Just Back From Universal Studios Hollywood

BadPinkTink

Republic of Ireland is not part of UK
Joined
Mar 13, 2015
Ok, just back to my hotel after my 1 day at Universal Studios Hollywood

1. Buy Tickets online in advance from Universal Studios website and print out at home. I had bought my ticket, paid $95 , my friend got a ticket at the gate and paid $115

2. Go early, but paying extra for early opening is not necessary. We got there around 9am, crowd levels very low compared to Disney at the same time of the morning.

3. Go direct to lower lot at around 9am. All 3 signature rides, The Mummy, Jurrassic Park and Transformers were walk ons until about 10.30am, where as Harry Potter was showing a 50 minute wait time.

4. Go bagless, and dont shop until you are ready to leave the park. We did the Mummy, put our stuff in a locker, and then cos the wait time for Jurrasic was so short, we left our stuff in the lockers there and went straight to Jurrasic.

5. The Simpsons area is well worth the time to explore, there is so much more than just the Ride.

6. Doing the park backwards to the majority meant that when we went for food, we missed the main lunchtime crush. We took some time out for a Duff Beer around 12pm, sitting at the bar, chatting to the bar tender, then did the Backstage Tram Tour and then had lunch.

7. The tram tour wait time was about 15 minutes longer than the posted time, but the 2 3D sections, King Kong and Fast and The Furious made up for it.

8. WOW, Harry Potterland, it was about 4pm when we finally made it through the gates. The crowds had really thinned out but there was still alot of people there. The shops are small and have max capacity limits. I guess Americans are not used to small shops, but for us it was just like shopping back home. Thats how many of our shops are lol. There is a HUGE amount of detail in the shops, not just the outside windows but in the interiors. They are really like walk through attractions in their own right.

After walking through the village, we finally made it to the main ride. Flight of the Hippograph is just a basic themed traditional roller-coaster, so we skipped that and just went straight to the main attraction.

My friend had bought some stuff so we joined the line for the lockers. This really takes time and is very crowded and so if at all possible, be bagless.

The first time we went through we did the regular line. This took an hour, from the time we joined the locker line to the time we exited off the ride. The themeing in the line, which winds its way through the Castle, starting outside in The Green House, to meeting up with Harry, Ron and Hermoine in a class room are just amazing. There is just sooo much detail in everything.

OMG, the ride itself is just breathtaking. A total immersion experience, with animatronics and water mixed with 3D video which twists and tumbles you 360 degrees. 1 gem of advice from my friend, do not have a Duff Beer before going on Harry Potter or if you suffer in any way from motion sickness.

Overall, Universal is defiantly a 1 day park. Everything is so compact, there is far less walking than Disney. The park was open until 10pm but we left at 8pm, and we did many rides multiple times.
 
Thanks for the wonderful report. I, too, found that starting on the lower lot
keeps you away from most crowds. After 8PM Wizarding World really thins out
too. Did you see any of the shows?
 
Ok, just back to my hotel after my 1 day at Universal Studios Hollywood

1. Buy Tickets online in advance from Universal Studios website and print out at home. I had bought my ticket, paid $95 , my friend got a ticket at the gate and paid $115

2. Go early, but paying extra for early opening is not necessary. We got there around 9am, crowd levels very low compared to Disney at the same time of the morning.

3. Go direct to lower lot at around 9am. All 3 signature rides, The Mummy, Jurrassic Park and Transformers were walk ons until about 10.30am, where as Harry Potter was showing a 50 minute wait time.

4. Go bagless, and dont shop until you are ready to leave the park. We did the Mummy, put our stuff in a locker, and then cos the wait time for Jurrasic was so short, we left our stuff in the lockers there and went straight to Jurrasic.

5. The Simpsons area is well worth the time to explore, there is so much more than just the Ride.

6. Doing the park backwards to the majority meant that when we went for food, we missed the main lunchtime crush. We took some time out for a Duff Beer around 12pm, sitting at the bar, chatting to the bar tender, then did the Backstage Tram Tour and then had lunch.

7. The tram tour wait time was about 15 minutes longer than the posted time, but the 2 3D sections, King Kong and Fast and The Furious made up for it.

8. WOW, Harry Potterland, it was about 4pm when we finally made it through the gates. The crowds had really thinned out but there was still alot of people there. The shops are small and have max capacity limits. I guess Americans are not used to small shops, but for us it was just like shopping back home. Thats how many of our shops are lol. There is a HUGE amount of detail in the shops, not just the outside windows but in the interiors. They are really like walk through attractions in their own right.

After walking through the village, we finally made it to the main ride. Flight of the Hippograph is just a basic themed traditional roller-coaster, so we skipped that and just went straight to the main attraction.

My friend had bought some stuff so we joined the line for the lockers. This really takes time and is very crowded and so if at all possible, be bagless.

The first time we went through we did the regular line. This took an hour, from the time we joined the locker line to the time we exited off the ride. The themeing in the line, which winds its way through the Castle, starting outside in The Green House, to meeting up with Harry, Ron and Hermoine in a class room are just amazing. There is just sooo much detail in everything.

OMG, the ride itself is just breathtaking. A total immersion experience, with animatronics and water mixed with 3D video which twists and tumbles you 360 degrees. 1 gem of advice from my friend, do not have a Duff Beer before going on Harry Potter or if you suffer in any way from motion sickness.

Overall, Universal is defiantly a 1 day park. Everything is so compact, there is far less walking than Disney. The park was open until 10pm but we left at 8pm, and we did many rides multiple times.
Great trip report! Thanks for sharing. May I ask what day of the week you went? I'm trying to figure out what day has the least amount of people. Thanks!
 


