
The ride was fun but one of the harshest and relentless simulators I’ve ever experienced. Getting off, I had to sit for a bit and regain my bearings. My wife’s experience wasn’t much better than mine. She had back pain after disembarking. Looking at her with concerned eyes, I said “What have we done!? I hope everything isn’t like this!” As we sat on the bench, the movie parade was starting so we watched it from a great vantage point. While enjoyable, it was too short and their floats just can’t hold a candle to Disney’s. Doc Brown and Marty were far cries from their screen counterparts.
Next, we walked into VillainCon. Neither of us cared for this one bit because the choppy, laggy gameplay was nothing more than sensory overload. Twisting back and forth, looking up and down hurt my neck and back more than the simulator did. Afterwards, I had to take one of my dizzy meds and wait for it to kick in. A loop around the park was our last objective for the day so we could decide what we wanted to do on Tuesday. There were many stops in stores so we could browse and cool off. On the way back to the hotel, we snacked on cart items like popcorn and churos. We arrived back to our room around 8:30pm and since I didn’t sleep at all on the train the night before, I was exhausted. It was curfew at the old folk’s home and we were asleep by 9:30.
On Tuesday, I needed to sleep in so we didn’t even get up until 9am. We missed early morning entry to IOA but I didn’t care. Studios was where we wanted to return to and after discovering the boat dock, we loved riding instead of the 10-minute walk. Also, KUDOS for the way the resorts handle security by having them at the boat docks or the walking path and not at the park entrances. We had lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company because we both love that restaurant and I dare say it was excellent! Like a complete moron, I left my “free appetizer at Bubba Gump” ticket they gave us at check-in, lying in our room.
Not having ever seen the Harry Potter films, I asked you all how important it would be towards our enjoyment of the HP lands. I do not recall which one of you said it, but “Watch movies 1 through 4 and you’ll get everything you need to know” was spot on! We watched 1 -3 and then watched 4 on the train on the way down. First off, THANK YOU! We both found we really enjoyed these films and are looking forward to watching the remaining ones. I got into it more than I had anticipated. Yet I was muggle enough to not be able to find Diagon Alley after a complete loop of studios. I approached the train conductor and sheepishly whispered to him “ummm….I can’t ummmm…..seem to find Diagon Alley.” He grinned and said “Young lady, surely I don’t know what you are talking about! But I can tell you that people entering that red building over there have mysteriously been disappearing all day!” I need to stop and interject something here. UO Team Members are FABULOUS!! All of them we interacted with the entire trip were remarkable, friendly and fun. This felt like “old Disney” to me which I had not felt the past 3 trips to Disney World.
Upon entering Diagon Alley, our mouths dropped. Hidden from the rest of the park, this land was more than we were prepared for! I immediately hopped in line for my first Butterbeer and I can say I found a new favorite beverage. During my trip, I consumed at least 5 of them including the frozen variety. We spent hours exploring every nook and cranny of Diagon Alley but decided not to ride Escape from Gringotts because we both had large backpacks and didn’t want to pay for a locker. The detail and craftsmanship of this land was on par with any land Disney has ever built (old Disney I should say). And with only about an hour left at the park, we stopped at Jimmy Fallon for what would be our ONLY ride of the entire day. We are not big Jimmy fans but we were certainly familiar with his content and characters. After riding, I honestly don’t know where all the hate for this attraction comes from. Yeah, it’s a screen-based simulator like many others, but the moving theater was smooth and the jokes kept us laughing from preshow to exit through retail. After returning to our hotel, we went down to the first floor for dinner at Jake’s American Bar which pleased our pallets to perfection.
Wednesday was our first day at IOA. After a quick breakfast at Voodoo Donuts, today’s main objective was to ride Hagrid’s and we got an earlier start which was great. We sucked it up and paid $3 to rent a large locker while we rode. Wait time was posted at 55 minutes which considering we had express pass for everything else, wasn’t that bad. The line moved quickly and before we knew it, we reached the loading platform. It was at this point I realized I didn’t try the “test seat” because I didn’t see it upon entering. Katie took the sidecar; I took the motorbike. After pulling the restraint down as far as could, the ride attendant came along and pushed it down even further and I was feeling REALLY uncomfortable. But before I could gripe about it, the train left the station and we were on our way.
