Surprisingly, I have a Walt Disney World annual pass. I originally purchased it because a lot of my friends and family were coming to Disney throughout the year. It was a better deal to buy an annual pass rather than Park Hopper tickets. As my expiration date of my annual pass of March 16 is slowly approaching, I have no incentive to renew it.

I had purchased a Walt Disney World annual pass at a special AAA rate and a Florida resident rate of $288. I received my renewal form and the renewal rate was $281.16. The current AAA rate for an annual pass is $288.25. I would save $7.09 by renewing. Disney lists the regular price for a Florida resident annual pass of $318.44, which would be a savings of $37.28. The savings for a renewal over the regular price is about 12%. When you renew, the annual pass starts on the date of the expiration of the original annual pass. Thus, if you don’t use your annual pass for a few months, the clock still ticks to expiration.

I also have a Universal Orlando annual pass. I had purchased it about two years ago under a special buy 1 year, get 1 year free rate at around $189.95. That worked out to be $94.98 a year. Universal Orlando offers an annual pass renewal rate of $99.95. If I renew, I would be ahead by $4.98. The regular price of an annual pass is $169.95. If I bought the annual pass at that rate and renewed it, I would save $70. This savings turns out to be about 41%. When you renew, you receive a voucher that is good from one year from the date of activation, not the date of the original expiration date.

The benefits to a Universal Orlando annual pass are much better. I looked through my Walt Disney World annual passholder sleeve for discounts. Most discounts are for higher-priced items. For example, you can get 10% off a meal at Concourse Steakhouse at Disney’s Contemporary Resort or Whispering Canyon Café at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge. Other discounts are 10% off a spa treatment at the Grand Floridian Resort and 10% off a Richard Petty Driving Experience. The discounts are usually for items that are highly priced already that a discount doesn’t really matter. The most important discount for me is free parking.

I also considered purchasing a Park Hopper Pass, but there wasn’t a great deal there either. I worked out the per day cost for each of Disney World’s Park Hopper Pass options:

• 4 day Park Hopper Pass: $218
  Per day cost: $54.50
• 5 day Park Hopper Pass: $286
  Per day cost: $57.20
• 6 day Park Hopper Plus Pass: $318.44
  Per day cost: $53.07
• 7 day Park Hopper Plus Pass: $350.39
  Per day cost: $50.06

Compare these prices with Universal Orlando’s multiday ticket options:

• 2-day/2-park pass: $99.95
  Per day cost: $49.98
• Bonus pass (allows for 5 consecutive days of admission at Universal Orlando): $94.95
  Per day cost: $18.99
• 4 park Orlando Flexticket (allows 14 consecutive days of admission at Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, Sea World, and Wet N Wild): $179.95
  Per day cost: $12.85
• 5 park Orlando Flexticket (same as the 4 park Orlando Flexticket, but adds Busch Gardens Tampa to the ticket): $214.95
  Per day cost: $15.35

Of course, the days on a Disney Park Hopper ticket never expire. The only Universal Orlando ticket that is comparable is the 2-day/2-park pass. Days on that pass never expire. However, looking at the per day cost of Disney’s tickets and Universal’s tickets, you can save up to 50% per day over Disney.

A lot of people will say that you need to spend the extra money on Disney. No other park compares to Disney. Disney World has the best and friendliest Cast Members. You won’t experience Disney magic at another park. Sure, there are great Disney rides. Pirates of the Caribbean, Tower of Terror, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and Spaceship Earth are all examples of great Disney rides. However, in recent years, Disney rides have disappointed me. Disney magic has become a cliché. Disney magic has turned into a magician who pulls rabbits out of hats for a kid’s birthday party. I just don’t feel the magic anymore. Disney’s recent slogan seems to be “we make rides on the cheap!” Instead of getting great rides like Space Mountain, we’ve gotten rides like Aladdin’s Magic Carpet Ride and Triceratops Spin. Do we really need more Dumbo-like rides? Test Track was delayed for years and when it finally opened, it didn’t seem more thrilling than driving down I-4. Tower of Terror is under construction at Disney’s California Adventure, but it seems to be a truncated version of the great drop ride and will fail to have the magic of the original at Disney Studios.

