Universal Orlando acquires more land from Stan Thomas, lifts deed restrictions

Three random thoughts in response to this news:

1. Uncle Walt sure was smart to dream big from the outset and avoid all this trouble.

2. Who in the early 00s would have ever predicted something like this?

3. Has anyone here seen The Florida Project? Watched it a few months ago but it still haunts me. Heartbreaking look at what's on the other side of central Florida's castle walls. If I was teaching a course about America today, it would be in my syllabus.

Yeah, saw the movie on the plane last week. It's no secret here.

I've seen criticism about the lack of connected land between these properties and the existing. So what? You can't not get on a vehicle between Disney properties.

‘Cept at Disney you don’t have to drive by the Denny’s. :)

Monorail over I-4!

Universal's connectivity and central hub is a huge part of its appeal to me.

I'll agree with you there. I loved staying in property there back in the day because I could walk everywhere.

Agreed. It is so nice staying on grounds there and walking to the parks and HHN. Florida Project was such a great movie.

I like it too. Walk to the park, stumble home. Walk to City Walk, stumble home.

Walk to the room, stumble to the bed.

Ride a boat to the parks in the morning, have lunch at Red Oven Pizza at Citywalk, walk back to the room, put on bathing suit and hang out at the pool, etc, etc. I am sure they will figure something out. The walk from Cabana Bay isn't bad and the bus isn't a bad experience. Certainly better than Disney in that regard.

I think one of the reasons I had such a good time years ago at Disneyland is because it reminded me so much of the Universal Orlando setup. Whether you stay on property or at one of the nearby off property hotels, everything is within walking distance and you can bounce back and forth between the parks without a 45 minute bus experience. It really came in handy when we ran into California Adventure at park open, got Fastpasses for Radiator Springs that wouldn't be good for several hours, and then headed across to Disneyland to spend the morning. Then, when it was Fastpass time, it took us roughly 10-15 minutes from exiting Matterhorn to heading into the Fastpass line at Radiator Springs.

The Cabana Bay bus system is pretty solid. There is literally always a waiting bus and you are typically at your destination within 5 minutes. The biggest challenge of a WDW visit without a car is when you miss a bus by a minute or two during an off peak hour and you wind up waiting 20 minutes for a ride that seems to take much longer than if you drive a car.

BrettV said:

I think one of the reasons I had such a good time years ago at Disneyland is because it reminded me so much of the Universal Orlando setup.

Yup. It's a perfect setup. My wife and I like to hit Disneyland in the morning, then California Adventure in the evening where we can have a beer or two.

We did that too. California Adventure was a great night park, and one cold night I had a nice marathon session on California Screamin' while everyone else waited for World of Color.

The quick service food was also leaps and bounds better than WDW quick service. I absolutely loved Disneyland. The only odd thing was seeing the IHOP and other touristy stuff on the monorail.