Neither of us had ridden ANY coaster in the past 10 years so what I believed to be a mild, family coaster turned out to be the highlight of the entire trip! I LOVED IT! Katie, not so much. The trains were backed up 4 deep waiting to return to the station so when I looked over at her when we stopped, all color was gone from her face. She’s not a coaster person to begin with and it was more than she bargained for. It being classified as a “family coaster” makes it the most aggressive family coaster I’ve ever ridden but damn it was fun! It hurt her back pretty good and I was realizing that Universal was serious with their ride warnings. It’s still hands down the best coaster I’ve ever ridden.
Afterwards, we toured Hogsmeade and honestly, I wished I had seen this prior to Diagon Alley. This did not impress me nearly to the level of awe that Diagon did. Hogwarts was a site to behold and I was warned Forbidden Journey might be too extreme for my health issues. Taking a gamble, we got in line and made it fairly deep into the school before we caught up to the Express Pass. The theming and detail was remarkable and I have to give props where props are due. This impressed me greatly. Then the powers that be intervened…”We are experiencing technical difficulties and are working to resolve them as quickly as possible” boomed overtop the theme music. This repeated every 5 minutes for the next 45 minutes and we did not move an inch. I expressed to Katie that this was a sign not to attempt to ride. We backed our way out of line and left.
We then backtracked to Suess Landing because we both have held onto our inner children our entire lives. Detail and theming here was like walking into one of the good doctor’s books. But you can tell it’s showing its age and the upkeep isn’t the best. The Cat in the Hat ride…..WTH!? It was atrocious!! I’ve seen better dark rides built in people’s garages! I cannot believe that this still operates in a major park in the condition it's in. From what I can tell, this isn’t due to a lack of care or maintenance. It appears to have been a lousy attraction from the get-go! Sure, it’s geared at kids but it felt like we were riding in a building unfolded from the back of a semi at a local carnival.
As we passed through the Lost Continent, I regretted not visiting in time to see Poseidon. The decaying, abandoned building brought forth a heavy sigh. Then we found ourselves standing in front my Mythos. “Everyone at Theme Park Insider said you HAVE HAVE HAVE to eat at Mythos” I told my wife. We opened our apps and looked again at the menu. Keeping in mind we eat like 8-year olds, “foo foo food” which is our endearing term for upscale dining, Katie couldn’t find one thing she was willing to eat. “BUT….WE HAVE TO” did not cut it. We moved on to Jurassic Park where we had burgers at The Burger Digs which we found to be quite tasty. But not having seen inside Mythos will forever haunt me.
We did the River Adventure which I was expecting more from. It felt rather dated too and the one I was thinking of from Youtube was Hollywood’s. The queue to Velocicoaster beckoned me. Katie said she would wait that one out if I wanted to ride it. For over 10 minutes, I watched it pass overhead deciding if it would be too much for my neck. I was living on several Advils at this point of the day. Yes, you all said it is very smooth but in a last-minute panic, I decided to walk away. Do I regret that now? Yup! Skull Island was a fun experience. The motion base vehicles were not as rough as many of the simulator based attractions. (Oh, and just because it popped in my head right now, I asked a Team Member outside Fast and the Furious if it was true the attraction was never going to reopen. He said 100% it is coming back after HHN finishes.)
Toon Lagoon felt like entering a world that time forgot. I haven’t seen some of those comic strip characters in YEARS! We watched Ripsaw Falls and Bilge-Rat Barges and even though we were both drenched in sweat, we again had our fabric bookbags and sneakers which water rides can ruin. We hit all the shops in this area and moved to Marvel Super Hero Land where Spiderman was also on the “must-do” list. Neither of us are Marvel fans but I’ve heard so much about one of the greatest attractions ever built and…..it was down. Ugh! My watch said we had walked 9 miles this day and we left around 5pm to return to the hotel, freshen up and go for dinner. I grabbed my $20 off $50 or more at Hard Rock Café coupon and we headed back to CityWalk. Dinner was typical Hard Rock fare and we enjoyed the scenery inside and the energy level/vibes it was pumping out. We hit some CityWalk shops late in the evening and returned to our hotel. As I got ready for bed, I reached into my pocket and found the $20 coupon I remembered to take but didn’t remember to use! I HATE GETTING OLD!
