Universal Studios & Islands of Adventure Review

Okay so when most people think of Orlando, Florida they probably think of DisneyWorld, but just a few miles away are two amazing parks from Universal Studios.

Now I had only been to the Universal Studios parks once and that was about 13 years ago, so basically everything was new to me.  First off you should know there are two parks to Universal:  Universal Studios and Universal’s Islands of Adventure.  Both parks are separate entities but right next to each other and both have own unique attractions.  My family and I attended both and loved them.

Both parks have areas dedicated for young kids, some adventure rides, shows, action-packed attractions, family rides and more.  I can’t pick which I like more as each had their pluses, so I’ll give a break down of what we liked.

Universal Studios

• Kids areas featuring:  Barney, Curious George, Fievel, and Woody Woodpecker
• Some Rides:  Revenge of the Mummy, Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, Men in Black Alien Attack, Terminator 2: 3-D, and Twister
• Family Rides featuring: Shrek 4-D, E.T., Simpsons, and Lucy
• Some Shows featuring:  Beetlejuice, Blues Brothers, and Horror Make-up

Universal Studios is an area that is all about classic Universal Studios movies.  My boys had a blast in the different areas, with Fievel’s Playland being their favorite.  We spent hours in that giant play area!  Oh and we road Woody Woodpecker’s Nuthouse Coaster a few times too!  Mostly in Universal Studios we walked around with the kids.  My favorite was Revnege of the Mummy – it is a ride that I can’t even explain other than to say it is a not like any other ride I have been on!  My husband loved the Simpsons area and ride.  Since we are Chicagoans, we of course appreciated the Blue Brothers show too.

Universal’s Islands of Adventure

• Kids areas featuring: Dr. Seuss, Dinosaurs and one ride for kids in Harry Potter World
• Some Rides:  Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, Incredible Hulk Coaster, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Dragon Challenge, Jurassic Park River Adventure, Popeye & Bluto’s Bilge-Rat Barges
• Family Rides:  Storm Force Acceleration, Comic Strip Lane and Jurassic Park Discovery Center
• Some Shows:  Poseidon’s Fury and The Eighth Voyage of Sindbad

To me Island’s of Adventure has more rides for teens and up, while still having entertainment for young kids.  My boys (3 and 5) loved walking around Dr. Seuss’s area, flying on Pteranodon Flyers, coasting on the Flight of Hippogriff roller coaster and just soaking in all the different areas.  Their absolute favorite though was The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, which yes was a little scary for them but also so cool!  I was in my glory in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter as I am a huge Harry Potter fan.  The detail in that area on everything, including the mountain-like and school area was truly amazing!  Yes I had Butter Beer too (its like marshmallow root beer), so yummy!

I miss the Jaws ride 🙁

Back to the Future car:

Blues Brothers!

Amazing city walk, some of the stores and restaurants are real!

Despicable Me Coming Soon!

Amazing Detail:

Yeah for ButterBeer!

Overall, when we make it back to Orlando I think I will want to visit both parks again as both had attractions I wouldn’t want to miss.  We luckily didn’t hit bad lines and since we weren’t doing any of the big rides due to the little ones with us, we were able to tackle both parks in one day.  I would have liked to spread out our visit so we could ride some rides a few more times and just soak in the amazing areas designs.  The shows all seemed awesome too but they were at times that we couldn’t make and longer than my boys would sit.

Outside of the two Universal Studios parks is Universal Citywalk which is free to explore and features some amazing restaurants and clubs.  We ate dinner at Hard Rock and walked around the nightlife which was so much fun, even though we had little ones with us.

VISIT:  Check out Universal Studios to learn more and plan your own adventure!

Mom and More Disclosure:  I received complimentary tickets  for my family members in exchange for my honest opinion. Please see my Disclosure Policy.