Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure

We would usually spend two full days per park at Universal, but for a shorter blog I shall condense the parks into once only events.

We choose to stay at one of the nearby resorts, one that offers higher prices but includes unlimited Fast Pass as the norm. We have tried other stay scenarios, eg just Disney, and catching buses to Universal, I drive and either taxis or hotel transports to, but paying the extra to stay in a nice hotel with fast pass, has been worth its weight in gold when it comes to easy access, short walks, great transport options, early entry and short wait times. In previous years we have entered the park at Opening time, in an attempt to avoid the long entry queues, but this year, we opted for leisurely start to our days starting with Universal Studios Of the two Universal parks, this one has far fewer rides, if any, that command long wait times. The longest wait time was for the utterly horrific Rip Ride Rocket, which I am delighted to say has been now been retired and disassembled. Quick back story. This is a ride that I avoided on each and every previous trip. Just couldn`t pluck up the courage. Then last year, decided to go for it. Threw caution to the wind and boarded that appalling beast. Within seconds of the ride starting my head was being buffeted like a flag in a tornado. I suffer badly with headaches to begin with, but this ride darn near killed me, such was the `shaken brain` symptoms. When the ride halted I barely made it off, such was the pain of the headache. A rather silly, but sympathetic ride operator thought I was scared and tried to get to me think happy thoughts, whereas her more clued up associate just nodded and said `I`ve only been on the ride once and I swore never again`. This year, long queues formed to ride the darn thing one more time before its demise. Personally? Good Riddance!! So, R.R.R commanding the wait times, what else is there? Minions perhaps? on either side of the road are two Minion adventures. One is a shrink to minion size and virtual reality, (not done as I hate VR, but good so I`ve been told) and the other `ride` is quite possibly the most pointless shooting game ever! You get a shooter, stand on your given circle on a moving walkway, then point your silly light gun at targets around you, woo hoo yawn, boring None of the bunnies have any inkling what the targets are, just point this daft looking laser gun at pretty lights and....well..take your pick as to what you chose to do next, Personally I just go for the air conditioning and take zero interest in whatever else I am supposed to be doing. Looking around it would appear that I am not the only person muttering the words, `what we supposed to be aiming at?` Ironically this ride replaced Shrek 4D, which granted had run its course here in Florida yet happens to be the brand new just opened ride at Singapore, go figure. Jimmy Fallon next, another VR, another no go ride for me and next onto the Mummy ride. Getting quite old now, but its still a lot of fun. I have some very happy memories of this ride, non more so than the time I was walking the queue line for the first time with my dad. He was utterly enthralled by the whole attention to detail, so much so, he turned to me and said,` this is just incredible, everything is so lifelike, even these statues, and made to `boop` this one statue between the eyes. Alas this `statue` was a real man, a cast member dressed in authentic Egyptian robes, who rapidly protected his eyes with a loud `BOO`!! oh my goodness I have never heard my dad scream so loud!! It was utterly hilarious, particularly as so many people witnessed both actions, the `boop` and the `BOO!`...I swear I can still hear the echoes of laughter that peeled around that day. Bypassing Diagon alley for now, the next ride is yet another abysmal ride, great title, shockingly poor ride. Fast and the Furious. Haven`t met anyone who came off that and said, that was great. No one. Ever. Such a shame when they remove good rides and replace with such horrors. Men in black? Another shooting game, but you got to admit shooting aliens from a seated moving vehicle is always good for a laugh. An oldie, but goodie. I deign to give the next area dedicated to the most over rated cartoon character ever any form of acknowledgment, but if you fancy throwing up on yet another VR ride, Simpsons will do that for you here. Used to be the Back to the Future ride, and was just as nauseating then as well. A small nod to the ride exists outside, with the original De Lorean Car, if lucky you may get to meet Doc Brown, as we did. To give him full credit, we tried to tell the actor we had met the real Doc Brown aka actor Christopher Lloyd the previous year at the comicon, but he stayed in character, and declared, yes, that was me, you saw me! A new area has just just been built in place of the old Woody Woodpecker playground. Very much aimed at a younger audience, this area has a nice feel to it, and is themed by a certain big fat panda who likes his Kung fu and Noodles. Possibly the oldest and most love it/hate it ride is also here. ET. Mount your bike and soar over the forest on an ET hunt. Such a simple ride, yet I never tire of it. Something about the smell of that forest is very comforting. The last area of the park is the one I skirted past earlier. Diagon Alley. this area is truly magnificent, the theming just impeccable. However it`s a whole lot of area ,and just one ride. Escape from Gringotts. Plenty of Harry Potter themed shops, get your butterbeer or ice cream at Floreans, or lunch at the Leaky Cauldron. Such a great area, especially for fans of Harry Potter. I could tell you so much more, like about the way, not the when, the dragon shoots real flames from the top of Gringotts, but why spoil the adventure?. Arrive by the Hogwarts Express from Islands of Adventure, don your cloaks, be it Slytherin, Hufflepuff or the mighty Gryyfindor, (trust me you wont be the only one) to achieve the most realistic `Potter` experience.

