martymcflyy85
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2010
- Messages
- 132
Ok, I'll try to explain the best I know how
. But trust me...you will NOT be disappointed. Universal is NOT a second banana to Disney. And its not just another "six flags" type of park. There are 2 parks and I will describe each separately.
UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
When you walk into Universal the overall feeling is that you are at the Disney Studios theme park on steroids. There isn't that magical "happy" feeling of walking into the Magic Kingdom and seeing the castle
. But its still incredible and colorful and very clean.
1. Transformers- THIS ride can't be described, only experienced. Nothing like it at Disney. Not even close.
2. The Mummy is an indoor rollercoaster/dark ride hybrid. Like Rockin Roller coaster but more fun. The theme and special effects are incredible. May be too scary for young kids.
3. Despicable Me is like A Bug's Life at Animal Kingdom but much better. Plus, you can dance with the Minions.
4. There is a Shrek ride nearby that is very similar (Seats move, big screen). Shrek is just ok, not worth waiting for.
5. Terminator 2 is also 3-D experience, but its not a ride, its more like a show. Its outstanding.
6. Same with Twister. You walk into this room and see a recreation of the scene from the movie where a Twister rocks the drive in movie. Again, not a ride, but its very cool because you see an actual man-made tornado.
7. Men in Black is exactly like Buzz Lightyear, but not as good.
8. The Simpsons ride is like Star Tours, except you ride in a car with around six other people instead of one big room. This replaced Back to the Future, which was SO much better. Just today they opened an entire Springfield land which looks really cool from the pictures. There is also a flat Dumbo type ride there.
9. E.T. Adventure is like Peter Pan, but much better. The line queue is amazing as its a recreation of the forest from the movie. Outstanding.
10. Hollywood Rockit is a roller coaster with no tie to any movie. Its main draw is that on your seat you get to pick from a very wide selection of songs and what song you choose plays on speakers near your head while you ride. Very cool, and each person gets to pick their own song, so the person next to you can't hear your song, only theirs.
11. Woody Woodpecker coaster is a small kiddy coaster for little ones.
12. Disaster is sorta like catastrophe canyon, except indoors. This ride will be closing soon so they can replace it with a new King Kong ride.
13. There is also a neat Animal Actors show (real dogs, cats, monkeys) and there is a Beetlejuice musical show and also the Blues Brothers perform at random times on the street.
ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE
There is nothing at Disney that I can compare Islands of Adventure to as far as an overall theme park. But its sorta like the Magic Kingdom in that you can walk around the park in a circle, and each land has its own theme. Islands of Adventure has more outdoor rides and roller coasters, compared to Universal Studios mainly being indoor rides.
1. Harry Potter- There is one part of the island that is themed entirely to Harry Potter and its unlike anything, anywhere. Its beautiful, just to walk through. This is Universal's "castle", albeit one darker in tone. The Harry Potter ride is sorta like Soarin on steroids (sorry I keep using that term, no other way to describe it though). Its the reason Universal is getting so much hype. Probably the most popular ride in the world right now.
2. Dragon Challenge is two roller coasters (one red, one blue) that flow in and out of each other. At first they would run both coasters at the same time and you would get the feeling of near misses. They have since discontinued running them both at the same time because some idiot threw some change trying to hit other riders on the other coaster
. There is also another small kid friendly roller coaster inside Harry Potter land.
3. Spiderman is a lot like Transformers in ride style. But it was built first and before Harry Potter it was considered by many to be the nation's top ride. A must see.
4. The Incredible Hulk coaster. Your basic wild roller coaster except it shoots you up the hill, like Rockin Roller Coaster.
5. Dr. Doom's Fearfall is like Tower of Terror, but not NEARLY as good. Its outdoors with basically no theme at all.
6. There is an entire Dr. Seuss land that is so colorful and fun. No straight lines, even the trees are curved. There is a Cat in the Hat ride that is a lot like ET/Peter Pan (animatronics), but its just ok. There is a carousel with Dr. Seuss characters and a slow train ride that rides on a rail in the sky. The train ride is pretty cool as you get to look down over the park and at one point it goes inside a circus themed restaurant.
7. One Fish Two Fish (in Suess themed land) is a dumbo ride that squirts water at you.
8. There is an entire land that is a recreation of Jurassic Park and the mood/feel inside this area is so cool. Lots of vegetation. The Jurassic boat ride is really cool. There are animatronic dinosaurs that are so life-like and there is a big drop at the end where you get splashed wet.
