Universal Studios Florida 7/26 & 7/30

[coasterbilly]

Well it was time to finally hit USF after all the years i've been to Florida. We did Disney the last 2 times we were down here, so it was time to see if Universal took to down, i was ready for a different kind of day. It wasn't going to be a day of coasters, but thrills of all kinds.

USF Monday 7/26

We arrive at USF on Monday at 12:15 after sleeping in again. Our first order of business for the day is Twister!

Twister

At 12:40 we hop inline and wait 35 minutes to go on. The que here is actually very nice featuring some props from the movie itself and lots of cooling fans, and the line moved quickly so it was nice. The first intro room shows the making of the movie and then it tells us how we are about to witness a tornado. We walk into the room and we stand on the 2nd riser of the 3 available. It was a neat experience, very loud with some neat effects, especially with the cow flying by you, not a bad way to start off the day. 6/10.

Next we baked outside while watching the comical Ghostbuster show. It’s a show where Beetlejuice takes over there minds and gets them to do anything he commands. It was a surprisingly funny show, I applaud the actors for making the quick changes in pace and the different acting sequences, it was pretty entertaining. 7/10

We quickly move over past Mummy and catch the Blues Brothers Show because my dad is a huge fan and I myself like the movie a lot. The actors did a great job on the impressions of Dan Akroyd and John Belushi, even Elwood (Akroyd’s actor) at the end did a great impression of his famous line “We’re on a mission from God†8/10.

Then yet another show was up next, (my dad loves them) called Beetlejuice’s Graveyard Revue. It was basically a show with villains (wolfman, Frankenstein, etc.) singing today’s hit songs, it had a very cool set too. 6/10.

Finally is was time to move on to a ride, and the next choice was JAWS.

Jaws

We waited 25 minutes for the 4th row on the boat. This que had some nice theming to it, although the only problem was it was hot and had no misters like Twister had. It was cool having a real person as our tour guide (even though the boat is on a track under the water). Of course I sat on the side where Jaws came up every time and got a little wet, which was neat. There were some cool effects used, especially the explosion that felt like it melted my face off, and of course when Jaws came at us. 7/10.

Next we ate a little dinner at 5:00. We parked it at the International Film and Food Cuisine where I had an awesome Chicken Parmesan and pasta dinner. The parks were surprising me with how good the food has been so far. After eating and cooling off, we headed for MIB Alien Attack.

Men in Black Alien Attack

Right after we get inline the sky becomes black and it started to downpour like crazy outside, but thank god the outside que was covered so we didn’t get wet. The inside part of the line is very neat, introducing you to the storyline of why we were there. We are trainees searching for a spot on the MIB squad. They show the worms, the actual center that is seen in the movies, and other sections, it was very cool. Then we sit down in our car that holds 4 people. It was a 55 minute wait for a pretty fun experience. I thought this was going to be more like Scooby Doo @ PKI, PKD, and PC with the targets, but I was wrong not realizing you had to fire at will at the aliens. So hitting the target on the other car actually helped me a little bit, but getting a 28,275 was kind of embarrassing, but now I know what to do, so hopefully I would have better luck next time. But inside the monsters were great, and everything was well placed. 8/10.

It was still raining, but not as hard, so my dad and myself decided to go on Back to the Future, which we Expressed earlier in the day with our Flextickets.

Back to the Future

There was no wait for this on the Express line so we got on easily. This is hands down one of the best simulators I’ve been on. It had a great storyline of returning the car to the lab after being stolen by one of the lab workers that turns evil. This simulator moves a lot which made it great, very cool ride. 8/10.

Next me and my dad yet again went to E.T since no one else in our family wanted to.

E.T

We walked onto this also thanks to the drizzling rain outside (which must’ve chased many people out of the park). First off, I love thrills to death, but I also love a good family ride, and this one is definitely the perfect family attraction. We walk into a room and find out the storyline again, that we have to return E.T to his home planet to heal his sick friends. Then we get our passports and walk into the best themed room of the ride, and one of the best in USF where we wait a little bit and get on the ride. We ride in the back of the bicycle themed cars, and the theming and scenery for this is amazing, just a great ride with some moments of escaping the cops and happy moments with E.T’s friends. I give it a 10/10 for being great for the family and for the whole experience.

And finally, the moment probably all of you have been waiting for in this TR (and I was the entire day)…Revenge of the Mummy!

