Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 13
Comparing Universal Orlando and Walt Disney World
Universal Orlando cannot be studied in a vacuum - it is not the only theme park in Orlando.
Far from it; if it were not for the other big competitor in the district, Universal most likely
would not even have a theme park in Florida. We are of course referring to the Walt Disney
World Resort - the world's most visited tourist destination. There is no doubt that one day
Universal would like to greet just as many guests as Disney does.
The two resorts - Universal Orlando and Walt Disney World - can be compared. There are
many similarities and many differences so if you have visited one and not the other this sec-
tion should be able to provide you with some sort of insight into what to expect. We hope
this will help you be more prepared for your Universal Orlando experience.
Resort size - Universal is but a needle in a haystack in comparison to Disney World. Disney
world covers 47 square miles, an area twice the size of Manhattan. Universal Orlando in
comparison is about 1 square mile in size. Yes, it is a much smaller resort but be aware there
are both advantages and disadvantages to this.
Walt Disney World hosts four theme parks, two water parks, golf and mini-golf courses, al-
most thirty resort hotels, dozens of miles of roads, a speedway, lakes, a shopping district and
much, much more. It is also important to note that Disney has only developed one third of
its 47 square miles. Even so, Disney's currently developed property real estate is about 15
times larger than Universal's. Universal has two theme parks, four resort hotels (with a fifth
one coming soon) and a shopping district which is significantly smaller than Disney's.
This means that Disney World naturally has more things to do; it has the scope to create
larger developments - just Animal Kingdom Park alone at Walt Disney World is about 580
acres in size for example. The whole of Universal's land can fit in Animal Kingdom and its
parking lot. This does not mean that Universal has not done a lot with the land it has though,
in many ways it is far more efficient with the space it has.
The sheer size of the resort does also mean that it can take an eternity to get anywhere at
Walt Disney World - you may be staying at an on-site hotel but it can easily be a 20-minute
bus journey to the theme parks. Whereas, at Universal you are much closer to the action and
can catch a boat to the theme parks from most hotels in a matter or minutes or even walk
from all hotels.
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