Hi Everyone,
Today I’ll provide some preliminary impressions of my visit to Universal Studios on July 4th. I got a lot of footage and it is going to take a while to put together/edit the vlog but it should be up sometime this week. Personally, I have always considered Islands of Adventure to be the superior park at the Universal Orlando Resort, but my last visit to the Studios has changed my opinion quite a bit. Overall, I still consider IOA to be the better park, but the parks are very close in quality, and that is not something I have been able to say in the past.
Rides Ridden:
Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit:
I have a soft spot for this Maurer coaster. Check out my top 10 underrated roller coasters video for a more in-depth analysis. I still find the vertical lift hill on this ride very intimidating, the onboard sound selection feature is great (I always play Stronger by Kanye), and I really like that massive non-inverting loop. The ride gives you some great views of the park as well. I waited about 20 minutes, half of which was spent waiting to drop off my stuff in a locker. Overall the ride is a ton of fun, and a must-ride if it’s your first time to the Studios. I would recommend getting on early in the morning; Hollywood Rockit is one of the few rides at the Studios that is outdoors, so if a Florida afternoon thunderstorm rolls in, you may not get the opportunity to ride.
Fast and Furious: Supercharged:
Check out my video for my impressions of this ride.
E.T. Adventure:
I love this dark ride. The theming in the queue does a convincing job of making one feel they are in the woods outside of Los Angeles where E.T. takes place. The ride system is similar to a suspended roller coaster, and if you’ve ever ridden Peter Pan at Magic Kingdom, it’s the same basic concept, with riders sitting on Elliot and his friends’ bikes, with E.T. sitting in the front basket. The ride itself extends beyond the original story of E.T., with riders arriving and exploring E.T.’s home planet with some very unique animatronics/theming. This ride is getting a little long in the tooth (it turned 30 this year), and I am concerned that Universal may attempt to replace it in the future, so if you find yourself at Universal anytime soon make sure to go on this gem of a ride.
Men in Black Alien Attack:
This is one of the best shooter dark rides ever built. The story goes that riders are new trainees who have joined the MIB, and they are brought on a ride-along to assess their skills at neutralizing threatening aliens. The queue is a little bit on the plain side, but the ride itself has some great theming, including an interactive element where different “recruits” are forced to shoot at one another. The line typically moves very fast and this was the case during my visit, as I only waited around 15 minutes.
Despicable Me Minion Mayhem:
Check out my video. I will say that Minion Mayhem is a big upgrade from Jimmy Neutron’s Nicktoon Blast, the ride it replaced. This ride is in the vein of a simulator, but instead of enclosing the riders, it is instead in an open theater with bench seats that secure riders with a lap bar, and rotate, shake, etc. in sync with the actions on screen. This ride consistently had 60 minute waits during the day, but I went on it about an hour before closing and was able to get on in around 15 minutes.
Harry Potter and The Escape from Gringotts:
This is a fantastic hybrid roller coaster/dark ride (more so the latter, there is a small drop that feels to be around 30 feet and a brief launch but overall it is much more of a dark ride. For the record, Roller Coaster DataBase does classify this ride as a roller coaster). The theming in the queue is among the best of any ride I have ever been on. Guests walk through Gringotts and stare with amazement at the impeccable details, and this is before even boarding the mine-car themed trains. The ride itself has an emphasis on screens for its effects, but there are also some real-life props/animatronics and coaster elements. Overall, it’s a must ride, and serves as the cornerstone of Diagon Alley.
Transformers The Ride:
This is a dark ride that uses similar technology to Spiderman at Islands of Adventure. This means that it uses 3D effects, interacts heavily with screens, and features many abrupt motions. I enjoyed it, but it’s not quite a top ride at the park to me. If the line is less than a half-hour, it’s worth a ride.
Didn’t Ride:
Revenge of The Mummy:
I had been on this ride around 5 times already, and ended up missing my virtual queue time towards the end of the day. It’s a great roller coaster, with elaborate Egyptian theming, three forceful launches, and a backward section. I felt bad that I missed an opportunity to take another spin, but given my familiarity with the ride, I put more effort into riding other attractions this time around. That being said, this is a top 3 ride in this park, and thus it is a must-ride for anyone’s first visit to the Studios.
The Bourne Stuntacular:
This is a brand new (literally opened a few weeks ago) show that replaced Terminator. Everything that I have heard about the show is positive, but I unfortunately arrived at the attraction after they had stopped doing performances for the day. Given that Terminator was a great show with many cool special effects, I can only imagine that a show themed to the Bourne franchise would be of similar quality.
Miscellaneous:
Diagon Alley is incredible. Although Hogsmeade in Islands of Adventure has better rides (I would take Hagrid and Forbidden Journey over Gringotts, although it is close), the shops/theming of Diagon Alley are on another level. Make sure in particular to visit Knockturn Alley, which has some . . . interesting characters. Check out my video and you’ll see what I mean. We spent half the day in Diagon Alley, and I still felt that it wasn’t enough. For perspective, I have read all the Harry Potter books and have seen all of the movies. I consider myself a “fan,” but I am not intimately familiar with a lot of the details of the series. I think that someone who was a little more engaged with the franchise would have difficulty spending “only” the 10 hours the park has been open in this area alone.
In general, the crowds were very manageable considering it was July 4th. Everyone was good about keeping their distance, and wearing masks when it was mandatory. I really appreciated Universal’s staff, who are managing a lot right now with logistics related to the pandemic, as they have risen to the challenge to deliver as close to a “normal” theme park experience as possible.
Coaster Castaway 