Islands of Adventure Report: Hagrid’s Magical Morning
For this park report, we’re heading over to Universal Orlando Resort to do Islands of Adventure. Crowds have been picking up at Universal over the last couple of months, with the parks hitting capacity multiple weekends in October. In this photo report, we cover wait times and some of what we did throughout the day. Let’s start with Universal’s post-reopening successes.
I’ve been really impressed with the way Universal Orlando has handled its reopening. In many ways, their approach has been better–or at least preferable, in my view–to Walt Disney World’s. While still adopting the same health safety protocol, Universal opted not to require reservations and didn’t overcomplicate things. The proactive communications, clear policies, and the way Universal has demonstrated that they value their customers are all commendable.
Universal Orlando has also offered a variety of ticket, Annual Pass, and hotel deals that really make all the changes and cutbacks more palatable. And truly, not as much has changed at Universal, as the key on-site and AP perks among other offerings were never cut. Obviously, the style of Disney’s and Universal’s theme parks are very different, so it’s never an apples to apples comparison. Nevertheless, the value proposition remains strong at Universal Orlando right now, which makes it easier to recommend.
Consequently, we’re once again toying with the idea of covering Universal in greater depth. We’ve contemplated and discussed doing that many times. We’ve been Universal Annual Passholders to the parks in Florida, California, and Osaka and have a Guide to Universal Studios Hollywood and Guide to Universal Studios Japan in addition to our Universal Orlando Planning Guide. Obviously, we’re big fans of the Universal parks (and hotels).
Still, we’ve never gone all-in on more granular coverage. We could blame you for that, and a lack of interest among readers. 😉 That’s only partly true–it mostly comes down to a lack of time on our end. It’s impossible for us to cover everything. Meaning that if we spend more time at Universal, that’s less of our hard-hitting Disney journalism. To that end, we’re curious if you want to see more Universal coverage and, if so, what? (Park reports like this, itineraries, dining, hotels, etc.)
Selfishly, I’m hoping there’s some interest in this Islands of Adventure report and our upcoming Universal Studios Florida report. For one thing, I’ve really enjoyed our hotel stays thus far at Universal and “needing” to book the more expensive resorts “for the sake of research” is a great excuse for doing more.
Second, each visit to Universal Orlando is at least one ride on E.T. Adventure, which is right up there with Country Bear Jamboree on the list of potential UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Central Florida. With things on earth not going so hot, I’m ready to relocate to the Green Planet.
Now that the long-winded preface is out of the way, let’s get down to the brass tacks of this visit to Universal Orlando. Due to the drive, line at the parking booths, and getting into the park taking longer than expected, we didn’t enter Islands of Adventure right at rope drop.
So basically, Universal already shares something in common with Disney’s Hollywood Studios–taking longer than expected to enter–despite being about 30 minutes farther away from us. Once we did get into Islands of Adventure, we headed directly to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter…
The Universal Orlando app indicated that the wait time for Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure was already 90 minutes, but wait times boards in the park said 60 minutes, as did the Hagrid’s marquee.
Even if the wait time was trending upwards and it ended up being somewhere in between, we figured this was going to be about as good as it got. Wait time data suggests no drop-off over the course of the day.
The queue wrapped all around the Lost Continent, including into the theater that previously housed the Eighth Voyage of Sindbad stage show.
This whole area isn’t currently used for much of anything, so overflow queue for Hagrid’s seems like as good of a use as any. Plus, the venue could probably house a lot more of the extended queue if necessary on busier days, as we only entered the upper area of the amphitheater.
Regardless of whether the posted wait time was 60 or 90 minutes, the actual wait for Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure ended up being much lower–only 35 minutes.
Given that this was Orlando’s second-biggest new attraction debut of last year (after Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance) and is the best themed roller coaster in Central Florida, I’d say that’s not too shabby. I won’t willingly wait 35+ minutes for much, but Hagrid’s is definitely one such attraction.
After wandering around the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for a bit, we figured it was time for lunch.
With crowds peaking in Hogsmeade and already a long line for Three Broomsticks, we thought it might be a good time to take the Hogwarts Express Train over to Universal Studios Florida. Posted wait time was 60 minutes; our actual wait was 25 minutes.
We’ll have a separate report on Universal Studios Florida very soon, but for now let’s fast-forward to late afternoon when we returned to Islands of Adventure.
Rather than doing a play by play of our afternoon, I’m just going to offer some photos and stray thoughts in the captions…
Universal Orlando is doing a great job with the socially-distanced selfie stations.
This one probably is not the best example as these costumes look like they’re knockoffs from the clearance aisle of Party City. Nevertheless, there are a variety of options with little to no wait…which is probably because no one wants to meet any of these characters. But still. Points for effort.
“Knockoffs from Party City” might be an apt way to describe the aesthetic of Marvel Super Hero Island to anyone only familiar with the movies, and not the comics.