Thursday morning took us back to studios because I had not spent quality time with my favorite IP of all….The Simpsons. While the land itself is underwhelming in size, I couldn’t help but giggle at the endless puns and episode references found everywhere. There was only one “Bort” keychain left on the rack! Krustyland was awesome and the clips from Duff Gardens and the constant cracks about theme parks separating guests from their wallets was hysterical. I had found my happy place at Universal! You could definitely tell the age of the simulators and this hurt my neck and back pretty bad. Yet regret relief was just one Advil away. We ate in Moe’s Tavern each enjoying one of Luigi’s pizzas but didn’t like fighting to get a table.
Dreamworks Land was not worth the walk back there. It’s a sad excuse to be considered a “new land”. We did get our photos taken with Puss in Boots which honestly, we loved! But the lack of really anything to do, regardless of age, was slim and none. We then returned to Diagon Alley just to soak up the atmosphere. The park closed at 5 for HHN and we just decided to go back to the hotel where we had dinner at Jake’s American Bar again and more menu options that we loved. Friday morning, we checked out at 11 and headed back to the Orlando Amtrak station.
Summary of thoughts on Universal Orlando Resort
- We are not the target demographic for Universal. I’d say the 8 to 35 crowd is the sweet spot where you can enjoy a lot of what the parks have to offer.
- The lack of shows is saddening. The Bourn Stunt Spectacular was incredible but with CineSational not running during HHN, I was craving show entertainment. The Frog Choir and the other HP mini shows were kinda lame and short. The parade was at least better than nothing.
- I SEVERELY underestimated the size of this resort. We didn’t even have time to get to Volcano Bay or ride everything like The Mummy or Men in Black.
- I highly preferred Studios over IOA. Why it has won top awards year after year escapes me. Yes, of course I’ve read every article posted about it here and can only assume it’s because I didn’t eat at Mythos! :D
- We agreed to purchase HHN tickets once we there IF we felt up to it. In all honesty, as tired and worn out as we were every day, there is no way we could have walked through those houses yet. Every day, my neck hurt and my dizziness got worse the later it got. I would not have enjoyed HHN feeling that way and I am just as happy to see them on Youtube.
- Pay attention to those warning signs. When they tell you not to ride, they mean it! There was nothing tame at Universal compared to Disney. ET was as close as it gets. Even the Cat in the Hat’s spinning made me long for Listen to the Land. The Sky High Trolley was so hot, even that was a miserable ride.
- CityWalk is better than Disney Springs. We didn’t feel like we needed credit checks just to enter the stores like I feel at the “upscale” places at Springs. And CityWalk’s restaurants cater more to our pallets.
- For a “deluxe resort”, Royal Pacific felt like any random hotel. Our toilet didn’t flush half the time and one night we had no hot water. When asked where the vending machines were, they said “We don’t have those here. You can buy beverages in the stores”. They put bottles of Fiji Water in our room but it was $7.50 if you drank one. I did at least find $5 Dasani at the Tuk Tuk market. It stinks that there are different refillable freestyle cups for the hotels and the parks. Homer was right…everyone wants a piece of your wallet. But I do believe Disney does the same.
- When taking the pathway over to Citywalk, the smell of garbage was almost unbearable. We don’t know if it was the water that smelled or trash in the cans, but it was very rank every day we were there. A snake slithered across our path and Katie said “Never saw a snake at Disney, huh.”
- Amtrak stinks! Suck it up and take an airplane. You waste 2 and a half days on just getting there and getting home. It also shakes worse than some of the simulators at the parks.
- Regardless of all their issues, faults, decline in maintenance, upcharges, attraction break downs, lighting lanes, trashy appearance, poor decisions, and urine smelling monorails, Disney is STILL the gold standard in theme park entertainment. I felt guilty all week being that close to Mickey and not saying hi. Universal felt like a notch under and whether Epic changes that or not, they’re not there yet.
