Universal Studios
After a good night sleep and our first experience visiting an Universal theme park we were ready to face another day and the challenge of Universal Studios. After yesterday’s experience we decide to leave the RV at 9:00 a.m. and planned on returning by 6:00 p.m. With the change in schedule we decided to leave Keisha in the air conditioned RV rather than boarding her at the kennel.
Universal Studios opened in 1990. It is a theme park that lets visitors "Ride the Movies". The themes of Universal Studios makes you feel like you are in a movie set and the rides are inspired by popular films such as Terminator, Twister, Men in Black and The Simpsons. The park consists of six areas - Hollywood, Production Central, New York, San Francisco / Amity, World Expo and Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone.
After checking in at the gate we decided to purchase the Universal Meal deal and one soft drink deal. The meal deal ($19.99 plus tax) allows the guest to eat anytime and as often of they wish at the three participating restaurant. For the soft drink deal ($8.99 plus tax) allows the guest to get soft drinks at the participating restaurants as often as he or she wish until 30 minutes from closing time of the park. So after spending $52.00 for this package we made use of it by having breakfast before taking in the attractions.
We did notice that there were lots of people at this park but not as many as at Islands of Adventure. Since this park is older, most Floridians have probably seen it all and we must admit that Island of Adventure is cooler!
After a hearty breakfast, we decided to start the tour;
First stop - Hollywood
The streetscape if very impressive and they even have a walk of fame for most of Universal Studios big stars. The building makes you feel like you have seen the scenery somewhere in a movie. As for ride attractions there is the Terminator 2 3D experience. It’s a combination of some real acting, 3D effects and pyrotechnics. The theatre seats also move and shake to the action being played. We rated this attraction a B+.
Second Stop – Woody Woodpecker’s Kid Zone
Yes this was truly a kids zone and I am certain you kids (five to 10) would spend lots of time in this area. We did try the Nuthouse coaster and it being geared for kids it was a very short ride! For us that was probably the extent of riding a coaster!
If you do come to this park with kids be prepared to get very wet near the Curious George Goes to Town playground. There is a series of water sprinklers and special trick buckets of water that fall on you if you veer off the chosen path. Even if you do follow the marked step your bad timing might get you a dump of 50 gallons of water from the roof of the fire hall! We choose to just observe rather than participate!
We also got lucky in this section because the Madagascar Characters came out and we were able to get our picture taken with them!
We stood in line for the E.T. Adventure for about 10 minutes along with a large group of people until an attendant came out and informed us that this ride had a technical problem and did not know how long it would take to make the repairs. What a disappointment. The only attraction that we did not see.
We stopped for Lunch and looking at the posted prices for meals, it became apparent that the meal deal was a good purchase.
Third Stop – World Expo
If you come to this park you MUST take in the Simpsons Ride! As you sit in a motion simulator a door opens and the simulator rises from the floor you feel like you are on top of a super roller coaster and you plunge down, out of control in pursuit of the Simpson family! The ride feels so real and Universal did a fantastic job with its state-of-the-art digital projectors that cover an 80 ft. diameter dome surface with an image four times the standard High Definition found in most home theatres, and twice what you'd experience in a normal digital theatre. We rated this attraction an A++.
We also got our picture taken with Homer and Marge! And Bart and Lisa!
After the excitement of the Simpsons Ride, Dee opted to pass up the Men in Black, Alien Attack ride(due to a sore neck from the day before). The wait time was 15 minutes but they have a special line for single riders so I got on the ride in five minutes! The ride is similar to the one we did for Spiderman; however, we had lasers to shoot the aliens as we coursed our way through the maze! I got the high score for our vessel (151,000)!
Fourth Stop – San Francisco / Amity
We took a boat tour in a replicate of Amity harbour where the famous Jaws movie was filmed. Surprise, surprise, we were attacked by a great white shark! Thanks to our fearless captain who saved the day by blowing up the shark, we made a safe return to the dock!
After such a harrowing trip, we decided to visit the set of Disaster. We were lead through a series of post production events, including selecting members of the audience for bit parts. After we were lead to a subway car and it started to backup into a dark eerie corridor! And then mayhem began! A firewall appeared, a gasoline truck slid off the elevated highway, and another subway car almost slammed into our car! You could hear the screaming! We rated this attraction a B- because it takes a long time to get to the climax of the attraction which last maybe three minutes.
Fifth Stop – New York
If you have the stomach, you may want to try the Revenge of the Mummy attraction. It is an indoor roller coaster that plunges you into total darkness! We skipped this one!
We decided that after a shark attack and a subway crash why not get caught in a Twister. This attraction is also based on the movie of the same name. After a briefing on how the movie was made and some facts about tornadoes we are led to a studio and standing on a bleacher with railings we get to experience being in a tornado, including the rain falling hard on us, the roof collapsing over our heads and a gas station exploding and spreading the burning fuel!
We did catch a bit of the Blues Brothers Show but not enough to make further comments.
Sixth stop – Production Central
The Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit roller coaster is for those who have no fear. We have fear, lots and lots so not for us.
Universal studios developed a new story line for Shrek and filmed it in 4-D. Sitting in a theatre with motion seating, you feel like you are right there along with Shrek, Donkey and all the characters has they race to save princess Fiona. You feel all the bumps in the road and the feel of the spider’s leg brushing your back leg! Ghostly aparations that appear on the screen they blow cool vapour on your neck. Great attraction and worth the wait! Rate this one an A.
Our final ride for the day was the Jimmy Neutron’s Nicktoon Blast. This attraction is very similar to the Simpsons, however, the animation is on a partially curved screen and you don’t have that feeling of flying through space and diving underwater into Sponge Bob’s world! We rate this attraction a B.
We finished our tour of Universal Studios around 5 p.m. and had dinner at Louie’s Italian Restaurant, a participating establishment of the meal deal. We left the Park at 6 p.m. and after stopping for a gas fill-up we got home at 7 p.m. Keisha was happy to see us and I took her for her well deserved evening walk.
Tomorrow I have to get up early for my golf game while Dee will be sleeping in! Hope you enjoy the pictures because next Thursday we are off to Epcot at Disney World.
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