The Universal Studios forum gets about a tenth of the threads that the WDW one does. This might be because there’s not that much to discuss — there are no ADRs or FPPs to worry about.
Or maybe you just don’t go — but why not? It’s awesome!
So — serious question — why don’t you go to Universal?
I love Disney way too much to be pulled out of the bubble. And there’s not a ton there that interests me.
My family, however, loves Harry Potter and went for a day last year. They had fun, but for them it was one and done. They also love Disney and when offered the opportunity to take a day to go to Universal this trip they declined, preferring to stay in the bubble themselves.
When we went to WDW a few years ago, we spent a day at Universal and had a blast. This year, we are spending 2 days there at the end of our WDW extravaganza! We love WDW and everything it has to offer (we added 2 days to this trip vs. our last trip) but we are also looking forward to having more time at Universal to not feel quite so rushed, especially for HP.
I think it’s really just a matter of preference and what your family enjoys more. 
We go every year, but there is very little to discuss. Planning takes maybe 5 minutes:
We’ve been to Universal three times in the last 21 years (spending 1 day in each park on those trips), so I guess we average one trip there every 7 years. In comparison we’ve been to WDW 24 times during that same time period. For us they feel more like just amusement parks, whereas the Disney parks are destinations in themselves. Universal parks just don’t feel as immersive. We haven’t even talked about going back for years.
The first time we took my dad’s side of the family we did WDW, Universal and Sea World, and they all said they had no interest going back anywhere but Disney - they’ve been back with us three times since then and haven’t changed their minds.
Every time I suggest Universal to my teens, they veto it. It’s not that they’re Disney-philes, they’re not. They’re just not interested in extreme roller coasters. They want fun and relaxation, not roller coaster to roller coaster. And I couldn’t get either interested in Harry Potter after age 7. Maybe there is lots of other stuff, but I’ll never know. DH isn’t interested, either.
I love love love Universal, but it’s true that there’s not an awful lot to talk about. It just doesn’t require that much planning.
We love Universal. We don’t go as often as we go to Disney. I agree there’s just not much planning especially if you stay at a hotel that offers express passes (which is completely worth it).
We went several years ago right after they opened the Harry Potter. I’m a huge fan of Harry Potter but was not able to go on any rides, because they are not fluffy friendly. I was able to go on 10% of the rides and at Disney I can go on 90%
I would love to go back to Universal because I love Harry Potter, but my kids are 1&3. It would be an expensive venture for very little fun for them. Some day when they are older we will go
We’ve been once and loved it too. For me, there is just so much to do at WDW that it’s tough to make time for Universal when our trip is typically only 7 days. One of these days when we can go 10-14 days we will definitely set aside some Universal days. I agree with others though, that as much fun as the rides are at Universal, it doesn’t have any of the “magic” of WDW.
We love it! We went last year for the first time. We will now work it in to any trip, for one or two days,
If not it’s own trip.
That said, as a pp mentioned, there is a lot less to plan. Especially if you have express pass.
There could be more around restaurants; that was the only thing I was really hunting around for.
Adding just 1 day at Universal during our upcoming trip would have added nearly $1000 extra dollars for our family. If money were no object, I would be totally down and I’m honestly a little disappointed to not work it in this time. If I were going with friends or an adults only trip, I’d do it in a heartbeat–BUT I’ve got all these kids and adding an extra day’s ticket at WDW makes so much more financial sense for a whole family trip.
I’m dying to try Universal for the HP parts but am deferring for now cuz my kids and I aren’t really into extreme roller coasters. Plus, the lines seem nightmarish without an Express Pass (which we would have to pay for unless we tacked on a stay at one of the hotels that offered the free Express Pass). I’m also not willing to give up the benefits of Disney Magic Express (i.e. resort taking care of our luggage, pre-printed boarding passes, free transportation to and from DW) so even tacking on a stay at a Universals hotel at the beginning/end of a trip seems headache-inducing. But I really really REALLY love HP!!!
It is wicked expensive for sure. Especially with express passes
We just did one day last time, to do WWOHP. We’d seen Hogsmeade on our previous trip, but not Diagon Alley. Youngest opted not to come.
It really is crazy expensive, especially for a park to park ticket. But none of us like thrill rides, BTMRR is my limit, not even keen on the drop on Splash although I like the rest of it!
We’ve been to Universal before when the boys were much younger. Youngest spent nearly all the time in Fivel’s playground. I think he did ET, Simpson’s and maybe MIB. That was about all I managed too.
For us, it’s just not worth it. As much as we loved HP, none of us are angling to go back next time.
This for us too. I’d love to pop over for a day but we could add several more days to our Disney trip for that expense instead.
Ah. Yes. Expense.
The great thing about having a really appalling personality is that I don’t have any family or friends, so I only have to pay for myself. Well, last year I took an acquaintance with me, who mostly complained a lot and wasn’t remotely grateful for my subsiding her holiday to the tune of thousands of dollars #notbitter
Also, when it comes to Disney holidays (and Apple products) money loses all meaning to me. Especially when things are priced in dollars and I can’t take the cost seriously. $79 for some unpleasantly strong cocktails, some cakes I don’t want, and a short boat ride about a movie I’ve never seen? Sure! Sign me up! And let me do it again next time!
We haven’t been to Universal since the late 1990’s. It was pretty horrible then.
I have the concern that I will just be utterly disappointed if we do bother to shell out the money to go. Friends of ours always get the express pass, saying you can’t do without it. So, there’s more $$. In the end, our hearts just aren’t in it. We watch vloggers who go to Universal and that’s basically enough for me.
You can actually do it without ExP very easily, you just need to plan. Your average person walking in off the street might not get much done without them, but I do a personalised TP just as I do for WDW and don’t have long waits. It also has loads of single rider lines.