The Universal Resort in Florida contains two theme parks, Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios as well as City Walk which has shops and restaurants.
We visited Universal three times during our holiday. Once for each theme park and then once to have a day at the Harry Potter world stuff. If you’re a fan of Harry Potter like me then I would recommend doing what we did as then you can properly appreciate the areas as they have been done so well. For that reason I am not including the Harry Potter bits in this post, they will be on a separate post.
Universal Studios
As you would expect, Universal Studios focuses on the movie industry and special effects. There are a lot of 3D and simulator rides at this park as well as lots of shows to go and see if you want. We only went to one show which was the animal actors one which was really good.
Aside from Harry Potter, the other large attraction here is of course
Springfield. You can pop to Moe’s for a drink or grab a bit to eat at
Lard Lad’s Donuts or Krusty Burger. I really liked this area of the park
but be warned ID is a big thing in America when wanting to buy a drink
and we really wanted to have a Duff beer in Moe’s but the guy wouldn’t
accept photocopies of our passports (other places did) so you may want
to keep this in mind.
Springfield. You can pop to Moe’s for a drink or grab a bit to eat at
Lard Lad’s Donuts or Krusty Burger. I really liked this area of the park
but be warned ID is a big thing in America when wanting to buy a drink
and we really wanted to have a Duff beer in Moe’s but the guy wouldn’t
accept photocopies of our passports (other places did) so you may want
to keep this in mind.
In
terms of rides, as I’ve already mentioned, lots are 3D rides or
simulators which isn’t really my kind of thing. I’d say the rides here
weren’t as good as Disney rides but that’s just my opinion. We went on
Terminator 2: 3D, ET Adventure, Men in Black Alien Attack, Disaster!,
Revenge of the Mummy and Twister: Ride It Out. We both loved the Revenge
of the Mummy which is a pretty amazing roller-coaster.
terms of rides, as I’ve already mentioned, lots are 3D rides or
simulators which isn’t really my kind of thing. I’d say the rides here
weren’t as good as Disney rides but that’s just my opinion. We went on
Terminator 2: 3D, ET Adventure, Men in Black Alien Attack, Disaster!,
Revenge of the Mummy and Twister: Ride It Out. We both loved the Revenge
of the Mummy which is a pretty amazing roller-coaster.
Islands of Adventure
Out of the two Universal parks I’d say Islands of Adventure is slightly better though I can’t comment on too many of the rides as the main day we visited this park there was a storm early afternoon and all the outdoor rides were closed for ages so we just ended up leaving which was a bit of a shame. I also chickened out of the Hulk ride which I kind of regret now.
Like Universal Studios has Springfield, the big attraction (again aside from Harry Potter) is probably the Jurassic Park area. Way before I even wanted to go to Florida or it was even a consideration booking it, the first ride we watched on YouTube was the Jurassic Park River Adventure so it’s always been a big deal for me and it was the ride I was most looking forwards to going on. It definitely didn’t disappoint.
Even though we didn’t go on many rides here they aren’t all simulator ones like at Universal which I preferred. The rides we went on were The Cat in the Hat, Jurassic Park River Adventure and Bilge Rat Barges. We both liked Jurassic Park the best. A little friendly warning about the Bilge Rat Barges ride, it’s a rapids ride and when I say you get drenched I mean you get drenched from head to foot. I love water rides but even this was too much for me.
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