Hello, my name is Asher. My mom, Tabitha has been an agent with Wishing Well Travel for 7 years. My parents recently took me to Universal Orlando for the first time to celebrate my upcoming high school graduation. I rode most of the rides in Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure during this trip, and I thought it would be a good idea for me to share my experience with several of the rides for anyone who has never been and is considering going.
Before you start reading, allow me to add a couple of disclaimers ~ First, this was my first trip to Universal Orlando. I’ve been to the Walt Disney World® Resort many times so it’s hard not to try and make comparisons. Secondly, many things in this review should be taken in the joking manner as they were intended! 😉 Lastly, I did not ride the following:
- The generic amusement park rides, because I felt like I could do those anywhere.
- The Toon Lagoon rides because they were water rides.
- Rip Ride Rockit/The Hulk/Doctor Doom – not a big coaster guy!
So in the immortal words of the One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish ride narrator…here we go-o-o-o!
Fast and Furious: Supercharged
This ride is pretty short, but it’s good while it lasts. It’s a simulator, and they got a lot of the original cast to star in it, which was really cool to see. It does, however, get kind of outclassed by another ride on here that it is very similar to.
E.T.
I can’t really fault this one for being a product of its time, but it does feel very outdated. It creates a story instead of simply retelling the already good story of the movie. It was great for potential nostalgia, but not something I would rush to do again.
Hogwarts Express
This shouldn’t really count as a ride, but it technically is. It’s pretty neat, but I wouldn’t ever ride it for fun. It is very convenient for getting from park to park, so I would still recommend using it. It is different both ways so you may want to ride it at least once in each direction.
The Simpsons
I’ve never seen the Simpsons, but this is probably a perfectly enjoyable ride if you like the show. It’s a simulator (as are MANY of these rides) and it does that pretty well. I’d recommend it if you like the show and have time to kill.
Flight of the Hippogriff
I blinked while I was putting on the safety restraints. When I opened my eyes, the ride was over. It’s a little family-ish coaster. I think it was good, and it’s not a waste of time because it takes up literally no time.
Transformers
This is another situation where this ride is pretty similar to many other rides. I wouldn’t call myself a big Transformers fan, but in my opinion, there is another ride that is pretty much just like this one that I think is much better. It seems like many of these simulator rides fall under the category of “ride it if you like the source material.”
The Reign of Kong
I found this is the one to be very similar to Fast and Furious, except this one has a big gorilla and dinosaur battle! For recommendations, I’d say the same thing about this one as for Fast and Furious, but I’ll add that if you like animatronics as much as I do, definitely check this one out just for that one at the end.
Men In Black
On this trip, I discovered that I mega suck at target shooting games. This is pretty much the target practice scene from Men In Black, except you’re in a little car going along a slow moving track. I liked it a good amount, but I probably would have liked it a lot more if I wasn’t so bad at it. I’d recommend this to pretty much anyone, regardless of if you’ve seen the movie. Helpful tip, listen for when they tell you to “push the red button.”
Race Through New York With Jimmy Fallon
This is one of the most bizarre experiences I’ve had in a theme park, maybe ever. If you don’t like Jimmy Fallon’s usual comedy, this ride probably isn’t for you, but I recommend it anyway, because everyone needs to experience this at some point
Jurassic Park River Adventure
This is a nice little boat ride where you get to see some plant-eating dinosaurs (and maybe a few carnivores 😉) and if you’re lucky, stay dry – we were not the lucky ones! Definitely check it out.
Spider-Man
This ride is the pretty much the same as Transformers. As in, they are both simulators on a slow moving track, and they are literally 1-to-1 copies of each other aside from what is happening on screen. All the movements of the rides are the same, yet for some reason, I like this one much more. Perhaps there is some bias towards Spider-Man
The Mummy
This is probably the most intense type of coaster that I will still gladly go on, and that’s a good thing. I don’t like super big coasters, but I love any coaster that approaches my limit for intensity without passing it.
Escape From Gringotts
This feels like Universal doing what it does best, at its best. It’s a combination of coaster and simulator that is done really well. If I had to give an example of the ride that should represent what Universal provides, this would be it.
The Forbidden Journey
This is maybe the best simulator I’ve ever ridden, partially because it implements
animatronics, but also because it’s just an excellent ride! The ride also got stuck while we had a Dementor three inches from our face, so that was nice.
Hagrid’s Motorbike Adventure
There is so much I can say about this ride I waited in line almost two hours, with blood sugars exceeding 300, but it was worth it!!! I think that sums up how awesome it was!
So, on average, are the rides at Universal Studios comparable to Disney’s attractions? Absolutely not! But it offered a unique experience, something different than I’m used to, and I had a great time going.
