| Product: |
Universal Studios (Florida) |
| Date: |
12/08/02 (1255 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Amazing rides, Something for all ages
Disadvantages: Cost of tickets, Cost of parking and food and drink, Rude service from some staff
Universal Studios is one of the newest multi million dollar theme parks to pop up in the tourist state of Florida. It's right next to International Drive, a very tacky part of Orlando where many of the main hotels are located.
I went there with my then girlfriend (Hi Nicola if you're reading) in April of this year after a financial windfall. It was a one-off experience which I would not want to repeat. We made the decision to visit Universal instead of Disney because it was geared slightly less towards young children, and we had heard gushing reports about the rides there.
Firstly I should make it clear that Universal Orlando is divided into three sections:
1. A cinema/restaurant/nightlife complex called City Walk which is situated at the front, nearest to the car parks. You don't need a ticket to get in to City Walk if you just want to wander around.
2. A theme park called Islands of Adventure - this is the newest addition and features the most extreme rides.
3. A theme park called Universal Studios which features attractions based around famous movies. This is the park I am going to review. There are other categories for the other two attractions mentioned above.
We decided to buy "Flex Tickets" which gave unlimited access to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, plus Busch Gardens, Sea World and Wet 'n Wild, within a 14 day period. The cost of these tickets was very steep at approximately £160 each, but if you plan to make heavy use of the theme parks, this will work out cheaper than buying daily tickets at the gate. Although there are many street vendors in Orlando offering theme park tickets at giveaway prices, there is ALWAYS a catch - usually you have to spend a whole day at a timeshare presentation in return for a discounted ticket. Don't bother with these con merchants - it's impossible to get any genuine discount on theme park tickets (even from your tour operator
) - you will just waste your time trying. So grit your teeth and pay full whack.
On our first visit to Universal I was dismayed to find out that all the theme parks in the Flex Ticket scheme charge a whopping £5.00 per day for parking. Even though you have already shelled out all that money on the Flex Ticket, you still have to pay the full parking rate, every day, even if you arrive late in the afternoon. There is no way out of it. I think that this parking charge is a disgraceful rip-off. I noticed that ALL the Florida holiday brochures fail to mention this parking charge which could potentially add 50% to the cost of your Flex Tickets if you go to the theme parks every day. (OK, there might be a bus service running from major hotels, but this still costs around the same as the parking, and if you've already paid to hire a car then getting the bus defeats the whole object).
We "did" Universal Studios at the beginning of the holiday. It is largely themed around blockbuster movies. The general appearance of Universal Studios is impressive stuff. It's divided into themed zones such as Hollywood, San Francisco and New York. Besides the array of authentic building fronts, they have even paid attention to the street furniture and even the surfaces of the roads are a mismatch of cobbles with tarmac patches to mimic the streets of various American cities over the last century.
Our first ride, Terminator 2: 3-D Battle Across Time, was a fantastic indoor display combining theatre, special effects and three-dimensional cinema. Lookalike actors were used on stage to play the roles of Arnie and co, and their scenes were cleverly interspersed with pieces of film which featured the original cast of Terminator 2. Add a few laser effects, bombard the audience with dry ice and water droplets, and the whole thing makes for an amazing spectacle. Some would say that T2 3-D is the showpiece attraction.
After witnessing an impromptu
bit of song and dance outside a 1950's style drive-thru diner, we went to see the "Gory, Gruesome and Grotesque Horror Make-up Show"; a highly entertaining show presented by two comedians who had the audience of children and adults in stitches with their magic tricks, audience participation and comedy ad-libbing with topical references to Enron and Osama Bin Laden. The 20 minute show was not only entertaining but educational - a theme which was prevalent throughout Universal Studios - with the presenters explaining the mechanics of various special make-up effects used in classic movies of yesteryear. Any children in the audience could have quite understandably fallen in love with the magic of movie making.
Similarly informative was Alfred Hitchcock: The Art Of Making Movies, a fascinating interactive trawl through some of Hitchcock's classic films. The show featured a three dimensional film montaging the most famous moments from the master of suspense, followed by a scary re-enactment of the Bates Motel scene from Psycho. Finally, members of the audience were given the chance to star in some of the special effects used in Hitchcock's films using the original technology used at the time.
On to Animal Planet Live, a circus-like show featuring performing chimpanzees, ducks and even a flock of trained pigeons. Whilst this will undoubtedly be popular with the kids, we felt it was bordering on animal cruelty and we took no pleasure from seeing these poor monkeys doing stunts in order to earn their food.
My favourite rides were Earthquake and Twister, both of which used some stunning special effects to recreate the terror of these natural phenomenons. Clearly, no expense had been spared on designing these rides which combined water, fire, explosions and even a lifesize cow hurtling through the air! Although the effects were extreme, there was no actual movement involved - making the rides perfectly suitable for people of al
l dispositions.