The worst example of trying to make a ride cheap is Journey Into Your Imagination. This ride was so hated (even by Michael Eisner) that it was rebuilt into its current form. Even in its current form, it doesn’t capture the magic of the original Journey Into Imagination ride that opened way back in 1982. I can name other examples of non-Disney magic - Hemilich’s Chew Chew Train at Disney’s California Adventure and Primeval Whirl at Animal Kingdom. These are all rethemed off-the-shelf amusement park ride. There’s nothing wrong with off-the-shelf rides (many theme parks purchase them all the time), but we expect a higher standard with Disney than with our local amusement park. That’s why many will travel thousands of miles to visit.

If there was “Universal Orlando magic,” it would be comparable to Harry Houdini. Nearly every one of their recent rides - the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, Men in Black: Alien Attack, Jimmy Neutron’s Nicktoon Blast, and Shrek 4-D - have been home runs. The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man and Men in Black: Alien Attack have consistently been voted some of the best dark rides out there. When I ride the Spider-Man ride, most of the times the guests cheer and applaud at the end of the ride. You don’t see that on It’s a Small World! The Men in Black ride has caused addictions to those who ride it so they can beat their previous score of the ones of their friends and family. Some guests even ride it all day long. When you ride them, you can tell where the money went and it was money well spent.

While Universal Orlando have erected their own off-the-shelf rides - Storm Force Acceleratron and the Flying Unicorn - the park has shown that they can still make a ride with a limited budget and make it fun. Jimmy Neutron’s Nicktoon Blast is a good example. While the theming of the ride was miminally changed from the Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera, the money was spent on where it counts - the ride film. You can tell that Universal took special care to make the ride film fun. The ride even has the most unique movement of any simulator ride (remember to bring your dancing shoes!). Unlike Journey Into Your Imagination, Universal didn’t try to rip out part of the old Hanna-Barbera ride to make a gigantic gift shop or short change their guests. Even the soon-to-be-opened Revenge of the Mummy spares no expense in the experience that they will give the guests. Spending a lot of money on a ride doesn’t guarantee success, but Universal doesn’t seem to short change the experience because they only look at the bottom line.

As for the quality of the employees, I think Universal Orlando has as many great employees as does Disney. Sure, there are some at Disney and Universal alike who aren’t friendly or just want to survive to the next paycheck, but the friendly ones outweigh the bad ones. A notable example at Universal is an employee named Dick. He works the front gates of Universal Studios. No matter how cold or hot it is or how long he has been standing there, he is always smiling and extremely friendly. I try to go through his line when I see him because he really makes my day with his enthusiasm. As a side note, the friendliest employees aren’t at Disney. Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO has the most friendly theme park employees that I’ve ever encountered.

The most notable attraction at Disney where they really went all out is Mission: Space at Epcot. I was excited to ride Mission: Space because it seemed to go back to the days when Disney went all out for a ride. It was a breath of fresh air to the staleness of the cheap rides that were installed lately. Still, the ride doesn’t compare to the great rides at Universal. In fact, as I walk around Disney, I can hear myself saying most of the time, “Universal is better.” Universal’s rides and attractions seem to come out on top every time. Here is a short comparison:

Kali River Rapids vs. Popeye and Bluto’s Bildge Raft Barges
Winner: Popeye and Bluto’s Bildge Raft Barges (it’s faster, wilder, and a lot wetter)

Muppetvision 3-D vs: T2: 3D - Battle Across Time and Shrek 4-D
Winner: T2 and Shrek 4-D (more fun, more jaw-dropping 3-D)

Rock N Roller Coaster vs. The Incredible Hulk Coaster
Winner: The Incredible Hulk Coaster (more inversions, better launch)

Buzz Lightyear’s Space Spin vs. Men in Black: Alien Attack
Winner: Men in Black: Alien Attack (more three-dimensional characters to shoot at, more addictive, gun doesn’t wear out your thumb)

Even though Universal Orlando has fewer parks and less onsite hotels than Walt Disney World, Universal really packs a punch in what they offer. In considering the ticket deals and the quality of the rides, Universal comes ahead. While I’m not going to join in the anti-Disney line started by Roy Disney and Carl Hiaasen, I don’t think I’ll be rushing to the line to purchase a Disney World annual pass anytime soon.