Lights! Camera! Action! Rides! (Universal Studios (Florida))

Member Name: Tupps

Product:	Universal Studios (Florida)
Date:	06/07/09 (21 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A good park for all ages & abilities

Disadvantages: Somes of the rides are very loud which may be scary for little ones

INTRODUCTION

Universal Studios in Orlando Florida is just one of the theme parks owned by the Anhauser Busch Group, brewers of Budweiser beer and the main rival for the Walt Disney World group of theme parks.

We visited in January 2007 and went on a Saturday. In hindsight I would not go on a weekend day, and this applies to all Florida theme parks as they are just too packed because all the local people go too. The queues for all rides are a nightmare. We bought a 2 day 2 park ticket which cost us around £70 for the two at that time. The ticket can then be used for 1 day at this park and 1 day at Islands of Adventure.

This is a good park for those who don't like roller coasters as many of the rides are simulator style ones that are accessible to all ages and abilities.

SOME OF THE RIDES

Jaws - this is a boat ride around Amity Island. The boats are quite big with bench style seating and the seats are already wet from the previous trip. The driver of the boat plays a part of sorts and gets a report over the radio that a great white shark has been spotted nearby; everyone in the boat is urged to be on the lookout for the predator. A huge animatronic shark then leaps up out of the water at various intervals to "attack" you. If you're sitting at the end of a row of seats rather than in the middle you will probably get soaked. This ride is very good; it's cleverly constructed and makes grown men scream (the ones I know anyway!). It is very loud though what with the shark bumping against the boat, the people screaming and the "driver" yelling at the shark and "shooting" it and therefore might be scary for little kids. My nephew who was only 4 at the time spent much of this ride with his hands over his ears.

Men in Black Alien Attack - this ride is like the waltzers meets an arcade style shooting game. The cars hold about 6 people and each individual seat has a built in gun. The aim of the game is to shoot all the aliens while the car goes around on a track and spins you this way and that. To get a really high score you need the hit the actual target. I was useless at this as I'm no good at aiming anything at anything. My 4 and 7 year old nephews got much higher scores than me. This ride is all in the dark with lots of laser/strobe lighting so won't be suitable for all.

ET - another gentle ride that can be enjoyed by all ages from little tiny kids to grandparents, even great grandparents. You sit in a sort of giant bike and each holds about 6-8 people. E.T. is seated on the handlebars of each bike in a basket. Then you 'fly' above miniature houses etc.

Earthquake: The Big One - A magnitude 8.3 earthquake, complete with the sort of destruction such an event would cause.

Jimmy Neutron - another simulator ride, another ride for all ages, another ride where you watch a big screen. I had some reservations about this as I thought it would be very babyish, however it's excellent and very very funny.

LIVE SHOWS

There are plenty of lives shows to enjoy as well as rides including:

Fear Factor live
The Blues Brothers
Lucy - a tribute to Lucille Ball
Animal Actors on Stage

CHARACTERS

We met plenty of characters here and had our photos taken with Scooby Doo, SpongeBob, Jimmy Neutron, Woody Woodpecker, the penguins from Madagascar, Marilyn Monroe and Laurel & Hardy. Unlike in the Disney parks, we didn't have to queue for hours on end to meet any of these characters. They just seemed to be there when we turned the corner.

FOOD & DRINK

There are plenty of places to eat, mostly fast food joints. We found a fish & chip shop and had that instead. It was lovely considering the States isn't known for fish and chips.

Summary: Another must see & do in Florida