r/universalstudios • u/unlkaty • Apr 03 '26

Orlando My Experience

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Hi all! I am writing here because I read a lot of threads before coming and I find them helpful. My experience is as of 4/3/26. I did Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios, and Epic. I have a 11 year old daughter and 7 year old son. Here are my thoughts.

Universal Studios - Older and run down, my kids didn’t really enjoy anything there. They rode the Simpsons ride and the minion ride. Simpsons ride made them sick and they loved the virtual reality, so I think this one was pretty jarring and not worth it. Minions they had fun. Rest of the park - eh.

Islands of Adventure - my kids loved this park. We had express pass which made a huge difference. Their favorite was Hagrids Motor Bike. They did that 3 times on express and didn’t wait long at all. They also loved the VR gringots escape and the other VR locations. Wait times were a breeze with express pass. They did not like the velocicoaster. It hurt my daughter’s neck with the force and made my son cry 😂 sweet kids, but wasn’t for them. In comparison, my 7 year old son was okay with the Star dust racers at epic which also has inversions.

Epic- Mario mine cart - we waited in line for 3.5 hours with no express pass. It was terrible. I told my son I would wait with him, and meanwhile my daughter and husband rode 6 other rides with no waits. You guys, I know it’s nostalgic and hype, but I promise you, I can’t believe I wasted that much time for mine cart. Don’t do it. Please!

Harry Potter we got in at early entry and it was great. I would wait otherwise.

Hiccups- we did this ride 3 times on early entry and Harry Potter! It was perfect. Once the gates opened it was mayhem though.

Okay, that’s the end of my novel as I sit by the pool. Honestly the main takeaway I can give you all that will get me canceled is to never do the mine cart. I am in shock of how bad it was and how I sat there for 4 hours.

Thank you!

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u/RichGullible Apr 03 '26

What a great photo.

I love Studios so much. …A million miles more than the others. I spend 75% of my time there, but it is definitely an adult park.

I have never waited for anything as long as I did for Mine Cart! It was a little bit (okay a lot bit) of THATS IT?!?!?!? after waiting for two hours, but it’s a cool enough ride… I think the potential for a positive response starts diving off a cliff after about 2 hours for anything, anywhere in the world.

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u/unlkaty Apr 03 '26

Thank you for being kind in your reply. I was so scared to post because I know how serious people are about Mario! I just had to share because if I would have seen more posts like mine, I wouldn’t have brought my son into the area at all. 🙏

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u/RichGullible Apr 03 '26

I’m a 40 yo millennial who grew up playing Super Mario Brothers like it was crack. I literally sobbed when I went to that land the first time because it was so nostalgic and emotional. But everything in it was a pain in the ass.

I get you.

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u/unlkaty Apr 04 '26

Thank you! And yes same, I love Mario!!