Ratsmith
Dare to be Stupid
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2015
I had this written quite awhile ago and the trip itself was taken in early April. Still, better late than never eh?
Three Days at Universal
I bought a three day pass to both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. I added in the Fast Pass Option, which turned out to be a wonderful tool. In all honesty these parks can be easily done in just two days. Although I am looking forward to going back in the future because so much was under construction or refurbishment: Skull Island, Hulk Coaster, The Chocolate Factory, Some Sort of Ride with Jimmy Kimmell, and other areas with fences blocking off access.
The First Day I used to scout the both parks and try out as many rides as possible. The Hogwarts Express makes a very neat connection between the parks and allows you to keep the sense of wonder alive as opposed to exiting and reentering at the front gates. They seemed to be having quite a few issues that day as well. I was stuck on the Dr. Seuss Train for around ten minutes, in the Amazing Spiderman Ride for around five minutes and the Men in Black ride wasn’t operational when I came around. I wore a beat-up fedora and khaki vest and was mistaken for a Universal employee several times.
The Second Day I played host to my parents. They can’t handle rides like they used to so I guided them to a lot of the shows and slower paced rides. One of the attractions we checked out being the Raptor Encounter. Due to my hat and Khaki vest the Raptor Tender thought I should be working with them. At the end of the day we met up with my Brother and his wife to eat at the Universal’s Monster Café and then took in one of the Terminator shows together before leaving for the evening.
The Third Day I was solo again and used the time to hit anything that I’d missed before (That I wanted to check out) as well as soak in more of the general atmosphere. The park closed at 6 pm that day so it ended up being a short but sweet day. The day started with three rides that ended up soaking me thoroughly: Bluto’s Bilge Rats, Ripsaw Rapids and Jurassic Park River Adventure. I had ditched my vest and switched out my beat up fedora for a baseball cap that said South Dakota Film Festival; I still had people coming up to me thinking I was an Employee of Universal and asking for information. That probably means I’m destined to go work for Universal Studios. I’ll put in my application tomorrow.
Ride/Event Reviews:
Animal Actors On Location!
Charming but dated examples of animal actors doing several tricks. I’m guessing the amount of energy in this show varies between performances. I don’t think I’d see this show again.
Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem
This Motion Simulator that turns you into a Minion and throws you into Minion Training grounds. This was very fun. I went once alone and once with my parents. They offer a stationary bench at the front of the theater for those that cannot handle the motion part of the ride.
Dragon Challenge
A hanging dual coaster where you are supposed to fly straight at the other coaster riders in a quasi-race of sorts. This thing really throws you for a loop and leaves you dizzy afterwards. It is fun but I only tried it once. Partly because of how intense it was, but mostly because they don’t let you take anything on it. Everything you have has to go into a locker before you get in line and they run you through a metal detector to make sure you don't even have change in your pockets; Super Annoying.
Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls
Very Similar to Splash Mountain at Disney World. It’s a log Flume Ride with a story highlighting Dudley Do-Right’s attempts to save the girl and defeat the bad guy. This ride will definitely get you wet. There is even a part in the ride after the final drop where spectators outside the ride can pop in some coins to a machine and drench riders with water cannons. DIABOLICAL!
E.T. Adventure
You hop on a bicycle and Ride past NASA agents. When they seem to corner you ET levitates you over a cityscape and into hyperspace to his world where you get to see all sorts of strange and exotic alien locales and life forms. This ride is fun and hits all the right spots, it is sad that it seems to be in such a state of disrepair though. Thanks to your boarding pass ET Will speak your name right at the exit of the ride but it doesn’t seem to time out right. I rode this twice and would definitely check it out again in the future; if it’s still around.
Flight of the Hippogriff
Simple roller coaster themed around Hagrid’s Hut and the idea that you’re flying on the Hippogriff from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Short, but nice. Not too intense at all. I was enthralled with the details of Hagrid’s Hut and the Animatronic Hippogriff though.
Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts
This is a hybrid between a Motion Simulator and a Roller Coaster. Heavier Emphasis on the Motion Simulator. It moves you from projection screen to projection screen to give you a sense that the ride is much bigger than it actually is. Out of the Harry Potter Rides, this one was my favorite. I think I rode it three times. The story takes you into Gringotts vaults and an encounter with Voldemort and a dragon. Supremely well done.
