Universal Studios Hollywood

Summer has gone by in flash, and we tired to squeeze in all the fun we could manage before going back to school and our usual hectic schedules, so a few weeks ago my youngest daughter and I hit up Universal Studios Hollywood.

I’ll start by saying we are hard core Disney fans, and really, no one has the theme park magic down like Disney, but Costco had a great deal on 11 month Universal passes, so we sprung for those.

We went on a Saturday, and it was crowded, but luckily not too hot considering it was July. We heard everyone in line talking about going to Super Nintendo World, so we decided to not follow the crowd and go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter first.

Being a big fan of the Harry Potter franchise I love this area, but I think both rides here have major limitations.

First we went on Flight of the Hippogriff. This ride is about 15 seconds long and only worth it if you walk on, although the Buckbeak animatronic and seeing Hagid’s hut in Fun.

The main attraction here is Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.

One thing Universal does better than Disney in the queue, and this ride is definitely an example of that. Walking through Hogwarts, seeing the moving portraits and entering Dumbledore’s office are definitely highlights while you wait. Be prepared, however, to leave your bags behind in the lockers outside the ride because you can’t take them on. Unfortunately for us, the smallest free to use locker wouldn’t fit our mini Loungefly backpacks, so we had to pay $5 to upgrade to the middle sized locker. That did prevent us from going on the Mummy ride, which also requires a locker, and I definitely didn’t want to pay again. Next time, smaller bags.

The major downfall of this ride is that if you get motion sickness, this ride will definitely make you nauseous. Having experienced that before, both my daughter and I took Dramamine, and it definitely helped. Besides this ride, some of the other motion simulation rides at the park will definitely cause motion sickness, with The Simpsons Ride being another big offender.

Next we hit up Super Nintendo World, which is so cute and definitely immersive, albeit a little loud and overwhelming as you first enter from the warping pipe.

There is one ride here, but if you spring for the Power Up band, you can engage in different challenges, using the band to interact with the features of this area as you would in the Super Mario games. The characters were also out taking pictures, again, very fun for fans of the Mario Franchise.

The one ride here is Mario Kart Bower’s Challenge, which we had to wait 80 minutes for, but it was well worth it. After donning your Mario hat and visor, you ride in a Kart, throwing shells at your opponents and driving on some of the most iconic Mario Kart tracks, such as Rainbow Road. This is definitely a unique and fun attraction.

Then it was lunch time, and the food here was definitely not as good as Disney. We struggled to find something great for my vegetarian daughter. She says next time she’s bringing her own.

Then we hit up the Studio Tour, which is a must see here. I didn’t get any pictures but the Studio Tour is a one hour tram ride through the Universal lot, with a few fun movie magic features, including encounters with the shark from Jaws as well as King Kong. King Kong was having a “bad hair day” on the day we were there but it’s always fun to see where some of your favorite shows and movies are filmed, and hear all about what goes into making these productions.

It started to get super crowded so we did just one more ride before heading home, The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash. This is a cute dark ride in which you get to play the part of a puppy up for adoption. Again, the queue is fun here. You walk through the pets’ apartments and can look into mail slots to see what they are up too. I love this dog on the counter getting a little massage.

Next up for Universal is Halloween Horror Nights, and we decided we might all be too chicken for mazes such as The Terrifier, so Grinchmas might be our next time to visit. We also hit up Disney’s California Adventure, so more on that soon. Until then, enjoy Labor Day and the unofficial end of summer!