A Few Universal Questions

KyleAfterAWhile

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jun 12, 2017
Hi!! :wave:

We have never been to Universal. We are making our first trip this fall. I have a few questions.

1 - Most of us do not like thrill rides. Will there still be plenty to do for 2 days? We are all pretty much ride chickens so if there are big drops, anything upside down, spinning or any VR that simulates falling, we don't want any of it :) I looked on the Universal site, but the descriptions are pretty vague. I then went to YouTube, but all of the videos are so dark. I then did Google searches, but it was not the kind of information I am looking for. I just need to know if things like The Mummy, the Harry Potter indoor rides, Spiderman, Kong, whatever is gonna scare the crap out of us. We have retired folk and little kids in our party.

2 - What does Butterbeer taste like?

3 - In the Harry Potter park, if you are not a HP fan, will you still be able to enjoy yourself? Some of us are really looking forward to it and some are not fans of the movie and so they are hesitant about taking the train over with the rest of the crew.

4 - Is there music from the movies playing all over the HP park?

5 - I believe we will be there in mid-October. None of us do the Halloween thing. Are US and IoA decorated for Halloween with gory stuff?
 
Let me preface my responses to your questions with I'am a grandma who takes her teen grandchildren to Universal every year for vacation and we love it. You will have a great time.

Butterbeer tastes to me like a mix between butterscotch and cream soda. Try a frozen one.

The ride on the Hogwarts Express is very nice. Even if you are not a fan of Potter it is worth it.


ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE

In Hogsmeade since you are not a fan of simulator rides just let the TM at Forbidden Journey Ride know you just want to walk through the Castle. You can do that.

There is a small coaster called Flight of Hippogriff in Hogsmeade this would be easy. The only other ride in Hogsmeade Is Dragon Challenge coaster. Mingle through the shops.

There is a wand show at Ollivanders wand shop in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. I like the one in Diagon Alley better.

Three Broomsticks for the Potter and non Potter fans is a nice lunch.

Have your Butterbeer or a lemonade or a beer or wine at the Hogs head pub in Hogsmeade.

I think even if you are not a Potter fan the theming is great.

Everyone will do fine on Kong.

Jurassic River adventure has a drop at the end but not bad at all. You will get a little wet depending on where you sit.

Rapter encounter would be fun for all.

Poseidon's Fury walk through would be good.

Spider-Man is a 3-D simulator ride.

Eighth Voyage of Sinbad show.

Little kids and adults alike will enjoy Seuss Landing. There are some rides there. You can see them on the maps. They are fun..

A nice meal in IOA would be Mytho's. I think everyone would really enjoy that.

US is where Halloween Horror nights is held. Nothing at IOA. Halloween Horror nights will be held on every Wednesday-Sunday in the month of October as well as 10-30, 10-31, 11-3 and 11-4. US will close early to guests who do not have a separate ticket to attend HHN. I think it closes at 5 pm, but IOA will still be open.

There will be some props from HHN out in US, but nothing I considered disturbing. There were some smaller stages with the curtains pulled in center street of US during the day as well as some scare zone staging.

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

Mummy is a coaster fast and jerky at times.

Shriek 4-D show will be fine

Diagon Alley is awesome. You can ask TM to walk through Gringotts also if you don't want to ride.

Animal actors live is a cute show.

E. T. Adventure everyone will love.

Transformers is a 3-D simulator ride.

Fear Factor live show is good.

Terminater :2 3-D is a show

Kids will have fun at Woodywoodpeckers Kidzone

I think there is enough to do even for the squeamish riders.

This will get you started. If you have anymore questions someone will jump in and answer.

Have a great trip pixiedust:
 
Last edited:
Let me preface my responses to your questions with I'am a grandma who takes her teen grandchildren to Universal every year for vacation and we love it. You will have a great time.

Butterbeer tastes to me like a mix between butterscotch and cream soda. Try a frozen one.

The ride on the Hogwarts Express is very nice. Even if you are not a fan of Potter it is worth it.


ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE

In Hogsmeade since you are not a fan of simulator rides just let the TM at Forbidden Journey Ride know you just want to walk through the Castle. You can do that.

There is a small coaster called Flight of Hippogriff in Hogsmeade this would be easy. The only other ride in Hogsmeade Is Dragon Challenge coaster. Mingle through the shops.

There is a wand show at Ollivanders wand shop in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. I like the one in Diagon Alley better.

Three Broomsticks for the Potter and non Potter fans is a nice lunch.

Have your Butterbeer or a lemonade or a beer or wine at the Hogs head pub in Hogsmeade.

I think even if you are not a Potter fan the theming is great.

Everyone will do fine on Kong.

Jurassic River adventure has a drop at the end but not bad at all. You will get a little wet depending on where you sit.

Rapter encounter would be fun for all.

Poseidon's Fury walk through would be good.

Spider-Man is a 3-D simulator ride.

Eighth Voyage of Sinbad show.