- Walk-around characters were non-existent. I saw Homer once and crossed the street to see him. His wrangler said, “Sorry, the last family is with him now.” Another day I saw Marge and Homer and almost ran over with my camera only to hear “Sorry, the line is cut off!” We did get a photo with Puss and a photo with a Minion. But we didn’t even come across any other “streetmosphere” of any kind. I see more Hershey characters at HersheyPark then I saw at either park at Universal. This was the week Beetlejuice Beetlejuice premiered in theaters. I thought for certain they would have him out at US but nope…not a peep.
- Attendance was much higher than I was expecting. It got very “peopley” one too many times where I needed to find a secluded place. Standby wait times were never bad but the HP areas were just elbow to elbow and as hot as it was, the scent emanating from that many human bodies was…*CRINGE*
- Will we ever return to Universal? We go to Florida about every 3 years. Our next trip will 100% be back to Disney. Yet Epic has me intrigued and being a big Nintendo fan, if reviews are positive, I will want to check it out. My body needs less thrill and more calm and that’s something Disney does well. The biggest plus of USO was being able to be spontaneous. Eating wherever, riding whatever, making choices on the fly is such a missed aspect of a Disney vacation.
For those who made it to the end of this report and all my babble, thanks for reading! Several of you helped me in planning this trip and I owe my honest opinion on the experience.
It was fun.
@VelocicoasterFan - You are absolutely right! Why not both!? It honestly hasn't occurred to me as an option. I guess living inside the Disney bubble has put blinders on to the rest of Orlando. If we fly next time and save those travel days, that's additional days we COULD return to hit the things we missed. TY for that!
Thanks for sharing Sarah I'm glad you mostly enjoyed your trip.
My husband also isn't a big ride guy so it's always a bit trickier when we visit Universal since most of the rides he can't do. I personally love that the rides are more intense and find most of the Disney rides quite boring but he loves how they don't "move" :)
Despite this he himself prefers Universal since we don't have to plan and are free to just walk around and do what we want. We both hate Disney's planning so we rarely go. We recently did an after hours party at Hollywood Studios and loved that so we will try and book another one of those next time we are in Orlando. I hope you got to try the Minion Cafe I really love that place and the PX-41 drink is almost as good as Butterbeer!
As good as Epic looks I'm a bit concerned for my husband because it doesn't seem like they'll be any rides for him do to there except Yoshi, Mario Kart, the carousel, and the boat ride in Dragons. Everything else looks to intense for him so I suspect it will be the same for you. Still the theming of the park looks fantastic so will give it a try.
@Francis 24 - I certainly get where your hubby is coming from. My biggest issue is that I truly love intense rides and have spent my life enjoying them. When my chronic neck pain showed up in my mid-40s, it forced me to slow down and realize that some tasks just aren't going to be as easy as they were 20 years ago.
EU will pull me in out of pure curiosity. I've been looking forward to the Donkey Kong coaster because that was always one of my favorite games. Like Hagrid's, I'll force myself to do that regardless of its final intensity.
@MischeifManaged - **GASP** You go to Disney WITHOUT planning!?!?! My heart just skipped a beat hearing that! LOL! Being a meticulous planner myself on Disney trips, I hope your friend can handle it!
I honestly thought it was impossible to go to Disney without plans in this day and age but if you go often, I can see where planning wouldn't make a difference. One of my colleagues at work flies herself to WDW frequently and plans nothing. She likes to just "sit in her happy place" and watch people. If she sees a low wait time, she rides something. She doesn't care when or what.
I did love that about Universal. There is a freedom of not being a slave to your phone. Thanks for your comments ^_^
Thank you for sharing your trip report. I always enjoy hearing about people's experiences that may be different from my own. I grew up a "Disney kid," and spent my high school years trading free passes to Wet n Wild for passes to Disney. (Or, just going with my friends or girlfriend who worked at Disney.) Today, I vastly prefer Universal.
One, of the many things, that I prefer about USF is that I don't have to plan and I am not a strict schedule. I work fulltime and have a part-time job (LOL) shuttling children between sports and other extracurricular activities, so the last thing I want to do on vacation is adhere to a strict schedule. I want to go where I want to and eat when I am hungry rather than the time that reservations where available months earlier.
