Rides at Universal

[SoKatriotic]

My boyfriend and I have never been to Universal but we both love Harry Potter, should we spend one day there instead of at a Disney park? I have heard something about needing a two-park pass if you want to ride the Hogwarts Express. Is doing that worth spending two days at Universal? We have an eight-day trip total and we both love Disney World, so we want to use our time wisely. Would it be a better idea to buy a one-day ticket with an Express Pass? Also, what is the best way to get from a Disney resort to Universal without renting a car?

On a completely different note, I can do Soarin', Test Track, Dinosaur, and Star Tours at Disney World. I don't do roller coasters at all (I've been too scared to try Seven Dwarfs Mine Train). What rides can I handle at Universal?

 

[DarthMileZ]

i don't know about the 2 park pass as i got a package with Disney, Universal, Seaworld and Busch.

i would highly recommend going to Universal if you like rollercoasters and 4D shows. dont bother if your not fussed about either.

the simpsons area is amazing though

 

[Tinkerfan4ever]

If you can do dinosaur -you can do mine train!

As for Universal - the Hogwarts Express was pretty neat and you need to have the park to park to ride it. We spent our first vacation away from Disney and went to Uni this past Oct. We spent a whole week going to the parks, and Sea World. But if I was going to combine it with a Disney vacation - I would say you need 2 days. One for Universal and 1 for Islands of Adventure. Hogwarts/Hogsmead is in Islands and Diagon Alley is in Uni. They are both so immersive and I don't think you want to miss either. Alot of the rides at Universal are 4D simulator type rides. Think Star Tours but more intense since you seat actually moves along a track. There are some actual roller coasters - but if you have skipped mine train I don't think you will be riding Rip Ride Rocket! There still is plenty to do and I can say I am glad that we experienced Universal and we will have Disney/Uni vacations in the future.

 

[TubaGeek]

In a nutshell: Uni > Disney.
Go.

 

[BubbaQuest]

If you are Harry Potter fans, I would definitely recommend a 2-day park hopper. There is a lot to see just in the Potter areas.

Since you are not roller coaster fans, the Express Pass is probably not necessary. It doesn't work for any of the Potter attractions. It will help for a couple of the non-coaster attractions like Minions and Spiderman but probably not worth the expense for just 2 rides.

Forbidden Journey can be a little intense, but it's not much worse than Soarin on steroids. Some call Gringotts a coaster, but it is really mellow, more like a train ride. It you can handle Dinosaur you can handle both.

Avoid The Mummy, it's a roller coaster in the dark. Some people have problems with Simpsons. It's like Star Tours but there is a roller coaster scene in the ride and some people get a bit queasy.

I highly recommend Spiderman. And E.T. just cause it's so unique and weird.

Hope this helps and you have a great trip!

 

[Worldlover71]

We went to Uni last month for the first time specifically to do the Harry Potter stuff. We don't do coasters either. We spent one day in the parks with a park-to-park ticket so we could ride the Hogwarts Express (we rode both ways since it is different each way.) We had plenty of time to really pour over all the details in the two HP areas. We also went on Gringots three times and Forbidden Journey twice and had lunch at the Three Broomsticks. There was still time for us to walk around the rest of the parks and take in 5 or 6 other rides. The HP areas are truly great and we liked Seuss Landing, but we weren't impressed with the look or feel of the rest of the parks. One day was perfect for us as we are open-to-close people. If you want to go at a more leisurely pace or do more rides/shows (but skip the coasters), I think two day would be more than enough.
PS: My 72 year old mother loved the two HP rides so you will be fine on them. Spiderman uses a similar technology so you should be ok on that too (though I didn't think much of it.)

 

[RandomPrincess]

We just went with our kids and spent 3 day at Uni. We could have done two but our kids are small and we didn't do full days. If you are a Harry Potter Fan you really should go. It is absolutely amazing! If you only want to do one day do Uni and the Diagon Alley side. My 4 and 6 year old went on Gringott's just fine.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

We went to Uni last month for the first time specifically to do the Harry Potter stuff. We don't do coasters either. We spent one day in the parks with a park-to-park ticket so we could ride the Hogwarts Express (we rode both ways since it is different each way.) We had plenty of time to really pour over all the details in the two HP areas. We also went on Gringots three times and Forbidden Journey twice and had lunch at the Three Broomsticks. There was still time for us to walk around the rest of the parks and take in 5 or 6 other rides. The HP areas are truly great and we liked Seuss Landing, but we weren't impressed with the look or feel of the rest of the parks. One day was perfect for us as we are open-to-close people. If you want to go at a more leisurely pace or do more rides/shows (but skip the coasters), I think two day would be more than enough.
PS: My 72 year old mother loved the two HP rides so you will be fine on them. Spiderman uses a similar technology so you should be ok on that too (though I didn't think much of it.)

