Kevin Baxter's 'Inside Scoop' on Universal Studios Florida
Kevin Baxter offers a blueprint for getting the most out of your day at Universal Studios Florida, at Universal Orlando.
In my ongoing serial for game plans for Universal and Disney parks, I now bring you my suggestions for a day at USF:
1st - Men in Black. Ride this SEVERAL times.
2nd - Jaws, especially now with the intense rehab.
3rd - Twister... not that great, but the worst line in the park.
4th - T2:3-D
5th - ET... the second worse line in the park.
6th - Back to the Future.
(This park isn't the easiest to do for this. So many attractions open at different times so people will scoot away from the gate area. So do as much of the list as possible before the earliest showtime of Beetlejuice (around noon) since that theater is the smallest outdoor theater. You should also keep an eye out for times for the Horror Make-up Show since that is small too, but not as popular as Beetlejuice.)
Things to do later in the day or when lines get long - Woody Woodpecker KidZone, Wild West Stunt Show (huge theater), Animal Planet Live (also large), street shows, Earthquake (fastest lines), Back to the Future (sometimes fast lines.)
Things to skip if necessary - Barney show, Lucy exhibit, Nickelodeon Studios.
Best Express Passes - Jaws, Twister, Hanna-Barbera, Hitchcock, T2:3-D, Back to the Future. (MIB would be a good one since it is so popular, but riding it once just isn't worth it. Do it several times when the park opens, then before it closes.)
Attractions that you need to do NOW since they most likely won't be here after summer - Hitchcock, Hanna-Barbera, Kongfrontation.
Any other suggestions?
The might as well be two different parks--one for families with toddlers and one without.
If you have toddlers (as I do), then Woody Woodpecker's KidZone should be the centerpiece of your Orlando visit. That's the right, not just of your Universal Studios visit--your Orlando visit. Including Disney World.
The Barney show and playground is an absolute must for any kid who's seen and enjoyed Barney on video or PBS. It's a first-class show, with an opportunity to meet Barney (if only for a moment) afterward. My kids typically spend between 60 and 90- minutes on each visit playing in the indoor playground adjacent to the theater.
Kids will also enjoy the outdoor Fievel's Playground and the Woody Woodpecker roller coaster. Older kids with a green light from Mom and Dad to get wet will be thrilled with the Curious George play area, and its multitude of ways to get drenched.
If you don't have kids, though, skip this entire area of the park. Sure, the E.T. ride is also there, but I don't know anyone who considers it a must. Even for the kids, its the least compelling attraction in the area.
Unfortunately, little kids will want to give much of the rest of USF a pass.
From Anonymous
Posted July 13, 2002 at 11:20 PM
kevin what do u mean by "jaws, espically with the intense rehab." Nothing has changed with that ride as far as i can tell.
I don't know why that is in there! I wrote this over a month ago so I must have actually believed the rumor about USF intensifying Jaws. Though even when I read it, I didn't believe it! I must have written it really late at night.
As for adults not enjoying the KidZone. BAH! We three adults spent a couple hours in Curious George Goes to Town! Both the wet AND dry areas! Part of this is due to us all having read the Curious George books as kids. But the bigger part is just that this is such a well-planned area. There are millions of ways to get wet and, even better, to get OTHERS wet. The dry area is almost as fun. Kids kept giving us the eye trying to figure out why we were running around gathering balls. I must agree that the rest of the KidZone holds little interest for adults, with the exceptions of ET and Animal Planet Live. ET is only a fair diversion, but APL isn't a bad way to sit around for 20 minutes.
I forgot to add that this is one of the BEST parks in Orlando to visit if the forecast includes more than the usual afternoon thunderstorm. The only outdoor attraction in the entire park is Jaws and the boats are actually covered. The shows are either indoor or covered. The only bad part would be selected parts of the KidZone, but Curious George is going to get them wet anyhow.
do you have any idea about what they are going to put in place of king kong?
From Anonymous
Posted October 13, 2002 at 3:59 PM
King Kong will be replaced with an indoor roller coaster.
Rain is no problem, but Jaws closes down if there's lightning in the area.
Kev, sorry to break it to ya but Kong and Hanna Barbara are already closed for good. Hitchcock will close after the holiday season. From what I hear it will be the 2nd week of January. I agrees ride MIB a bunch at the beginning.
Well, I said that they probably wouldn't be there after summer. Was I right?
