Alone in Universal-June 2011 Day Trip
A little over a month after our visit to the Magic Kingdom, I was returning to Orlando. I had enjoyed my first couple of visits to Universal Studios so much that I was anxious to return. This time, however, Buzz was not interested in another trip to Universal, so I decided to go for a solo day trip. This was actually my first time spending an entire day in any Orlando theme park by myself, so it was a new, experience. I hope that youll enjoy reading about my day Alone in Universal.
I arrived at Universal Orlando a little less than an hour before the park was scheduled to open. Already there was quite a crowd. Even though I knew it would be more crowded in June than when we visited in February or October, I was still a bit worried about the crowds. Once the crowds made it through bag check and into City Walk, I realized I didnt have to worry after all. As the masses reached the crossroads between Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios, about 80% of the guests marched on to Islands of Adventure. I definitely wouldnt have wanted to be in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter that day.
Over at the Studios, things seemed much more peaceful.
15 minutes before the scheduled opening, they did a little ceremony and opened the park. After a walk through Production Central, my first stop for the day was
The Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket. It had, unfortunately, been closed last October when Buzz and I first visited the park, so it was one of my main priorities of the day. I quickly stowed my stuff in one of the required (but free!) Universal lockers and joined the queue. Since this was a solo trip, I had anticipated being able to use the single rider line on many of the attractions at the park, but since the line wasnt that long yet, they didnt have it open. Oh well. The ride itself was great. The shtick with the Rip Ride Rocket is that each seat had its own build in sound system and you get to pick the music that you hear. For my first ride, I went with Bring Me To Life by Evanscence, which I thought made a great soundtrack for a roller coaster. The song choices arent as synchronized with the ride as the Aerosmith songs at the Rock n Rollercoaster, but the definitely give the ride a fun atmosphere. Plus, as a roller coaster, it was great- maybe my favorite of all the coasters at the Studios and Islands of Adventure (with the possible exception of the Hulk). By the time I got off the ride and retrieved my things from the locker, it was only 9am.
Next, I headed to the New York area of the park. There, I spotted the Priscilla Hotel For Single Young Ladies, which was the home of the characters played by Julie Andrews and Mary Tyler Moore in Universals movie musical
Thoroughly Modern Millie. Obviously, Disney isnt the only one who hides sometime-obscure references to films in theme parks.
My real reason for heading to New York was to ride Revenge of the Mummy. Crowds were ridiculously low at this point (note: the above photo was taken much later in the day since I didnt manage to rake one in the morning) and even though the single rider line was open, it wasnt needed. The line was a complete walk-on, and the coaster train I rode in had a grand total of four guests in it. The ride was fun. It really has some really impressive show scenes, some good roller coaster segments and a bit of humor thrown in for good measure.
Outside, New York still looked deserted. Where were all the crowds?
I love the theming of the New York Streets. Its much more early 20th century than Disneys more contemporary New York as opposed to the more modern feel at Disneys Hollywoood Studios.
While the crowds were still low, I wanted to see as many of the parks headliners as possible, so I made my way to one of my favorite rides in the park- The Simpsons Ride.
The line wasnt long at all, but I had just enough time to see Doc Brown in Simpson form make his cameo in the pre-show movie. Originally, the Simpsons building was home to the Back to the Future Ride, and the pre-show explains how Docs old institute became Krusty the Klowns Krustyland theme park. Of course, as both a Simpsons fan and a theme park fan, I enjoyed the ride. It has plenty of jabs at theme parks in general along with some of Orlandos other parks along with fun cameos from many of Springfields most colorful characters. Its definitely a must-see.
Next, I headed off to Men in Black Alien Attack. The architecture is great here, but for some reason the only photo around MIB I took on this trip was the gift shop sign. Ill have to remember to take more on our next trip. Like everything else so far, the wait was minimal, and the ride was enjoyable. For those unfamiliar with Universal, this ride has a game play element similar to Toy Story Mania or Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin, but the ride itself is a lot more elaborate than either of them. It's a great ride, even if (like me) you're only moderatly good at best at racking up points.
By now, it was almost 10am, so I decided to hang around the Simpsons area to see if any characters would pop up by near the Kwik-E-Mart like they did when we were there in October. While I waited, I took some photos around the area.
Oh, Bart, will you ever stay out of trouble?
If you ever visit Universal and hear this phone outside the Kwik-E-Mart ring, be sure to answer it. When I did, I got a bizarre non sequitur from Ralph Wiggum followed by a prank call from Bart.
I took a peek inside the Kwik-E-Mart.
Since no Simpsons character ever came out, I decided to head on to Amity and go on my favorite ride in the park, Jaws. When I got there, he was already causing terror by devouring an entire photo booth, or at least thats what it looks like in this unintentional silly picture.
The wait was less than 5 minutes here as well. In no time, I was boarding a boat for a tour of Amity Harbor.
The set pieces and themeing of this ride really is wonderful, especially the town at the beginning of the ride. Of course, once youre past that, the shark itself and all the special effects are the star of the show. Its a little silly at times, but its a whole lot of fun.
Outside the ride, there are some props from Jaws movies.
After Jaws, I made the short trip from Amity to San Francisco to try Disaster: A Major Motion Picture Ride Staring You, another attraction that Buzz and I missed when we went in October. I lucked out by getting to walk right into the pre-show just before the cut-off. As for the attraction itself, I suppose you could best compare it to the Backlot Tour at Hollywood Studios. There are some special effects demonstrations with audience participation and a finale of you riding a tram-like vehicle through an earthquake scene. Still, in a whole, I think Disaster is more fun and entertaining than what Disneys Backlot Tour had become. The astonishing scene in which a live performer, through some sort of special effect I cant quite figure out, appears to be on stage and interacting with a director character played by Christopher Walken was alone worth a visit to the attraction. And, of course, the actual ride through the earthquake is fantastic as well.
It was not even 11am, and I had already gotten through 6 of the parks headliner attractions and practically my entire must-see list for the day. Getting there at rope drop and doing the attractions in the order I did really worked out since, especially in the second hour, I seemed to be one step ahead of the crowds (not to mention the large tour groups). By now though, I was ready to switch out of commando mode and enjoy the park at a more leisurely pace.
Next chapter: Meeting some of Universal's stars
Hopefully, I'll have the first chapter for the Universal report ready to be posted by tomorrow.
