Universal Studios Orlando Review

Great place take the kids or even the whole family. Lots see and do from riding rollercosters, simulators and much move. You can even do bit shopping too.

First time visitor review: On Friday, October 16, 2020 I took an Uber to Universal and I arrived at 9:30 am. I am so glad I did as there was a bit of a line up to enter the park (via regular vehicles) and Uber was able to by pass it all. To my surprise there was already ALOT of park goers in attendance. It took 5 minutes to pass though the temperature check line and it took over 20 minutes to weave through the walkways and dormant people movers as we were guided from one side of the parkade to the other in order to get to the security/bag check. When I finally made it into the park or City Walk as it s called I saw numerous restaurants/stores like Bubba Gump, Starbucks, Billabong, Moe s Southwest Grill, Cinnabon etc. After I passed through the initial restaurant row area I immediately turned to the right and made my way over the bridge to Universal Studios. I had bought my ticket on-line and printed it off at home thus I immediately entered the park after my ticket was scanned. I walked up and down the streets, and viewed a few of the gift shops. I stopped at Mel s Drive-In where I mobile ordered (used the Universal s App) a chocolate milkshake to help cool off (all the staff there were great). Once I left Mel s I saw a Transformer down the alley to the left, Scooby Doo and the gang were in front of Mel s and then I saw a Sponge Bob float drove by. My first ride was the E.T. Adventure and I must say that I enjoyed that very much. One of the things I noticed that Universal does well is that they provided covered waiting areas for customers as they make their way towards the front of the line. It was nice to have a break from the hot sun, as well there was fans overhead in the waiting line area and water fountains, pure genius, thank you. Once I got into the actual E.T. building I saw old prints of the original movie (talk about a flashback) and then once I got into the belly of the building I was suddenly transported into the woods and in no time at all I was riding a bike with E.T. in the basket going through the woods and then through town. It really was a very enjoyable ride and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. After the ride ended I walked through the attached gift shop and saw all the cool items available for purchase plus they had two really neat photo opportunities which brought back memories of when I was a child and I watch that movie for the first time. I meandered through the rest of that area and noticed that most of the little kiddie rides (Curious George, Barney etc.) were closed. From there I made my way over the bridge to Diagon Alley and I enjoyed the creativity that went into that. All the Harry Potter stores and restaurants were amazing and the creativity that went into all those buildings is unbelievable. I decided to take the train from Universal Studios to the Islands of Adventures; however, as neat as the train and train car were I am not sure the 80 minute wait to get on the train at noon was worth the 5 minute train ride (blaming COVID-19). Next I went on the Kong ride, Universal provided an indoors waiting area which was cool in temperature and again they had water fountains. The vehicle we rode in initially made me feel excited that an adventure awaited but mostly it was just a 3-D video that played, it wasn t my sort of thing; however, others might enjoy that.
The Cat in the Hat rides were fun, colorful and fast moving but I couldn t help but see numerous areas that needed some paint touched up and some modifications. In more than one area I saw some electrical cord sticking out, numerous scrape marks, and faded paint etc., most young children wont pick up on this and the ride is geared towards them so I can overlook this a little bit but overall I think Universal could spend a little bit of time and money refreshing this area. Overall my time at Universal was pleasant and I was glad I was able to experience it.

Really nice park,where you have many universe of movies Wich cross created a nice ambiance.You can leave without pass by Moe's for taking a flaming Moe

Very clean, very family friendly people and staff, safe covid procedures. Everything is pretty spendy, my favorite ride was the Mummy or Harry Potter

This place is pretty good - Men in Black is fun, The Mummy & Escape from Gringotts are fantastic. The rest of the rides were so-so.

I wouldn t recommend coming to this place alone, but it s worth spending a couple of hours here if you re going to Islands of Adventure and can get a park hopper ticket.

