FLORIDA: Crowds at Universal are going potty for one attraction
Friday, 17 Jan, 2013
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It’s the last day in Orlando for Bev Fearis and family and it’s time for Freddie to meet his other favourite super hero, this time at Universal.
The last time I came to Universal was in 2004 when I joined a group of other journalists to try out the new Revenge of the Mummy ride. Billed as a "fusion of threshold technology, high-speed roller-coaster engineering and space-age robotics", it was Universal’s new star attraction. Today, however, the main attraction is Harry Potter.
Now, I have to confess I’m not a big Potter fan, but it seems I’m in a very small minority. While the rest of the Islands of Adventures Park seemed relatively empty, the Harry Potter World section was heaving.
The narrow streets of Hogsmeade were filled with people of all ages and all nationalities buying chocolate frogs from Honeydukes, sneakoscopes from Zonko’s Joke Shop and sipping butterbeers from the Three Broomsticks.
While most of the other rides at the park had a maximum waiting time of 10-15 minutes, the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey had a 60-minute wait, and it was only 9.30am. By the time I came out, the wait-time had crept up to 90 minutes but still people were joining the queue.
Mind you, the queue is an experience in itself, taking you through Dumbledore’s office, the Defence of the Dark Arts classroom and the Great Hall.
Ranked as one of the three best rides in the world, the four-minute Forbidden Journey attraction immerses you in the world of Harry Potter, allowing you to fly with Harry as he fiights Malfoy in a Quidditch match, escape the wrath of a dragon and come face to face with Dementors.
I don’t know how they do it, but you really do feel like you’re flying and the sensation is amazing, although I felt a little queasy for an hour or so afterwards.
Universal offers an Express pass for those who want to skip queues, but the Forbidden Journey is not included. It did, however, get me straight on to the Jurassic Park River Adventure, one of my long time faves. It has a little surprise at the end, which I won’t spoil for you (and which I didn’t tell Warren about either).
Universal doesn’t cater as well as the Magic Kingdom for younger children, but for Freddie the lack of rides was completely outweighed by the excitement of meeting Spiderman. We made our way to Marvel Super Hero Island and found him in one of the shops.
Not only did Spiderman pose for photographs, but he spent five minutes or so chatting to every child and was actually pretty witty. Having seen him in the lycra-clad flesh (surely those pecks weren’t real?) I now have a soft spot for Spiderman too.
Of course, Spiderman has his own attraction at Universal and, a bit like the new Harry Potter ride, it completely immerses you in a Spiderman adventure, this time using 3D glasses.
It starts with the super hero himself jumping into your car (sit right in the front row for the full effect) and then you’re off on a fast-paced journey flying through the streets of New York City, fighting off his enemies and helping him to save the day. It’s brilliant.
Outside in Marvel Super Hero Island the incessant rock music was beginning to grate, so we left the Islands of Adventure and walked across the bridge to Universal Studios.
First stop was the Shrek 4D Adventure, which was another highlight of the day, despite having a terrified three-year-old on my lap (he’s a bit of wimp – it wasn’t that scary).
The ET ride was also child-friendly. It’s one of my favourite films, and I felt a lump in my throat as we rode through the air with the loveable alien in our bicycle basket.
The Disaster experience is fun too. You get to star in your own hilarious disaster movie with the help of special effects and lots of micky taking.
We didn’t know Universal even had a parade, but we happened to chance upon it and it was surprisingly good – not quite Disney standards but high energy, colourful and with some pretty good music too.
Click here to see sample the Universal Parade
After that it was time for the Revenge of the Mummy ride, which I’d deliberately left until last as I remembered it being a good one. I’d forgotten just how clever it was. Definitely a must.
The only thing that ruined my day was discovering that the Jaws ride is no longer running. Apparently it closed in January 2012, which is a real shame as it was a classic. I guess something had to make way for the World of Harry Potter.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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