9. Pteradon Flyers is inside Jurassic Park and is a ride for the kiddies and there is always a long line and its a complete waste of time.
10. Popeye is a raft ride, like the one at Animal Kingdom, but probably the best and most fun one in the US is the one at Universal.
11. Dudley Do-Right is Universal's attempt to do Splash Mountain (a log ride). It fails miserably
, because let's face it..there is only ONE Splash Mountain and it kicks Dudley-Do Right's tail. The queue line for this is really cramped and can feel claustrophobic. Only ride if its a hot day and you need to get wet.
12. There is also a Sinbad stunt show and a Poseidon's Fury special effects show. Sinbad is boring, but Poseidon's Fury is pretty cool.
The 3 on-site hotels are comparable to the Deluxe Resorts at Disney, but MUCH cheaper. All 3 are right next to the parks (no dumb bus rides) and you can walk or ride a little small boat back and forth. The biggest plus of staying onsite is that you automatically get UNLIMITED EXPRESS PASS for your entire trip. So this like having Disney's fastpass on every single ride anytime you want. No return time. Just flash your key and boom, you are in the short line.
They are currently building ANOTHER Harry Potter land inside Universal Studios that will open in 2014. And there will be another Harry Potter ride that is supposed to top even the current one. Crazy!!
The one thing that is missing at Universal compared to Disney is the characters. They just don't have many to work with. If this is important to you or your kids, then realize up front it won't be like Disney in that regard. That being said, you do get to see Spongebob, Dora, Scooby Doo, the Minions, the Simpsons and a lot of the Marvel Super Heroes. Also, they have AMAZING life-like Transformers characters that talk to you in the real voices, and they are crazy cool. Also, they have Doc Brown near a real Delorean from Back to the Future and this is a great photo op.
Like I said...the Magic Kingdom is....in a word...magical. Universal is not. But when it comes to rides..its not even close...Universal blows Disney away. They are so much more technologically advanced and the special effects are like nothing you've never seen before in your life. There are so many rides that you come off saying the word "wow."
My recommendation is that you visit the Magic Kingdom for one day. EPCOT is also cool of course. But skip Disney Studios and Animal Kingdom for a couple of days at Universal's parks. YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT.
Sorry this was so long, ha ha ha
. But trust me...you will NOT be disappointed. Universal is NOT a second banana to Disney. And its not just another "six flags" type of park. There are 2 parks and I will describe each separately.UNIVERSAL STUDIOS
When you walk into Universal the overall feeling is that you are at the Disney Studios theme park on steroids. There isn't that magical "happy" feeling of walking into the Magic Kingdom and seeing the castle
. But its still incredible and colorful and very clean.1. Transformers- THIS ride can't be described, only experienced. Nothing like it at Disney. Not even close.
2. The Mummy is an indoor rollercoaster/dark ride hybrid. Like Rockin Roller coaster but more fun. The theme and special effects are incredible. May be too scary for young kids.
3. Despicable Me is like A Bug's Life at Animal Kingdom but much better. Plus, you can dance with the Minions.
4. There is a Shrek ride nearby that is very similar (Seats move, big screen). Shrek is just ok, not worth waiting for.
5. Terminator 2 is also 3-D experience, but its not a ride, its more like a show. Its outstanding.
6. Same with Twister. You walk into this room and see a recreation of the scene from the movie where a Twister rocks the drive in movie. Again, not a ride, but its very cool because you see an actual man-made tornado.
7. Men in Black is exactly like Buzz Lightyear, but not as good.
8. The Simpsons ride is like Star Tours, except you ride in a car with around six other people instead of one big room. This replaced Back to the Future, which was SO much better. Just today they opened an entire Springfield land which looks really cool from the pictures. There is also a flat Dumbo type ride there.
9. E.T. Adventure is like Peter Pan, but much better. The line queue is amazing as its a recreation of the forest from the movie. Outstanding.
10. Hollywood Rockit is a roller coaster with no tie to any movie. Its main draw is that on your seat you get to pick from a very wide selection of songs and what song you choose plays on speakers near your head while you ride. Very cool, and each person gets to pick their own song, so the person next to you can't hear your song, only theirs.
11. Woody Woodpecker coaster is a small kiddy coaster for little ones.
12. Disaster is sorta like catastrophe canyon, except indoors. This ride will be closing soon so they can replace it with a new King Kong ride.