Great review! Thanks for sharing!

Anyone know if there is a single rider line for the big HP ride?
 
Great review! Thanks for sharing!

Anyone know if there is a single rider line for the big HP ride?

thanks. Yes there is BUT you miss all the pre show rooms. We did the normal standby line the first time, as there is alot to see and its well worth it. After that we did the single rider line and it was almost a walk on, as most people want to see all the pre show rooms
 
Do you know if the pre park access is for HP world only?
 


Is there a Hogwarts Express train in Universal Hollywood?
 
Is there a Hogwarts Express train in Universal Hollywood?

There is a train engine but it is just a photo op. I dont think you can go into it, just get a photo with a character in front of it. It is located just inside the main entrance to Harry Potter Land
 
Is there a Hogwarts Express train in Universal Hollywood?
there is the train engine but you can get a photo of inside a train cabin that was from the movie and the train window will be green screen so you can pick three different things the castle, the flying car or the bad ghost things from book 3.
 
Thanks for the tips :) We are spending a day at USH in November. Please tell me they have frozen butterbeer there, I'm addicted to the stuff after visiting USO lol.
 
Thanks for the tips :) We are spending a day at USH in November. Please tell me they have frozen butterbeer there, I'm addicted to the stuff after visiting USO lol.

you are welcome :) no idea about the Butterbeer, as I didnt have any. I tried it in London Harry Potter Studios Tour and didnt like it
 
I noticed the OP didn't mention seeing any of the great shows, though with a GA some shows can take up to 2 hours of your time, and why many call it a two day park.

WaterWorld is amazing and a classic, the Special Effects Stage is another popular one, Animal Actors is good, though less of a wait is needed. (And by the way, all three have good pre-shows).

Also no mention of the Movie based rides, Shrek 4-D and Minion Mayhem, though they are same as USF.

You also have the scare walkthrough themed to the Walking Dead.

A couple of smaller shows are performed in Wizardly World. Plus the Magic Wand Shop experience show.

On the lower Lot you have a Dinosaur themed show, and then a photo op.

The Transformers Photo Op is just fun to watch the Robots move and interact.

Kids are the smaller Dino area in the lower lot, and the larger Silly Fun Land next to Minion Madness. Also, Universal does a great job with its Child Switch waiting areas.

So yes, for some it is truly a two day park if you add up the queue times needed with a GA pass, and working out the show schedule into your day.
 
Thanks for the tips :) We are spending a day at USH in November. Please tell me they have frozen butterbeer there, I'm addicted to the stuff after visiting USO lol.

There's frozen butterbeer now, but it's not certain it will be there in November when it is much cooler. They may have warm butterbeer instead.
 
There's frozen butterbeer now, but it's not certain it will be there in November when it is much cooler. They may have warm butterbeer instead.
I'm not fond of warm butterbeer, I'll have to keep my fingers crossed for the frozen stuff :D
 
I noticed the OP didn't mention seeing any of the great shows, though with a GA some shows can take up to 2 hours of your time, and why many call it a two day park.
I didnt go to any shows

WaterWorld is amazing and a classic, the Special Effects Stage is another popular one, Animal Actors is good, though less of a wait is needed. (And by the way, all three have good pre-shows).
Waterworld I saw in 2011, and yes I agree it is really good. I didnt go to it on this visit, I also did not go to Special Effects Show or Animal Actors

Also no mention of the Movie based rides, Shrek 4-D and Minion Mayhem, though they are same as USF.
I did not go to Shrek 4D or Minion Mayhem

You also have the scare walkthrough themed to the Walking Dead.
I did not go to this

A couple of smaller shows are performed in Wizardly World. Plus the Magic Wand Shop experience show.
I passed by the Harry Potter show stage there were some entertainment which I was not interested in. The Magic Wand Expereince again was somwthing I was not interested in

On the lower Lot you have a Dinosaur themed show, and then a photo op.
The Transformers Photo Op is just fun to watch the Robots move and interact.

I did see the Rapter Experience which was good, and I passed by the Transformers Photo Op. Im not interested in character photos

Kids are the smaller Dino area in the lower lot, and the larger Silly Fun Land next to Minion Madness. Also, Universal does a great job with its Child Switch waiting areas.
We were 2 adults, no kids, so again this was not something of interest

We were staying in Downtown LA and dont drive and were using public transport. The main focus of this trip was to go to Harry Potter Land and ride Forbidden Journey. We had a limited budget and limited time.
 
Thanks for the tips :) We are spending a day at USH in November. Please tell me they have frozen butterbeer there, I'm addicted to the stuff after visiting USO lol.

Absolutely.

They may have warm butterbeer instead.

Took UO 4.5 years post-opening to get warm butterbeer, and it's not in all locations. It didn't take over a frozen spigot. And UO still has frozen even when it's 32 degrees in Orlando (and yes it can get that cold, I know because I've been there).
 
Thanks for this great report. Can you give me feedback / comparisons on the major attractions? I ride everything at Disney besides Tower of Terror - but I don't do bigger coasters at other theme parks. Can you tell me about Mummy and Transformers? I really want to experience Forbidden Journey - might take Dramamine and got for it - the motion simulators - can you give me more on what you mean by "tumbles you 360 degrees"? is there a loop? or do you spin in circles? It would be our first ride and I would hate to ruin my day and not ride anything else if I get sick. UGH decisions, decisions...
 

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