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My husband got a flyer earlier this year for a free AP - not a free AP for a day's ticket, but a free AP, the lowest level AP. It was addressed directly to him, and since he's never had an AP here, we couldn't figure out where they were getting his name and address from. People on other discussion boards have reported getting the same thing recently. We went late this summer, and I ended up buying the same AP only because it was the exact same price as the day ticket, so getting the AP was a no-brainer. It was the first time I'd been there in about 8 years, and it had been even longer than that since my husband's last visit. I was decidedly unimpressed and really disappointed. A few of the rides were ok, but overall, I was not happy with the visit at all. Most of the "being in the park" involved announcements being made over the loudspeaker often and/or loud music being played. I really missed the many parts of Disneyland where there is just quiet ambient music or just the sounds of the people.
About the only thing I liked was the T2 show. Mummy was the dumbest ride - nowhere near the hype - nothing much happens and it's a very short ride. It wasn't worth the time I had to wait in line, which was only about 10 minutes and that was because they were having technical difficulties. When we were ready to leave the lower lot, I noticed the line was out the door, so probably at least a 30 minute wait. I'd have been really irritated if I had to wait 30 minutes for that lame-o ride. I'd rather ride the Pooh ride at Disneyland over and over again.
Jurassic Park has been so tamed down that you barely get wet at all. We actually got more wet doing other things in the park than on the WATER RIDE. How weird is that?
My biggest problem with the layout of Universal is the upper lot/lower lot thing. It takes a REALLY LONG TIME on the escalators from hell to get from one to the other, so once you're in the lower lot, you're basically stuck trying to do everything there all in one shot since it would waste a ton of time to go back and forth between the upper lot and lower lot.
You don't have anywhere near the same problem getting from one part of Disneyland to another.
One of the things I was really disappointed in at Universal were the food choices. Everything is pretty much fast food. No table service, no scramble service. And they have two chain food establishments in the park - El Pollo Loco and Panda Inn. I love El Pollo Loco but I can get that any time - why would I want that at a theme park? Most of the other choices seemed to be hamburgers and the like. We ate at the Italian place, and the spaghetti was so-so - nothing like the pasta you get at Pizza Port or Plaza Inn. The best bet for food is one of the many good restaurants at CityWalk, but the downside is that you have to leave the park and walk a ways to get to them.
We may go once again during the year to to T2 again, but otherwise, I can't imagine wanting to go again for another 5 to 10 years.
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