I think you nailed the fact that you're probably not Universal's target demo. My family prefers the more intense rides that USF has to offer. My daughter who is 9, but was 7 the last time we went to Disney said that she was bored and that the rides were for little kids. My son who was 9 had to write a comparative paper for the school time he missed, decided to write about Universal being the best theme park experience. (Makes a dad feel great about the $1000's being spent on that Disney trip.)
My kids are also a bit of food snobs/foodies, and Universal's food matches up (outside of EPCOT) with Disney. We always have to get the family feast at Three Broomsticks. Mythos is also a favorite. My son has to have Bumblebee Man's tacos and my daughter HAS to have the chicken and waffle sandwich in Springfield.
It's funny, I agreed with a lot of your trip report, but the one thing that we vastly prefer is Disney Springs over City Walk because of the restaurant options.
One last thing, I totally understand your limitations and aversion to Velocicoaster, but it is the single best rollercoaster experience, and this is coming from a skeptic who thought it was all fluff and hype before riding it. (Again, we like rollercoasters and intense rides.) We rode it 13 times our last trip.
Nice long detailed report.
I am the exact opposite. We go on everything. And I am older than you.
We go to Universal for the Great attractions\rides. And avoid Disney most years since there are not many thrilling attractions. (Except AK, we love Pandora)
Sorry but there is no way I would spend that kind of monies and not Hit as many attractions as possible especially since you had Express pass.
But Yes, that Florida heat + Humidity will slow you down. We went 1st week of September once and it was too much. Early May or Late October are much better.
Hulk, VelociCoaster, Mummy, Spiderman…… I can’t believe you missed all of that.
Funny how different folks are, we love to just go with the flow, go on whatever whenever and you guys want to plan everything..
Thx for posting…
I'm sorry that the weather was so bad - Orlando in September sucks. The whole "fall" thing fools a lot of people because they think it will be better than summer since it is in the rest of the country, but the reality is that it doesn't cool down here until early November (oddly enough it seems to happen every year where Halloween is really hot, and then like the next day Nov 1 it starts to cool down).
You were...um..."brave" I guess to take Amtrak. I have never heard of anyone taking Amtrak to Orlando and have no idea why you would spend so much time doing that lol. Sounds like it took a lot of time out of your trip.
While it sucks you missed some of the best attractions, don't feel bad, if you have back/neck problems you absolutely should not ride them, hence why they have all those signs out front saying not to. If you did sustain some sort of injury from them the park would 100% NOT be responsible and you would be stuck with the fallout of whatever happens. I was a huge coaster enthusiast for decades and now am in the same boat having to come to grips with the fact that i'm getting to the end of the road for coaster riding. As a side note if you thought Hagrids (which is a relatively mild family coaster) was intense and got your partner sick, you definitely made the right decision to not ride things like Velocicoaster and Hulk). And the simulators at UO are nauseating and have never really been enjoyable to me.
At least now at least you have had the experience of going and if Disney has more to offer you at your age can always go there next time.
@MLB and Brian - I hear you on VelociCoaster. It looked as remarkable as all the write-ups and videos have made it out to be. And I was soooooooo close to getting in line. My greatest hesitancy was that a few years ago, while just teaching to my class, the room started to spin. I went to the ER with vertigo and they taught me all about these crystals in the ear canal that can get thrown off and cause imbalance. I was out of work for a week until the world stopped spinning. It was horrible!
My greatest fear at UO was that I would end up in some strange Orlando ER with similar symptoms. Therefore I wanted to avoid anything that went upside down. Hulk looked awesome too so I had to balance risk vs. reward. However, RRR was never on my radar after watching it for several minutes.
@the_man7 - Thanx! Most of our Orlando trips are in March or April. We also missed hurricane Helene causing havoc up the east coast by a few days. For several days, Amtrak stopped running this route so we would have been stuck. Without going to HHN, we chose a poor time of year to visit.