My husband I loved it. Harry Potter worlds were amazing, but it is not right that they have one in one park and the other in the other park so that you have to pay for two park tickets AND even if you do pay for both parks, you STILL have to pay for the train that connects them

So much fun! Revenge of the Mummy was my favorite ride. The Harry Potter and Transformer 3-D rides were also among my favorites! The horror make up show was hilarious...I was chosen as a participant, and will never forget the experience.

great place to visit with family. best 3D and 4D rides ever. please try to do those rides instead of rollercoaster rides. you can find rollercoaster rides everywhere. but these 3D and 4D rides are hard to beat. Highly recommend both Harry Potter rides, Skull Island, transformers and minions rides.

Best theme park in the world. Out of every theme park I went to this has to be my favorite. My only regret is not spending extra time there. Went on each ride more than once and didn t get bored of it. You ve got a ride for every generation. This beats Disney world and ever theme park in existence.

The Harry Potter experience here is out of this world, would not want to leave the park.

1000000/10

My family and i were visiting from Colorado and we had an amazing time at Universal studios orlando for the first time. We will definitely be back. We also appreciated all the effort your team put in to keep my family safe during this hard epidemic period thank you all.

We had an absolute blast, A lot of walking exactly 12miles for both parks we went Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. The rides were spectacular with much excitement in every ride we will visit again in the Fall

I absolutely love this place. I have an annual pass to this place. There are some very cool rides. The VR experience is great. My favourite is Jimmy Fallon ride, minions, Harry Potter ride etc.

This was our first time ever visiting Universal, coming from about a 13 hour drive. This vacation was planned and paid for almost a year in advance. Because of COVID, we had to reschedule from our original spring plans. That's understandable. What wasn't okay was that we got rescheduled for Labor day weekend. We had four days of park to park tickets. Saturday was awful. Huge crowds, long lines in the hot sun. I know they were trying, but there was no way it was safe. We rode ONE ride that first day. The virtual lines were a joke. We tried all day to get in them, and they were always booked. Some rides were taking only virtual riders so we didn't even have the option to wait in line. Day two was almost as bad. We rode three rides. Labor day started bad but the crowds thinned by the afternoon. Our last day was finally the way we had wished and dreamed of it. We got to ride pretty much everything, the lines were all 30 min waits or less. I'm so glad it ended on a good note or our first ever family vacation would have been ruined. Let me say this tho...the staff are AMAZING. Everyone is so nice and helpful, they are what made it tolerable. And the wizarding world is so detailed and well done. I do hope we can visit again, but it will definitely be on dates I choose that are not a holiday weekend.

Update: we were contacted by guest services, and they made it right for us. They have all been wonderful. We will definitely be returning next year!

Always love comming here. Great time. Kids love it. Will come and come again.

Nice day to come to the attractions. People are adhering to social distancing and mask wearing.

Welcome to Universal Studios!!!
Orlando, FL

Enjoy the Movies then you must visit the best Theme Parks in the entire US.

My Tip - Buy Florida Residents Passes ( $$$$ )

The beautiful women but most importantly the amazing themes & rides!

We normally love universal and we understand they had to make changes to follow guidelines. However, most of the decent rides are over an hour wait and the virtual line is a complete joke. We have been trying for hours and so far still haven't ridden a single ride. If you can't handle the number of people in the park, enforce reservations so we don't waste our time expecting to be accommodated.

Best vacation ever. A magical place. Great for families who love Harry Potter!

The rides were all worthwhile. More expensive than Disney, but still a great experience. The character meet and greets were awesome!

Universal Studios Florida is my new favorite theme park. More adult friendly than Disney. Decent food choices, most places even have vegetarian/vegan options. I don't think I saw a single chicken fingers on any menu, which I consider a plus.

Went to ap opening event, social distancing measures. Staff being hard core about it love it hope they keep on it... Felt totally safe and had a great time.. Don't see this long term as the rides mostly rode empty. See this as a great pandemic response.

My very favorite place in the world! It is our annual mother/daughter vacation destination. Highly recommend!

So much is closed and OMG the ticket prices are outrageous and past pass tickets are astronomical. Not worth it is very disappointing that we paid all that money and a lot of rides are closed. Also there's no real adult rides except maybe 2. Disney was more organized and fun.

I loved it here! It was a very cool place, I honestly recommend more than Disney.