Little kids and adults alike will enjoy Seuss Landing. There are some rides there. You can see them on the maps. They are fun..

A nice meal in IOA would be Mytho's. I think everyone would really enjoy that.

US is where Halloween Horror nights is held. Nothing at IOA. Halloween Horror nights will be held on every Wednesday-Sunday in the month of October as well as 10-30, 10-31, 11-3 and 11-4. US will close early to guests who do not have a separate ticket to attend HHN. I think it closes at 5 pm, but IOA will still be open.

There will be some props from HHN out in US, but nothing I considered disturbing. There were some smaller stages with the curtains pulled in center street of US during the day as well as some scare zone staging.

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

Mummy is a coaster fast and jerky at times.

Shriek 4-D show will be fine

Diagon Alley is awesome. You can ask TM to walk through Gringotts also if you don't want to ride.

Animal actors live is a cute show.

E. T. Adventure everyone will love.

Transformers is a 3-D simulator ride.

Fear Factor live show is good.

Terminater :2 3-D is a show

Kids will have fun at Woodywoodpeckers Kidzone

I think there is enough to do even for the squeamish riders.

This will get you started. If you have anymore questions someone will jump in and answer.

Have a great trip pixiedust:


That was so, so helpful. Thank you.

For the Mummy ride, I can handle jerky if it is like Dinosaur, Big Thunder, Dwarfs Coaster, etc. It is more "erratic" than that?

Does forbidden journey have drops or does it spin? It looks like it spins or maybe even goes upside down.
 
The Mummy is very stop/start. When it's moving, it's pretty smooth, but there are some unexpected stops. Mummy is our family's favorite ride.

FJ is hard to describe. The seats are at the end of a big Kuka arm. Think of any time you have seen a car assembly line where there are big robot arms attaching things. It gives a very unique ride profile. There are no physical 'big drops', but when the arm movement is combined with the screens, it might 'feel' like there are big drops. I'm not a fan of the ride, but I can't imagine not trying it.

I'm not a HP fan at all. Saw the first movie and it was not for me. But I still enjoy the HP areas. I have no idea what I am looking at 90% of the time, but I still like it.

I do not, however, like the train ride. I don't know the story/characters enough to get anything out of it. I can't explain it, but I don't feel comfortable in the cars. I'd rather walk. ;)
 


Let me preface my responses to your questions with I'am a grandma who takes her teen grandchildren to Universal every year for vacation and we love it. You will have a great time.

Butterbeer tastes to me like a mix between butterscotch and cream soda. Try a frozen one.

The ride on the Hogwarts Express is very nice. Even if you are not a fan of Potter it is worth it.


ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE

In Hogsmeade since you are not a fan of simulator rides just let the TM at Forbidden Journey Ride know you just want to walk through the Castle. You can do that.

There is a small coaster called Flight of Hippogriff in Hogsmeade this would be easy. The only other ride in Hogsmeade Is Dragon Challenge coaster. Mingle through the shops.

There is a wand show at Ollivanders wand shop in Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. I like the one in Diagon Alley better.

Three Broomsticks for the Potter and non Potter fans is a nice lunch.

Have your Butterbeer or a lemonade or a beer or wine at the Hogs head pub in Hogsmeade.

I think even if you are not a Potter fan the theming is great.

Everyone will do fine on Kong.

Jurassic River adventure has a drop at the end but not bad at all. You will get a little wet depending on where you sit.

Rapter encounter would be fun for all.

Poseidon's Fury walk through would be good.

Spider-Man is a 3-D simulator ride.

Eighth Voyage of Sinbad show.

Little kids and adults alike will enjoy Seuss Landing. There are some rides there. You can see them on the maps. They are fun..

A nice meal in IOA would be Mytho's. I think everyone would really enjoy that.

US is where Halloween Horror nights is held. Nothing at IOA. Halloween Horror nights will be held on every Wednesday-Sunday in the month of October as well as 10-30, 10-31, 11-3 and 11-4. US will close early to guests who do not have a separate ticket to attend HHN. I think it closes at 5 pm, but IOA will still be open.

There will be some props from HHN out in US, but nothing I considered disturbing. There were some smaller stages with the curtains pulled in center street of US during the day as well as some scare zone staging.

UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

Mummy is a coaster fast and jerky at times.

Shriek 4-D show will be fine

Diagon Alley is awesome. You can ask TM to walk through Gringotts also if you don't want to ride.

Animal actors live is a cute show.

E. T. Adventure everyone will love.

Transformers is a 3-D simulator ride.

Fear Factor live show is good.

Terminater :2 3-D is a show

Kids will have fun at Woodywoodpeckers Kidzone

I think there is enough to do even for the squeamish riders.

This will get you started. If you have anymore questions someone will jump in and answer.

Have a great trip pixiedust:
Wow, what a great answer. Thanks a lot!
 


