Universal Studios Florida Trip Report

[thekidd33]

My girlfriend and I just returned from an amazing 6 day Caribbean cruise and Orlando adventure. We spent 4 days at sea on Royal Caribbean's Monarch of the Seas, before heading to Universal and IOA this past Friday and Saturday. Here is my reaction after my first trip to these two great parks.

Universal Studios: We ended up going to Universal on Saturday and after the nightmarish crowds we faced at IOA the day before I was a little worried about how this was going to turn out. I shouldn't have been. We arrived shortly after 10:00am and walked into an almost empty park. The at-ride locker system they use is wonderful. I actually liked it a little bit better then the bins at Kings Island. Very good idea implemented well. We walked around a bit to get the lay of the land before starting our day on E.T.

E.T. - This was actually one of my favorite rides the whole day. I just could not get over what great condition the ride was in. For a ride that is 20+ years old the upkeep has been incredible. Working fog and water effects, everything looks freshly painted, they even still have E.T. say everyone's name at the end of the ride. Not to go all GYK on everyone...but this really makes me wonder what could have been for Tomb Raider. The flying effect over the city, even as low tech as it is, is still very cool. It got me very excited for the rest of the day.

Simpsons - Next we headed over to the Simpsons ride. I had spent so much time getting the details of the cruise planned that I had (very very very uncharacteristically) hadn't done a lot of research on what all Universal had to offer. So for the first time in a long time I got on a ride with absolutely no idea what to expect. I didn't even know what type of ride it was. I have to say that had I not been full of dramamine this would not have ended well for me, lol. As it was it was a cool experience that I thought followed a very genuine Simpsons style plot line. The story didn't seem rushed and seemed like something you would expect from a Simpsons ride. Not as good as Soarin' at EPCOT but still a very solid and very immersive simulator experience.

M.I.B. - Continuing on the circular path we had started we decided to ride Men in Black next. Basically Boo Blasters on steroids. It was fun, nothing great in my opinion, but still a new experience. I do have to say it seems to take up an awful lot of space for a ride that, even on a slower day, wasn't getting very much attention from guests.

Jaws - Jaws had about a 15 minute wait which was the longest non-Rockit wait we encountered all day at Universal. I got a kick out of the TVs in the que, even if the whole thing was a tad cheesy. While we had a a great driver who put on as close to a believable act as you could get, there was a gentleman who keep trying to take pictures with his phone so the whole experience was all but ruined by our driver literally having to break character on four separate occasions. *Spolier* I thought the shark attack scene in the boathouse was well done, and the fire and water effects add a nice touch.

Twister - This was my second "I have absolutely no idea what this is" experience of the day. It was a neat walk through attraction, but I would have really been let down if I hadn't walked right on..errr through. Some of the behind the scenes footage from the film in the pre-show was cool to see though.

Revenge of the Mummy - Only had a 10 minute wait for Mummy which was a pleasant surprise. Really well themed que and ride. The effects were all very believable. The room where the fire spreads over the ceiling was really awesome. However, the ride itself is VERY short and the ride basically comes down to the effects. Don't get me wrong, it was a very fun experience and I wish we had a ride that was themed half as as Mummy at KI...but walking off I couldn't help but think that I wouldn't trade FoF for it.

Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit - We finally found a crowd here. Rockit had a 40 minute wait when we got in line. As we reached the bottom of the staircase that leads to the loading platform they annouced that the ride would be down indefinitely so we debated for a minute before getting out of line and actually ended up heading back over to IOA for a bit before coming back at the end of the day to ride. After another 40 minute wait I got strapped in and dialed up some MC Hammer before the ride started. The vertical lift and non-inverting loop were fun elements but from there on out the ride was just rough enough to take the fun out of it. It was in no way at Mean Streak or SOB levels but there was enough of a rattle to make the ride far less enjoyable then it could have been.

Islands of Adventure: This was hands down my favorite of the two parks despite it being way past packed on Friday. The themeing is Disney level and it offers much more intense ride experiences then its sister park. We arrived a little after 10:00am on Friday morning to complete chaos outside the main gate. The computer system at ticketing had apparently crashed and absolutely no one seemed to know what to do in the mean time. The will call kiosks were down too and this seemed to double the confusion. We ended up waiting just over an hour as things were sorted out but finally got in and got our day started.