It was great to be back at the park. It felt a little weird not having the crowds. But it was good at the same time.

Great fun! Short lines right now, very cool. Right now is the best time to come.

The staff is too pleasant. Clearly infiltrated by aliens.

We took my daughter there for the first time! She had a blast. A little disappointed Curious George was closed, as that is one of my daughter's favorite characters. But it was still a great experience. The waits in the lines were not too bad and they are taking the right precautions to keep everyone safe. We will definitely be taking her again !!!

Was at a private event. Most of the popular areas were closed off to us but we still had a good time. I will come back to see the rest!

Fun park. Wish they enforced the mask policy better. People walk around without mask. It makes me less likely to come back. Also I wish they had more rides.

Love it here. On Sunday we visited, and only 1 family behind us on the Hagrid ride were so rude about social distancing when we ask them to keep near their blue distance line because they were constantly 1 foot behind us and with lowered face masks!!! They made fun of us and bullied us about it the whole time!! It was distraghtful to deal with in line. 4 adults with 2 teens laughing and being sarcastically rude about distancing!!!! As many times I heard park associates tell people to cover their faces, they need to remind about the social distance in the lines.

Beautiful experience and beautiful moments to get at house don t forget come here is really a new experience for you life!!!

There's so much to see and do, something for everyone! I especially loved everything Harry Potter!

Beautiful park lots of stuff to do and they go the extra mile to make sure everything is sanitized.

One of my favorite parks in Orlando, this place is amazing and has one of the bests roller coasters in my opinion (Rock it) you get to choose your own music while riding. The Harry Potter area is connected to Island of Adventure so if you have an entrance to both parks on the same day you can ride the train. They offer dining plans that are a lot cheaper than buying food separate so I really recommend buying this plan, with an extra fee for the cup with refill (you can use this during the whole day).

Great amusement park with so many rides. Annual passes were reasonable for Florida residents. Buying the Express Pass helps save line times. Food was pretty good but a little pricey. Annual passes got us 15% discounts. Be prepared for rain in summer because its Florida. Diagon Alley was very cool and hidden. Interactive Harry Potter Wands were awesome.

Its a great family experience with alot to do with all age groups. So much fun!

Lots to do and fantastic themed areas, well worth spending at least two days here and you will still not see it all.

AWESOME attraction. Team members. All staff are very nice and helpful. I was VERY impressed! Even got somewhat emotional I was so pleased. My first visit here and I plan on returning. Thank you Universal Studios for the best time of my life!

Just an amazing theme park for so many reasons. SUPER clean!!! Doing such a great job during Covid. Their new app is genius and really allows people to experience the rides in a balanced way with shorter wait times. Super plush and creative, universal really sets the bar high! The food is pretty good to very good depending on how much you spend. I had a great time there and have been back several times being a native Floridian and I am always impressed. Friendly staff that goes the extra mile. I wasn t a fan of the Korean bbq tacos but there is so much to choose from...... my advice go there with a plan from everything from the parking to the map of the park online, check out what food is available, know where first aid is and bathrooms, and EXTREMELY IMPORTANT wear sunblock rain or shine!!!!

The mummy ride in this park is hands down the best rollercoaster I ve ever been on. The jimmy fallon ride was the best ride experience. Unbelievable how much thought goes into these rides. Once again diagonal alley was magical. I cannot wait to return here. Loved walking through springfield.

The rides are great, looks like they closed the one that really sucked (fast and the furious)! Definitely do the two park pass for Islands of Adventures and Universal Studios. Ride the Hogwarts Express from one to the other, it s super cool. Universal Studios has move toward the virtual rides with movie screens instead of animatronics, which we don t like. Islands of Adventures has the real rides. Overall a great experience! They do a lot of ticket specials for multiple days.

Love the place, especially now when there s less people there

My husband and I mainly came here for The Wizarding World, but got so much more. I got to live out one of my childhood dreams of going to Hogwarts. I bought a wand and was able to use it at several places. The dragon wasn t breathing fire when we went so it was a little sad, but definitely didn t take away from the experience. Before you go into the park there are people screening your temperature with masks. They also enforce masks so I really applaud that. The staff really made you feel welcome . Whether you re young or old you ll have so much to do here and feel like a kid again. Will definitely be back!

