Now we come onto the big boys. The first of three parks that make up Universal Orlando Resort gets you straight into the action with an unbelievable park. This is the kind of place where theme park lovers will feel like they’re in heaven, everybody that has watched television or a film will become overwhelmed…everything about these three parks just reeks with awesomeness.
The main thing that gives this superiority over Disney is the fact that all three are pretty much next to each other, so you don’t just have to plan a day at one park you can have a mixture of all three if you like. But as I did with Disney, I recommend you visit this one first. Walking through City Walk for the first time is something quite special. I remember there being music playing, the atmosphere was buzzing, then you see the sign for Universal and behind it just creeping over the top is the Incredible Hulk coaster (which I could do a whole article about). You then walk through and head over towards Universal and get to see the thing everybody who comes here for the first time wants to…the globe.
Walking through the park is just so much fun you can’t do it without a smile on your face. We headed over to Harry Potter World first, which in the Studios park is Diagon Alley. The likeness is incredible, everything feels real and the Escape from Gringotts Ride? Unbelievable. The massive dragon over the top of the bank? Incredible. Everything about Diagon Alley was phenomenal.
I feel if I go through every ride here it will take forever so I’ll just give you a highlight of the best ones. Transformers, The Mummy, The Simpsons World to name but a few, the new addition of the Fast and the Furious Ride will spark it up even more as well. But these rides are so much more than just an average coaster or thrill ride. The 3-D element just works so well on every level. In Transformers you’re essentially stuck in the middle of a battle between Optimus Prime and Megatron, Escape from Gringotts you’re being hit by trolls one minute, chased by Lord Voldemort the next, the idea is that you’re never bored during the ride. Sometimes during 3-D rides if there’s a slow bit you may find yourself looking around the floor to see how it all works but you don’t have a chance to with these rides because if you blink you’ll miss something.
I talked a lot about the atmosphere at Magic Kingdom but Universal is just as good. Whilst it is nowhere near as magic a feeling, you get the feeling that you’re in one of the coolest places on earth and everywhere you look you see something that either looks cool or interesting. There wasn’t one bad ride here either, the only thing that was distinctly average was the Shrek 4-D show, but that was more for the kids than the adults which you don’t mind because there’s so much to do for adults anyway!
The Coup de Grace to this park for when we went was the Halloween night. We didn’t stay long but the place somehow managed to look even cooler, you have different characters from Horror movies walking around everywhere, some nutter with a chainsaw tried to chase us and the best thing of all was walking round the corner to where there is a long straight to the other side of the park. In the middle? Guys dressed up from stuff like the Purge and other kinds of horror films begging us to try and get past them, like a game of bulldog but extreme style!
All in all this park is amazing, the reason I say do it first is that you’ll come away feeling this park won’t be beaten but you get to look forward to Islands of Adventure which is even better. When we came we did Diagon Alley first, went on the Hogwarts Express to Hogsmeade (which is in the other park) and then explored the best bits of each park. My best advice is to save Islands of Adventure for as long as you can, but it can be really hard to save the temptation when it’s so close. The studios park is a fantastic second day for an Orlando holiday, and the best way to start you’re Universal adventure.
Rating – 4.5 Stars
An Average Explorer 