The same could not be said, however, for Back To The Future which, although impressive, made me feel nauseous because of the intensive jolting movements. This ride was basically a simulation of the flying car used in the film, which travelled through time in a rather tenuous adventure story. Good fun, but not if you've got a gut full of greasy food. In some of the other reviews I have read, people have said this was their favourite ride which I find surprising as I found it to be a pretty basic, if vomit-inducing, concept.
Most of the rides were faithful to the films upon which they were based, and there was evidence of great attention to detail. This was perhaps most evident on the Jaws ride which was absolutely superb - a guided boat tour around the fictional resort of Amity. Needless to say, the peace was shattered by the appearance of a polystyrene shark (complete with the dull, lifeless black eyes) which rather predictably tried to attack the boat. Particularly impressive was the role play by the "tour guide" on the boat who produced a gun and took pot-shots at Jaws, culminating in a thrilling pyrotechnic display as barrels of gasoline appeared to explode just yards from the boat.
A role playing actor was also used as a tour guide on Kongfrontation, a ride based upon the classic 1933 film King Kong, perhaps the only difference being that the giant ape used in the ride was more realistic than the one in the film! You are transported around the midnight skyline of 1930s New York in an aerial tram, only to come face to face with the famous monster himself, who picks up your tram and gives it a gentle shake. Perhaps most entertaining was the camp melodrama of the actor playing the tour guide who tried his best to inject an element of surprise despite the knowledge that every previous tram ride had met with the same fate.
Men In Black: Alien Attack was a supremely entertaining, and fully interactive r
ide in which you have to shoot the aliens with a laser gun as your car is spun around a track. The humour of this ride is lost on people like me who haven't seen the film, but as with all the rides, it's not necessary to have seen the respective films in order to take pleasure in the thrills and spills on offer.
The only truly disappointing ride was the E.T. Experience which was so naff and unexciting that it was almost laughable. It basically comprised of a hanging cable car which slowly made its way around an indoor display of fibreglass aliens and flashing lights. And that was it. It was comparable to the Ghost Train at your local fairground on a bank holiday weekend.
With the possible exception of Back To The Future, all the rides are suitable for the infirm. The extreme rollercoasters can be found in the neighbouring park, Islands of Adventure. There were numerous other less memorable rides and attractions, many of which we did not visit as they were intended purely for children. These ranged from Nickelodeon Studios, which is the actual home of this TV channel, to numerous opportunities for children to meet and greet their favourite stars of films and cartoons.
Street theatre is everywhere, with frequent outdoor shows ranging from the Blues Brothers to Ghostbusters. Famous characters wander around the park in costume, like Popeye and Olive Oil, providing ample opportunities to have your photo taken alongside them.
I would say that you should spend two days on Universal Studios if you want to experience everything that's on offer. This could be extended to three days during peak holiday periods when the queues can be over an hour for each ride. During April when we visited, the weather was not unbearably hot although it did become exhausting to trudge around all day. The queues for the rides were fairly short, and visitor numbers were down since Sept 11th, but there was an express ticket system in place to allevia
te queues during the peak season. Provisions were made for long queues in hot weather, such as canopies and water sprays.
The standards of cleanliness around the park were impeccable but I found the food to be a hit-and-miss experience. It goes without saying that the price of food and drink within the two theme parks is absolutely extortionate. To give an example, a soft drink could not be purchased for less than £2.50, and the most basic of meals (eg. burger and fries) would set you back about £6.00 a head. (Top tip: stock up on soft drinks or mineral water from a supermarket before you go to Universal. Because of the heat you will need at least 4 cans a day - so take as many as you can carry and save a fortune).
I feel the price tag of food and drink could have been justified if the food and service had been first class, but on the whole it was a let down. Many of the staff were grumpy, uncooperative and slow (rather like visiting a McDonalds in the UK) and the food could only be described as average. I was quite amused by an advertisement board placed by the state authorities near the entrance to Universal. "Don't forget, tourists pay 49% of our state taxes, so be nice to them!" This shows that some of the employees in Florida's service industry clearly need reminding of this fact. I think America is starting to experience the same syndrome amongst their younger generation of workers that we have in the UK: low wages, zero respect and a large portion of bad attitude all round. Some of the catering staff at Universal were so rude and pig-ignorant that we had to make a conscious effort not to let it spoil our day. Several times I was so angry about the bad service that I nearly demanded a part-refund on the tickets, but you don't really want to be involved in such confrontations whilst holidaying in a foreign country.
If the cost of tickets, parking and refreshments had been slightly more reasonable then I would ha
ve given full marks to Universal Studios, but as it stands I can't honestly say that the park offers good value for money.
To be totally enraptured by the fantasy of the attractions, you sometimes need to part your belief curtains a little further than you would like to, but Universal Studios is a must-see if only for the awesome big budget effects.
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criple - 07/12/02 I kep hoping that I can afford to go Orlando sometime, congrats on the well deserved crown. |
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