Harry Potter lands and Simpsons area were great! Had Duff's beer and fried chicken and waffle sandwich in food court inside Moe's Bar. Loved the butter beer.

Great place regardless of the covid pandemic they are very very sanitary here and are constantly wiping and cleaning while youre enjoying the great experience

Thank you COVID for making Universal an amazing experience. No crowds, short waits, hand sanitizer galore!!! I only went for Harry Potter but ended up being able to see it all!

It's a fantastic theme park! It has an amazing entrance. All the rides were very great to experience! Lots of live shows everywhere. If you're planning to have a vacation here, and make good time, the staff at Universal is ready to make that happen. Enjoy your visit!

The employees were nice. The place was clean. With all this covid stuff..universal did it's part to keep everyone as safe as possible

It really nice. A place to experience once but not so much of excitement for me compared to the Islands of Adventure. Its mostly shops and old town US. The roller coaster ride is awesome, its a must try. Ofcourse Diagon Alley is a must to visit as well.

It's fun and all, but you get really sick on all the virtual rides.

Awesome park! Rides were amazing. The one downfall is the park hours. 6pm is way too early to for a theme park to close especially one where tickets are well over $100 a person.

The rides were enjoyable but I do not think that they were sufficiently sanitized in light of this unprecedented Covid-19 situation. E.g. cleaning the railings and handle bars of the rides that were mostly touched.

Also, even though some patrons were not wearing thier masks and some not properly (nose and mouth being covered), and social distancing (6 ft apart), the staff of related rides were not doing anything to correct the situation.

Very crowded even on weekdays
waiting time 60-80 minutes
Employees are very very rude and unprofessional
Go to Disney don t waste your time and money here
Came in the morning on Monday to make sure we go to every place but it still was crowded and busy with waiting for lo g time in line
Half of those places are closed and no one told us but we paid a full ticket price
Came all the way from Washington state going back home very very very disappointed with Orlando Universal Studio
I don t know why i didn t listen to those other reviews from last two weeks

Thanks Universal but i don t think I m coming to FL or CA for you for a couple of years at least

It was a sad experience to say the least, I am currently a premier pass holder and have always enjoyed the theme parks and atmosphere it brings. Today my perspective has changed as I went to the parking section to be told the parks were at capacity. I deemed it not to be an issue until the employee decided to show aggression towards me when I asked if there was any chance of the parks opening later. He would go on to state that I would have to deal with it and find out myself. What made matters worse is he wore a team leader vest, not a very good leader if he treats guests like that. Employees like this is what will make me cancel my pass, very disappointed.

Living in Orlando for 10 years you have no choice but to come to universal studios many times and every time you come you find new rides or attractions which keeps universal a super & fun interesting place for all different ages from all different backgrounds . From the shriek& minions 3D to transforms and simpsons . The mummy & athe rock it are amazing roller coasters . Take your food & drinks because it s super expensive here and you are allowed to bring them with you . Stay away from the weekends and try to come early or late during the week and one last thing , you have to take the amazing train ride from universal to islands of adventure .

I am a HUGE Disney fan, so wasn't sure if I would love Universal Studios as much. Thankfully, I am happy to say that it was as fun and exciting as Disney. Definitely geared towards slightly older kids - my 5 year old got on every ride except the hulk, rip ride rocket and Dr. Doom's Fear Fall. We spent four days exploring the park and thoroughly enjoyed it!! We will definitely be returning!

Wizarding World of Harry Potter is amazing. The rest of the park is good not great.

We love this place. Had the added bonus of spending my birthday at the Halloween special Rob Zombie which is amazing. I highly recommend the Halloween specials held here. Great facilities and parking is easy.

Amazing job at making us feel safe during this Pandemic

Love love love Universal! We lived in Florida for 2 years and it was well worth the seasonal pass. We'd go just about every other weekend. Harry Potter world is probably the most incredible feature of the park!!

