We decided to go check out Universal Studios on Saturday. We figured that if all of you are going to come visit we better become familiar with the parks enough to tell you what is and isn't worth your time and money. Even though we have only been this one time, I feel like we walked away with some good ideas about the rides, wait times, and a simple guide to the park. I will give a run down of what we did, saw, and rode but without any spoilers...unless you want some. Unlike most park attendees we decided to not get a map and to just walk around and wing it so that's what we did.
We arrived a little before 10 o clock and thanks to our season passes you now have free parking...you're welcome. The first ride we came across was Twister, and since it is based on an Oklahoma town we figured we might as well give it a whirl (pun intended).
The only cool part about this is all the OK references, other than that it wasn't too exciting. They show some videos (mostly so you aren't paying attention at how long it is actually taking to get to the main event) with Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt from the 90's explaining the phenomenon of an F-5 twister. And the main event is standing on a platform and watching a "tornado" run through the makeshift town of Walika, OK. Pretty neat effects I guess, but overall anti-climatic.
Next we walked up to the Mummy ride. The wait time said it was 5 minutes so we decided to try it out. Even though neither of us has seen the Mummy movies who isn't a Brendan Frasier fan!?
So we walked all the way through where lines would be had people actually been waiting to ride this ride and walked right up to the carts. We climb in and I must say we were pleasantly surprised. I don't want to build it up too much because I think the fact that there wasn't a line and we had NO idea what to expect helped us like this ride so much. If there isn't much of a line we do suggest this ride.
The next attraction we came across pretty much sums itself up with it's name, Disaster. Yes, that's Kyle in the bottom left hand corner of the pic.
Again, we had no idea what to expect and didn't have a handy map to explain these things to us and the wait time was 10 minutes so we hopped in line. Basically, you are in the middle of shooting a scene for the fictional director of movies about mayhem, Frank Kincad (aka Christopher Walken...the only redeeming part about this). In the beginning they asked for "extras" who wanted to star in the movie so I volunteered myself. Glad I did, because that was the only thing that kept me entertained. I got to act like I was frightened and was in a pit of green balls with a green screen and ended up being in the movie preview for the next Frank Kincad masterpiece. I think it is the old King Kong set because the cart scene reminded me of it. I'll just stop there because I have a lot more rides to cover and don't want to lose your interest already.
This is us in line for Disaster...
Then we came across JAWS! I still remember this ride from when I was here like 14 years ago! We took the touristy pic by the hanging Jaws....
And you can pretty much guess how the ride goes. You're in a boat on the water...I won't spoil it but it is certainly a must do if you go to Universal.
Then we decided it was time for a beer and a show. We found the Fear Factor show was about to start and hopped in. It's pretty cheesy but nice to just sit, enjoy a beer, and watch the show.
Then we walked around and saw this...
It was like being in the cartoon. They have a Kwik E Mart and everything. We were also able to score a picture with Homer and Marge!
The ride is where Back to the Future use to be so it is a simulator roller coaster but it was really fun! We definitely recommend it!
Another ride at Universal that you just have to do to say you did it...
We walked up to a Horror Make-Up show that was about to start and decided to check it out. It wasn't too impressive and they didn't really talk about horror movie make up as much as they told really lame jokes and messed with the audience.
We also went on the Men In Black ride. It was interactive and you ride around in a cart killing aliens with your gun and it keeps track of your points so that was fun.
The Terminator 3-d is okay. It made me laugh to see Eddie Furlong, I use to have the biggest crush on him back then!
There are a lot of other things to do at Universal, but those were the ones we hit up. They have a Betty Boop and Lucile Ball memorabilia museums, Shrek 4-D, and Beetlejuice to name a few. They are also supposed to open a bad roller coaster any day now. It looked like they still had some work to do on it but it is supposed to be pretty cool!
Next we ventured over to Islands of Adventure. Which is a separate theme park that Universal opened in 1999. They have more "adventure" type rides. The entire park was open an hour later than usual on Saturday so we were able to get a little more in, but over all I think it is possible to do both parks in one day, as long as the crowd isn't too bad.
Islands of Adventure is home to the Jurassic Park ride and it is definitely worth riding. The lines at I of A were longer but generally more worth it. They have signs everywhere that tell you how long the lines are so you can plan. JP took about 45 minutes to get to the ride.
You are in a raft and go through what looks exactly like the movie! You must ride this when you come!
We went on the Dueling Dragons roller coaster which was fun. We waited about 30 minutes and went on the red one. They have a red and blue one, but they are pretty much the same. Now if you're real crazy and want to ride in the front row of any of the rides, you get to stand in a different line and the wait is MUCH longer.
We also got a sneak peak at the Harry Potter "island" that is opening in 2010 and is going to be pretty awesome!
Next we had the brilliant idea to ride Dudley Do-right's Rip Saw Falls.
I am not sure what we thought it was but I did not think it was basically a bath. We watched people go down this... 
and figured it looked like fun. When the family of 5 in front of us all put on rain poncho's I knew we were in for it. It pretty much dumps water on you the entire time and you end up looking like this...
We were soaked. This ride would be good towards the end of the day so you don't have to walk around with wet clothes all day, if you brought a change of clothes, or it is just SO hot you can't take it anymore.
Lastly we decided The Hulk would be our last ride. It is a big roller coaster and it was awesome! Another MUST ride, even if the wait is long. The wait was about 75 minutes earlier in the day so we waited until about 6 30 and the wait was only 35 minutes. I would suggest getting to the park at opening and going to The Hulk first to get it out of the way!
We didn't have as much time at I of A but other things to do here include: Spiderman 3-D, Poseidon's Fury, Seuss Landing, Dr. Doom's Fear Fall, and Toon Lagoon for the little ones.
One of the first times my mom meet Kyle she said, "you know who you remind me of" and kyle said, "who" and she said, "Bart Simpson." Of course I was mortified at the time but it's now become a little joke of ours so Mom, this next pic is just for you! Love you!
Now, if you're still with me I will just give you some tips for when you come:
~wear comfy clothes, shoes, everything. I suggest closed toed shoes especially if you plan on riding roller coasters. you don't want to have to use a locker every time, it's annoying and expensive and you will lose your shoes!
~wear cheap sunglasses, just in case they fall off or break or something
~fanny packs are pretty practical, but if you just can't do it, make sure your purse goes around your chest it makes it much easier
~get there when it opens at 9 AM so you can try everything you want to
~they take cards everywhere now so you don't have to carry around cash
~you will be extremely exhausted when done with both parks, don't plan on doing much that evening
~the funniest thing after a ride is to always check out the photo that they take of you while on the ride!
We had a great time and it was a fun way to spend our Saturday! I hope some of you find this useful if you do plan on visiting us and if not, then I hope you enjoyed hearing about our day!
Hope everyone had a great weekend! We miss and love you all!
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