Recent Universal Studios Trip

Orlando’s Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure are two of my top three favorite theme parks to visit (along with Tampa’s Busch Gardens). Last month, my family and I paid a day-long visit there, for the first time since 2003. I wish we had been able to spend more time on our visit, since there are so many things to do at these two fine parks. But we did purchase fifteen-month passes, so more visits are in the works. Still, even though we had purchased special “express” passes, the experience we had there was hectic and whirlwind.

Universal’s express pass system is, in my opinion, much superior to Walt Disney World’s ride “appointment” system. Although express passes do cost a little more (unless you stay at one of Universal’s hotels, and then they are complimentary) while Disney’s system is “free”, you really do save a lot more time waiting in lines at Universal than Disney. And this was true for our visit last month as well. Upon entering the park, starting in Islands of Adventure, we rushed over to the Incredible Hulk Coaster, a green monster that propels the riders off like a rocket. This multi-looping steel coaster is fun to ride, as well as to watch others ride. Next, we rode Doctor Doom’s Fear Fall, a ride set on a very tall tower along the length of which riders are raised and lowered quickly and repeatedly. Both Fear Fall and the Hulk Coaster are visible from well outside the park. After that, we went to the Spiderman ride, which I sat out (I wasn’t very impressed with it as so many others were when I rode it back in 2003). Then we went down the “road”, bypassing Popeye’s Bilge-Rat Barge (an extremely wet round-raft-rapids ride) and getting on Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls “canoe” ride. I really enjoyed this one, although the last time I had ridden it in 2003, I had ripped my pants sitting down in it. Hence, I’ve called it “Rip-pants Falls”! Following that, we trudged on in the heat to Jurassic Park, where we rode their exciting boat ride with its long, dark, steep tunnel-drop at the end. Then, we staggered in the ever-oppressive heat over to the Dueling Dragons coasters, two intertwined steel coasters (“Fire” and “Ice”) that sweep their hanging passengers to within feet of each other and which are, to me, the best rides in Islands of Adventure. We managed to go through two more attractions there (Poseidon’s Fury and the Cat in the Hat) before we had to retreat to an air-conditioned restaurant for lunch (and air-conditioning): the Hard Rock Café.

After our respite, we sauntered over next door to Universal Studios, where we found more crowds and even more brutal mid-summer afternoon heat. We rode Revenge of the Mummy (which hadn’t yet appeared in 2003). This was the best ride at Universal Studios by far! We then struggled, like parched travelers in a desert, over to the Men in Black ride, where we encountered their ridiculous locker system. You see, on every other ride at Universal, they didn’t care too much about what you did with your possessions: that was your problem. But in order to ride Men in Black, you had to put any loose possessions in a locker (after waiting in a stupidly long line to procure one). Finally, after a series of hassles there, we went on the ride, which I found moderately enjoyable, but which others in my family liked a lot more. When we got out of that one (and bought a picture of us on the ride “zapping” aliens), we started to go over to one of my favorite Universal rides, which was their Back to the Future ride. Only one problem: they had closed down that ride and were constructing a new ride based on the TV series The Simpson’s. What a major bummer! We were all about to collapse from the stifling heat, so we decided to ride on one more ride (the thoroughly enjoyable E.T. Adventure) and then head back to our hotel. Just when we arrived at E.T., it began to rain, and when the ride was over, we walked outside into a downpour/lightning storm. After standing under a shelter for several minutes, we decided to just walk on back in the middle of the storm! Which turned out to be quite pleasant, especially compared to our previous “desert” experience!

On this latest trip to Universal, we tried to do too much in too little time. But back in July, 2003, we stayed at one of their hotels (The Royal Pacific, which I highly recommend) and enjoyed five days at the parks, a much more pleasant and meaningful experience! I think our future trips there are going to require a little more planning and common sense on our part!