4 day Universal / IOA trip report

[rtphokie]

Background
Mom and Dad, both 40 and our weeks away from 10 years old son. Mom and Dad’s first trip to IOA, 2nd trip to Universal Studios, last one was 15 years ago. This is our 4th trip to Citywalk (we’ve gone for dinner on previous Disney trips). We spent 2 days at each park, rode all rides with the exception of Hulk, Rip Roaring Rocket Roller Coaster, Dr. Doom’s Fearfall, and Storm Force Accelatron (not our cup of tea)

Overall impressions
Overall Universal Parks are themed nearly as well as Disney parks and better themed than Paramount and Six Flags parks. Universal Parks are less well planned, dirtier, and more poorly maintained than Disney or any other park. Universal employees run the gambit from disinterested to surely to great but tend towards disinterested, Disney parks tend to engage customers far more and I’ve never run into a Disney employee as rude as some of the Universal employees I’ve encountered this week. In general Universal is understaffed and I noticed that the higher quality employees seem to work Friday and Saturday for some reason. I was also surprised at how often I heard “I don’t know” from a Universal employee. I guess I’ve grown used to Disney cast members and “I don’t know but wait right here and I’ll find out.”

Universal also appears to have fewer staff working in the mornings and on weekdays. We visited Universal Studios twice, once on a Wednesday and once on a Friday. The latter was less crowded but better staffed for some reason.

I hate hate hate parking at Universal. The parking decks are huge, parking is poorly managed (needless backups as parking employees refuse to open additional rows to keep traffic flowing). Escalators and moving sidewalks work sporadically and are going in the wrong direction sometimes. It’s hard not to think to yourself that once Universal has your $15 they couldn’t care less about you. Not a great start to your experience there and a horrible way to end the day. This after a half mile walk to get to the gates of IOA and then another half mile from the gates to your car. A very different experience than any other theme park I’ve been to. Also didn’t appreciate the aggressive selling on the dining plan between the parking lot and park entrances.

I’d go back but it wont be for a long time. We’ve done it all there and weren’t especially impressed.

 

[rtphokie]

The easy answer is yes for IOA, no for Universal Studios. IOA is so crowded that we found it well worth the expense. Universal lines were much more manageable so express was a luxury we didn’t find worthwhile there.

 

[rtphokie]

The food at IOA, in a word, sucks, with the exception of Mythos. Our first meal was at Captain America Diner. I know I shouldn’t expect fine dining here but I do except edible and didn’t get it. The chicken sandwich I had was so dry and chewy it was difficult to eat. My son’s burger was obviously cooked elsewhere some time ago. Dinner that night, was had elsewhere but not because of food quality, more because of availability.

The park closed at 8pm we started looking for somewhere to grab something to eat at 6:00. Everything in Jurassic Park was closed, Everything in Cartoon Lagoon, with the exception of ice cream was closed. I stopped a IOA employee, obviously a manager and asked for advice on what was open for dinner at that time. He directed me to Mythos (completely booked), one in Jurassic Park (closed) or to the Comic Strip Café right behind us (obviously closed). I’ve never had such a problem finding somewhere to eat in any other park Disney or otherwise. I’ve also never heard a Disney cast member, much less a manager, guess at an answer to a guest’s question or give such bad information on such a basic question. If Universal insists having hours which are specific to each restaurant, they need to print them in the maps.

When we returned to IOA, we had a light snack mid morning and an early dinner at Mythos. For a restaurant that flies a banner over the door proclaiming it’s selection as best theme park restaurant in the world (ThemeParkInsider.com) I was underwhelmed. I was good, not great. My son had a cheeseburger (at least this one was cooked fresh) and was served with a fresh ear of corn, my wife had the Mythos Bistro Filet, I had the salmon. The filet was cooked properly and the sides were tasty. The purple potatoes were an odd choice with parsnips however and didn't make for a very visually appetizing plate. My salmon was served hot and on smoking cedar plank. It was good but not as good as what I've had at Disney's Wilderness resort. I can see naming this the best restaurant at Universal parks but it was as good as an average sit down restaurant at an Disney park. The interior is bizarre and reminds me of restuarants I've experienced at beach towns with an owner with too much time on his hands and an unlimited supply of quick-crete.

 

[Belle5]

Thank you for your review of IOA/USO!

 

[rtphokie]

ahh, the reason we went... Harry Potter. My nearly 10 year old is deep into the book series something his mother an I are encouraging. Seeing the video games put down and YouTube set aside to read a book as thick as my fist is something I want to nurture.

