Was at the park today and it was BRUTAL. Before anyone jumps on me saying “it’s in tech,” the guest relations cast member who we spoke to at the end of the night said it was their worst day of operation yet and called it unacceptable considering that “we open in two weeks.”
Managed to get through only five things being there was 10:15-8:45 due to breakdowns and complete shutdowns.
Mine Cart was announced to be down all day. Potter was announced to not open until three. Disappointing, sure, but knowing this was still a tech day, we weren’t going to let this ruin the day. We knew going in Potter was gonna be a long shot to get.
Stardust and Fyre Drill ended up being down the whole day. I think they were also running only one side of Dragon Racers all day. Potter was up at 3, but was shut down before the 6pm virtual drop so open less than four hours today.
After waiting for 85 minutes for what was supposed to be a 35 minute line at the start of the day for Wing Gliders coaster due to multiple breakdowns, went to 1245 Untrainable Dragon which was cancelled at 12:50.
Checked out Monsters Unchained (waited 60 with a posted 80). Had lunch in Potter world (25 mins to get lukewarm, but tasty, food). Waited in line for 430 Arcanus show from 4-4:50 when they finally let us in only to have show breakdown in preshow. They did give us free express passes, but at that time Mario and Monsters were down.
Managed to see the Untrainable Dragon show in the 5pm hour and then made our way over to Nintendo where we used our Express on a now-opened MarioKart. Last thing we hit was Yoshi.
So all in five experiences in a full day. Granted, we could’ve technically done the carousel, but still…
It was brutal. As mentioned, guest services at end of the night was the place to be. (I should add that while we were waiting in the virtual queue to speak with guest relations despite not wanting to give Uni more money, we were a bit famished so we tried to get dinner at Pizza Moon which still was listed on the app with the ability to order food, but when we arrived at 7:30, we were told it was closed. A perfect capper to the day! Ended up getting a breakfast sandwich from Starbucks which was also out of most of their “all day breakfast sandwiches.”) Felt so sorry for those cast members, but, to Universal’s credit, they were doling out refunds or return passes. We took the latter as they were good for either Epic or and Islands/Studios hopper.
Now, what we saw I was really quite impressed with in terms of the rides. Monsters was really great and MarioKart was fantastic (and I’m not a gamer). I was surprised how much I liked the latter, to be honest. Both of those rides were longer than I thought they’d be and really created a great experience. I enjoyed the dragon coaster and the dragon show (while INCREDIBLY LOUD) was cute. So what we did we did enjoy.
The biggest plus in the park is the water filling stations. Having those freestyle machines all over is an amazing move and makes staying hydrated super easy which is good considering the lack of spots for shade.
The rest of the park…I dunno. I’m not overly impressed. I don’t get the appeal of Fantastic Beasts’ Paris. Now granted, we didn’t get to experience anything there, but in terms of appeal to my young nephews, the other Potter worlds win out for aesthetics.
Monster portal was fine…but kinda nothing if I’m being honest. Nicely designed and kinda windy and freaky, but overall was a bit of a letdown. Monsters unchained was a great ride, however.
Berk was nicely done. Layout feels a little confusing, but I liked the look. That said, how does this area not have a ride for young kids? I guess Universal really is leaning into the fact that they don’t care about earning the under six crowd. That’s fine, but this would’ve been a perfect opportunity for a Dragon Dumbo and they didn’t go for it.
Nintendo world is not for those who may have issues with overstimulation. Boy, is it nutty and loud and crazy there. But it was the land I felt the most immersed in without a doubt.
That said, I won’t be back for a while. They need to get things together. Yes, I know it was a preview but when even Guest Relations is saying this was by far their worst day yet and it’s simply “unacceptable considering we open in two weeks” (those were the words she used), they need time to find their footing. I do worry that both Uni and Disney are leaning too into high-tech to make rides reliable. That’s a problem and both of these companies need to figure out how to make these rides run more smoothly.
Just wanted to provide my experience. Not sure if this was the right thread or not (tried to do a quick search to find a more appropriate one, but doing this from my phone and didn’t see one that seemed more fitting).
