Comparing Universal rides to Flight of Passage

[jerseygal]

FOP is definitely the best simulator ride I’ve ridden. But I wouldn’t sell Unis rides short. They have some good ones. Love th Potter rides especially.

With that said, there is no way I would drop AK from my Disney itinerary. I just love it for so many reasons. That’s without knowing all the other details of your trip though.

VERY EXCITED for our October F&W trip to experience FOP! Additionally, really looking forward to a 4 day trip to Universal only mid December, will do the parks 3 days and relax the last. CAN'T WAIT for King Kong, missed it last time. Must say though, will miss HRH or RP Express Pass, we love the EP and the convenience of the parks, but this "off site" Universal trip will be awesome. HOPING that the parks mid December won't be that crowded.

 

[jerseygal]

I would like to chime in with my opinion. Flight of Passage is awesome, as is the entire world of Pandora, simply jaw dropping. If I had to compare it to a ride for "feel" it's forbidden journey. Specifically the moments where you are looking at a screen in Forbidden Journey. No other ride gave me that feeling of flying like those 2, and the screen parts felt very comparable. As for which park to drop I'd drop Hollywood studios over Animal kingdom, and that's not hating on hollywood studios, we loved it our last visit and toy story land wasn't even open. But someone above stated two of the best rides, TOT, and RNR are there. I'd take FOP and EE over those two any day, and still be able to throw in the awesome safari ride, Kali river rapids, and the whole amazingness of Pandora. Plus you have lion king and nemo for shows, and as much hate as navi river journey gets I enjoyed it .

VERY EXCITED for FOP first time October F&W trip and the entire world of Pandora, CAN'T WAIT!

 

[atricks]

Simpsons is the most like Flight of Passage. Same "pod" entry setup and one big screen with a bunch of "pods" looking at it. It's probably why I only thought FoP was good, but not great since it was just an evolution of Back to the Future. (A good one)

 

[Jen1995]

I like Gringotts better than FOP. And I REALLY liked FOP, but I just don't care as much about the entire Pandora ecosystem. HP is special.

 

[Monykalyn]

The glasses were a MAJOR issue with me too. The only person in our group that LOVED it was the 10 year old. I'm going to give it another go this fall to see if I feel differently.

The glasses frames got a redo-fit much better now.
Pandora is at least as immersive as Potter world-just in a different way. And both are different experiences at night.
DAK is my favorite park. It’s not a park to rush through and gogogogo so many people don’t appreciate it and that’s fine. FoP the first time is breathtaking. No it’s NOT soarin on steroids. It’s more- the sound, feel and smell and truly feeling like flying is not like soarin. You don’t feel a creature breathing beneath you on soarin, or simpsons (jerky nauseating ride).

Now with all that-DHS was my favorite park last year for the holiday decorations. Seems every corner was decorated. And it snowed every night. And at end of jingle bell jingle bam. But I love Epcot and the holiday booths too...

Haunted mansion, expedition Everest, FoP and FJ are my favorite rides ever-ranking depends on mood-but all are beautifully themed and fully immersive stories.

 

[nighttowll]

The glasses frames got a redo-fit much better now.

When did this happen? Because when I was there in January, they did not fit at all. Have they been redone since then? Or do the new glasses not fit me either?

 

[Monykalyn]

When did this happen? Because when I was there in January, they did not fit at all. Have they been redone since then? Or do the new glasses not fit me either?

March this year they were different. Not as sliding off your face as the old ones. same frames I think? but the fit was very noticeably better!

 

[PrincessWithABlaster]

When did this happen? Because when I was there in January, they did not fit at all. Have they been redone since then? Or do the new glasses not fit me either?

We went in May and no one in our family, including the 5 yo had any issues with them slipping off or feeling insecure.

 

[nighttowll]

We went in May and no one in our family, including the 5 yo had any issues with them slipping off or feeling insecure.

So the below is my very badly drawn example of my issue. The problem wasn’t really them falling off. I could deal with that by holding them or using a band. My issue was that the frames were going through my line of sight because they were too large.

The top picture would be how the glasses should fit your face, with the inner side of the frames beside your nose and not in front of your eyes.

The bottom is how they fit me, with the inner frame edge in front of my eyes, messing up my vision.


Maybe I just have a weird head! Hopefully, they were still the old glasses I tried, and the new will fit correctly.

 

[soniam]

I have ridden FOP and Forbidden Journey many times. The first couple of times I rode FOP it was fabulous. However, since there is very little real movement, it has lost it's luster and just degrades every time I ride it. Forbidden Journey is almost as good to me as the first time I rode it. It still takes my breath away and can actually make me a little nauseous. It's the best ride that I have ridden anywhere.

 

[glocon]

FoP was a good simulator ride I think. I was a little disappointed first time riding since I had built it up so much in my mind... but just a simulator ride on a motorcycle like contraption. It mad me a bit nauseous and then walking back into Pandora with that smell out there just made the nausea worse. It smells pretty nasty. It’s a very smooth ride, just the flying part of it made me a bit sick.... But the theming in the land is spot on. Looks great at night. And the witch in the Navi ride is an amazing anamatronic!
Overall we like FJ better, the theme is better and we love all things HP, Avatar not so much. If this was a SW themed ride, I think it would blow every other ride out of the park!!!

 

[Captainkidd76]

We only did FoP once, but I didn't see what all the fuss was about. I'd take Soarin any day. As for Universal's simulators, eh, they're OK. Simpsons would be better without the never ending pre-shows and if the seats in the back were raised a bit so you could see the entire screen. I'm weird though. I like simple attractions. Give me Cat in the Hat or Popeye over any of these technical wonders any day of the week.

 

[damo]

I actually like the Navi River Ride better than FoP. Perhaps because it received so much trash talk and FoP was so praised.

 

[MickeysPal49]

I've been at most of the rides mentioned in both Universal and Disney, and FOP is, for the moment, my choice for best attraction. I think it's great that both parks are continuing to aim higher to get our attention. I'm no longer able to physically ride RNRC - it's just too rough on my head and neck, so I appreciate the attractions that are exhilarating without the rough stuff. Gringgotts is still one of my favs too.

 

[Mysteryincorp]

I think FOP is amazing, an engineering marvel. I really enjoyed the ride buuuutttt..... I don’t care about avatar, banshees or Pandora. The story line does not hold my attention and the movie was a solid meh for me.
Now Forbidden journey (and Gringotts) is also amazing and also an engineering marvel AND its about something I actually care about, Harrrryyy Potter. It’s more immersive, entertaining, and interesting. FJ is my favorite ride ever. FOP was really cool and a close second or third favorite ride.
That being said I’m doing two days at WDW during my Universal trip and I will get up at 4am to try and get a fastpass for FOP. It’s worth it.