This part of the park is beautiful. It’s well themed. There are tons of little details that are usually the hallmark of Disney rather than Universal but that being said, Universal should not have built this. There isn't room to build something like this onto the park.

This section of the park should have been built in a space at least triple the size it was crammed into. The crowds are bad and they aren’t going to get any better any time soon. Within minutes of opening, park employees direct visitors to get passes to return at an appointed time. Not fast passes for a specific ride, passes to simply enter this part of the park. This does help a bit with the crowds but when many of those guests continue to stay, crowds continue to build throughout the day until the street of Hogsmede are shoulder to shoulder. There are queue to enter each of the shops, not just Olivander’s. The street narrows as you get closer to Hogwarts which does an excellent job of forcing perspective and bringing it all together visually, it also does an excellent job of creating even more of a traffic jam at this point.

Forbidden Journey
The Forbidden Journey ride lives up to the hype. It’s hard to explain and others have done it better than I can so I wont try. To have much appreciation for the ride, you need to ride it at least twice, if not more. The storyline is a bit disjointed and the action so fast paced that few are going to “get it” the first ride through. It’s hard to tell such a complex story in 4 minutes.

We arrived at Forbidden Journey on a Monday by 9:15 and the wait was at 120 minutes. Universal still hasn’t figured out how to queue this attraction effectively with the queue spilling into Jurassic Park areas as well as backstage (ruining the theming). It took IOA employees 90 minutes to get additional queue ropes setup. Is this bad planning or insufficient staffing? I know it’s at least a little bit of the latter because there were few employees to be found in the area and none could tell you where the queue ended. Guests were on their own to form a queue wrapping several times across the bridge to and into Jurassic Park. Employees were nowhere to be found.

The queue is well themed but only the 20% inside the castle. The 80% outside the castle is your standard meandering through chains, bars and ropes. They do have fans blowing with water sprays so the heat is tolerable; at least it was in April.

Olivanders Wands shop is very well themed, the show is well done by an effective cast member, at least it was for us. We waited 60 minutes for a 5 minute show, in which 20 people are crammed into a space not much bigger than an average suburban kitchen. You are then released into a gift shop to swim upstream through all those exiting the wand show plus anyone who made it in from the line from the street. All that being said, if you’ve got a Harry Potter fan in your party, they’ll probably say it’s worth it. Wands can be purchased after the wand show in this gift shop, from a cart at the end of the Forbidden Journey ride but you can also by them from the main gift shop at the port of entry at the entrance to IOA, or even at the Universal shop at the Orlando airport. Olivanders does have the widest selection of wands however including replicas of Harry’s, Voldemortr’s, Hermione, Genny, Sirius, Prof. Lupin, Dumbeldore, etc. but also other non-character associated wands that your little wizard my like better instead, mine did.

Pumpkin Juice and Butterbeer also lives up to the hype. Both are quite good and both have also been better described by others. Pumpkin Juice can be bought on various carts through out the Wizarding world and consists of apple juice, a bit of a apricot juice and pumpkin puree according to the ingredients. Its good but I wouldn’t select it if it were very very hot outside, it’s too thick and sweet. Butterbeer is available from 2 carts, both had lines of at least 20 minutes all day. You must choose between frozen or carbonated varients. Some prefer frozen some prefer carbonated. I found the carbonated to be slightly sweeter. To me it tasted like butterscotch flavoring added to crème soda. Quite good.

Take the time to stop and look at the details, the music shop with enchanted instruments in the windows, the plant shop with the screaming mandrake plant, the golden snitch flitting around the sporting goods store, and stop into the bathrooms and listen for Moaning Myrtle.

Flight of the Hippogriff is okay, not great. I personally wouldn’t wait more than 5 minutes for this ride. To short, not thrilling enough. It’s story is a bit weak as well. They really shoehorned the existing unicorn ride into the Harry Potter theme, and it doesn’t work.

Dueling Dragons is a roller coaster. Nothing more nothing less. Universal really phoned this one in. The only attempt at theming this to match the area at all was including the Weasley’s car in the queue.

 

[rtphokie]

Seuss Landing
Next to Wizarding World of Harry Potter, this was our favorite area. Very well themed and the rides were accessible to young and old. Everything seemed so faded though. I wonder how much more impactful the area would be with the bright colors from the books.