I loved all 3 parks. Volcano bay was amazing and love concept of not having to stand in line. Get an Express pass for island of adventure if you want to do both Harry Potter rides. ET is just for kids in universal studios, even though it had a long line. The mummy returns is Amazing. I would give it a 5 but the rides kept going into maintenance. I stood in line for 1.5 hours only to learn that the Harry Potter ride is out of order :(

The rides were amazing once you got on them. The fast pass made a huge difference in peak season. We went the Saturday weekend in January. The only ride we couldn t get on was Hagrids motorbike but hit all the rest of the roller coasters.

An amazing place to come with your family friends or even just by yourself! My favorite time of the year is Halloween horror nights!

There is no much really to add at how amazing and awesome Universal rides and its people are, What is there to add is that Universal should be an example to follow on how they are handling the pandemic and all its guidelines, it seems they go above and beyond. Family of 5, We are thrilled on how safe we feel at both parks that we have visited, Universal and Island of Adventures, tomorrow Volcano Bay. Thank you Universal, it's amazing how well organized and how professionally your employees are handling all this situation.

Perfect family friendly place plus stuff for the adults and older kids! We got annual passes so we can enjoy all year long!

4 hours left in park hours ride closed when it said 90 wait 15 minutes earlier. No explanation.

If you re used to Orlando parks Universal is definitely a contender. The other park is definitely geared to the younger and much much older kids. Universal is obviously targeting the roller coaster thrill seeking population.

Now if your a Harry Potter fan this is definitely a winner with two different Potter worlds.

They do have a special pass (for a few extra dollars - 100 extra to be exact) that allows you to ride as many as often as you like with relatively no wait. Definitely worth it if you are the energetic thrill seeker. If you don t mind timing, planning and occasional single passing it you can almost do the same; especially if you are planning to stay longer than a day.

Good luck and enjoy!

Universal Studios is awesome!! We had a great time! Staff was so friendly! Love it!! My family loved this place a lot more than Disney!!! They said when can we come back lol!! They have not ask to go back to Disney! Go you will have a lot of fun!!!

So huge, so many things to see and do.lots of memories from 80s and 90s plus present movies.
Very organized and clean.
Thanks to the management.

As a senior citizen with a bad back I was very disappointed with Universal Studios. You pay the full price which is not cheap then you discover once through the gate that you are not allowed on any of the rides, a rip off as far as I am concerned. My wife managed to get on a couple but then the queues were getting longer and the waiting time was up to an hour. So a very disappointing time as all we did was hand over money for basically no fun at all.

Universal studios is well known for its classic throwbacks, but universal has stepped up to the plate to fully immerse people within the movies and their rides !

Came for hp world and it was amazing!!! We had a great time and apparently came on an unpopular day because we didn't wait longer than 30 minutes at any ride. Keep in mind for and drinks are expensive but totally worth it for the experience imo

Best place ever! So much to see and do. In love with Hogwarts and the Dr. SEUSS area. Orlando is a place you must visit in your lifetime. We stayed at the Loews sapphire falls hotel. Best place ever

This was our 3 visit in 4 years. The food at the restaurants keeps getting better. One sit down in Jurassic Park is my favorite for Chicken, Roasted Corn and sliced potatoes. The entertainment is good and easy to get to.

We had a wonderful day here. Despite the holiday, crowds were not as terrible as we had expected. Once inside the park the majority of guests abided by the face mask and social distancing guidelines accordingly, we only encountered two instances concerning face masks and the Team Mbrs were totally on top of it. The Team Mbrs were also super helpful and friendly throughout the busy labor day.

Fun stuff they are making the best of the pandemic since you have to wear the mask the whole time. No grinch musical show this year sadly but I understand this year has been a rough one for everyone.

This is the greatest place for adults, not so sure if this is the right place for little children, but honestly for adults is the greatest.
The people in there is super nice, the attractions are magnificent, hary potter's part is really really cool!!

Little kids can play many rides here and curious George water play area can make them play all day long. Prepare swimming suit and changing clothes for your little one. The cinematic celebration is awesome, beautiful light show and fireworks. Kids love the minion one.

