Just back from Universal!

[calena]

I just enjoyed our first trip to Universal. We had the five day passes - kids free - and that worked out really well. We had five consecutive days and we went for three days. I really enjoyed Universal and felt quite spoiled there - NO CROWDS! It was a shock to go to Disney and stand in line again. I also liked the food options at Universal. I will write a trip report soon.
This is just the highlights.
Rides I enjoyed - Mummy, Jaws, Men in Black, ET, Shrek, All the Seuss Landing stuff, Popeye, Pteradon Flyers, Jurassic Park river ride, Ripshaw Falls, Duelling Dragons, Sinbad.
Did NOT like Back to the Future. I felt quite sick after it. You feel both motion sickness and confined on this ride. I also did not enjoy Spiderman as much as I thought I would. Twister was a bust, I kept waiting for the excitement to start!
Our kids really enjoyed ET, Men in Black, Dr. Seuss Landing and Shrek especially.
One thing I was dissapointed in was the express option. It was so hard to get those machines to read the bar codes!!!! You would just stand there and try machine after machine. It wasn't worth it. Especially with the crowds being so low.
I did like the single rider option. I did this on the Mummy while the kids went to Shrek with dad. We also used the child swap quite a bit - on Mummy and Jaws especially.
I would go back to Universal in an instant!

 

[Corporal_Radar]

good good... i am glad that you liked it... however, i am sorry if you didnt like back to the future... that is usually one of the few things we do when we go there... when did you go to universal, and when did you come back???

 

[robvia]

I also just got back.
We drove up for the weekend to see the Pat Parelli horse show. On Saturday night March 5th, the wife, daughter, and her friend went to Dixie Stampede and I went to IOA/USF for a couple hours.

Many on the boards ask if you can do anything in two hours. The answer is definately yes.

Crowds were light. Hulk and Spiderman had a 20 minute wait. The express pass machines for Spiderman were still working. And remember, this is at 6pm on a Saturday night. I got an express and walked onto the ride, got a video of it I'm going to put on my web site.

I went on Dueling dragons twice, wait was 10 minutes, if that.

Then I high tailed it over to USF and rode the Mummy. For this one I used single rider line and got right on. At 8pm the Mardi Gras parade was about to start and I was hungry, so I exited the park and went across the street to the Orlando Ale House where I had a great dinner. The Ponderosa next to it has closed, but there is a location on I-drive that is still open. I took lots of pictures and I'll be updating my sites with the new info soon.

 

[4greatboys]

My dh and older boys all like BTTF but I dont care for it. Its just to rough for me. Just as well though I just wait with the little ones while they ride.
IOA--My family loves: the Hulk, Dueling Dragons, Spiderman, Jurassic Park . We skip the water rides (except JP) as we dont really care that much for getting soaked.
US--My family loves: MIB, Jimmy Neutron, ET (the little ones love it), the Mummy, Shrek. We enjoy Jaws, Earthquake and Twister but can skip if need be.

 

[Snoopymom]

Thanks so much for the info! We're going this summer for the first time, so do you think the crowds will be lighter there than at Disney in the summer time too?

 

[calena]

We were in Orlando Feb 23-March 6. We did Universal on Feb 25, 26 and March 1. (Fri, Sat, Tues) Sat was busy, but we still were able to do what we wanted to do. Friday we did UO, Sat IOA and Tues both. Also should mention on Tuesday they were celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday all week so we had free cake in the afternoon! That was fun.

 

[Sandyincanada]

Welcome back, Calena....glad you had a good time

 

[Kaiya]

Can you tell me anything about the Mummy. I've read mixed reviews but it looks great on the US website. Looking forward to it but wonder if its too wild for those in our party who hate rollercoasters. Thanks.

 

[calena]

The mummy is fast and swings you around a bit, but the drops aren't too dramatic if that is what you are afraid of. The roller coaster portion is in the dark. I was more afraid of the theming being scary, but it is not too scary for adults.

 

[MazdaUK]

I expect it will be much busier when we are there (not long now - flying Sunday!!!!) - what are the park hours, does anyone know?

 

[robvia]

Park hours are on the web site here.
http://themeparks.universalstudios....o_park_hours.html&year=2005&month=3&year=2005

If you wish to see what the Mummy is like, you can watch the videos I shot here.
http://www.nogodforme.com/ioapovs.htm

I also got one of Spiderman on my recent visit here.
http://www.nogodforme.com/ioapovs2005.htm

 

[drumflower]

I love Universal too! We went for the 1st time this Feb. and had more fun than at Disney! I am also a ride chicken, but was going to overcome some of my fears of rides. But Back to the Future ride totally was the worse for me! It freaked me out! I loved Spiderman, Mummy, Cat in the Hat ride ( don't laugh!). The Jimmy Netron ride is fun too! But after riding the BtoF, it made me feel so sick, it took me over an hour to recover plus it made me less brave to try other rides! lol Mummy wasn't that scary to me but maybe because my eyes were shut! lol The rollar coaster part is very fast and curvy but the drops weren't too bad. But Spiderman was awesome! After you ride it the 1st time and know what to expect, the 2nd time is much more enjoyable! I love the simulated drop at the end! Plus the 3-d effects were amazing! It was probably the best ride I have ever been on and I hate rollar coasters!

 

[D3K]

ThE Crowds At Universal And Islands Of Adventure Are Always Less Then Disney, I Love Usf And Ioa, I Think They Are Awesome Parks, Disney Is Great Too, But The Lines (even W/ Fast Pass) Are Just Way To Long.