However, one undeniably top-tier component of the land is the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, which is one of the best theme park attractions in the world. It honestly shocks me that Imagineering chose Spider-Man as the character for a DCA attraction because it’ll inevitably invite comparisons to this twenty year old attraction–and I doubt most objective assessments will be favorable towards Disney.
Universal does this thing where it oscillates between flavor of the month IP and characters no one born this century has ever heard of. Maybe Walt Disney World does the exact same thing and I’m just too close to the subject to have a clear view.
Or, maybe I’m still bitter that Universal removed all but one of my childhood favorites. To add insult to injury, Universal then had the nerve to replace the new cult classic Disaster with Fast & Furious Supercharged. That abomination was literally one of the worst theme park attractions/segments of all-time years before it even began construction in Florida.
Speaking of childhood favorites, let’s turn to the park’s King Kong attraction. While this blog (rightfully) sings the praises of E.T. Adventure, my all-time favorite Universal Studios Florida attraction is Kongfrontation. As a child, this was a top 5 of Orlando for me–not in the same league as Journey Into Imagination, but close.
Skull Island: Reign of Kong is no Kongfrontation. However, it is better than the similar segment during the Universal Studios Hollywood tram tour, so there’s that. Skull Island: Reign of Kong’s end scene is undeniably impressive, and offers a brief shot of nostalgia. The queue is also normally a highlight, but not as much right now.
Jurassic Park is also a really solid land, and one that is improving with age.
The Raptor Encounter is fun, bringing some of the magic from the Discovery Center into a standalone experience.
I’m also really looking forward to Jurassic World VelociCoaster, which Universal recently announced opens in Summer 2021.
The track layout looks tremendous, as does the rockwork and thematic elements. It also looks like VelociCoaster won’t introduce the same type of clutter to the land as the Flying Dinosaur. If it’s even half as good as that (very different) roller coaster, VelociCoaster will be a top-tier addition to the Jurassic Park/World land.
Ultimately, it was a really fun day at Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida. A long day, but we got a ton accomplished and the visit had great flow (thanks to park hopping) that we haven’t experienced recently at Walt Disney World. This “great flow” may not be readily apparent here since this Islands of Adventure park report is clunky and disjointed.
In my defense, it’s not easy to write something like this since I don’t know really know where to begin. Do I assume most people reading this have no experience with Universal, and start from square one with a bunch of background that would be absent from our comparable Walt Disney World park reports? Or do I assume the primary audience is Universal fans who have said knowledge, and simply leave those who don’t behind in the dust? In retrospect, it would seem I’ve chosen a “worst of both worlds” approach that makes a range of assumptions and confuses or alienates everyone. Perhaps we’ll find our footing in the Universal Studios Florida park report. Or perhaps not, and this will end up being a very short series of interest to no one. We shall see!
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YOUR THOUGHTS
Have you visited Islands of Adventure in the last couple of months? Did you rope drop Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure? Stay until park closing? What was your experience with crowds and wait times? If you’ve visited both Disney and Universal post-reopening, which do you think is doing better? Do you have any questions about the current modified Universal experience? Will you be attempting to visit Central Florida this holiday season, or are you waiting until 2021 or beyond? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
We are planning to visit both Universal and Disney in Florida between Christmas and New Years so this was helpful information for us. Our concern is getting into Universal since we plan to purchase the “buy 2 days and get 3 additional days” pass. This pass doesn’t designate a day and those with tickets that designate a day have priority over those that don’t. I wondered if they have separate lines or how does that work. My understanding is this has only happened on weekends but I would think on holidays it could be the same.
Would love to see more Universal content. Thanks for all you both do!
Would love more Universal coverage
To Robert Alden who responded to my post. I’m not surprised that I get wet on water rides. I just stated that, in the past, Jurassic did not get you soaked. You were able to go on it (with the 50 cent ponchos they used to sell right at the start of the line) and not walk away with soaking wet underwear. That is not the case now; hence, the payment dryers which, from what I can tell, do nothing. That’s why I suggested doing what I did on a subsequent visit with wearing a swimsuit under old clothes which really helps on Popeye because it’s like taking a bath.
I would love more Universal Coverage! We are currently in Orlando and have been “park hopping” between Universal and Disney. Yesterday we managed to have an incredible morning at USF with very low crowds and waits, and then headed to Hollywood Studios for 1:30. We enjoyed Baseline while we scored Rise of the Resistance boarding passes. We rode our favorites and then got to experience the two new to us attractions (Railway and Rise). We got off Railway with just enough time to jump into line for Slinky before the park closed. It was a magical day!