I cant begin to explain how much better this place is being managed, under the stupidity that is covid, than Disney is. You can actually get on the rides and see the entire park in a day. Which again, is the exact opposite of disney.

Had a great time. Went for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and it did not disappoint. We had lunch at The Leaky Cauldron and it was pretty cool. Expensive but high quality. Butter Beer is a must. After exploring Diagon Alley you take a train to Hogsmeade which takes you to Islands of Adventure. Must have a 2park pass to board the train. All the other rides at Universal Studios were awesome as well. Think I liked Transformers 4D the most. It's a must ride. Fast and Furious, Jimmy Falon, and Minions were also pretty fun. There are many rides to experience. Something for everyone.

Would love to have seen more of Harry Potter but lines were ridiculous and stops you from enjoying the entire experience. Even if you don't want to ride the rides you miss out. Night light/ fireworks was a joke. Waited for over 30 minutes for a 10 minute show and 3 firework blast.

The lines were short and the rides were a blast. Can't wait to go back.

We went mainly to see the Harry Potter exhibits which were fabulous oh, the only downside was that there's not more places to sit for people like my husband who had had knee surgery. And when we went to see the Grinch play, the girl made him climb halfway to the top! Even after I asked her could he said in the lower chairs because of his surgery. Very disappointed, we had to wait till most everybody left so he could slowly come back down the stairs it took a big toll on him. My opinion, with the excellent customer service I saw everywhere else, the way this one person handled the situation, did not represent you strive to deliver at Universal Studios, and when I spoke with her after after it was over she argued with me again

Amazing experience! This has been one of the biggest experience in my life. In this place you can meet all of your Universal favorites like Homer Simpson, SpongeBob, Patrick and many more. The stores have a lot of cute things about your favorite series and also the attractions. The roller coasters were absolutely amazing.
This place has restrooms all over the place, plenty of staff people that can help you get to places and all entrances have wheelchair ramps.

This place has also food all around the park just in case you feel hungry.

Overall, this was an amazing experience, there wasn't too much people as I expected so it could be a great idea to go around those days, but it may be really crowded at the of November and holidays.

UOAP holder here. I love love love this place. The express pass is truly worth every dime. Staff is fabulous. We always have a blast and visit as often as we can. Although I miss Back to the Future, the rides are so much fun.

Everything here is geared toward family fun and imagination. If only the crowds weren t so huge, it would be a perfect day. Wizarding World of Harry Potter is amazing.... so much attention to detail. Burger Digs in Jurassic Park has delicious options for everyone... salads, burgers, and a delicious veggie burger. Besides, they have a toppings bar and Freestyle Drink machines... what more do you need? ;-).

This was so much fun! I have only been twice now in my life & it's been 20 years since the first time... My parents took my son who is 11 and me. We had such a memorable time!!! We will always remember this amazing experience! We enjoyed everything, but I think our favorite was The Wizarding World of Harry Potter- Hogsmeade... We felt safe & we absolutely loved everything about Universal Studios...

The lines were not too bad. The only poor experience we had was when we bought our Express pass and we weren't told that it was only for one of the two parks even though we had a park to park past. We weren't offered the additional $10 for both parks. When we got to the second park we found that we couldn't do any of the rides on the express and ended up going back over to the adventure island. And there are a lot of spots that smelled like vomit.

Outdated and boring for the most part, the best rides were closed and we paid over $120 per ticket for 6 people. Definitely won't be coming back here. Save your money and go to Disney.

Amazing park, if you are planning on visiting this place you should definitely get the express pas it's totally worth it. The park is a little bit crowded but is still worth while visiting. The Harry Potter and mummy attractions are a must so take your time .

Great place to go on vacation. They do have the refill stations for drinks. But the food is not all that and the prices are ridiculous. Its a long walk, dress comfortable and in the summer its unbelievably hot. With kids you want to make sure you purchase tickets that don't require waiting. Trust me, there is not enough time in the day. If I could do it all over again I would stay at the hotel with a theme water park pool area and go only to the studios part. But they do have a boardwalk at the park and it looks pretty live at night.