3 days Universal or Disney?
 

3 early teens and 3 days. First time for them. I have been to both and think that Disney may be quaint and outdated. I see from websites that new rides in Universal and Island Adventure may enthuse them more. Plus one day for wet'n wild. Please advise if I am not being selfish for not putting Disney forward. Thanks!

You are right on about Universal being more appropriate for older children. We went to both Disney and Universal this summer with my two boys, ages 10 and 13. They both loved Universal the best due to the variety of thrill rides. Disney was fun, dont get me wrong, but at that age, they were able to ride more rides and get the thrill that they wanted without the shows. Stay at a Universal Hotel for front of the line access on all rides. Will save you a boat load of time. Well worth the higher hotel cost.

Depending on what time of year you visit, Universal can be handled in a day. You are correct that Universal has thrill rides that will appeal to teens. Not three days worth.

EPCOT has several new rides including Soaring, Test Track, and Mars that are anything but quaint. The water parks at Disney are excellent. Animal Kingdom has rides for teens and the Safari visit is good for allage groups.

Either place is great. Yes, the rides at Universal are more thrilling. Disney does have plenty that would appeal to them. Disney overall is hard to beat. I think the Disney waterparks are better than wet n wild. If you are wanting a park for super thrill rides forget both of these and go to Cedar Point, Ohio. You might be able to do Universal in a day and then spend a couple of days at Disney.

I have to disagree with the others saying that Universal can be done in a day. Not if you really want to take in all it has to offer. There is a LOT of theming throughout both parks at Universal. Not just the sites, but the music, etc. There are also shows to be seen. I have spent five days there and not been bored at all. I would say a miminum of three days to do both parks and enjoy City Walk. Stay on site at Universal and get all day express access to all the attractions. Just show your room key and go to the express line. That perk can't be beat.

I went to Universal Studios in July and was pretty underwhelmed with the place. Thought it was very dated - Twister? Fievel? Men in Black? Universal Islands of Adventure is probably better (wish we could have gone there instead)but not sure its enough for 3 days.

Now when Universal Studios opens up Harry Potter world....

Teens like Universal STudios/Island of Adventure. If they are roller coaster fans, there are several at Island of Adventure. I won't go near those, but my kids love them. We spent about 3 days at Universal with them. We'd go in the morning, leave when it got too crowded (we were there during December break) and return in the evening. we avoided the worst of the crowds but had plenty of time to do everything we wanted to. My kids must have road each roller coaster several times.

Does Universal still have that special program that gets you to the front of every line for every attraction you prefer?

Forget about Wet n' wild if you are going during the winter - -Too Cold

If yourn children have never been to the Disney parks -that's where they should go. Universal is my favorite and my teenage and pre-ten love Islands of Adventure but nothing beats Disney if you have never been there. In 2 days you can see all 4 Disney Parks and have 1 day for Universal.

If you stay at the Hard Rock Hotel, Royal pacific or the other Loews (name escapes me) you get to go to the front of the line (sort of) with your room key.

We took the boys when they were 12 & 14. Their favorite parks were Disney MGM (the Tower of Terror is great!) and Epcot. Epcot was by far out longest day. The boys were mesmerized by the countries - I know you could have knocked me down with a feather - I thought they'd have spent all their time in future world and with video games.

Do you mean three days in one of their hotels or 3 days in the parks in some combination? IF it's a hotel/park question, why not stay both? There are advantages to being on property. At Universal, it's getting onto a special line. At Disney, it's extra magic hours. (On Sunday nights, for example, the Magic Kingdom can be open as late as 3:00 a.m. I would think even preteens would love riding Space Mountain 5 times in a row.)

I would definately think Universal Islands of Adventure would be more fun for pre-teens. But, there are some great rides at Disney that they could certainly enjoy. Don't discount that rides like Everest and Tower of Terror are worth a visit to those parks.

In terms of a water park, you might want to consider Typhoon Lagoon or Blizzard Beach at Disney. Their water parks are really quite good, probably far better than a plain old water park.