From Anonymous
Posted November 8, 2002 at 1:20 PM
We will be visiting universal studios and Island of Adventure, possibly MGM after reading this site. Where can I get a couple of things, Maps of the parks, and also height restrictions for the rides. I have a 9 year old and (2) 6 year olds. Thank you.
From Ben Mills
Posted November 8, 2002 at 3:51 PM
If you write or e-mail the parks requesting one then chances are they'll send you some, as they cost next to nothing.
I plugged my address into something on the site and got a packet. Video and brochures. They have maps, but not like the ones from the parks. More like the artwork from the maps without the details. But there are maps on the website. Print those. Also, I know UO has the height limitations on each ride listed on their site. TPI does too, but it may not be complete. And I know I am one of the people in charge of those parks!!!
From Ben Mills
Posted November 9, 2002 at 9:06 AM
It's a tough life being a host.
From Anonymous
Posted November 17, 2002 at 10:35 AM
My family and I will soon be going to the Universal Orlando Area for 3 days. We plan on doing each park one day but we aren't sure which of the two parks to do the 3rd day. Could anyone lone a suggestion?
thanks
I would suggets saving that 3rd day for the Studios since there are far more activites and shows. Another suggestion would be to go a couple miles down to Sea World. You can fill a whole day there too. You can pretty much see everything at IOA in one day if u go at opening time and stay til 6 o'clock. I know they a 4 park pass good for 4 days a year for only 89 dollars u get unlimited admissions to Universal, IOA, Sea World, and wet and wild.
I would also check the weather report for those days cuz if there is more than 50 percent chance of rain that day I would visit. Universal, since everything is inside except jaws. However, it usually rains more in the summer in FL.
From Anonymous
Posted November 17, 2002 at 12:34 PM
thanks jp
Well, JP is partly right. USF is a great park for rainy days. But if the rain is the usual late-afternoon thunderstorm, then I say do IOA first that day, then move over to USF before the storm.
Furthermore, there really isn't a need to do one park each day. We move back and forth between the parks EVERY DAY. It takes no more than five minutes to walk over to the other. JP is right that USF has more to do, but IOA has more to do OVER AND OVER and is a nicer park to stroll about and appreciate.
What we try to do is plan for a few biggies in each park each day. But we don't do multiple rides until we have done EVERYTHING. So, for example, on Day One we do Men in Black, Jaws and T2 right at USF's opening. Then we stroll about riding things as we come to them. We plan for a couple shows when the park starts getting full. When it gets too full, that is when we eat, shop and walk around taking pictures. We take so many pics at IOA that we often walk over there to get a lot of that out of the way.
On Day Two, we get to IOA at opening and do Spider-Man, Hulk and Dueling Dragons ASAP. Then we do the same strolling here. If it is warm enough, we do the wet rides immediately. Otherwise, we try to get all of Seuss Landing out of the way before the kids arrive. When busier, we eat, shop and take more pics.
Then on Day Three, we go to whatever park we need to finish worse. Usually we have done almost everything except a few USF shows, so we use this day to head straight to MIB and ride it a whole bunch of times. Then we ride Jaws again and do the shows we missed. Then over to IOA to ride all the things we love a bunch of times.
In three days, the most important things from these Game Plans to remember will be getting there before opening, planning out your first few attractions and knowing what to do when the parks get full.
From Anonymous
Posted January 4, 2003 at 8:06 PM
I have recently been to both parks and plan to be going again soon. I have a guestion about king kong, why did they shut it down? I mean it had a long and everything but i really liked it , it was original.
They shut down Kong for a few reasons. The most important being the cost. It had a high maitanance cost and had required a lot of work. It wasn't the most popular ride. Before it was removed from the ratings here on TPI, I believe it either had the lowest rating or one of the lowest ratings out of all the rides at USF. If a ride had to be replaced, this would be the one. Chances are, this is the only soundstage that will be big enough to hold this newe Mummy ride. The only other one big enough is probably MIB, and they are definately not getting ride of it any time soon, especially after only 2 years of operation.(Kong closed in early September, which is why I say 2.) Those are probably all of the most likely reasons. Though an employee at Universal probably would know better than me.
From Anonymous
Posted January 4, 2003 at 9:59 PM
Everyone keeps talking about how Kong is big enough for the new mummy ride. Nothing has been officially told about a mummy ride. I was one of the first to say that it would be an indoor coaster (seeing as I go to school across the street from IOA), but now I have doubts.
