Best Ride at Universal Orlando?

[The Yeti]

I'm making this thread because I want to know your opinion on what the best ride at Universal Orlando is. Every time I go to Universal Orlando I honestly can't choose one ride as my favorite. I love them all too much - I love E.T. as much as I love Spiderman and as much as I love Dueling Dragons. I love Revenge of the Mummy as much as I love Dudley Doo Right and as much as I love The Simpsons Ride. Popeye is as good as the Hulk, Jurassic Park, and Dr. Doom.

 

While this may be a bit of a ripoff of the WDW thread, but Universal Orlando has a lot more to offer to the thrill seekers out there along with top notch theming.

 

 

I left out Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey because the ride is so mind-blowing that it's in a class of its own. The other rides are still some of the highest quality rides out there though, and I want to hear which of those is your favorite.

Edited March 1, 2014 by robbalvey

[Reality15]

First, I definitely agree that Forbidden Journey is just... wow. We rushed through the Studios just so we could go back over to Islands of Adventure and ride it a few more times. I'd ride that over most of the coasters I've ridden, and will definitely take time out of our honeymoon to WDW later this year just to get over there and ride it again.

 

As far as everything else, Dueling Dragons is great. A little too intense for my tastes (though that might have been the lunch from Mythos that was fresh in my stomach), but definitely two great coasters. Only got to experience half of Jurassic Park as the ride broke down and we got walked-off, but it seemed pretty well done. Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls was a fun ride, and probably one of the best log flumes I've been on. Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges was amazing, especially since I'm a big fan of rapids rides. That drop off the lift is just awesome. Spiderman continues to be amazing, but I'm still not a big fan of any of the 3D attractions, mostly due to not really being able to see that well on the ride (can we PLEASE get some 3D glasses that go over regular glasses?). Dr. Doom's Fear Fall is just another S&S drop tower, nothing special there. Incredible Hulk quickly became my #2 steel coaster after two great front-seat rides in the morning and one AMAZING front-seat ride at night. Seuss Landing could be re-done for all I care, but then again I'm not exactly who Seuss Landing is marketing to.

 

Over at the studios, T2 is okay, but really out-dated. E.T. is also out-of-date and some of the features are in need of an upgrade. The Simpsons Ride was fun, but being a huge Back to the Future fanboy I'm sad that I can't chase Biff around Hill Valley anymore. Men in Black was fun, but pretty much on-par with all of the other shooting dark rides out there. Jaws... will someone PLEASE give this ride a make-over? There's so many great things that could be changed about it or even using that space for a newer attraction. Disaster has an AMAZING pre-show, but the subway portion that's leftover from Earthquake needs updating. While everyone raves about Revenge of the Mummy, the only part that I thought was really "amazing" was when Brendan Frasier dies at the end. Just wasn't a fan of it. Twister is still pretty cool, but they could do a special effects show to a newer, more popular movie. Shrek 4D is awesome, love all the cultural references and the fact that it's not just a standard 3D show. Thank god Jimmy Neutron is being removed, the ride broke down twice while we were on it and wasn't that great anyways. So many of the references are outdated for today's kids (Rugrats, Ren & Stimpy, Rocko's Modern Life... when was the last time any of those were on TV? I might love them, but not a whole lot of kids know what they are anymore), and the simulator itself is rough and in need of a refurbishment or replacement. Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit surprised me a lot. After hearing fairly poor reviews of it, I couldn't disagree more with people. It's got a great, interesting layout and the entire experience is AMAZING.

 

So, all of that mumbo jumbo text aside, I'd have to say outside of Forbidden Journey, my favorite rides at Universal Orlando are Incredible Hulk at Islands of Adventure and Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit at the Studios. Not counting coasters, I'd have to go with Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls and the Simpsons Ride.

[SharkTums]

I wouldn't exclude Forbidden Journey. It's a good ride, but I doubt it's EVERYONE'S favorite.

[YoshiFan]

Dueling Dragons Fire (Ice is awesome too). I really like how it had 2 immelmann inversions and going right over Ice in the zero g roll.

[jjune4991]

My favorite ride at USF is The Mummy. My favorite at IOA is Dragon's Challenge.

 

For non coasters, it has to be Jaws and Dr. Doom's Fear Fall, respectively.

[downunder]

Dragons for me, then Hulk, and Mummy. Men In Black is my fave dark ride, I'm not a big fan of motion simulators with projections so Forbidden Journy doesn't get a nod, but the Potterland is a nice piece of work overall.

[dandaman]

Bill Paxton.