The Cat in the Hat Ride was cool, very Pooh like but I personally wouldn’t take a skittish child on the ride or any child under 5. It’s just too rough. The spinning is bizarrely violent.

Our favorite ride was the High in the Sky Trolley Train Ride. Well themed, loved the different stories and different paths the ride took depending on which side you were on. Also really liked going through the Circus McGurkus Cafe Stoopendous building.


Super Hero Island

Super Hero Island was pretty much just Spiderman for us (and bad lunch), loved the theming though. We caught the tail end of the superheros arriving on 4 wheelers and were impressed with the casting there. Universal’s understaffing made this experience less than it could have been for many guests again when the heros simply abandoned lines of guests hoping for photos and autographs when the time came for them to leave. There just weren’t enough handlers to manage the lines and it got out of control very quickly. Our family isn’t all that interested in superheros so we were far from heartbroken but I noticed several little boys that were as Capt America left them standing there and dashed off.

We rode the Spiderman ride 3 times and it was among our favorites. Still I didn’t think it lived up to the substantial hype I’ve heard over the years for it. The 3d was very effective but the images weren’t very clear making the effect less than it could be. The 4d effects weren’t well timed either with water coming a second or two after it should have. Seemed like a maintenance issue to me.

Ripsaw Falls was good, not great. Splash Mountain is great. Popeye’s raft ride was great, best one of those I’ve been on, lots of movement, lots of wet. Tops Kali River Rapids IMHO. I did find having to pay to squirt water on other guests a bit cheesy though. I’d rather have a slightly higher ticket price than have Universal trying to reach into my pocket for extras like this (or locker rental just to go on a ride). I’m on vacation and don’t want to have to deal with this. Exactly the opposite of the way I am when I’m not on vacation.

 

[rtphokie]

I grew up near LA and visited Universal Studios Hollywood often so its hard for me not to compare. I miss the tram ride and I miss seeing real places where real productions were made. This is not a problem unique to Universal in Florida though.

Overall our favorite rides were the Simpsons, the Mummy, and Men in Black. The Simpsons was very well done, the images very clear and was very well themed with a solid story being told. The Mummy is just a cool ride. We especially like the fire effects and segments where the car is turned 180 degrees and where it goes backwards. The actual roller coaster part is a bit lame as it’s essentially going past flats that are lit as you pass, yawn. Men in Black is very well done and tops Buzz Lightyear IMHO. I don’t get why Universal insists on the lockers though. They built net bags into the Spiderman ride but skipped them for other rides. Was the temptation for a little extra locker rental money too much?

Shrek 4D was operating at full capacity but seemed to have maintenance problems as well. We saw it twice and depending on where you sat in the theater some effects worked some didn’t. The noise from the pneumatics in the seats was so loud you could barely hear the movie, really ruined the effect. The employees during the preshow were some of those indifferent ones, reading their script as if it were a bore for them rather than a role to be played. One even got a bit mean with a guest who didn’t move to the front as quickly as she would have liked.

Twister was a waste of time. Hard to see any of the effects in the darkened room.

ET. Once a headliner, now the worst ride in the park. Time to retire it. I do imagine it being a completely different experience with some illicit drugs. The whole passport thing is really stupid too. They need to break down and update the queue to better handle Universal Express guests. That would eliminate the employee literally screaming at people to stay to the left if you have Express

Disaster was cool, especially since my son was picked to “look up at The Rock”, he had fun with it (the little guys need to be up front to get picked so try to stay to the left when entering the preshow). I do wonder why they chose to come up with fictitious movies for the boneyard. Are there no Universal movies being filmed any more that vehicles, aircraft, boats, etc. could have been salvaged for display? That’s the world of the fake movie studio theme park I guess.

Jaws, had to do it, it’s a headliner, but damn is that a dumb looking rubber shark. Queue videos are the highlight of the ride, very well done.

We had lunch at the International Film Festival and were impressed with the food (Chicken Parmesan with penne and beef and peppers with fried rice and a personal peperoni pizza). Decent quality, big portions and a good price. We opted for lunch at Margarittaville at City Walk the next day (stop at guest services for a coupon book for a free kids meal there). Also stopped each day at Richter’s Burgers to use the Coca Cola Freestyle machines. My son had Raspberry Coke and Peach Sprite (very good), my wife had Caffeine Free Orange Diet Coke and Strawberry Light Lemonade. I had Orange Coke and Raspberry Coke.

