Universal Studios

Well, we're back, and I'm positive about one thing: Universal Studios is WAY better than Disney World! At least for taller and/or older people. I went to Disney World when I was... 12? At the time, I was terrified of roller coasters but on that trip I learned to appreciate the large difference between permanently set up coasters and the kind they throw up in a day for the fair.

That said, I honestly think the best part of the trip was when we were watching a horror make up show and the guy was teasing a kid, and then said "See, this isn't Disney World... We don't have to be nice to the kids here." (There were two guys on stage, the other guy pretended to accuse the kid for throwing a rock, the second guy was pretending to yell at him for it.)

Now, the reason why I say that Universal Studios is better than Disney World? Sure, Universal may be half the size, but the coasters are WAY more intense! My favorite ride at Disney World was the Tower of Terror. (You're in an elevator that drops quickly. The rises, not so fast.) Universal's version of that was Dr. Doom's Free Fall. You lift about 5-10 feet off the ground, and then SHOOT into the air! The only bad thing about that was all the rest of the dropping and rising weren't nearly as dramatic. I'm not much of a screamer, but I definitely screamed on that one.

The Hulk coaster has to be my favorite, and I'm going to keep the reason a secret because it's a complete surprise. The Dragon Fight ride at Harry Potter was also a favorite. And the Mummy Ride... That one was also a surprise!

There were a bunch of rides that were pretty much a theater with seats/cars that jerk around and make it feel like you're on a coaster, with the added effects of a story plot, water, smells, fog, etc. We usually called these "4-D" rides, because some of the rides were described as 4-D (3D with the added benefit of the car/seat moving) but not all of them were 3D. We also called some of them Story Coasters, because some of them were more of a Roller Coaster, but not quite.

The biggest lesson we learned, though, was to wear very comfortable flip flops or sandals. The reason for this was because there are a few water rides in the Islands of Adventure park, (one of the 2 parks right next to each other) and our socks and hiking boots got SOAKED. I was very worried about getting foot fungus when we finally got back to the hotel hours later and the bottom of my feet were swollen with water. Our shoes STINK horribly.

The reason we even went alllll the way to Florida was for Universal's Halloween Horror Nights. They were basically mazes based off of popular movies/games, and they have REAL movie props and actors, instead of some broke teens trying to make a few bucks during the Halloween season. My favorite maze was based on the 3rd season of the Walking Dead. They had actors dressed up like some of the characters from the show, and lots of details as well. Resident Evil was a really good one as well, they had what I believe were the actual lickers props or at least full size replicas of the real movie props. Those were fun to see!

Well, all of the mazes we got to see were awesome. The details in every one was amazing. Like I said before, I'm not a screamer, but I definitely screamed a couple of times in those mazes, too!

Anyways, sorry to sound like I'm writing a long review. We didn't bother taking the camera, but we weren't allowed to take any pictures anyways of the stuff we would have wanted pictures of. I just had a GREAT time, and it was fun being there with just my boyfriend instead of a group of friends.

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