With the addition several shows and side shows, I feel Universal Studios whilst a great day out, is showing definite signs of age and desperately needs a huge injection of new and exciting. The animal show for example. Same script/tricks for the last 10 years at least? Lets just hope whatever replaces the awful RRR ticks a few much needed boxes. Get rid of the idiotic Fast and Furious, do some imagineering and once again Universal will be great. Transformers, another ride I forgot about, because again its yet another VR. I know people will be calling me out that I missed lots of other great features of the park, but hey ho, why spoil all the fun?

Islands of Adventure

This has to be one of my favourite Universal Parks, yet when I think about it, there is very little here that I can actually ride. Ditto at Singapore. We spent the whole day there as well, yet I spent more time watching rides, than riding them. I just love the whole atmosphere of a theme park. If it moves, I get a headache. Hence the avoidance of most rides. I do however jump on the occasional ride and suffer the consequences, now and again a ride can be easier than it looks. The best ride by far (and I can ride it!) is Hagrids Motorcycle Ride. This ride is the reason we wake at silly o`clock. Breakfast quickly, and head to the park on the very first transport. It is, the only one of two rides that open early, (the other being Velocicoaster) and does not accept the Fast Pass. The queue times of this ride average between 90 and 180 minutes all day long so if you want to ride, come early. Early as in early entry for all certain hotel guests. best update ever.. As of 2025 Hagrids Motorcycle Adventure will be included in the Fast Pass. We did not know this in advance of our stay, and celebrated when we did. You have no idea what a huge difference this one feature made to our day. With no reason to rush to Universal Studios at all, and now Hagrids Motorcycle available on Fast Pass at Islands of Adventure, wow! Leisurely breakfast, 10 am arrival times, saunter through the park at leisure, no speed walking alongside 1000s of other guests all aiming for the same ride, just a pleasant easy relaxing start to the day, and the choice of route. We were able to enjoy Doctor Suess Land, yep, kids rides through and through, but we love it, without having to skip through on our way to get to Hagrid. There have been no major updates to anything at IOA in the last couple of years, the last new ride being Velocicoaster. For that reason it feels like comfy slippers to us, the only major noticeable difference being the increase of crowd levels, and the lack of clothing... I am not entirely certain what the economic changes have been regarding the dynamics of Orlando, I just know that going back to 2004/5/7 16 to a degree, the majority of visitors were persons from North America. We enjoyed listening to the many varied accents. Now, it feels so much more diverse, with many more world travellers, eg Caribbean, Porto Rico and other South American countries being represented. We have no objections to the diversity of travellers, why on earth would we? but we do wish they were a little friendlier....Is `Hello` really so difficult? to freelys say `Great T shirt` to someone wearing a particularly unique `themed t shirt` without the sneering visual response of feeling you had just insulted them. People, its a compliment! As for the lack of clothing. Yes, of course you can wear whatever you like in the heat, but knickers are not shorts, and bras are not suitable cover alls particularly in a family orientated park, and especially not when you are a little more endowed than Mrs Average. On some people, it felt one step close to nudity and was very uncomfortable to witness.