13. There is also a neat Animal Actors show (real dogs, cats, monkeys) and there is a Beetlejuice musical show and also the Blues Brothers perform at random times on the street.
ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE
There is nothing at Disney that I can compare Islands of Adventure to as far as an overall theme park. But its sorta like the Magic Kingdom in that you can walk around the park in a circle, and each land has its own theme. Islands of Adventure has more outdoor rides and roller coasters, compared to Universal Studios mainly being indoor rides.
1. Harry Potter- There is one part of the island that is themed entirely to Harry Potter and its unlike anything, anywhere. Its beautiful, just to walk through. This is Universal's "castle", albeit one darker in tone. The Harry Potter ride is sorta like Soarin on steroids (sorry I keep using that term, no other way to describe it though). Its the reason Universal is getting so much hype. Probably the most popular ride in the world right now.
2. Dragon Challenge is two roller coasters (one red, one blue) that flow in and out of each other. At first they would run both coasters at the same time and you would get the feeling of near misses. They have since discontinued running them both at the same time because some idiot threw some change trying to hit other riders on the other coaster
. There is also another small kid friendly roller coaster inside Harry Potter land.3. Spiderman is a lot like Transformers in ride style. But it was built first and before Harry Potter it was considered by many to be the nation's top ride. A must see.
4. The Incredible Hulk coaster. Your basic wild roller coaster except it shoots you up the hill, like Rockin Roller Coaster.
5. Dr. Doom's Fearfall is like Tower of Terror, but not NEARLY as good. Its outdoors with basically no theme at all.
6. There is an entire Dr. Seuss land that is so colorful and fun. No straight lines, even the trees are curved. There is a Cat in the Hat ride that is a lot like ET/Peter Pan (animatronics), but its just ok. There is a carousel with Dr. Seuss characters and a slow train ride that rides on a rail in the sky. The train ride is pretty cool as you get to look down over the park and at one point it goes inside a circus themed restaurant.
7. One Fish Two Fish (in Suess themed land) is a dumbo ride that squirts water at you.
8. There is an entire land that is a recreation of Jurassic Park and the mood/feel inside this area is so cool
. Lots of vegetation. The Jurassic boat ride is really cool. There are animatronic dinosaurs that are so life-like and there is a big drop at the end where you get splashed wet.9. Pteradon Flyers is inside Jurassic Park and is a ride for the kiddies and there is always a long line and its a complete waste of time.
10. Popeye is a raft ride, like the one at Animal Kingdom, but probably the best and most fun one in the US is the one at Universal.
11. Dudley Do-Right is Universal's attempt to do Splash Mountain (a log ride). It fails miserably
, because let's face it..there is only ONE Splash Mountain and it kicks Dudley-Do Right's tail. The queue line for this is really cramped and can feel claustrophobic. Only ride if its a hot day and you need to get wet.12. There is also a Sinbad stunt show and a Poseidon's Fury special effects show. Sinbad is boring, but Poseidon's Fury is pretty cool.
The 3 on-site hotels are comparable to the Deluxe Resorts at Disney, but MUCH cheaper. All 3 are right next to the parks (no dumb bus rides) and you can walk or ride a little small boat back and forth. The biggest plus of staying onsite is that you automatically get UNLIMITED EXPRESS PASS for your entire trip. So this like having Disney's fastpass on every single ride anytime you want. No return time. Just flash your key and boom, you are in the short line.
They are currently building ANOTHER Harry Potter land inside Universal Studios that will open in 2014. And there will be another Harry Potter ride that is supposed to top even the current one. Crazy!!
The one thing that is missing at Universal compared to Disney is the characters. They just don't have many to work with. If this is important to you or your kids, then realize up front it won't be like Disney in that regard. That being said, you do get to see Spongebob, Dora, Scooby Doo, the Minions, the Simpsons and a lot of the Marvel Super Heroes. Also, they have AMAZING life-like Transformers characters that talk to you in the real voices, and they are crazy cool. Also, they have Doc Brown near a real Delorean from Back to the Future and this is a great photo op.
Like I said...the Magic Kingdom is....in a word...magical. Universal is not. But when it comes to rides..its not even close...Universal blows Disney away. They are so much more technologically advanced and the special effects are like nothing you've never seen before in your life. There are so many rides that you come off saying the word "wow."
My recommendation is that you visit the Magic Kingdom for one day. EPCOT is also cool of course. But skip Disney Studios and Animal Kingdom for a couple of days at Universal's parks. YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT.
Sorry this was so long, ha ha ha