 

[rtphokie]

Fun show, talented skaters and bikers. A nice sit down break to the day. Nothing we've not seen at Ringling Brothers and our local state fair though. This is a seasonal show that may or may not be operating when you are there.

 

[damo]

Doesn't sound like you enjoyed yourself much. What a shame.

 

[Tink2Day]

Doesn't sound like you enjoyed yourself much. What a shame.

Take it with a grain of salt Damo. I've not seen much positive from this person and most of what he's said has been opposite of what most others say about IOA in particular.

As for Universal being dirty? I was SHOCKED at the trash on the ground in the MK. I'm used to Disneyland where it's SPOTLESS. IOA was spotless.
As for the TM's at Universal? I found them all to be super nice, I'm sure that NONE of the complaints on WDW CM's I've read about on other threads are legitimate.
Imagine going through life with such a negative attitude.

Disney turned down WWOHP, they wanted too much control and 'other' concessions. I personally am happy they didn't get it and Princess it up.
P.S. OP, maybe you should stick to Disney, your mind was OBVIOUSLY made up about Universal before you even went.

 

[rtphokie]

Doesn't sound like you enjoyed yourself much. What a shame.

Sorry, not all trip reports are pixy dust and unicorns. I've gotten much more out of the negatives people have pointed out in their trip reports over the years than the positives. Trying to help there as well.

We enjoyed ourselves but it's hard not come away with a more negative impression than we have from other parks, Disney or otherwise. Especially when you see the same problems in the same places on multiple days.

I've never smelled trash in another park the way I've smelled it at IOA in the Jurrasic Park area at the drink/churros/pretzel stand across from the drop on the river adventure ride. That's either a design problem or a staffing problem.

 

[rtphokie]

As for Universal being dirty? I was SHOCKED at the trash on the ground in the MK. I'm used to Disneyland where it's SPOTLESS. IOA was spotless.

While there wasn't much trash on the ground, it was there. I never saw a Universal employee picking up trash, I did see guests doing it as they passed a discarded map for instance. This biggest trash problem at IOA was the smell. Cant imagine what its like in August.

As for the TM's at Universal? I found them all to be super nice, I'm sure that NONE of the complaints on WDW CM's I've read about on other threads are legitimate.
Imagine going through life with such a negative attitude.

As I mentioned in the original post, we encountered nice employees and we encountered a lot that just didn't care. We even encountered some rude ones. The biggest problem with the employees seemed to be that there weren't enough of them and too many of the ones that were there were so focused on getting to the end of their shift and not at all interested in any guest interaction. Hard not to come away with this impression when you ask an employee manning the entrance to a ride where the nearest restroom is and they tell you "I dont know".

We saw T2 twice, the first time the actress playing the media relations person was fabulous, really got into the role and found creative ways to remind people to put away their cameras. The second time, the actress recited the preshow lines in a monotone as if they were as mundane as "pull down on the lapbar and keep your hands inside the car".

Didn't mean to ruffle any feathers of any Universal fans. We did have a good time, I would go back (not for a while though, dont feel the need), and I feel we gave both parks a good shake with 4 days total. Universal does do some things differently than Disney or other parks. Some of these are due to necessity with the space they have available to them, some are choices by the management (staffing levels, overall maintenance), some are probably competitive but in the end our impression was that most of these differences take away from the overall experience.

As for my role as a moderator, we have opinons too. I dont moderate this board, I moderate the photo board. If you have some IOA or Universal Studios photos you'd like to share, come on over, I think you'll find we are a friendly bunch there.

 

[TPQS]

With your FJ queue percentages I assume you are basing it on time. Much more than 20% of the queue is indoors, but you see it so fast. I always consider the attraction to begin once inside the castle. I say FJ has an average "line" with a 20 minute experience.

 

[TallandGoofy]

I like hearing the good, the bad and the ugly so I appreciate this honest report. I know I've had some trips where everything went smoothly and some where they didn't. I would hope that if I reported on any negative aspects of WDW or Universal it would be accepted as MY experience. It may not always align with what others have experienced, but that's what makes reading the trip reports so interesting (IMO).

Anyway, just my 2 cents...

Thanks!!

 

[rtphokie]

With your FJ queue percentages I assume you are basing it on time. Much more than 20% of the queue is indoors, but you see it so fast. I always consider the attraction to begin once inside the castle. I say FJ has an average "line" with a 20 minute experience.

Exactly, it's based on time.