Dragons Challenge - When planning the trip we decided on Universal because my girlfriend wanted to come see all that the Wizarding World of Harry Potter had to offer. I have read all the books and seen most of the movies but I am by no means a huge Potter fan. However, I must say that, on a themeing level, the entire area was incredible. Hogsmeade looks a lot like what I had pictured in my head as I read and the details in theme were astounding. That said, the logistics of the area were awful. Either Universal massively underestimated Potter's appeal or the logistical planning was just bad. I now know what it is like to be a sardine. Much to my delight however most of the crowds seemed to be their for the Forbidden Journey and for the shops as we never saw Dragons Challenge wait over 25 minutes either day. We rode Hungarian Horntail first. My only other B&M Invert experience is Raptor so I didn't quite know what to expect. Horntail did not disappoint at all. It was fast, smooth, and the near collisions are very thrilling. I kind of liked the way the ride did not thrust you immediately into a loop on either of these coasters. The cobra roll on Horntail was very smooth and there was no problem with head banging at all throughout the ride. Chinese Fireball wasn't as nice to me and I was surprised to find it to be rather rough. This was my first B&M that I didn't get off thinking "that was amazing." It wasn't a bad ride, just not what I have come to expect in my limited B&M experience.

Incredible Hulk - Determined to not follow any sort of logical path around the park we next found ourselves in line for Hulk. It is a very imposing sight out over the water as you enter the park. It had the loudest B&M roar that I have heard to date. We waited about 40 minutes which seemed to go by pretty quick. The launch out of the 'gamma tube' was great and the twist/corkscrew that immediately follows was one of my favorite elements I have experienced. A great ride that packed a great punch. It made its way into my top ten steel coasters.

Jurassic Park River Adventure - Despite the 'cool' temps in the mid 70s (sure didn't feel cool to us!) River Adventure had a 25 minute wait. I really liked the whole area of the park and was excited to ride this ride. It was a nice flume ride that was well themed. A few of the dinosaurs movements were a little robotic but the T-Rex finale was great.

Forbidden Journey - Literally the reason we had decided on coming to Universal. We got in line Friday to a posted 90 minute wait but the line actually snaked back over the bridge to the Jurassic Park area. I'm not sure if there was some sort of mechanical issue going on but we were in line on Friday for about 40 minutes and had not yet entered the castle gates. We finally gave up on that and decided to try again the next day. The posted wait on Saturday was 75 minutes but we made it through the line in just under an hour. The interior of Hogwarts was very very cool, even as a casual fan. My girlfriend was absolutely blown away by the ride. She said it was by far her favorite of the trip. I liked it, and I thought it was well thought out and executed...but I wouldn't wait an hour for it again.

Overall it was a great trip and though we know we missed some things (Shrek, Spiderman, Posiden) we really felt we made the most of our two days. I would really like to return in a couple of years! If you are still reading thanks for sticking through this wordy trip report!

[flightoffear1996]

Loved the trop report and glad you had fun but it stinks you missed Spiderman thats one of my favs. down there. I havent been there since 1999 though.

[frisbeefan]

Thanks for the trip report! I will be going to Universal in less than a month and am very excited. Did you feel rushed to do everything in the 2 days you were there?

[jzarley]

Were you at Universal during what was still considered the holidays, or afterward? I'm wondering because I'm heading there on Feb 4-6, and I've been concerned about the "Potter" crowds at IOA.

I agree with the other poster about it being too bad that you missed Spiderman...it's currently my favorite theme park attraction anywhere. (Although, I haven't ridden "Forbidden Journey" yet )

[frisbeefan]

Were you at Universal during what was still considered the holidays, or afterward? I'm wondering because I'm heading there on Feb 4-6, and I've been concerned about the "Potter" crowds at IOA.

I agree with the other poster about it being too bad that you missed Spiderman...it's currently my favorite theme park attraction anywhere. (Although, I haven't ridden "Forbidden Journey" yet )

Awesome, I will be there February 2-4. Even though I'm not much of a Harry Potter fan, I am looking forward to Forbidden Journey and hoping the crowds aren't terrible.

[bkroz]

I think I may resent a remark or two in there! Hahha. But I'm glad you had fun! Such great parks... So much to offer...

[thekidd33]

Thanks for the trip report! I will be going to Universal in less than a month and am very excited. Did you feel rushed to do everything in the 2 days you were there?

We went in not expecting to get everything done. Forbidden Journey was an absolute must for my girlfriend so I knew we would lose time waiting for that. I think had I gone with the mindset of "I must ride evrey ride" then I would have felt rushed at IOA. It was insanely packed on Friday. I'm not sure if they were all related or not but there were several Asian tour groups at the park that day. Universal was empty and we had no problem doing all the major rides except Shrek.

jzarley - Supposedly we were there after the hoilday rush. The consensus of the employees I talked with was that it was much busier then they had expected that whole week. That being said, apparently Hogsmeade is jam packed whether its the week of Christmas or a random Tuesday in September. We went over to IOA for a bit on Saturday and the park was far less crowded - outside of Hogsmeade/Hogwarts.