[Kyle Coleman]

Call me weird but I actually still like spiderman better than forbidden journey. Potter has by far the best pre show area out there but once you are actually on the ride it just sort of lurches from scene to scene with no story. Spiderman once it gets going you feel like you are working toward some sort of goal and actually are on an adventure with spiderman. They are both great though.

[rosscoe]

I think Spiderman, that was such an awesome ride, Potter was great however I was left wanting more.

[BaMiTsPaT]

I would definitely say dragon challenge, and it saddens me to see potter with a 60 minute wait and dragons with a 10 minute wait because I think the dragons are a better ride, but I still loved Forbidden Journey.

[The SETGO Guys]

Without counting coasters I'd have to say my favorites are- Spidey, Hulk(y) and Jaws

 

Being an Engineer (In Training) I really think the ride system used for JAWS is just amazing. (The Boats are INTAMIN diesel btw)

 

Hulk is an amazing coaster.

 

Spidey-Self explanitory

[Hilltopper39]

I haven't ridden Forbidden journey yet but I assume that its pretty amazing however I think Men in Black is a highly underrated ride and quite possibly one of the best at Universal. I think its the best shooting Dark Ride anywhere period and is a ton of fun and much more re-ridable than most stuff at Universal (and Disney).

 

In my opinion Universal has a lot of rides that are top 5 in their respective ride categories. Popeye is the best rapids ride Ive been on, Ripsaw is my favorite log flume, Jurassic is the best chute the chutes style large boat drop ride Ive been on, Spiderman/Harry Potter are the best dark rides, Mummy is one of the the best indoor coasters, Men in Black is the best shooting dark ride, and Twister is th best simulated tornado attraction anywhere (And Bill Paxon is my favorite show actor, Gary Sinese is a close second).

[alpengeist04]

Wow, I don't even know where to begin. First, I guess you can put me on the list of people who actually likes Spider-man more than Forbidden Journey.

 

IOA:

 

1. Spider-man

2. Dueling Dragons

3. Forbidden Journey

4. Popeye & Bluto

5. Dudley Do-Right

6. Jurassic Park

7. The Hulk

 

 

USF:

 

1. The Mummy

2. MIB

3. Jaws

4. Terminator

5. The Simpsons

 

Overall:

 

1. Spider-man

2. Dueling Dragons

3. The Mummy

4. MIB

5. Forbidden Journey

[SamanthaMc92]

Difficult!

 

Ok, excluding FJ (which is INCREDIBLE)

 

In IOA, i'd say......Spidy, Hulk, and Jurrasic Park

 

In Universal - Mummy, MIB and T2

[StarTrekGeek]

I honestly say Forbidden Journey as my favorite, followed by Spider-Man, and followed by Hulk for IOA. At USF, Rockit is my favorite, followed by a tie between the Simpsons and Men in Black, and then the Mummy.

 

Least favorites:

IOA - Poseidon's Fury (Cheap, lame, and cheesy describe this perfectly)

USF - Fear Factor Live (this is just plain gross)

[Moose]

Being an Engineer (In Training)

 

Just curious, have you actually taken the test and have an Engineer In Training (EIT) License?

 

 

As far as my favorite ride at Universal. There really are a ton of great rides, but I would have to say my favorite is Spidey (on the rare occasion it doesnt break down). A close second is Hulk.

[1pizza14]

Just went to Universal yesterday and finished all of the rides in our 2 weeks in Orlando. I have only been one other time. For my favourite rides I would say at IOA Spiderman, Dragons Challange (Ripsaw Falls is close behind) and at US Rockit, and The Simpsons Ride. Gotta love them

[Jerrykoala2112]

I have yet to not enjoy a ride at Universal Studios!

 

At Universal: The Mummy is my 2nd favorite roller coaster, totally intense and truly what I love in a coaster! Simpsons Ride was an awesome replacement for Back to the Future, probably even better. Men In Black is just awesome, one of my favorite shooters. I haven't been on Toy Story Mania, so not sure how it could compare. Jaws could be a little better, but the ending kind of freaked me out. Hollywood RRRRRR is also really fun, especially in the front! Insane air, and the speaker technology was pretty interesting. Shrek 4D and the soon to be gone Nicktoon Blast were both definitely worth riding, and are both pretty long rides, a nice break from the heat. Haven't been on Twister or Disaster yet, so I cannot rate those, both had long lines last couple times I went. But E.T. has got to be one of the greatest rides ever made! The movie was just awesome, and the ride is totally relaxing and enjoyable.

