This theme park is obviously based on a lot of film and TV. Parts of it were still the same from when I was last there 13 yrs ago (I'm looking at you ET!), but there was a lot that I didn't recognize, and a few that I was actually quite sad to notice have disappeared (i.e. the Jaws ride - such a classic film and iconic ride, it was the type of ride that as soon as you mentioned 'Universal Studios' a few years ago, your mind would cast back to this). That being said, its still such a fantastic theme park.
Universal is split into 2 parks. Islands of Adventure is the 'sister' (if you like!), which is next door. In between both parks lies CityWalk, which is home to a good handful of restaurants and shops. Although busy all day round because people are passing through this to enter and leave the parks, it tends to come alive at night.
Universal do an amazing night-time water/firework display. They tell a story of TV/film through the ages whilst images are being portrayed in a waterfall... yes, that's right, images/icons (i.e ET (see below), Jaws etc) are made out of water.. how cool is that?! While this is happening, there's colourful shots of water bursting out of the lake into the night sky. Once all this is finished, a firework display is shown over the lake. Its too pretty!
Universal is home to The Simpsons, so if you're a fan of this, walking through this section will have you in awe as you'll come across some very well known iconic buildings from the programme (they are identical!). We had a Krusty Burger for our tea... Sounds appetizing eh? The ride is good too, although definitely not testing enough for me!
The Mummy, Men in Black and Disaster are all rides that you'd find here. They haven't got many adrenalin rides except Rip, Ride, Rock it, which I was too much of a wimp to go on!
Transformers had just opened for the very first time when we visited (literally the day before), so as you can imagine, queues for this were over 2hrs long, which unfortunately we just weren't prepared to wait in. Although I've since heard its like Spiderman from Islands, and this was one of my favorite rides, so I'll definitely be making a beeline for Transformers on our next visit!
We managed to slot in a couple of shows during our day, including BeetleJuice, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Sometimes I'm a little apprehensive about watching shows as I feel like I'm wasting precious time being on the rides, but its nice to give your feet a rest for half an hour whilst being entertained at the same time. The quality of the shows are always fantastic as well, so you always walk away feeling blown away by the effort.
I've heard that there's a new Harry Potter section being built, which I was surprised at, after knowing Islands has a brilliant HP section next door. Although its a bonus for all you HP fans!
Have you ever been to Universal Studios? What did you think of it?
I hope you enjoyed my Florida series!
If you're a new reader to my blog and would like to read more on my time in Florida, check out my other blog posts below.
Animal Kingdom
Magic Kingdom
Epcot
Hollywood Studios
Downtown Disney
St Petesburg & Sarasota
Islands of Adventure