From Anonymous
Posted January 6, 2003 at 4:48 PM
Hey no one talks about Hitchcock´s art of making movies!!! It is essential to go for fans (and there are lots of them) of this movie master
It is a pity, though, that this attraction will be replaced and we will no longer have acess to 3D Dial M for murder...
Okay, everyone has to go to www.ioacentral.com! There is a huge update with lots of Hitchcock pics and gues what! Pictures from the inside of Kong! It looks so weird empty and under construction. I've been wanting to see pictures from the inside for quite a while.
No one says anything about Hitchcock because we knew it was going down. It just happened to stay up longer than any of us expected. Shrek is supposed to open in less than five months! Apparently, it won't take too much to change the theater around. Unlike Mickey's PhilharMagic.
From steve lee
Posted January 9, 2003 at 10:23 AM
I must have good luck. The last two times I went to USF we were pretty much done with the park by 12:30. We'd just walk in, hang a right, and ride each attraction as we got to it (of course, T2 doesn't open until a little later in the morning, but we were able to swing back around after completing a counterclockwise circle and catch the next show with little to no problems). Granted, we had no kiddies, so there was no need to spend any time with Barney or Curious George and no one cared about the stunt show, but apart from those we pretty much did everything and got over to Islands of Adventure for lunch at the Enchanted Oak with plenty of time available for Islands' rides. But we go on Sundays and are always there as soon as the park opens. Maybe on a Saturday the scenario would be totally different. Of course, if you're staying onsite, lines aren't much of a concern and you could probably do both parks twice in a day (though your feet would swell to the size of watermelons).
I had pretty much the same experience, but would anticipate it being much more crowded in the summer when the kiddies are out of school, especially at IOA.
You must have been EXTREMELY lucky since working in all the showtimes tends to spread out the day. I would guess your don't-see shows include more than just the stunt show. The Horror Make-Up Show, Beetlejuice, Animal Planet Live, T2, Blues Brothers and the Ghostbusters show would take at least three hours out of your day. Twister and Hitchcock would take up another hour, at least. I think someone is either skipping a lot more than he is claiming, or is not getting done that early.
Especially with Universal's holding room queueing theory. Pretty much every attraction has two holding rooms outside of the actual attraction. In mid November, we needed almost 8 hours to see the entire park, however, we did skip the Wild West Stunt Show and most of the kiddie stuff. Lines were non-existant, but having to wait in all of the holding rooms takes a lot of time, particularly Earthquake and Twister.
From Anonymous
Posted January 20, 2003 at 6:28 AM
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From Ben Mills
Posted January 20, 2003 at 9:06 AM
Just what I was about to say.
It's amazing how stupid you can be when you don't have the nerve to put your name to a post!
buy a flex pass before you travel, to Orlando, for 4 parks. use the fastpass sevices, where availible. Start at islands of Adventure first, new rides and the rides are often quiet, in the morning. we only bought a day ticket, we regret it now,will have to return in a few years.
From steve lee
Posted January 20, 2003 at 3:15 PM
Well, you got me on that one, Kevin - we skipped Blues Brothers and Beetlejuice as well. Maybe those are more interesting than they sound, but we honestly didn't even consider those attractions... as for Twister, we have been extraordinarily lucky enough to get these right before they close the doors, so we don't have to meander about the waiting room for twenty minutes. I wish we could manage doing the same thing at T2. It seems like you stand in that room for AGES. They could at least have the same stuff on the screens that they play in the lines (especially since we breezed through the line area without giving the monitors a second glance).
From Anonymous
Posted January 21, 2003 at 2:27 PM
The easiest is just to go to the back of the park first like back to the future, men in black and e.t. first then work your way up to the front. express the really bad lines and you should be fine. catch the shows if u want. nothing great. but it is important that your arrive right when the park opens. at IOA get there right when it opens and go on hulk/spiderman then go to the back of the park by jurassic park....i am employeed at the JPRA. go there.
From Anonymous
Posted February 25, 2003 at 8:41 AM
We're planning to go to USF soon, but we want to avoid the crowds from spring break, etc. I'd like to get an insider's opinion on peak traffic times versus slower times for this spring/summer.
Ummm.. the two weeks around Easter are bad. Everything else before Memorial Day is good. That's it.
Me and a bud are going to Orlando for 15 (!!) days at the end of May. What can I say, we got a good deal on a hotel! Also we went last year and one week just wasn't enough.
