Universaly Wonderful
Written: Sep 07 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: some great rides, e-z pass ticket system, nickelodeon studio tour
Cons: occasional long lines, inaccurate wait times posted, horrible food, expensive, not open late enough
The Bottom Line: Make sure you go to MIB first, due to its long line. Plan around children, and avoid Beetlejuice like the plague and instead focus on Nick Studios.
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| worntreads's Full Review: Universal Studios Florida |
During my vacation in Florida, I went to Universal Studios, the original theme park of theirs. When I was younger, I remember going on Fifel's little playground, and I remember ET screwing up my name at the end of the whimsical little ride. I was excited to try my luck this time with the rides. I heard that they had expanded, and as it so happened, I heard correctly.
My first ride of the day was Men In Black. This ride was probably the most interactive, coolest, best done, most technologically advanced ride that I had ever been on. The ride starts out as a training to become one of the MIB troupe, and target practice soon turns into shooting "real" aliens with your gun. At the end of your ride you can find out your score, as well as looking at the panel in the ride. This was easily the most entertaining ride in the park.
There were several disappointments that followed. Back to the Future had a long line, a great deal of hype, and not much grandeur. It may have been advanced for its time, but the ride was not much fun. Plus, you could see the others cars who were staring at the same screen you were. Jaws was an average ride, being neither good nor bad. ET was good, but if you have an unusual name, make sure you spell it phonetically so that your name will be pronounced correctly at the end of the ride. If you have the time, I would strongly recommend the Terminator 3-D show, which was incredibly good. On the other side, King Kong was one of the more disappointing things I have ever been on, and I was grateful that I used an E-Z Ticket Pass instead of waiting in line for 25 minutes.
Basically, the E-Z Pass lets you go to a Kiosk, swipe your ticket, and let you gain a coupon for a 15 minute maximum wait for sometime later on that specific ride or show. This is incredibly convenient, especially for long lines.
As far as shows go, my family and I saw Beetlejuice. Gratuitously raunchy, occasionally funny, and often horrible, it was one of the low-points of the day. I will say that Dracula was incredibly attracted. If you are considering taking your family to go and see this show, think if they would be offended by the line, "Sorry, I'm late folks, but my Dolly Parton watch BUSTED", with hands in an underhand cup-like motion. If so, I would reconsider attending the show. If not, go for it, but I doubt that you would truly consider it entertaining.
When it comes time for lunch, the only real recommendation I have is not to eat Chinese food at the International Expo food place, for it is truly disgusting and horrendously expensive. AAA members do get a 10% discount, something to keep in mind.
If you have time, regardless of whether or not you have children with you, it might be interesting for you to take the Nickelodeon tour, which was fun for my whole family, everyone from the little ones to the grown-up, middle-age parents.
All in all, Universal had something for everyone, and was great fun.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
worntreads
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Location: Richmond, Va
Reviews written: 15
Trusted by: 0 members
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