Universal Hollywood vs. Universal Orlando: need some opinions

[Walt Disney1955]

Just in case my dream comes true and I end up going to California next year I want to be as prepared as I can be.

Now I know Orlando will trump Hollywood because it has two parks compared to one. I'm not wondering about that, but more or less which park out of the three is the best. Rank them if you want for those that have been to both. And give me some advantages to each park. I have done both Universals in Orlando but not Hollywood.

So the rides that are done at both parks is there one better than the other? Is Jurassic River Adventure better at Hollywood or just the same? Stuff like that. Thanks.

 

[AswaySuller]

For me they rank in this order:

USF
IOA
USH

The themeing of USH is pretty minimal and the park is pretty small... the fact that it's on split levels really breaks up the flow and the midway games in the middle of the park really suck.... However Jurassic Park is better there (I LOVE the falling jeep compared to the falling box it's so much better).

I think it's almost unfair to compare USF and USH.
USH is boosted so much by how cool being in a real movie studio is. The studio tour is a triumph seeing so much history is so amazing for me. Courthouse square (if and when the tour actually takes you there) still takes my breath away. But that tour makes this park

I would sooooo recommend going, but treat it as a completely different experience, try going with a clear mind and try not to compare.

 

[McClane713]

I would rank IOA first, and both studios evenly actually, but they're 2 very different experiences. I'm a huge film fan, so Hollywood is great for me as their main focus always has been and will be the backlot tour. It's awesome to see the sets and the film history in person, especially when you star seeing the same sets used in movies and can then say "I saw that in person". Everytime I see the court house square in movies now, I remember my first trip to California. The rides come 2nd in Hollywood, but they are still good. As stated above, JP is slightly better in USH. I like the Mummy in USF better though. And other rides are identical.
USF was built with the main focus of being a theme park, and the main opening day rides were taken from the backlot tour in USH.

 

[AswaySuller]

Yeah Mummy is MUCH better at USF, Shrek, Simpsons and Terminator are virtually identical.

I would also recommend doing to Warner Bros tour in Hollywood.

 

[MKCP 1985]

Hollywood has a great backlot tour and is on two levels with awesome views.

As for rides other than the Backlot tour, Orlando is much, much better.

 

[Walt Disney1955]

I would also recommend doing to Warner Bros tour in Hollywood.

Considering I have never been to California before, is Warner Brothers studio near Universal? I am not familiar with California yet.

Thanks for the input so far. I would love to see King Kong 3D when I go down there. It looks worth the price of admission. And if I go in late March/early April will I be able to see Transformers when it opens? Or am I too early for that?

 

[spock]

Considering I have never been to California before, is Warner Brothers studio near Universal?

They are literally just a few minutes apart from one another. Universal, Disney and Warner Bros studios are all within the same general vicinity.

 

[spock]

I would sooooo recommend going, but treat it as a completely different experience, try going with a clear mind and try not to compare.

This is great advice actually. I live in California and I have people ask me all the time why I would bother visiting Universal in Florida when we have one right here in California. Unless you've actually been to both parks, it's probably difficult for some to understand, so I get that. But as stated here, they are both two very different types of parks. USH is a really cool place to see if you are into movie history. It's one of the largest backlots in the world (if not THE largest) and there is about a century of movie history there. It goes back to the silent era. It's also neat to see some of the movie tricks that were more common before the days of digital editing. USF is really more of a theme park and less of a real movie studio. USH is the opposite.

 

[AswaySuller]

Considering I have never been to California before, is Warner Brothers studio near Universal? I am not familiar with California yet.

Thanks for the input so far. I would love to see King Kong 3D when I go down there. It looks worth the price of admission. And if I go in late March/early April will I be able to see Transformers when it opens? Or am I too early for that?

You can actually see Warner Bros from USH. It's so exciting to see the iconic WB sign on the sound stage like at the start of their movies.
The WB tour is really near USH, it lasts about 2-2.5 hours so I would recommend doing some other sights like the Graumans Chinese Theatre and stuff on the same day. Last time I did the WB tour I did the hollywood walk of fame, High Voltage Tattoo (with Kat Von D of LA Ink) Madam Tussauds, and a really cheesy celebrity homes tour which was actually really fun.

PS If you like friends the WB tour is AMAZING.... I also got to go on the set of 2 and a half men and Big Bang Theory and they were practically begging people to go see them tape Mike and Molly.

 

[MKCP 1985]

If you are going to mention the Warner Bros tour, you have to include the Harry Potter museum. All manner of memorabilia and props from the movies on display. No telling what's been added since we were there a few years ago.

 

[AswaySuller]

I dislike Harry Potter but seeing some of the other props like Inception and the costumes from the matrix etc was awesome