I take it the parks aren't crowded at all at the end of may, beginning of June. How's the weather down there around that time?
Well, the parks WILL be crowded about that time. Not as bad as late June through July, but still fairly bad. Lots of schools let out in that timeframe.
Weather will be atrocious. Again, not as bad as later in the summer, but it will be hot and humid. And it should rain at least once a day.
Last year we went April 1-7, not knowing that spring breaks across the states were staggered throughout the spring. I think we hit Florida at the very peak that year. Lineups were incredibly brutal, but it was a great time nonetheless.
And I thought we were going to avoid the crowds this time, damn. Oh well, I suppose that's half the fun, experiencing it with others.
From Anonymous
Posted February 28, 2003 at 11:20 PM
My husband and I are going to orlando in the end of April. April 29 and 30 to be exact. I have a few questions that I would love answered just to make planning easier.
1. When is the American spring break this year?
2. How are the line ups during the week?
3. What is the weather usually like at this time?
4. Since a hamburger and coke cost us Canadians $20.00 in our money(just kidding), well it seems like it. Where are the more cost effective places to eat at both parks?
5. When you pay the $10.00 or whatever the cost is to get into the city walk, does this include cover charges at the bars?
6. We are 30 and not quite dead yet, but we are not into the total bar scene. Which is the best place to go in the city walk at night in the week? Is Margaritta ville a bore?
7. I am not much of an roller coaster person, or any thing that goes really really fast. Which park would be better?
Oh my gosh, I could ask a million questions. If someone would take the time to answer some I would really appreciate it. Smiles from Canada!
From Anonymous
Posted April 10, 2003 at 9:58 PM
the parks all rock. They are bad awesome. Everyone needs to ride all of the rides and making out during the rides is the best.
Wow, can't wait until Robert disallows that IP from posting anymore.
He forgot to add... Big Cats. T-shirts.
Forgot about that one!
I am a little lost on how making out during a ride can be awesome. Isn't the idea of a ride to enjoy the sights and/or movement? Though I would dearly love to see someone that dumb making out on Back to the Future... see whose tongue bleeds first!
From Anonymous
Posted April 16, 2003 at 10:14 AM
I have a question related to IOA/US ---- about getting into the park so I guess its for an employee. They haven't really looked too closely at our kids when we enter. I was thinking about allowing some cousins with the same last names share a pass b/c they would go at different times of the year. (I can somewhat justify this b/c a 3 and 5 year old can't(or ours won't) do much in the parks and it costs the same as an adult pass.) If parents stroller kids in with passes which all have the same last name, do you think workers would really care to look closely? Thanks.
I am going to USF and IOA in May and will ahve 2 days to experience both of them in. I know they are both great parks, IOA is one of my favorites, but i haven't been to USF in quite a few years and I was wondering if anyone had any good ideas for hitting the best attractions in USF and still being able to ride Spiderman over and over. Ha Ha. Any helpful hints or plans?
From steve lee
Posted April 16, 2003 at 10:20 PM
Yeah. Stay on-site. You can ride Spidey all day...
I haven't gotten my revised USF strategy down yet. I'm going to have to wait and see how crowds for Neutron and Shrek affect my touring (though Shrek probably won't be open when you go unless it's very late May). There's a few shortcuts we use that save a minute here and there (when going to ET, cut through the Garden of Allah Villas - otherwise you're just going all the way around it needlessly - when the park opens, that trick will guarantee you beat the majority of the crowd into the staging area. And if you're far enough ahead, maybe they'll go ahead and start it before the crowd gets there - last time we went, we were the only two people in the staging areas. That was a nice feeling!)
From Anonymous
Posted May 7, 2003 at 2:46 PM
hey
Me and a few friends are going to USF/IOA for 2 weeks at the end of May.
I'm just wondering, are any rides closed right now, or scheduled to be closed during that period? I read someone say back in February how Dueling Dragons was closed for repairs during their trip.. I'd rather not have any rides closed during my trip, but if they have to be closed it'd be nice to know it before hand, so I don't get my hopes up, y'know?
Anyone have any information on it?
thanks!
-M
I don't think anything is down besides the closed attractions in USF. Funny that someone was in IOA when DD was closed... it was closed for only a week for painting! Sucks to be them!
From Anonymous
Posted May 11, 2003 at 7:58 AM
Will be visiting USF end May and wonder what the chances are of getting our daughter "slimed". Is it possible to guarantee this, or are their any ploys to increase her chances?
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