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Universal Orlando Resort (USO, IOA) Discussion Thread

p. 623 - New Epic Universe details, including Celestial Park!

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So I know that I won't end get around to writing a full trip report but we had an awesome day at Universal on Sunday and I figured I'd give some quick thoughts on a few things. We were at HHN this year and last year but it's been years since we went to IOA and honestly, that's far too long. First, let's talk about the 3 rides that were new to us. I can't call it the good, the bad and the ugly, maybe the incredibly good, the less good and the uh... actually I don't really have the words for that last one.

 

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PS: JRice was off from work at Universal but was more than willing to spend the entire day at work. I guess I would be too if I worked at Universal. lol

Hagrid's

We made Hagrid's our first stop. As an aside, we didn't even get into the line to enter the park until 9 (when they opened), we didn't run and we were still on in an hour. The craziness has died down a bit. As an added bonus, by pure luck of the draw we ended up getting the front row!

 

We loved the ride but it's a very "us" ride. First of all, we love Harry Potter. Second of all, it has a drop track and Brit thinks that the sun rises and sets with drop tracks. "Verbolten on crack" is the best way to describe this. It just does so much and it's so incredibly fun that it's hard not to love it.

 

I can't really pick a favorite part but I guess if I had to choose I would say that it's the reverse spike just because not only is it a tremendously fun element but I was really impressed with how well and how cleverly they hid it.

 

This ride is not as intense as Dragons, but it's really more intense than I thought it would be. That's probably credit to the manufacturer. It's whippy and it's fast. The animatronics are very cool (though you go by them at a quick clip). Honestly, everything about it is just pure fun. I don't really have a single complaint. Brit's declared it her new favorite coaster. I think that's a bit strong but it's up there for me too. It's tremendously fun. I also fully expected Brit to say that because it has a drop track. Her favorite ride in Canada is Wonder Mountain's Guardian so this is what you're dealing with here...

 

Fallon

This ride isn't amazing, but it's better than I expected it to be and that's probably because Jimmy Fallon actually gave a sh*t when he was working on it. The production value is great. It also has the best safety spiel in Orlando. It was also fun riding with JRice since he works the ride and could give us some fun little factoids about it.

 

It could be a case of nonexistent expectations and I'm not telling anyone to make this a priority but it's not a bad ride. I probably like it better than Shrek and I definitely like it better than the next ride that I'm about to talk about:

 

Fast and the Furious

Uh.

 

... what the f*ck is this?

 

Let me say this. I'm not bothered by Universal's use of screens. I'm not bothered that they keep spraying you with water. I like Kong and it's ride system. I don't dislike this ride for any of those reasons. I dislike this ride because it's a bad ride.

 

It's a movie about car racing but you ride in a... party bus? The acting sucks. The effects suck. The story sucks. The ride sucks. I don't like this franchise but it's a big franchise for them. This should have been an awesome ride. Imagine if this were like Test Track or even Backlot Stunt Coaster in a show building with an insane theming budget. Why is it a party bus? Nobody who rides a Fast and the Furious ride wants to ride a party bus, they want to ride a cool fast car.

 

In addition, the ride feels very short despite the massive show building and the final scene is terrible. Kong works because it's dark. You can't really see the mechanics of the ride. Here you clearly see without having to look for it that you're on a track and not moving because of how insanely bright the last scene is. Plus, even aside from that the scene is less than impressive. Vin Diesel is almost the size of the helicopter. It also feels like you're maybe building up to something really cool after that scene but then you find out that... no, it's actually the finale. That was it.

 

The ride also has 2 pre shows, neither of which are good. The queue is the best part of the ride.

 

Before this, I never thought that Universal Orlando had any "bad" rides. Rockit has it's days, Shrek is the closest they come but I don't hate it. This ride though? This ride is bad and I think they know it and I think all of their guests know it.

 

Now for a few more general thoughts and some comments on rides that we HAVE ridden before:

 

- Gringotts and Forbidden Journey never stop blowing our minds. We always make it a point to ride Gringotts when we go to Horror nights so I've been on that very recently, but it's been way too long since we've been on Forbidden Journey. These are seriously some of my favorite rides ever. I love everything about them.

 

- I always liked Hulk but JRice told us to ride it in the back row and now I *LOVE* Hulk. Holy living sh*t this ride is powerful. To all of you G-Force-loving Floridians who have Montu, Manta, Kumba and Hulk within 90 minutes of eachother just know that I hate you.

 

- We rode Mummy like 5 times during Horror Nights but we didn't get our fill so we rode again. That ride is perfection.

 

- Skull Island: Reign of Kong is a really good ride. I'll never understand the hate for it. This was our first time not expressing it and I loved the live actor and cool animatronics in the queue.

 

- Jurrasic World looks cool but I really love River Adventure as-is. Going through the Jurrasic Park gates is so cool. I kind of hope they never change it.

 

- I still love E.T. Adventure. I shouldn't. It has so many similarities to Peter Pan's Flight between the ride system and flying over the city and I don't like that ride at all but I really do like ET. You also don't have to stand in a 90 minute line for it which is a plus.

 

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- Butterbeer is ridiculously delicious. I'd never pay that much for a non-alcoholic beverage anywhere else on the planet but Universal... shut up and take my money.