The Rides of Islands of Adventure

Hulk dominates the skyline, the big green monster of a rollercoaster. Big Bunny actually loves this rides, and rides it often, whereas Little B often passes out for a brief moment, (a google search suggests one particular twist and loop has high G forces, and brief losses of consciousness are common) She no longer rides the Hulk, like me choosing to avoid the stresses. Dooms Fearfall? An easy drop tower, shoot up, slow fall down. Even scaredy bunny here can just about manage that one. An extra lap lock would feel more comfortable, but the restraint is very secure. Spiderman. A VR ride, but with more movement. I can manage this one, knowing it well enough to know when to keep my eyes closed. Personally I think this is getting a little dated now and the much shorter wait times would probably suggest other people think the same. Kong Island next, pretty awesome VR ride, but very very different to any other vr ride. make sure you duck in time or that Dinosaur will eat you! Try and nab yourself the end of row seats for a better ride experience. Wet Rides next. How odd that the last time we were here we rode both the wet rides frequently, Dudleys Ripsaw falls especially, but in 2025? we didn`t feel like we wanted to.

Before I carry on around the park, I must talk about one huge difference we noticed this year to any other year. The lack of Backpacks. In previous years almost everyone had a backpack, rucksack, cross body or similar. Anyone without a squawker in a buggy that is. This year? quite the opposite. To see a backpack was rare. Smallest bum bags, or for the American reader, a Fanny Pack, or a very small cross body were very much the norm. With a huge emphasis on reusable water bottles, or bring your own refillable flasks, there was a distinct lack of people carrying these. I have always carried a bag in previous years, and brought a flask. The reason for the change of heart ? Quite probably the ridiculous charges to hire a decent sized locker in which to put said items that is required of you on most rides. The locker charges are scandalous Mr B was quite fed up of the never ending clawing at his pocket. No point me quoting dollar prices here since when does anything remain static? few dollars here, few more there, soon adds up, and when you consider the cost of park entry to start with?? This year Mr B made the decision that we were going as hands free as possible. No flasks, no cups, no change of clothing for the wet rides. That, was the single reason we opted not to ride the wet rides. In the past we carried water shoes to spare our day trainers, and dry shorts to ease the discomfort of soggy bums in wet shorts. Sure they dry...eventually... As for the drinks? Water fountains are available for a quick mouth rinse, tastes pretty meh but serves a purpose. Cold Iced Tap Water is available for free at any quick service venue, and when we finally wanted a rest, we sat, relaxed and enjoyed a cold drink of choice.

Passing by the great Jurassic Park themed area, the dinosaur water ride, flying dinosaurs for younger guests, the discovery Centre, and the very good, but quite vicious Velocicoaster,

you pass into a weird area that is oddly Moroccan (ish) The very excellent Mythos restaurant is located here, and was the destination that day for our evening meal. Voted best theme park restaurant for many years running, I decided it was high time we tried it. This was another first for us, and though the food was excellent and different to most other venues. Was it worth extra expense?. Yes and No. If you are a foodie with a good budget and fed up of the usual offerings around the park, then Yes, you would enjoy it here. It would tick a lot of boxes. If you are not a true foodie but want a belly filler, then I would still say Yes if your budget allows for the extra costs, but if you are budget conscious, then tbh your not particularly missing out. The two large theatres still remain empty, if memory serves, one was Sinbad the other Poseidon`s Fury, as does the extremely huge stadium near Spiderman. I don`t believe that space has ever had a use. Such a waste of park space, especially in a park that is in dire need of New. Given the extraordinary high entry prices, food prices, lockers and gimmiky TS, I highly doubt lack of budget is the reason behind the lack of `new`. I dare say something `Epic` is draining the budget...

Suess Landing. Such a bright colourful fun area, and as I stated earlier, a favourite. We ride everything here, its all tame, silly, no straight lines, cute pastel colours, nothing to fear and just easy. Except the carousel, both the bigger bunnies have realised that maybe our hips don`t stretch as wide as they used to, causing each of us to adopt precarious riding positions to accommodate our creaking bodies.

Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, we love you both. Exceptionally quiet this year, with far lesser crowds than of late, but as I hinted earlier, maybe there is an `Epic` reason for this..

Epic.

The newest theme park in the Universal World, and deserving of a short blog of its own.

The Adventure continues.