Odd that you didn't think much of Spider-man. It is generally considered one of the premier dark rides on the planet.

 

[JoeCamel]

Odd that you didn't think much of Spider-man. It is generally considered one of the premier dark rides on the planet.

I think you have to ride it a couple of times to understand what is going on. Took my SIL a few years ago and the only thing she remembered was the drop and the manhole cover

 

[Bairstow]

I would definitely recommending spending 2 days at Universal, especially if you like Potter and have never been.

If you're totally against roller coasters I'd be on the fence about recommending 2 of the parks best rides- Mummy and Escape from Gringotts, both at Universal Studios, as they're both certainly roller coaster-derived rides. Personally though, I don't think either is as rough or intense as Dinosaur.
They would definitely be on my "can't miss" list, along with Forbidden Journey, Men in Black, Spiderman, and Jurassic Park.

 

[DarthMileZ]

I would definitely recommending spending 2 days at Universal, especially if you like Potter and have never been.

If you're totally against roller coasters I'd be on the fence about recommending 2 of the parks best rides- Mummy and Escape from Gringotts, both at Universal Studios, as they're both certainly roller coaster-derived rides. Personally though, I don't think either is as rough or intense as Dinosaur.
They would definitely be on my "can't miss" list, along with Forbidden Journey, Men in Black, Spiderman, and Jurassic Park.

I am not a rollercoast person, i can cope with Space Mountain at the most, its more the heights and inversions i cant do.. do you think i can do mummy and and gringotts?

 

[lazyboy97o]

I am not a rollercoast person, i can cope with Space Mountain at the most, its more the heights and inversions i cant do.. do you think i can do mummy and and gringotts?

Why not just go find out for yourself? At worst, you don't like it and at best you have something new to enjoy.

 

[DarthMileZ]

 

[BubbaQuest]

I am not a rollercoast person, i can cope with Space Mountain at the most, its more the heights and inversions i cant do.. do you think i can do mummy and and gringotts?

If you can do Space Mountain, you can easily do Gringotts. The "coaster" section is really just for the scene transitions. The spinning transitions in Toy Story Mania are about as intense.

Mummy isn't very high and it's all in the dark. It's more of a thrill/horror ride. Imagine Indiana Jones on Space Mountain's coaster. If you can handle speed and turns, I'd recommend it as it is a very interesting layout/ride.

 

[Bairstow]

I am not a rollercoast person, i can cope with Space Mountain at the most, its more the heights and inversions i cant do.. do you think i can do mummy and and gringotts?

Neither mummy nor Gringotts invert, nor are they particularly high, and even then you're really never allowed to see how high you are (or not) because of the show elements.
They have more in common with Dinosaur than with Space Mountain.

 

[BrianV]

I am not a rollercoast person, i can cope with Space Mountain at the most, its more the heights and inversions i cant do.. do you think i can do mummy and and gringotts?

I'm like you. Don't do the Dragon Challenge then. I did it in January and hated it it goes upside down. Never ever ever again. That said I love the mummy, the hipogriff and the gringotts.

 

[RandomPrincess]

My 6 year old is not a thrill seeker. She did Gringotts and Hippogriff with no problems. We even did Hippogriff twice. All the other screen based rides you should be fine as well. Just avoid the big coasters with loops.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

The only 3 rides at UOR that you would have a problem with are Hulk, Dragon Challenge, and Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit.

 

[JT3000]

Imagine Indiana Jones on Space Mountain's coaster.

I just threw up thinking about it. That must not be what you had in mind.

Mummy is more like a smaller, more dark ridey Everest than anything.

 

[SoKatriotic]

If Spider-Man and Transformers move along tracks, do the tracks themselves have drops? Like the one at the end on Dinosaur or the hill as you go outside on Test Track? Also, do the vehicles move more than the ones on Dinosaur or Star Tours?