I would love more content about Universal dining, hotels, and planning. We went in 2019 and there just isn’t as much info, so I felt like we were kind of going into it blind. We stayed at the Royal Pacific, which was amazing, but dining was an issue. We ended up leaving the park every night for dinner and eating at places like The Olive Garden, because we didn’t know where to go in the parks to get decent food. And we ate at one QS venue in the park during the day that was AWFUL. Almost inedible. And then there were the refillable coke freestyle mugs…the idea is great, but there are problems when a machine is out of a particular flavor, or it’s undergoing maintenance, or it’s in a part of the park that’s not open. My husband was standing 5 feet from one such machine that was at the entrance of a land that hadn’t opened for the day yet and the Team Member wouldn’t let him walk those 5 feet to the machine. And we had several moments where we put our cup in the machine only to discover our drink choice was unavailable, or the machine was in maintenance mode, but because the cup reader had already read our cup, we had to wait 10 minutes before refilling because it thought we had just refilled, even though we didn’t. This would have been the kind of thing I would have liked to be prepared for. Also, knowing what rides were like. I am not a coaster person, which rules out a LOT at Universal parks, but I am a huge Harry Potter fan. But I had no idea which rides I could handle outside of Harry Potter…and to tell the truth, the Forbidden Journey was way more intense and more “thrill ride” than I was expecting and it totally traumatized our son. Had I known what it was, we never would have had him go on it. I had heard it was like if Star Tours and Soarin’ had a baby. Nope…not even in the same solar system.
All this to say, we could really use some good information to help with planning!
(Also, Universal DOES apparently have a sort of DAS pass for disabled people, just like Disney, but we ended up not needing it as our son opted to stay in the hotel room almost the whole time. But it does exist. I saw someone mention they had nothing for disabled guests of any kind, but they DO have a pass.)
Would love to read more hotel and restaurant reviews for Universal! Love the blog!
We’re headed to Universal in 21 days. Our first vacation there (my wife has been on a couple day trips years ago). We’ve been on several WDW vacations recently. Can’t wait to see how they differ. Can’t wait to get back to Orlando! Happy (and safe) travels, all.
Please more on Universal!
Tom, we are booked for a Lowes Royal Pacific hotel for 2 nights Thanksgiving week. One, I assume the express pass is a huge advantage?
Two, do you know if they are giving any guarantees to hotel guests they will be able to get into a park, seeing it’s hitting capacity?
Resort guests are guaranteed entry into the parks even if they reach capacity. And the express pass is a must if you go during a holiday, especially if certain rides are a priority! Have a great trip!
I’m planning a trip for Christmas right now and have talked to several people at Universal and at Lowe’s and they have said that staying at the hotel does NOT guarentee you get into the park. They tap dance around the question a bit in saying that there is a priority entrance for resort guests but the will not say you definitely get in.
I’m so happy that you two are thinking of doing more Universal coverage! My husband and I love the Orlando parks, but we’ve always had to just “wing-it” since there’s not much planning info. I’d love to see more reviews for Universal Orlando dining, park planning, and hotels!
Would love more reports on universal hotels and eats!
Tom & Sarah,
Every time we come to Orlando we visit both WDW and Universal so we would like to hear more from you and Sarah about both parks. Please include blogs about Universal so we know what’s new to look forward to when we return again.
Chuck & Tia Andersen
San Antonio, TX
I would really be interested in a touring plan for Universal Studios and Island of Adventure. Which park should you start with for example. Should you do water rides at the end of the day? I would love your analysis on the details. Thank you for sharing your writing gifts with us!
I’m keen to read more too!
Even though I’m in New Zealand and it looks like we won’t get out of here to come to the US until the end of 2021….sigh!
Yes please Tom – enlighten me!
More Universal coverage sounds good to me!!
Would love to see more Universal coverage! Love the blog!
Just did back to back trips of a combined WDW and Universal visit. Felt Universals forced hand sanitizer was better than Disneys optional approach. Hotel pricing is better at Universal as well. Food options are worse at Universal. Accommodations for ANY disability or differences is not at Universal. If you don’t fit their definition of normal, forget it. Overall I prefer Disney, but have started the combined trip as my rotten is older.
I’m super interested in more Universal reports. I haven’t been there since I was a kid and I would love to take my family there one day. I definitely need planning help and recommendations like I enjoy with everything Disney.
We love the Universal parks and would love your reports, similar to Disney. Universal offers more thrill rides and some of the lands have truly excellent theming. The food lacks with the biggest exception of butter beer (our fav)! We enjoy reading your witty prose and beautiful pictures- please do more reports!
Tom
Although we’ve done 5 WDW family vacations in an 8 years span, PLEASE feel free to do more Universal write ups.
This past summer we were scheduled to do a Universal vacation rather than WDW as our self professed “Potter geek” turned 11, but alas Covid put that on hold (until spring break 2021….possibly longer if our state requires self quarantine after visiting Florida come late March/early April 2021).
I personally last went to Universal when “The Mummy” attraction was in soft previews (my sister and I were literally the only ones in the ride!!!), and have only done day trips. We had booked a top tier resort to get the included Express Pass (no early rising to try and get three Fastpass+ attractions per day, or booking dining reservations 6 months in advance), which already was appealing to me.