Revenge of the Mummy

We hopped inline at 8:50 at night and waiting 60 minutes to ride. The first parts of the line were just stuck in rooms and put photos up, but as you get deeper into the line itself, it becomes heavily themed and very very cool. Lots of things to look at and keep you occupied. We finally get up to the station and I loved to see the duel station being used here, definitely a plus. We got into our car in the 3rd row, we pulled down our restraint which made me think of the Chiller restraints at home (GAdv) except we had more leg space here. The first room is great. The mummy’s face appears and tells us we are going to die (what else is new lol). So, we slowly move ahead and statues appear on the sides and fire just explodes up making the room get a little toasty. Next we start picking up speed as we make a quick downward drop to the right and turn left fastly approaching a wall, then a quick stop. Next we see a projection of beetles start coming out of the cracks and slowly start to surround us, right away we launch slowly backwards dropping into another room and stopping again. We came onto a turntable to face us in another direction, then we started traveling up a hill. I’m telling you now, I know this thing launched, but not this fast and intense, it felt like Hulk lol. But the best part was flying over the top of that hill which delivered some insane ejector airtime!!! Man it was great. This room we were obviously in the coaster part where we did a lot of twists and overbanked turns with the mummy’s face projected in different areas. Then we suddenly stop and everyone thinks the ride is over. Then you hear the Mummy’s voice come onto the loud speaker and say “this is only the beginning†and then you launch forward again into complete mist into a few more turns and finally hit the breaks where Brendan Frasier welcomes us back. I loved this ride, so cool and some amazing high tech parts, hands down the best ride at Universal Studios. 10/10.

After Mummy it was 10:20, so we left USF after a great first day there.

USF Friday 7/30

Well a few days after our first visit we squeezed in a few hours here and at IoA today, and what a tiring day it was, but some more great rides were in store. We arrived at 11:00 and rushed to Shrek 4D, but it already had a 90 minute wait, so we ditched it and never got on it at all. So, my dad asks me what we should do and I immediately said Terminator 2 3D.

T2: 3D

More great theming in the waiting area of this attraction. It was only a 20 minute wait for this awesome 3D show. The lady in the beginning was priceless, acting all ditzy and making a fool out of herself using the words “super†and “okey dokeyâ€, which made so many people laugh and make fun of her, she must be getting paid a lot of money for this job lol. We enter the huge theatre with the Robots towards the sides and a huge screen in front of us. She introduced us in the other room to Cyber Corp (if I remember correctly, correct me if I’m wrong, didn’t write it down) and she came with us into the other room and shows us the new technology robots that were created. then the 2 people trying to put an end to the company try to take her hostage and then gunfire starts all over the place, then it’s 3D time! Obviously Arnold comes in and the adventure begins. This is hands down the best 3D show anywhere on the planet, a great storyline, the live actors, and the great 3D effects especially with the spider. This owned everything I’ve seen before this that was in 3D. 10/10.

We then caught the Animal Planet show which was fun, but it could’ve involved more animals though. 6/10.

Then the whole family decided to come on E.T this time and all loved it like my dad and I had the night before. Next up was MIB again to try and redeem myself, but of course I get screwed with a totally messed up gun, it said I missed every target and then gave me random points when I didn’t even shoot it, and in the end I got a 25,925, I just can’t win with this ride lol. For MIB we waited 15 minutes thanks to the single rider line. Well, next up was Earthquake at 2:30.

Earthquake

We waited 20 minutes for this, I liked the 3 pre-show entertainment sections, which kept us occupied, it basically showed us how they use little models to make the big ships, for example the movie U571, and other stuff like that. The ride itself was cool, kind of like Twister except we were in the subway. Cool effects with the truck, the rushing water, and the other train busting through the other wall. 7/10.

Next me and my sister got out of the group to get a final ride on Mummy using single rider line and waited 30 minutes. I got the front this time and had a much better experience for some reason. We actually got wet while launching backwards this time, I felt even more ejector air at the top of that hill, and the mist really soaked me this time, kick "bottom" ride. I bought a Mummy shirt after getting off.

Then at 4:00 we watched the Jet Ski show where I got drenched because one of them turned around and doused the crowd, some cool stunts involved too. 8/10.

Well it was time to go into IoA now, so we left USF at 4:30 for a great last day.

USF 10/10. Another amazing place to go here in Orlando. This obviously was here before IoA and still stands tall. It was very cool just using regular streets as the walk paths and having the street signs. Also just using random buildings to fill in space to make it look like NYC. Also having the rides inside (except JAWS) really made it better incase of rain for example, the time we were on MIB, it worked out great. The food is great here, some good shows, the Mummy and Terminator are the best here, and just something for everyone to enjoy. I really plan on going back in the future to see how it’s doing and to go on the Mummy again. I’ll never forget the memories of this place, just like IoA, forget Disney and come here instead, it’s even better. You do as exactly the slogan of USF says “Ride the movies†and we sure did.

[DegenRider]

Sounds like you had a great time. Did the mummy have no go seatbelts? The restaints I assume will be the same on IJ:ST

[coasterbilly]

umm, i think they did, don't remember off the top of my head, but i think they did. It was very comfortable, had more leg room then on FoF.

[FamousLastWords]

T2-3D: Cyberdyne

You asked us to correct you lol.

By the way, if you missed the Shrek 4-D movie, you can buy it on DVD now. I don't know what future this ride has now that you can basically own the ride for about $19.99

[coasterbilly]

thanks for the correction, i totally forgot it when i wrote my TR, thanks! That's pretty cool about Shrek, i guess it's a good thing i didn't waste 2 hours waiting for it.