Universal Orlando Resort (USO, IOA) Discussion Thread

[GwaziBSRider1]

Thanks for the help.

It turns out our friends with the kids will go to seaworld while we go to universal. their kids haven't read harry potter yet or got into marvel, and they wanted something more for the little ones. (plus they found a buy one get one free seaworld discount). wow, park admissions are expensive down there. For a family of 5 with kids $95- $135 a day is a bit pricey.

 

So it will just be my girlfriend and i going to universal.

If your girlfriend is a Potter fan, I would think you'd want to do both parks.

 

I am assuming it will be quiet in mid january. is it reasonable to do both sides in one day?

Our priority would be: potter/ coasters (hulk, duelling dragons, hippogryph, gringotts, potterTrain, ripRideRocket)

 

$135x2 is a lot, but we aren't going to get to florida very often.... (and i did just make a trip to munich with the sole purpose of riding olympia looping)

 

I went the first week of January in 2012, and I was able to do both sides in a day without issue. The itinerary mentioned earlier is a very good one for you to follow, although I'd add ET to that list. If the crowds are a little high and you don't mind being separated, take advantage of the single rider lines. I know Mummy, Men in Black, and the Rockit all have one, but there are probably more that do as well.

[A.J.]

Random question, but does Gringotts have any airtime?

No, but it's definitely a coaster. Really big surprise right at the beginning though, caught me off guard.

[jarmor]

Is the beginning element not considered a firm of airtime?

[jedimaster1227]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/theme-park-rangers-blog/os-universal-holiday-parade-music-20141208-post.html

 

Holiday dreams do come true. Here's evidence: The music that accompanies the Macy's Holiday Parade at Universal Studios theme park has been changed.

 

It's not that the previous soundtrack -- dominated by Darlene Love's "Let Your Heart Take Flight" -- wasn't festive enough or difficult to march along with. But the endless loop made some people loopy. The parade was about 25 minutes long, and the loudspeakers along the route started up with "Flight" long before the parade arrived.

 

"I think it’s magical because it has so many Christmas tunes throughout," said Lora Wallace, a show director for Universal. "It’s a soundtrack, so it’s not one song that you're going to hear over and over and over. It’s 23 minutes of music. That makes us all happy. You don’t get tired of it."

 

The lead vocals were performed by New York-based singer William Blake. It was recorded in July, he said. The update -- created by the Emmy-winning team of William Schermerhorn and Doug Katsoris -- is an "upgrade," Blake said.

 

"It’s fun because it ties in the California and New York element – we have both cities in one place here at Universal Studios," he said.

 

“It’s got this big-band, big-city feel. It makes you feel like you’re in New York City." Wallace said. "The tempo is just driving, and it’s dance-y and it’s parade-y."

 

Macy's Holiday Parade is part of Universal's celebration that runs daily through Jan. 3. For more information, go to universalorlando.com.

[robbalvey]

Here's a look at Christmas at Universal Orlando!

 

Today we are at Universal Orlando checking out Christmas!

 

Hanging out Universal Orlando today for the start of their Grinchmas & Macy's Parade!

 

Which one is the real Grinch?

 

The Grinch is one bad-ass mofo!

 

New balloon "Chloe" premiering in the Macy's Holiday Parade this year!

 

John Piper from Macy's Parade gives us some backstory of Chloe the clown balloon. This balloon is a rolling character with a driver inside. It was used in the NYC parade this year.

 

Warning NSFW! We were allowed to go inside Chloe!

 

Here's what the inside of a Macy's Parade balloon looks like!

 

Some of the characters from the Macy's Parade.

 

Checking out the Grinchmas show!

 

Cindy-Lou Who sings about Christmas.

 

The star of the show! The Grinch!

 

Cindy-Lou Who teaches The Grinch all about Christmas!

 

Santa Grinch delivers the presents and everything is great in Whoville again!

[vine]

[/vine]

 

The Macy's Holiday Parade has begun!

 

Hooray for flying hippos!

 

Guess what? HIPPO BUTT!!!

 

It's like being back in New York City!

 

How's it going, mother goose?

 

Chloe says "I will kill all of you!!!"

 

Santa closes out the parade!

 

But I prefer hanging out with Santa's Helpers!

 

The Universal Studios Christmas tree lights up the sky!

 

Rip Ride Rockit glowing over the Mannheim Steamroller stage.

 

Great night at Universal Orlando covering their Christmas events!

Edited December 10, 2014 by robbalvey

[bbomser]

There was a bit of controversy with what people call these "driving balloons". I've always known them as "Falloons" (Float-Balloons), others this year called them "Bloats". Regardless, pretty cool that you were able to get inside. That photo reminds me of the rhino birth scene from Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, haha.

Edited December 11, 2014 by bbomser

[robbalvey]

^ That was exactly what I was trying to go for, but we were able to go all the way in and then come back out again. Oh, well... next time, maybe!

[cfc]

^I think you should get your own "driving balloon" and use it as your regular car.

