Only took me 19 months to write a review of this place...
Written: Aug 11 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Clean, well leaid-out, some fantastic rides, some good rides, friendly staff
Cons: Some lousy rides, pricey
The Bottom Line: A good choice for families. For single people it's good but rather expensive. Definately worth it if you can get a spcial offer price.
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| captaind's Full Review: Universal Studios Florida |
I went to Universal Studios in Orlando while on holiday in January 2002. I’ve checked on the website to see if there’s any new stuff – the only thing that was definitely new was Shreck 4D (so obviously I can’t comment on that one!). Overall, as theme parks go it was typically pricey (though the 3-day pass deal was pretty good, and allowed entrance to both parks on site – the other being Islands of Adventure, which I haven’t been to). Naturally for families you can get a fairly hefty discount – needless to say, you’ll need it.
When we went there weren’t many queues so we were able to go on the rides we liked more than once without our hair turning grey in the meantime. The park is clean, well-maintained and well laid-out – you won’t be lost at any stage. Staff are friendly and efficient. There are a few shows (mainly for the kids), but we didn’t really bother with those so I can’t tell you how good they were. Restaurants were fairly plentiful and, while it was your typical trashy fast-food ventures on the whole, at least we didn’t get food poisoning…. :-O
As with most people (apart from those with kids, perhaps) we went for the rides. The 2 I already knew about were Twister and Back to the Future, as I had seen a documentary on how they were made. I’ll review the rides we went on in the order we went on them, and give them individual ratings.
Twister – rating 7.5/10
This was pretty good, and a good place to start – not disappointing, but not so mind-blowing that the rest of the attractions would seem unimpressive by comparison. (NEVER start out with the most amazing ride or the rest of your day will be doomed to have a huge sense of anti-climax – well that’s my philosophy anyhow). It’s not really a ride as such, you just stand there and watch what happens. The effects are quite impressive, and watching the cow fly through the air is unusual… Might be a bit scary for small children. Not one we went on again, but I’m glad to have seen it once.
Back to the Future - rating 10/10
If there was one reason why we wanted to go to Universal, this was it. (Okay so it’s okay to do the best ride second…) This is just amazing. It feels like a roller-coaster (although the car you ride actually just shakes you about – but it sure feels real!) – with a huge screen in front of you showing what must be some of the most well-known effects on the planet. Another good thing is that there is actually a storyline going on here, which starts with video clips from the films while you are waiting – which has the added bonus that the waiting isn’t quite so bad. We went on it 4 times and it was just as good by the fourth time. Fantastic.
JAWS - rating 8/10
Go on a ship, see a lumbering shark model rise up out of the water, leave the ship. I was never much of a film either. There is no way this would have got more than 4 out of 10 if it hadn’t been for the captain. He was completely over-the-top, so gloriously crazy that it made a, let’s face it, rather boring ride into something resembling a joy. Pretty good for kids as a ride, the captain made it fun for everyone.
Earthquake – The Big One - rating 8/10
I’d never seen the film to this but posters were up all over the place. Basically, you’ll be on a train when an earthquake happens. They do a bit of stunt photography before you board the train, with a member of the audience taking the fall. The effects are actually quite impressive, with huge chunks of pavement etc rising up out of the ground. Not earth-shattering (excuse the pun), but still pretty good.
Terminator 2 3D – Battle Across Time - rating 10/10
Part real-life actors and part 3d film, this was tremendous. The acting was decent and told you all you needed to know. (They even had a passable Arnie look-a-like). The 3D was the best I’ve ever seen. It was crystal clear, and you really did flinch when things came at you out of the screen. The woman next to me the second time we watched it very nearly had a baby. I had to ask her if she was all right afterwards, she seemed to be finding it rather difficult to breathe! (She was ok…) Brilliant. (Seeing this was one of the things that made Spy Kids 3D such a disappointment – it was about a tenth as good as this).
Men in Black – Alien Attack - rating 5/10
I was really looking forward to this (it was the only interactive ride and I loved the film), but it turned out to be a real disappointment. You’re strapped into a ride with a partner (you’re a team competing with the car in front of you), and have to shoot the aliens. It’s just that it’s slow and boring. Even the fact that I got the highest score out of the four of us was no real consolation. It’s just boring. A shame really.
ET - rating 0/10
Nope, you didn’t see wrong, this one got a big fat ZERO. If Men in Black was boring, this will send you into a coma. Sit on a bike going veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery slooooooooooooooooooooooowly around various annoying ET figures – oh and may I add that if the seat had been any more uncomfortable it may well be an ultra-effective form of birth control? Just ride this thing and lose all feeling below the waist. I didn’t like the film anyway, which probably didn’t help, but this is definitely a vehicle for getting rid of the kids for a while and going to Terminator 3D or Back to the Future instead!
Overall this is a good theme park, but I can’t hand on heart give it 5 stars. It’s well worthy of 4, and there are a couple of excellent rides there. Perhaps with a 3-day pass and going to Islands of Adventure as well, it would have been worth 5 stars.
Official website:
http://themeparks.universalstudios.com/orlando/website/
Recommended:
Yes
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