I personally wouldn't spend all that money to go to a park that is almost exclusively VR, 3D thrill rides. What you described as being chicken for is almost all of the rides there.
 
There are plenty of rides and shows to enjoy. This family will have a great time.

I disagree. They wanted opinions, and I'm giving it. I can see maybe one day in the parks to do all the stuff that they won't hate. Maybe. There isn't much.
 
I disagree. They wanted opinions, and I'm giving it. I can see maybe one day in the parks to do all the stuff that they won't hate. Maybe. There isn't much.

You have a right to your opinion as everyone does for sure, but I think this is another example of someone from the Disney side of the boards coming over to the Universal information side to :stir:.

They asked for information on their upcoming trip to Universal that would be helpful to their visit there not discouragement.
 
You have a right to your opinion as everyone does for sure, but I think this is another example of someone from the Disney side of the boards coming over to the Universal information side to :stir:

That's quite rude. I think we're done here.
 
There are plenty of rides and shows to enjoy. This family will have a great time.

You have a right to your opinion as everyone does for sure, but I think this is another example of someone from the Disney side of the boards coming over to the Universal information side to :stir:.

They asked for information on their upcoming trip to Universal that would be helpful to their visit there not discouragement.

Absolutely.

We have lots of sets of friends who go to Universal.......some won't do coasters, some won't do wet rides, some don't do simulators........

They without exception all have a wonderful time as there really is something for everyone.

A study of the park maps and layouts will show you what's on offer from rides to shows to restaurants........
 
Just being in the park is worth it for me. Seeing all these beautiful buildings. On top of that maybe the best ride in the park is the Hogwarts express. It's a wonderful experience.

You also have different shows, ET (classic) and different type of things like the Raptor encounter.

We took my inlaws to the parks last fall and they loved it. My mother in law has some motion sickness issues, so she didn't ride anything. She walked with us through the queues in HP world and loved it.

So there IS a lot of stuff to do. I think a lot of people (including me through the years) focus to much on the rides and to little on just being present at the park and taking everything in. That's what I miss the most ride now (I need my Universal fix!!!!)
 
Spider-man has a short section that simulates falling.. and it does it pretty well.
I believe Cat in the Hat has a short section where the car spins.. not very fast, but it does spin. It's meant as a family ride so it's more of a gentle spin.
Harry Potter Forbidden Journey simulates riding a broom through most of the ride.. it's a little jerky and at one point you do flip onto your back, but you never go upside down. There is no free falling, but you have moments where you're in a dive on the broom.
You do go backwards on the Mummy (if it's the same as in California). I don't remember any huge drops, just darkness and wicked banked curves.
You can see part of the drop in the Jurassic Park water ride and decide for yourself if it's too much.
I think you'll really like Poseidon's Fury is a great show. I was really surprised at the end.
 
Last time we went we only rode gringotts and still had a blast.

As for butterbeer, take a cold glass, add a bit of heavy cream to the bottom (1/4" or so), fill the rest with 1/2 A&W root beer and 1/2 A&W cream soda. Stir with a straw a bit. Boom. Almost perfect recreation of the park's butterbeer. Theirs is a bit more watered down.

Theres zero butterscotch in theirs, which made me sad.
 
2 - What does Butterbeer taste like?

For me it's pretty :crazy2:

It's like a cream soda, but just cloyingly sweet. It's way too sweet for me. I do know people who like it a lot though, but most seem to prefer the slushy variety.

Now, Pumpkin Juice on the other hand, I love it! It's also very, very sweet, but it doesn't seem to stick to you, or it goes down smoother or something. Plus, pumpkin!
 
Just to give you my background, I go on everything at Disney World except Hollywood Rock N Roller Coaster because it hurts my head and neck and Space Mountain (since the 2009 refurb which also hurts my head and neck).

I have been on HP FJ twice - once in 2013 and once last year - both times I felt extremely motion sick after and the second time my husband, who has an iron stomach, said that he was never going on it again because it made him feel green around the gills. The first time I was on it I screamed half the time to at things popping out at you and when we got of the ride my husband asked me if that was me screaming my head off the whole time. However, walking through Hogwarts Castle is great! You cannot imagine the level of detail there.

As for the rest of IOA - things I would recommend for your particular case off the top of my head are Spiderman - there is one scene at the end where you do fell like you are dropping, so I would recommend this for mild scaredy cats only. If you want to get wet Bluto's Bilge Rat Barges (I am sure I don't have the name right at all). Kong does not have any large drops, twists or turns. Jurassic Park is a coin flip for scaredy cats - it is a boat ride with one big drop at the end and of course carnivore dinosaurs are "loose". Hogsmeade itself is awesome. We went to Poseidon's Fury walk through show - look the acting is super cheesy but we were really impressed by the sets and special effects of the show - really cool! And everything Seuss is great - Cat in the Hat, One Fish, Two Fish, Caro-seussel and Trolley in the sky.

I will try to come back and post later with my thoughts on the Studios!
 

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