The last of the Orlando blogs! Universal Studios is a whole different beast than Disney. I think this is because it’s completely lacks nostalgia for me. It’s not a place that I grew up going to and the intellectual property (Jurassic Park, Dr Suess, King Kong) is just not as connected to my life. Does that sound weird? You get it though, right? The parts of the park that that “complaint” stops is with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (WWHP). So with Universal, it’s basically all rides rides rides and then immersive world in the Harry Potter sections. Here’s what you need to know about the parks.
There are TWO parks! (Well, really three but one’s a water park) and YES you need to go to both. Especially, if you like Harry Potter. Wizarding World of Harry Potter spans over 2 parks, Universal Studios Florida and Island of Adventure and you can take the Horgwarts Express between the two. A definite must in my book.
Food is meh except for WWHP. Try the butterbeer!! I personally like the cold one, not the frozen one. If it’s a rare cold day the hot butter beer is really yummy too (I’ve had this in CA- does it get cold enough in FL for it?? lol). Also, I’m personally a fan of the Three Broomsticks. They have traditional(ish) British pub food, and it’s delish. Other than that… the park food is just that: park food. While we were there we got a coffee and pastry in the morning, chicken fingers for lunch and some ice cream in the afternoon. BUT if you’re there for dinner go out to City Walk. There’s a wide variety of restaurants for any mood you might be in. Highly recommend trying to get a reservation if possible!
The rides are everything. I truly think that this is so much more of a “rides park”. Like, you’ll see way more thrill rides than places like Disney World. We stood in line for the Jurassic Park rollercoaster, Velocicoaster, and omg I’m so glad we did. It was incredible. If you’re a rollercoaster fan. I couldn’t recommend it more. There’s also some amazing rides in WWHP like Escape Front Gringotts, Forbidden Journey, Hogwarts Express and of course classics like E.T. Adventure. BUT if you go on only one ride in the parks it must be Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure. If we can pat ourselves on the back- we did a great job staying away from any spoilers about this ride! If you can do that, I highly recommend it. In that vein, I’m not going to tell you about it, except for the fact that it’s a must! Keep the secrets and surprises!
You will get wet on water rides. I repeat, YOU WILL GET WET ON WATER RIDES. Did you hear me?? DO not underestimate this. Please learn from our mistakes. We went on the Dudley Do-Rights Ripsaw Falls water ride and I kid you not, we were soaked for the next 4 hours.
Do WWHP at night if possible. Honestly, this is still on my bucket list to do. We tried reallllllly hard to stay out but if you read my Walt Disney World blog you know that it was pouring every dang evening so the night stuff was cancelled. Someday I’ll see the magic on the castle!
I think that if you’re coming all the way out to Florida, spend one day at Universal and check out what they have to offer. In my personal opinion, I think one day is enough but if you’re a big ride person, you might want 2 days.
Happy park going!!