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
This is a hard ride to explain. Its described as a Robo Coaster and my first time on it almost made me sick. It is similar to Escape from Gringotts in that it’s something like a coaster that moves you from projection screen to projection screen, but instead of sitting neatly on rails you ride on a bench at the end of a robotic pole that shakes you back and forth like a dog with a chew toy. There seems to be a relatively even split of Projection Screens and physical set pieces. I tried this ride a second time and enjoyed it much more because I knew what to expect; thus I was able to drink in a lot of the details. The props and décor are awesome and I’d love to walk through this ride behind the scenes someday.
Hogwarts Express
This is probably one of the most clever rides ever. On the one hand it’s as basic as you can get. A train from one park to the other. On the other hand…you are on Hogwarts Express with Harry Potter and friends. Universal was very clever at creating a Harry Potter land within each of their parks. Universal Studios has a London Street and Diagon Alley while Islands of Adventure has Hogsmeade and Hogwarts. The train connecting them shows a typical cross country journey between those two points. Outside the window you see the countryside go by as well as various elements from the movies, like wizards on brooms, the flying car, owls, etc. But the other side has frosted glass showing the hallway has other people going back and forth including several Hogwarts Students. The story it different for each way so its pretty much a requirement to go each way on the train to see both stories play out.
You do have to have a ticket for both parks to ride this ride. But its worth the extra price.
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit
This is a pretty intense roller coaster that leaves you dizzy. It has a unique feature though. First you select what music you listen to as you ride around on it. Second, it has a camera on you at all times so you can watch it later on DVD. I didn’t want a DVD, but I’d have sprung $10 maybe $15 if they’d offer to send me a .mov through email or something or the ability to upload it to my Youtube account. This ride and the Dragon Challenge required everything to be out of your pockets. To the point where they have metal detectors set up to see if you have any loose change on you yet. Very Annoying, but I can see their reasoning.
Jurassic Park River Adventure
I rode this twice. On the first day I was in the back of the boat and didn’t get very wet, the third day I was in the front of the boat and wound up drenched. This is an oversized version of Splash Mountain. It takes you through some dinosaur animatronics then drops you down into a splash pool. Its definitely worth checking out.
Men in Black Alien Attack
This was an expansive dark ride track that offered aliens for you to shoot at amongst various city backdrops. I liked the look but could have done with less spinning. You compete with the car next to you for a high score.
Popeye & Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges
A river rafting ride. Put your phone into a Ziploc baggie or something because this will get you wet. Popeye is a childhood hero of mine, so it was nice seeing all the scenes of a typical Popeye cartoon. Especially the animatronic of Popeye scarfing down his spinach.
Poseidon’s Fury
The less I say about this attraction the better. It’s a show. You pick up a mystery of a missing archeologist and are led into more rooms until you see a battle between gods. I love this attraction. I think this is the type of thing that really makes Universal stand out and seems different and unique. It is located in the Lost Continent section of Islands of Adventure and I thought I saw some buzz on how it may be phased out to make way for something else. I hope that isn’t true.
Revenge of the Mummy
A dark ride roller coaster. With some intense roller coastering fun and full sized animatronics of the Mummy and other dangers. This one is very fun and intense. It even has a great fake ending where the entire room gets plunged into real fire. Hot Hot Hooot.
Shrek 4-D
Shrek 4-D pics up almost immediately after the first movie with Shrek and Fiona on their way to their honeymoon. During Which Lord Farquaad comes back as a ghost to retake Fiona as a bride. Its about as light as you can get in terms of simulator ride with simple moving chairs and extra lighting effects. It’s a 3D show with goggles provided. Overall it’s a very pleasant attraction.
T2 3-D: Battle Across Time
This is a 3D movie with stunt performers that interact with the screen. You walk into a show about future innovation provided by Cyberdyne and it is interrupted by Sarah and John Connor leading a charge into the auditorium in order to take down Cyberdyne; Then a Terminator shows up to take John Connor into the future to destroy Sky Net. The show blends live actors and Cameron-shot movie footage really well together. It’s worth a watch.
The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man
I can’t stress enough how fun this is. Its a simulator-on-rails ride; you drive through New York as the city is attacked by Spider-man’s enemies. The wonderful part is you feel like you’re in a comic strip, or cartoon. I rode this one three times, and every time I caught a different Stan Lee Cameo.
The Blues Brothers Show
This was a nice little concert put on one of the Backlot looking streets. They pull up in the Blues Mobile and start rocking out on a random street porch. The actors looked pretty close to Jake and Elwood from the movies too.
The Cat in the Hat
A very simple dark ride going through the Adventures of the First Cat in the Hat book. It was cute, but you can tell its in need of refurbishment.