 

I have yet to visit any Universal park over Christmas, but it looks like they do a good job.

[rmsy]

Would anyone happen to know the purpose of the headsets that the attendants wear at Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit? They caught my eye when I was watching Jimmy Fallon and Kevin Hart ride on The Tonight Show. I don't think I've ever seen anything like them before. They can be seen in this video:

 

[Spideyfreak]

^It's how they communicate with the person in Controls.

[DJeXeL]

Exactly. Similar to the Cast Members that work at Space Mountain.

[Jew]

I imagine it's actually quite difficult to drive that float!

[HTF]

Expecting to see the next round of walls go up after the Xmas rush. Very exciting times ahead...

[1pizza14]

Hi all,

 

I have plans to visit Universal Studios Florida on either the 28,29,30th of this month, I know its a horribly busy time but I really want to experience Diagon Alley. I see that the park opens at 8AM on all 3 days, Should my first stop be Gringotts? Or does the line for that get shorter later in the day? Also, I was seriously considering Express unlimited, But the $150 price tag seems very steep. I have been on every ride at USF before except for Gringotts and Transformers, so those 2 are my priorities, and since the regular express pass is only 1 ride on everything I am leaning more to express. I seem to recall USF having a queue bot type system? Do they still have that system available? I looked online and saw no mention of it, and if anyone knew the price for that, that would be great. Any advice is helpful, thanks.

[SharkTums]

^Use the single rider line on Transformers and Gringotts and it shouldn't be terrible.

[chargersmichael]

A quick little update from my trip to the park this morning!

 

-King Kong looks massive and amazing! It appears that they are already building the exterior facade of the attraction based on the way the steel beams are strange looking, crooked, etc. It looks so big! Can't wait for whatever kind of ride it is to open in the near future!

-Lots of dirt moving around for the Sapphire Falls Hotel.

-Lots of dirt moving around in the area between I-4 and Cabana Bay (Rumored to be a water park???)

-You can tell that they are expecting big crowds as they set up an exterior queue for Diagon Alley and a much larger one for Transformers than they already have for it.

-Hulk now has the same policy as Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit where there are tons of workers outside the entrance yelling at people to empty everything out of your pockets to put it in a locker. I was asked at the entrance, before going into the building, once more in the queue building, and then at the station. It is very annoying as they really seem to yell at people.

-Mummy operations were kind of slow...they were running one side of the station which they usually do...but were loading really slowly. I waited about 10 minutes for about a 3 train wait.

[bert425]

Now how has this not been reported here yet?

 

(the link from the local news is trying to make this sound like a HUGE deal):

 

"Riders had to be RESCUED!!!!! from Escape from Gringott's ride"

 

OMG. .the HORROR. . . my feet fell asleep after a 1/2 hour!

 

sheesh.

 

 

http://www.clickorlando.com/news/riders-stuck-on-harry-potter-ride-at-universal-orlando-ofd-says/30440226?hpt=us_bn8

[bert425]

Catch the end of that report:

 

"according to the Fire Department, No one was injured or had to be treated"

 

 

 

SO WHY WAS THIS NEWS?!?

[GwaziBSRider1]

Being stuck seven feet off the ground inside of an air-conditioned building must be pretty miserable.

[DJeXeL]

They were 7ft from the ground!! Not sure about you but that would've scared thew sh*t out of me! I'm sure their lives flashed before their eyes! Hopefully they were compensated with free hotel stay and comp tickets. That's the least the park could have done for their inconvenience.

[chargersmichael]

And a helicopter was sent out to catch footage of people being rescued inside an ENCLOSED building. Wonder how that footage turned out. It was on my local news station and they were like..."Good thing no one was injured. Very scary situation."

 

Really?

[PCW_Nut]

I was enjoying people on my FB sharing the stories with notes of "Why is this news?" "I am not sure why people even report on this stuff" "You've got to be kidding me". All of those contained links to news stories and videos. Guess what that does people? That makes people click it, increase viewership on said stories and makes those news outlets think those are big stories so they will post it again and again.

 

If we see these stories going forward, don't share the links to the story. That way it won't spread like wildfire on the internet.

 

*End rant

[cfc]

Catch the end of that report:

 

"according to the Fire Department, No one was injured or had to be treated"

 

 

 

SO WHY WAS THIS NEWS?!?

 

Must've been a very, very slow news day.

[GCI Wooden]

SO WHY WAS THIS NEWS?!?

 

Being stuck 1.3 Feet taller than an average human being is SCARY! BIG news story! How could this not be news!

 

This world is very strange sometimes.

[bert425]

SO WHY WAS THIS NEWS?!?

 

Being stuck 1.3 Feet taller than an average human being is SCARY! BIG news story! How could this not be news!

 

This world is very strange sometimes.

 

 

and dispatching a helicopter to fly over a building where inside, people are being evacuated!!!! (omg.. hope they had a ladder handy).

 

just the funniest damn thing I saw today.