So yesterday I wrote all about Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. Today I’ll tell you about the rest of the park(s). We did go to Universal for two days, after all.
Aside from Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, we may have spent the most time at Marvel Super Hero Island. The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man ride IS amazing (it was one of the only ones we did twice). It was super successful as a VR ride and yet another great story line.
Universal Studios is impressing me with their ability to bring me into the stories/movies. Not only do they blend techniques such as a traditional track rollercoaster ride, they integrate 3D/VR along with real sensory experiences (think fog/rain/temperature experiences).
Currently, the biggest attraction at Universal is Skull Island: Reign of Kong. There’s a parental advisory on this one because the possibility of getting scared is REAL (we saw one girl cry!).
If you’ve ridden the latest back lot tram ride in Universal Studios Hollywood, with the state-of-the-art, first of its kind, 3D experience that wraps fully around you (think of a tunnel), you’ll recognize elements on the Orlando version here on Skull Island. It’s a longer, more built out version and something to experience, even if you’ll have to wait in a loooong line.
On the bright side, if you’re a Pokemon GO fan, there are 3 or 4 pokestops in the line and while we were making our way through the 90 minute wait, there were nonstop lures.
Speaking of Pokemon, the parks are full of pokestops, and plenty of visitors are playing, particularly while waiting in line.
Seuss Landing was adorable, bringing Dr. Seuss’ whimsy to life. The details everywhere were Seuss-ified, from Lorax recycle bins to all the rhyming signs.
It brought out the kid in us, seeing all these stories outside of our imagination. But nothing compared to the throwback of the E.T. ride for me. I wasn’t even ever that into the movie, but as a kid, the E.T. ride at Universal Studios Hollywood was my favorite ride. You get on a bicycle-like seat and explore the world with E.T. in your bike basket. After you fly over the forests and explore the green planet, E.T. says bye to you, addressing you by your name. It was exactly the same as I remembered. It even smelled the same!
Even outside the E.T. ride, Universal Studios Florida really follows the one in Hollywood. The Terminator ride, for example, is exactly the same live-action + 3D video performance. The Simpson’s Ride, Transformers The Ride – 3D, Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem, and Shrek 4D experiences, are also the same as in Hollywood.
They also have a Revenge of the Mummy ride, but this one is by far superior to the one in Hollywood, if only because there’s room to extend the ride so it’s longer and actually feels finished.
What makes Universal Hollywood so cool is that it’s an actual working film studio. While I don’t think anyone’s filming on site at Universal Orlando, they do have a cool show I haven’t seen before: Fear Factor Live.
In case you’re unfamiliar with the concept of the television show Fear Factor, an average episode involves stunts like a driving a car up a moving ramp, or something involving extreme height, creepy crawlies like snakes, scorpions, or tarantulas, and most famously, eating such delicacies as bull testicles, raw intestines, and those famous madagascar hissing cockroaches. Joe Rogan crowns the winner with the phrase “Fear is not a factor for you!”
At Fear Factor Live, they have real park guests as participants. The show started with a hanging contest, seeing who could hang from high above the ceiling the longest before their grip/forearm strength gave out. Next, they had someone stick their head in a box and spin a wheel to see what would get put in the box with them. Lottery said it would be 5 scorpions! The contestants then had to play catch with rancid octopus before scaling a wall ladder, then get hoisted up in an airborne car!
Any Fear Factor experience would not be complete without seeing someone eat/drink something terrifying. We witnessed two sad souls drink a glass full of blended sour milk, maggot worm-like things, crickets, meat from cutting room floor, and one more thing that was equally as vile. Chunky and GROSS.
Thrilling, and not in the vomit-inducing way, was the Rip Ride Rock It!
It goes straight up and spins around while it loops. But the real unique part is that you get to choose a song to listen to as you ride using a touch screen on the “seat belt.” The speakers work well and I wasn’t bothered by any of my fellow riders’ music. I found this entertaining video of Ellen riding it for your viewing pleasure.
Another unique ride was the 90’s classic Men In Black ride. While riding you get to use a laser-like gun to shot down aliens as an agent training to save the world. Immersive and interactive!
Universal has other awesome street fronts, including “San Francisco” and “Beverly Hills,” and they really invested in the details. Fancy storefronts and a working French-ish cafe run along “Rodeo Drive,” as well as Hollywood stars on the sidewalk (though I don’t remember ever having seen those in the real Beverly Hills). San Fran has places named after Lombard, Ghiradelli, and Fisherman’s Wharf—the only things missing are the hills and the fog.
Logistics:
Everyone who had been to Universal Studios Orlando told us it would take more than one day to do (we were even told it would take us THREE days), so we purchased the 2-day park to park admission with express passes to cut back time spent standing in lines. The Saturday we arrived was pretty laid back—crowds were not ridiculous, and the longest we waited for anything was prob 45 minutes in Gringotts (because there’s no express pass line). The only rides we didn’t experience on Saturday were King Kong (because the shortest wait we saw for that one was 120 minutes), and the Popeye rapids ride (because we somehow walked right by it).
If we wanted to stay until closing time, we likely could have done the whole 2 parks in 1 day!