The Eighth Voyage of Sinbad Stunt Show
This is a stunt show/play. It reminds me of a show I saw back in the early Nineties at Hollywood’s Universal Studios starring Conan the Barbarian. There are lots of jumps, falls, fights, fire and magic spells flying about. Its ok, but isn’t worth watching more than once. I wish I could climb around the set myself though.
The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride
This is a simple train ride over the Land of Dr. Seuss. It gives you a nice overview of the area and points out items of interest. I liked it. There are two different trains going separate routes so its worth checking out more than once. I was recognized by one of the attendants on the second day when I brought my parents with. The first day I ended up being stuck over the park for ten minutes, the second day the first train I rode on wasn't in operation.
The Simpsons Ride
This is a full on simulator ride. You board a roller coaster car that gets taken over by Sideshow Bob. You and The Simpsons then ride all over a Krusty-owned Amusement park and beyond.
What can I say? This is the Simpsons. If you love the Simpsons you’re likely to love this ride.
Transformers: The Ride-3D
This is another simulator-on-rails ride. It shares the exact same car design as the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man ride. You are aboard a transformer that needs to get the All-Spark (IE: The Transformer McGuffin) to safety. Naturally the Decepticons are out to stop you. Its an alright ride. Though I’m not a fan of Bayformers so the ride doesn’t thrill me as much as it could. I rode it twice, but only because there was no line for it when I was walking by on my third day in the park.
Universal Orlando’s Horror Make-Up Show
This is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a demonstration of how horror effects and makeup is used in the movies. Along with quick history quips on some of the experts that came up with the techniques. The less I say about this the better; however I will tell you that the hosts make this a must-not-miss show.
Final Thoughts
Three Days at Universal
I bought a three day pass to both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. I added in the Fast Pass Option, which turned out to be a wonderful tool. In all honesty these parks can be easily done in just two days. Although I am looking forward to going back in the future because so much was under construction or refurbishment: Skull Island, Hulk Coaster, The Chocolate Factory, Some Sort of Ride with Jimmy Kimmell, and other areas with fences blocking off access.
The First Day I used to scout the both parks and try out as many rides as possible. The Hogwarts Express makes a very neat connection between the parks and allows you to keep the sense of wonder alive as opposed to exiting and reentering at the front gates. They seemed to be having quite a few issues that day as well. I was stuck on the Dr. Seuss Train for around ten minutes, in the Amazing Spiderman Ride for around five minutes and the Men in Black ride wasn’t operational when I came around. I wore a beat-up fedora and khaki vest and was mistaken for a Universal employee several times.
The Second Day I played host to my parents. They can’t handle rides like they used to so I guided them to a lot of the shows and slower paced rides. One of the attractions we checked out being the Raptor Encounter. Due to my hat and Khaki vest the Raptor Tender thought I should be working with them. At the end of the day we met up with my Brother and his wife to eat at the Universal’s Monster Café and then took in one of the Terminator shows together before leaving for the evening.
The Third Day I was solo again and used the time to hit anything that I’d missed before (That I wanted to check out) as well as soak in more of the general atmosphere. The park closed at 6 pm that day so it ended up being a short but sweet day. The day started with three rides that ended up soaking me thoroughly: Bluto’s Bilge Rats, Ripsaw Rapids and Jurassic Park River Adventure. I had ditched my vest and switched out my beat up fedora for a baseball cap that said South Dakota Film Festival; I still had people coming up to me thinking I was an Employee of Universal and asking for information. That probably means I’m destined to go work for Universal Studios. I’ll put in my application tomorrow.
Ride/Event Reviews:
Animal Actors On Location!
Charming but dated examples of animal actors doing several tricks. I’m guessing the amount of energy in this show varies between performances. I don’t think I’d see this show again.
Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem
This Motion Simulator that turns you into a Minion and throws you into Minion Training grounds. This was very fun. I went once alone and once with my parents. They offer a stationary bench at the front of the theater for those that cannot handle the motion part of the ride.
Dragon Challenge
A hanging dual coaster where you are supposed to fly straight at the other coaster riders in a quasi-race of sorts. This thing really throws you for a loop and leaves you dizzy afterwards. It is fun but I only tried it once. Partly because of how intense it was, but mostly because they don’t let you take anything on it. Everything you have has to go into a locker before you get in line and they run you through a metal detector to make sure you don't even have change in your pockets; Super Annoying.
Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls
Very Similar to Splash Mountain at Disney World. It’s a log Flume Ride with a story highlighting Dudley Do-Right’s attempts to save the girl and defeat the bad guy. This ride will definitely get you wet. There is even a part in the ride after the final drop where spectators outside the ride can pop in some coins to a machine and drench riders with water cannons. DIABOLICAL!
E.T. Adventure
You hop on a bicycle and Ride past NASA agents. When they seem to corner you ET levitates you over a cityscape and into hyperspace to his world where you get to see all sorts of strange and exotic alien locales and life forms. This ride is fun and hits all the right spots, it is sad that it seems to be in such a state of disrepair though. Thanks to your boarding pass ET Will speak your name right at the exit of the ride but it doesn’t seem to time out right. I rode this twice and would definitely check it out again in the future; if it’s still around.
Flight of the Hippogriff
Simple roller coaster themed around Hagrid’s Hut and the idea that you’re flying on the Hippogriff from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Short, but nice. Not too intense at all. I was enthralled with the details of Hagrid’s Hut and the Animatronic Hippogriff though.
Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts
This is a hybrid between a Motion Simulator and a Roller Coaster. Heavier Emphasis on the Motion Simulator. It moves you from projection screen to projection screen to give you a sense that the ride is much bigger than it actually is. Out of the Harry Potter Rides, this one was my favorite. I think I rode it three times. The story takes you into Gringotts vaults and an encounter with Voldemort and a dragon. Supremely well done.
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
This is a hard ride to explain. Its described as a Robo Coaster and my first time on it almost made me sick. It is similar to Escape from Gringotts in that it’s something like a coaster that moves you from projection screen to projection screen, but instead of sitting neatly on rails you ride on a bench at the end of a robotic pole that shakes you back and forth like a dog with a chew toy. There seems to be a relatively even split of Projection Screens and physical set pieces. I tried this ride a second time and enjoyed it much more because I knew what to expect; thus I was able to drink in a lot of the details. The props and décor are awesome and I’d love to walk through this ride behind the scenes someday.
Hogwarts Express
This is probably one of the most clever rides ever. On the one hand it’s as basic as you can get. A train from one park to the other. On the other hand…you are on Hogwarts Express with Harry Potter and friends. Universal was very clever at creating a Harry Potter land within each of their parks. Universal Studios has a London Street and Diagon Alley while Islands of Adventure has Hogsmeade and Hogwarts. The train connecting them shows a typical cross country journey between those two points. Outside the window you see the countryside go by as well as various elements from the movies, like wizards on brooms, the flying car, owls, etc. But the other side has frosted glass showing the hallway has other people going back and forth including several Hogwarts Students. The story it different for each way so its pretty much a requirement to go each way on the train to see both stories play out.
You do have to have a ticket for both parks to ride this ride. But its worth the extra price.
Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit
This is a pretty intense roller coaster that leaves you dizzy. It has a unique feature though. First you select what music you listen to as you ride around on it. Second, it has a camera on you at all times so you can watch it later on DVD. I didn’t want a DVD, but I’d have sprung $10 maybe $15 if they’d offer to send me a .mov through email or something or the ability to upload it to my Youtube account. This ride and the Dragon Challenge required everything to be out of your pockets. To the point where they have metal detectors set up to see if you have any loose change on you yet. Very Annoying, but I can see their reasoning.
Jurassic Park River Adventure
I rode this twice. On the first day I was in the back of the boat and didn’t get very wet, the third day I was in the front of the boat and wound up drenched. This is an oversized version of Splash Mountain. It takes you through some dinosaur animatronics then drops you down into a splash pool. Its definitely worth checking out.
Men in Black Alien Attack
This was an expansive dark ride track that offered aliens for you to shoot at amongst various city backdrops. I liked the look but could have done with less spinning. You compete with the car next to you for a high score.
Popeye & Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges
A river rafting ride. Put your phone into a Ziploc baggie or something because this will get you wet. Popeye is a childhood hero of mine, so it was nice seeing all the scenes of a typical Popeye cartoon. Especially the animatronic of Popeye scarfing down his spinach.
Poseidon’s Fury
The less I say about this attraction the better. It’s a show. You pick up a mystery of a missing archeologist and are led into more rooms until you see a battle between gods. I love this attraction. I think this is the type of thing that really makes Universal stand out and seems different and unique. It is located in the Lost Continent section of Islands of Adventure and I thought I saw some buzz on how it may be phased out to make way for something else. I hope that isn’t true.