Even with the extended stay in the room with Hermione, Harry, and Ron due to a rumored "protein spill" on the ride, we spent far more time outside and pretty much rushed through the queue.

 

[Port Orleans fan]

We were thinking about trying US/IOA before we set sail on the Disney Dream, but OMG this trip report got me thinking. It sounds like a theme park from a nightmare.

I know this is only the opinion of 1 person but a little bit more research couldn't hurt either.



OP I know Mods have opinions too, but sometimes the word of a Mod are taken more seriously than that of an average Joe.

 

[rtphokie]

We were thinking about trying US/IOA before we set sail on the Disney Dream, but OMG this trip report got me thinking. It sounds like a theme park from a nightmare.

I know this is only the opinion of 1 person but a little bit more research couldn't hurt either.

OP I know Mods have opinions too, but sometimes the word of a Mod are taken more seriously than that of an average Joe.

Dont be scared off by my trip report. We had a great time. Both my wife and I are systems engineers by trade so we cant help but notice when things dont work as well as they could.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was crowded. Based on other reports, it is generally crowded. That's just the way it is. It is new so its popular but the size of the area isn't sufficient to meet the demands being placed on it making visiting a challenge. It is better to be prepared for this. The rest of the IOA park was busy as well but paled in comparison to Potter.

In general IOA seems much more popular than Universal Studios. If you stand at the end of City Walk where guests turn right for Universal and left for IOA, I noticed 2/3rds going left and 1/3 going right. Universal Studios was much less crowded.

All that being said, the best advice I have is:

1. get there as early as possible, rope drop is often 15 minutes or more before the published opening time. If you are there for Potter, head there immediately. Go to the right and stay close to the lagoon (rather than through Suess Landing). *
2. Universal Express was worthwhile for IOA, not for Universal Studios
3. do your research on crowd levels. We specifically avoided weeks where many Florida schools were out on Spring Break and ended up in the middle of a bunch of Georgia Spring Breaks. The lateness of Easter this year makes planning difficult.

* Going to the left through Superhero Island, Cartoon Lagoon and ultimately Jurassic Park to reach Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey could get you turned around as the queue for Forbidden Journey ran into Jurassic Park the first morning we there and guests were turned around by IOA staff and told to go back through the park to get to the main entrance of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. There is a new bridge between the Lost Content area and Jurassic Park area that can be used though.

 

[TallandGoofy]

Universal Express was worthwhile for IOA, not for Universal Studios
.

I had a question about this. I've already purchased Express Passes for our trip in June.

We are trying to do both parks in one day so, my thought is, even if there is only a 15 or 20 minute wait, the Express Passes will get us right in and save time.

What were the waits like at U.S.? Were they all like 10 minutes or less? Did you use your Express Passes at all there? Or just intermittently?

 

[loveysbydesign]

Thank you for your report, it is appreciated!
We are still trying to decide if we want to got to US/IOA for the 1st time this Oct. or next year. Having a hard time trying to decide as my younger ds would only be 4y.o. if we go this year and I'm thinking he may not do well not being able to go on a lot of the rides and may feel overwhelmed by the crowding at WWOHP!

 

[TallandGoofy]

Thank you for your report, it is appreciated!
We are still trying to decide if we want to got to US/IOA for the 1st time this Oct. or next year. Having a hard time trying to decide as my younger ds would only be 4y.o. if we go this year and I'm thinking he may not do well not being able to go on a lot of the rides and may feel overwhelmed by the crowding at WWOHP!

We took my son when he was 4 and had a blast. In June, we are taking him (now 8) and our DD who just turned 3. My plans for us include - WWoHP: touring the Hogwarts castle, then just the boys go on the ride and Flight of the HippoGriff for all. Also in IOA - Jurassic Park River Adventure (DS loved it at 4 and I know DD will too), Seuss Landing - lots of fun stuff here, the Popeye/Bluto raft ride, Poseidon's Fury and Spiderman. Over at Universal Studios - there is Barney - a MUST do for us (DD is HUGE fan), Animal Actors show, Fievel play area, Curious George water play area, E.T. . I think Men in Black will be ok to do and maybe even JAWS.

The main thing with little ones is to use child swaps, which most rides have, or just know in your head you won't be doing certain attractions and be at peace with that. It's easy for us 'cause my 8 year old hates roller coasters so I don't have to worry that he'll be bummed if we miss them. If I feel the need to go on one, though, I just do the single rider line while the rest of the fam gets ice cream or something.