Current Events > Just finished up at Universal Orlando

(+) Yeah! (+)

I made a topic last week asking for advice on my vacation, specifically my day at both Universal parks in Orlando, so I figured I'd share how it went for anyone who cares.

Everything actually went super smoothly, even without Express passes. We made sure to get there before open so we could just walk in as soon as we could. We originally planned to do Hagrid's motorbike ride and Velocicoaster first since they're the busiest, but they were delayed in opening due to the cold weather (wasn't really that cold (high 30s), but for Florida it was), so we hit some other stuff first. Pretty much the whole day nothing was a super long wait. We knocked out three rides in the first hour.

Rode the train over to the other park, hit a few more rides and grabbed lunch, then back to Islands of Adventure. We lucked out, because as soon as we got back, we saw Hagrid had opened. Hopped in line and only had to wait 30-40 minutes. After that we hit Velocicoaster, which took around an hour, but only because it broke down for 20-30 minutes while we were in line.

That was the last ride we really wanted to hit (the GF would have done the Hulk coaster, but it was closed and didn't seem to be opening up today at all) so we called it an early day. Would have probably done some repeat rides, but we were pretty beat after having done the last 3 days at Disney (plus the next two upcoming).

I was really glad we didn't waste a bunch of money on the Express passes. Between Hagrid and Velocicoaster, which were the two big new rides since last time we went, I preferred Hagrid. But that's mostly because I don't usually do more intense coasters, especially all the inversions that Velocicoaster has. I'm still glad I tried it, but I'm not sure I'd do it again.

Hagrid's is always delayed, fun ride but it's never been known for smooth operation even on good days. Velocicoaster on the other hand I had only seen closed for rain, it's not nearly as complex as Hagrid's is so usually doesn't have issues.

Tropicalwood posted...

Hagrid's is always delayed, fun ride but it's never been known for smooth operation even on good days. Velocicoaster on the other hand I had only seen closed for rain, it's not nearly as complex as Hagrid's is so usually doesn't have issues.

Yeah, I'm not sure what was up with Velocicoaster, but a lot of people left the line during the delay, so I wasn't complaining.

Universal has da most fun non scary rides tbh

Vegy posted...

Universal has da most fun non scary rides tbh

Lol, that actually reminds me. When we were in line for The Mummy, there was a mother and two young kids in front of us who asked if it was a roller coaster. I told her not really, at least not that intense. But I had completely misremembered how tame I thought it was. Not that it's really that bad, but for a young kid, could be tough. I felt so bad after the ride. >_>

Damn, I wish I saw the post prior to you going. I go to universal for a conference every year in June. I always spend 7 days at the royal pacific and spend 4 days at the parks.
I'm guessing volcano bay wasn't an option because it was so cold but if you get a chance it's so much fun to spend a day there

J03can posted...

Damn, I wish I saw the post prior to you going. I go to universal for a conference every year in June. I always spend 7 days at the royal pacific and spend 4 days at the parks.
I'm guessing volcano bay wasn't an option because it was so cold but if you get a chance it's so much fun to spend a day there

Yeah, Volcano Bay was closed, I believe. We also skipped a couple water rides we otherwise would have gone on. But we're probably going to Universal Hollywood sometime in Spring anyway, after Super Nintendo World opens, so no big loss.

Funcoot posted...

Yeah, I'm not sure what was up with Velocicoaster, but a lot of people left the line during the delay, so I wasn't complaining.

Might have been the rails and the wheel shrank at different rates so they binded due to the cold, or something else had binded. I don't know how cold it was in Orlando when you went, but it was literally freezing outside early in the morning today, somehow colder when the sun started coming up.

If you ever go again, the single rider line in the case of Men in Black is not only faster but you usually don't get split up easily, at least when I was killing time there.

Yeah, when we went to Disney and Universal earlier this year, Islands of Adventure was the cream of the crop of the six parks we went to. Inversely, I think standard Universal Studios was at the bottom. It felt kind of dated, and had WAY too many motion rides, which all kind of feel the same.

Hayame_Zero posted...

Yeah, when we went to Disney and Universal earlier this year, Islands of Adventure was the cream of the crop of the six parks we went to. Inversely, I think standard Universal Studios was at the bottom. It felt kind of dated, and had WAY too many motion rides, which all kind of feel the same.

Honestly I thought Disney was the worst of the parks and I've been to Sea World and Busch Gardens in the same year. It was all just super long waits, the new Star Wars rides were just an awful experience. The older rides like Big Thunder Mountain, Tower of Terror and Haunted Mansion were good but dated.
The only new ride that left an impression was that Toy Story rollercoaster. Otherwise I just didn't feel impressed by the park on top of most of it being severely dated.

Busch Gardens and Sea World also suffer from being dated, but at least most of the rides are new even if they're short and lack things to look at in the lines. It's also like half the price for an annual pass that includes parking, and they usually have a buy a ticket come for the rest of the year going on late in the year.