Revenge of the Mummy
A dark ride roller coaster. With some intense roller coastering fun and full sized animatronics of the Mummy and other dangers. This one is very fun and intense. It even has a great fake ending where the entire room gets plunged into real fire. Hot Hot Hooot.
Shrek 4-D
Shrek 4-D pics up almost immediately after the first movie with Shrek and Fiona on their way to their honeymoon. During Which Lord Farquaad comes back as a ghost to retake Fiona as a bride. Its about as light as you can get in terms of simulator ride with simple moving chairs and extra lighting effects. It’s a 3D show with goggles provided. Overall it’s a very pleasant attraction.
T2 3-D: Battle Across Time
This is a 3D movie with stunt performers that interact with the screen. You walk into a show about future innovation provided by Cyberdyne and it is interrupted by Sarah and John Connor leading a charge into the auditorium in order to take down Cyberdyne; Then a Terminator shows up to take John Connor into the future to destroy Sky Net. The show blends live actors and Cameron-shot movie footage really well together. It’s worth a watch.
The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man
I can’t stress enough how fun this is. Its a simulator-on-rails ride; you drive through New York as the city is attacked by Spider-man’s enemies. The wonderful part is you feel like you’re in a comic strip, or cartoon. I rode this one three times, and every time I caught a different Stan Lee Cameo.
The Blues Brothers Show
This was a nice little concert put on one of the Backlot looking streets. They pull up in the Blues Mobile and start rocking out on a random street porch. The actors looked pretty close to Jake and Elwood from the movies too.
The Cat in the Hat
A very simple dark ride going through the Adventures of the First Cat in the Hat book. It was cute, but you can tell its in need of refurbishment.
The Eighth Voyage of Sinbad Stunt Show
This is a stunt show/play. It reminds me of a show I saw back in the early Nineties at Hollywood’s Universal Studios starring Conan the Barbarian. There are lots of jumps, falls, fights, fire and magic spells flying about. Its ok, but isn’t worth watching more than once. I wish I could climb around the set myself though.
The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride
This is a simple train ride over the Land of Dr. Seuss. It gives you a nice overview of the area and points out items of interest. I liked it. There are two different trains going separate routes so its worth checking out more than once. I was recognized by one of the attendants on the second day when I brought my parents with. The first day I ended up being stuck over the park for ten minutes, the second day the first train I rode on wasn't in operation.
The Simpsons Ride
This is a full on simulator ride. You board a roller coaster car that gets taken over by Sideshow Bob. You and The Simpsons then ride all over a Krusty-owned Amusement park and beyond.
What can I say? This is the Simpsons. If you love the Simpsons you’re likely to love this ride.
Transformers: The Ride-3D
This is another simulator-on-rails ride. It shares the exact same car design as the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man ride. You are aboard a transformer that needs to get the All-Spark (IE: The Transformer McGuffin) to safety. Naturally the Decepticons are out to stop you. Its an alright ride. Though I’m not a fan of Bayformers so the ride doesn’t thrill me as much as it could. I rode it twice, but only because there was no line for it when I was walking by on my third day in the park.
Universal Orlando’s Horror Make-Up Show
This is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a demonstration of how horror effects and makeup is used in the movies. Along with quick history quips on some of the experts that came up with the techniques. The less I say about this the better; however I will tell you that the hosts make this a must-not-miss show.
Final Thoughts
- •I regret never seeing the Twister Attraction. It looks amazing on youtube clips.
- •Interestingly enough I’m more curious to see behind the scenes stuff for Universal than I am for Disney. Some of the sets on their rides are so lushly detailed and the Motion Simulators on Rails have so many practical sets set up between movie screens it gets difficult to tell when you’re actually moving or not.
- •I’ll have to come up with a better clothing scheme next time so I’m not mistaken for a Universal employee…maybe a cowboy hat?
- •Butterbeer is almost exactly like I thought it’d taste like, though it’d be better with some alcohol in it; on the other hand pumpkin juice was way better than I expected.
- •I must be getting older because the thrill rides are throwing me for a bigger loop than I care for.
- •I’m not sure when my next trip will be. I need to replenish my savings account again. More than likely I will be striving to pay off my student debt before even thinking of another trip. So maybe after a year?
- •When I do return I still have to hit up Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Legoland, and I hear Seaworld has more than just imprisoned animals to offer.
- •Props to the guys doing bag check/security on the bridge from Universal's Parking garages. They were fast, efficient and had great attitudes.
