So I just arrived back home after a week at Universal Orlando Resort. My family and I don't go anywhere but Universal any more, so I'll have zero comparisons to anything Disney does in this.
First off, when it comes to handling the crowd flow with Diagon Alley, they have absolutely learned their lessons from Hogsmeade. Everything was very smooth, and well communicated to the guests. Our first night, like we always do, we stayed off site at an inexpensive hotel, since all we're going to be doing is sleeping there, and then we check in to the hotel of our choice on site the next morning early so we can take advantage of a full day of express pass. And we're not wasting 200+ dollars for a room we're only going to sleep in. On a whim, we decided to enter the park that first night, but not ride anything and headed right for Diagon Alley. It was 9:30 so we almost had to run to the back of the park. It was truly a magical experience to be rushing to the back of the park while Cinematic Spectacular was playing in the background. (specifically the battle sequence of Gladiator) We made it into Diagon as the attendant at the gate says, "You've got about two minutes". The dragon roared, spewed fire, and as it did so, the final burst from the nighttime show exploded behind us. Mega cool.
Checking into the hotel, the Royal Pacific, was fairly smooth the next morning, although our room wasn't ready until nearly 4:00. Not bueno. When we finally made it to our room, there was actually duct tape on the carpet transition from the tile to the carpet area. Housekeeping took until around 5:00 each night to get to our room. Needless to say, we will not be going back to the Royal Pacific. We've tried all three on site hotels that have Express Pass, and we will be staying at the Hard Rock Hotel from now on. By far the best of the three in terms of service.
Our first day in the parks (Monday) we headed over to Universal about 7 in the morning thinking we'd have a snowball's chance of riding Gringott's. This was not the case. It was a 180 minute wait, and the ride had broke down. We called an audible and headed for Hogsmeade. Hogwart's express is cute, but nothing to lose your mind over. Probably a better themed version of Island Skipper Tours or the Water Taxi. Still though, it's much better than walking to the front of the park, walking to IOA, and then walking to the back of that park. The only negative experience for me was how long it took to check in, and the really really slow housekeeping back at the hotel. The crowds I expected, and was mentally prepared for.
A few tidbits.
Ice Cream
Chocolate Chilli=Weird. Tastes like regular chocolate ice cream, and then you feel heat. No taste difference, just a taste.
Salted Caramel Blondie=Holy crap, this was good. Surprised the heck out of me.
Butterbeer=Not as good as I was expecting but good.
Strawberry Peanut Butter=Overwhelmingly peanut buttery. Could barely taste the strawberry
Lavender and Earl Grey=Not bad. A pleasant surprise.
Escape from Gringott's was phenomenal. Not my favorite ride but I like it better than Forbidden Journey by far, which pretty much just makes me queasy and gives me terrors because of the spiders. Gringott's is VERY fun.
First time riding Kang and Kodos. Typical spinner. But good for kids. I still hate The Simpsons just as much as I hated Back to the Future.
Was neat seeing all the land cleared for Kong. Peeked through the fence, but I didn't wanna get "Bob-ed" so I didn't take any pictures.
Yesterday there was a bunch of scaffolding set up in the lagoon of IOA. I took a picture of that, and if there's any interest in it, I'll post it. It hadn't been there all week.
Overall, a great trip for our tenth time to Universal Orlando. Look forward to our next trip, which we're probably gonna do in two years.