I only have time for one. Which is best, Universal Studios or MGM--- and why?? I'm taking my 14 year old niece with me.

Trina, I have some friends just return from Universal on a weekend "couple" deal and they loved it. They are totally amusement park crazy and love roller coasters, plus it was summer in Florida- so that tells you how much they really like the rough rides. Universal is big (really 2 parks.) I won a free trip to Florida with all kinds of perks in '98 and used it in the spring. We did Universal then in less than a day and saw all attractions except the one which was closed for repairs. Ask her which one she'd like best, and let her read up on what is at each one. That would put her in the process and start some input. Don't forget though that MGM is a Disney property and is included on Disney pass, whereas the other is not. All amusement parks seem almost alike to me. Tower of Terror was good at MGM and
also the 3D Muppets was memorable. I prefer MGM for the most part, I think.

Trina,
My boyfriend and I just came back from Disney last month and we both liked MGM much better than Universal Studios. Universal has two parks: Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios. We only had a pass for one park so we chose Universal Studios because I can't go on any loop to loop roller coasters and it looked like Islands of Adventure had alot more of that than Universal Studios. The lines at Univ. Studios were long and I didn't think the attractions there were much fun. I don't really know what Islands of Adventure has to offer and I don't know anyone who has recently been to that park.
We had a much better time at MGM. The 3D Muppet was neat and the backlot studio tour was cool too. My boyfriend loved the Aerosmith Rockin Roller Coaster. MGM and all Disney parks have Fastpass for certain rides and it's great because you don't have to wait in long lines. MGM also has a tour of the animation studio where you can see the animation artists at work on future Disney movies. I thought that was really interesting.

Just returned from Universal and Islands of Adventure. We liked it better than MGM At the entrance you can get passes to shows being filmed in Nickolodean Studios. We were able to be in the audience of the show "DOUBLE DARE." My 14 year old loved Nickolodean Studios and the Hollywood part of Universal. Islands of Adventure is really cute but doesn't have that many rides other than roller coasters. Some fun ones were Jurassic Park and Pluto's Barge. Seuss's landing is darling for younger kids. Also, stay at Portofino Bay Hotel. Is is wonderful and you can take a 5 minute boat ride right to the entrance of the parks. It is such first rate hotel, beautiful pools and rooms, that we enjoyed it as much as the parks.

Trina

I've been to both parks three times within the last 3 years and prefer Universal Studios over MGM. I think your 14yr old niece would like the rides at Universal Studios better. To me they have a lot more rides than MGM. MGM has the Rockin Roller Coaster and Tower of Terror as the two main attractions. Universal has a lot more rides. They just opened up Islands of Adventure next door to Universal which has the "big" rides like roller coasters etc... We liked Islands of Adventure also... You should probably swing both Universal & Islands of Adventure if you can. They offer discount tickets for both parks..
HAVE FUN!!!

I agree with Jan - I like Universal much more than MGM. The only negative issue is the fact that it is 2 separate parks - Island of Adventure and the original - but they're both great and I think you can get a 2 park package. The Jurassic park ride is not to be missed - and I love all the stuff in the other park. MGM just never did it for me. I've been there several times, and I just didn't find the diversity of rides and experiences.

Trina,

If you're going in the summer, I vote for MGM. The last time we were at Universal, it was very hot and there was little shade. I think Disney, being generally bettern run and more interested in customer comfort, provides more shade.

MGM is pretty small by comparison. You might decide by investigating what kinds of rides and amusements are at each place and then deciding what interests both of you most.

At MGM, there's the Tower of Terror, an elevator drop; the new Rock-n-Roller Coaster, which is intense but great; Star Tours, a motion simulator ride that we go on repeatedly; a great Muppet 3-D movie that still amuses us after umpteen times; and our favorite restaurant in all of Disney, the Sci-Fi Dine-in.

Interestingly, the last few times we've been to Orlando, we haven't been able to interest our kids in Universal at all, even with the new park. We're going again next month and they want to do Disney all the way. They're 11 and 14.

Hope this helps.