 

Overall we had an awesome day at Universal. Thanks again to JRice for coming to work on your day off.

Edited by coasterbill
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really great update, Bill.

 

makes me want to make an effort to get to Universal in Orlando. . . hmmmm. . maybe I can convince Nick to do that for "our" vacation in 2020, since he's dragging a bit on my proposed Manhattan/Broadway trip.

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Great report!

 

I must have caught Hulk on a bad day this year. It blew me away in late 2017. It felt like Kumba. This September, it was still smooth but not as wild, even in the back.

 

And thank you for reaffirming my decision to skip Fast and Furious. I hated the scene on Hollywood's tram tour and this one sounded even worse. You were spot on it would be exceptional as a coaster or Test Track type ride.

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I'm partial to the frozen butterbeer. I know they have a hot version right now but we didn't try that when we were down there.

 

Absolutely agree about the fast and the furious ride, it's amazing how they screwed up something as simple that should have been 2 cars racing. That party scene at the club is beyond ridiculous and easily one of the worst things I've ever seen. I like pretty much every ride I've been on at Universal but there's no way I'd ever go on that one again.

 

I enjoyed Kong too but I think my problem with it is that it could have been so much more and the start of the ride and end of it teases how much better the ride could have been with some more practical effects. Driving up to the giant entrance doors at night with the torches lit up around it is so damn cool.

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Hulk has been around for so long and is at an insanely popular park, so I guess that's why it doesn't get talked about much? Even on my first trip to Universal I kind of... forgot about it a little. It's such a great ride. Nonstop action, looks amazing, goes upside down more than you'd realize, and has more than just inversions.

 

Glad you had a great time! Verbolten is one of my favorite coasters, so I'm going to loooove Hagrid's Motorbikes. Right there with you regarding Gringott's - it's in my list of #1 coasters and there's so much to see. I can't wait to visit now that I have actually read all the books

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really great update, Bill.

 

makes me want to make an effort to get to Universal in Orlando. . . hmmmm. . maybe I can convince Nick to do that for "our" vacation in 2020, since he's dragging a bit on my proposed Manhattan/Broadway trip.

 

Bert you should definitely consider Universal, there would be so much for Nick to do and see if he isn't feeling up to all the rides, and lots of rides that he could handle. Also, if you stay on property it would be pretty easy for him to go back to the hotel early and let you stay a bit longer at the park if he's getting tired. Now that we have been there a few times and did HHN this year we are considering it for a family Christmas trip next year since there will be stuff for Grandma and Grandpa to do there. We took Grandpa to CP last summer but he mostly walked around with his mouth hanging open I think he would ride some stuff at Universal. Interested to read about everyone's experiences during Christmas/New Years week.

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I'm partial to the frozen butterbeer. I know they have a hot version right now but we didn't try that when we were down there.

 

Same

 

Warm is definitely my preference when I’m feeling the need to drink cream soda with lord knows how much extra sugar they put in to make it delicious

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Here's a Butterbeer Cocktail a local place near us, conjures up...

 

Butterbeer

 

A traditional wizarding beverage that will have you speaking parseltongue in no time! | Butterscotch Schnapps, Root Beer, Liquid Ice Cream, *magic stuff*, can be made dairy-free (2 oz)

 

 

They also pull off, a pretty good Romulan Ale, too.

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The Clauses in Cocoa!....yummy?

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^ Just got back from The Drive! Checked out about the Butterbeer recipe, and all that they told me, was that the "liquid ice cream" is just that. Vanilla ice cream, that's allowed to melt, in a container, in the refrigerator. Stirred from time to time, but not refrozen. And that's it! Simple, huh? I'm sure you could plus up the ice cream the way you want it. Enjoy!

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Hagrid's has to be close to running at full capacity at this point. The wait time is (comparatively) almost reasonable. Minions, Gringotts and Transformers all have longer wait times also.

 

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PS: Yes, watching the social media meltdowns about crowds this week really never gets old for me.

Edited by coasterbill
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Hagrid's has to be close to running at full capacity at this point. The wait time is (comparatively) almost reasonable. Minions, Gringotts and Transformers all have longer wait times also.

 

[attachment=0]lol.jpg[/attachment]

PS: Yes, watching the social media meltdowns about crowds this week really never gets old for me.

 

The fast and the furious ride is at 130 mins lol I wonder if those people have any idea what the ride is actually like because there shouldn't be anyone who knows what the ride is that would wait that long for it.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Be at the park entrance gate when the park opens and you’ll be fine. If you’re there like 30 minutes earlier than opening I doubt you’ll even wait an hour (once the park opens).

 

Wait times seem pretty normal again. Christmas week is always ridiculous.

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Late to the party...

 

Brit's declared it her new favorite coaster... Her favourite ride in Canada is Wonder Mountain's Guardian so this is what you're dealing with here...

 

Well I *was* looking forward to this ride... but I think I can wait a few years until I visit Universal again if we're putting it in the same league as WMG

 

I did the tram tour in Hollywood and the fact they had two different screen scenes was overkill. I will happily skip fast and furious if it's anything like the sorta counterpart in Hollywood.

 

Great report, though. Brings back memories, as I haven't been to Universal in quite some time. Going to make it to FL this year, though, just don't know if Universal will be in the cards just yet. We'll see. Too much awesome stuff opening soon or recently opened.

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