 

At Islands of Adventure: First, Harry Potter World is awesome! Forbidden Journey got me sick halfway through my first ride, but I rode it again anyways! Dragon Challenge hasn't changed, still awesome! Spiderman wasn't as good at Forbidden Journey for me, but it's still pretty high up there! Incredible Hulk was really fun, probably rode it 10 times out of all my visits, I love the layout, although it does die a little after the mid-course brake run. Dr. Seuss Landing is really great, heck, I'm in my mid-teens and I liked the monorail and Cat in the Hat... Jurassic Park has always scared me since I was little, so riding it against earlier this year reminded me of how awesome the ride was! Now I have yet to ride the log flume and the rapids rides, so maybe on my next visit!

 

Universal Studios (and Islands of Adventure) still remains my favorite theme park / amusement park anywhere! Hersheypark and Liseberg following close behind!

[osm]

Hulk

For non-coasters, Ripsaw Falls is just an amazing flume ride.

Edited June 3, 2011 by osm

[The Yeti]

I guess since nobody has excluded Forbidden Journey, and since it hasn't won as many people over as I thought, then if someone can take that part out of the title that would be great (I'm not sure if I can do that, and if so, how do I go about removing it?).

 

I've gotta say that I got to ride DD at night for the first time in years a few weeks ago, and Fire was absolutely tearing it up. Am I the only one who liked Rip Ride Rock It? It had technical issues the day I was there last year (this year I only went to IOA), but I got to ride it twice in the back and had a great time listening to Sabotage by the Beastie Boys...it's by no means the best, but it was still a lot of fun.

[Philrad71]

Hmmm...I'm going with the Simpsons. It was just a lot better than what I was expecting and I don't think I've ever heard my Dad laugh so much in his life (he LOVES the Simpsons) so that made it even more awesome!

 

None of us was really impressed with HRRR..a little too rough on our one ride and while I remember Revenge of the Mummy being more intense than what I thought it was going to be, we still thought it was rather mehhhh.

 

IOA was just awesome. While Forbidden Journey was not yet open, we still loved all of the rides.

 

Dudley and Bluto were two of the best water rides I have ever ridden, despite the fact that it was only about 60 degrees when we rode! And we all loved DD, Hulk and Spidey.

 

Soooo...I guess if we had to rank our favorites at both parks:

 

1). Simpsons

2). Dueling Dragons (sorry, can't help it)

3). Spiderman

4). Hulk

5) Dudley

6). Bluto

7). Heineken draft & pizza between DD and Jurassic

8). Jurassic

9). Jaws

10). Mummy

[Sir Coaster]

Gotta say, I haven't been back to Universal Studios in a while...In fact, BTTF: The Ride was STILL open when I was there.

 

 

Honestly, I haven't ridden Hulk or DD yet, but with how much rave there is, I suppose I should hit them when I go back to Orlando...

 

 

Gotta admit, my favorite ride at IOA was Spider-Man. It's a fun little ride that doesn't seem like much, but really packs alot of action and fun into the small time it is.

 

 

US, it's really a mix. I loved every ride there. I loved T2 for its nostalgia factor and generally how fun the 3D effects were. ET was a great ride because of how well themed it was. Never been on Jimmy Neutron, seeing as the last time I was there, it was still Hanna Barbera.

 

Jaws is an AMAZING ride. Loved every second of it. MIB is a very underrated ride. The theming and overall fun it packs into its small building is mesmerizing, and overall some good fun...Though it is indeed gone, I CANNOT go without mentioning BTTF. I loved that ride my whole childhood, and it will never stop being one of my favorite rides of ALL TIME...As for Twister, Bill Paxton>God

 

 

Overall, favorite at IOA is Spider-Man, while Jaws is my favorite at US, BTTF being my spiritual favorite.

[Pufferfish]

Universal is very solid when it comes to attractions. I'm just amazed at all the love Dragons has, when if you look past the theming and the dueling aspects of it, each one is pretty standard for a B&M invert. Fire is the only one that's truly stand out to me with its second immelmann and the airtime hill. As for the attractions that I think are truly the best at Universal, at the studios it's Rip Ride Rock'it hands down, with Mummy's Revenge as a good second place. Then at IOA it's Forbidden Journey followed closely by Hulk.

[SharkTums]

^I disagree about Dragons. To me they're some of the last B&M Inverts that still had forces. I'm sure part of that is due to the lack of a midcourse brake.

 

They run well, are smooth, and great rides. I like them more than Hulk.

[downunder]

^That's why I voted for Dragon's, they were really forceful the whole ride and very smooth in October last year when I visited. Even Harry Potter couldn't tame them.