As for Amtrak, they sell this experience as a glamorized, nostalgic, romantic means of travel. "Sit back and relax, don't worry about traffic, no lines at airport security, and watch as the scenery of the world rolls by." What they don't tell you is how rough the tracks are, how unreliable the schedule is, and how cramped the bathrooms are even in a private bedroom. Amtrak itself is supposed to be part of your vacation experience. All I saw was a lot of graffiti on the backs of buildings, dirty and rusty rail yards, run down factories that have long been abandoned, and at night, just pitch blackness out the window.Then at 3am, you feel the train lurch to a stop and the power goes out and it's just eerily silent. Looking out the window and google maps, you're literally in the middle of nowhere. Miles from any road, town or interstate. Good Times :D
We've occasionally considered taking Amtrak, but even though we're less than 10 miles from the main Autotrain station in Lorton, VA, the cost not only in dollars (easily double or triple what it would cost to fly not including the fare for your car), but also in travel time (typically 6-8 hours longer than it takes to drive down I-95) and overall inconvenience in scheduling since the Autotrain usually leaves in the mid afternoon and doesn't arrive until after lunchtime the following day (i.e. you lose a park day) can make it a vastly inferior experience to flying or even driving. I'm kind of surprised that you spent so much for a sleeper cabin, but didn't end up sleeping - personally, I find the bumpy ride of a train somewhat mesmerizing and have not had issues sleeping on a train (I used to take a 45-60 minute commuter train ride that shares tracks with Amtrack into DC as part of my daily commute, and would always have to make sure I didn't snooze and miss my stop).
I really feel bad that you didn't enjoy UO as much as so many here do, but it does go to prove that there will always be guests out there that are Disney people and those who are Universal people, and trying to convince one side to like the other more will never happen. However, I do think it's clear that each of the resorts cater more to certain demographics, and if you're not into or just can't handle intense thrill rides, UO is probably not going to be your cup of tea. It is interesting that the aspects of UO that appeal to older guests like the ability to be spontaneous and not plan is undercut by the overall vibe of the parks, which is high energy and high thrill. Universal Express, which you got as part of your room, makes the parks even more accessible and allows you to be far more spontaneous (Hagrid's is the only major attraction not on UE). I guess this just goes to show that some people like being told what to do, and don't want that free form vacation that many of us say that we really want, which may suggest what Disney is doing might be the preferred option, and perhaps is guiding what Universal will be doing with Epic Universe.
While you didn't get on Spiderman, did you at least get on Transformers? That attraction uses the same ride system (with a couple of cleverly inserted elevator rides to maximize the attraction's footprint), but agree that it's not as good as the original over at IOA. I do find Transformers to be a lot darker, and less "fun" than Spiderman, but it's still a solid attraction, and amongst the top 3 at USF (I would put it tied with Gringott's, but below MIB and Mummy).
As far as all the walking, I think you stumbled onto the solution with the boats after making that long walk on the first day. I think if you had started at IOA, that walk would not have felt so long, but the boats can really save your feet, especially at the end of a long day if you're willing to plan 5-10 more minutes for your trip.
I'm frankly shocked that you ate twice at Jake's when there are so many great restaurants (both counter service and table service) at City Walk beyond Hard Rock and Bubba Gump, but I guess if you're not culinary explorers, all the options are pretty meaningless.
I am completely on board with Cat in the Hat and Seuss Landing as a whole, which seems to get new coats of paint every year to keep it looking vibrant, but just feels older and more tired as it ages (same goes for Toon Lagoon, though at least the rides there are top notch). For as good as IOA is, there are massive dead spots in the park, not the least of which is Lost Continent, which has become a ghost town.
I do think there's value in splitting time between WDW and UO, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with visiting both over the course of a single vacations - that's the way we've done it every time we've spent more than 5 days in Orlando.
I loved this post- hearing a different perspective on Universal was a treat! I totally agree with a lot of the things that you said and it's a pity that some technical difficulties prevented you from riding spider man or forbidden journey, but I still consider IOA to be a better park. Also, if you do go again, Bilge-rat barges has a waterproof pouch in the center of each raft that worked pretty well when I went.
My only point of confusion is, well, why not both? You said that you were at least a little torn between EU and Disney, but when I go to Orlando, I never just do one or the other. I hit magic kingdom and animal kingdom, then do studios and islands. There's an argument to be made for onsite hotels, but the point still stands