Universal Islands of Adventure

Okay I know it's a holiday week (NYE to be specific), but we spent a boatload and this place was so not worth it. About $1875 for a family of 4 for the 2 park tickets that everyone suggested we just "have to have" so we can ride the Harry Potter train and the unlimited fast pass so we don't have to spend 2-6 hours in line for one ride. Let me just say that there aren't that many rides at either Universal park. And then the fact that you have to pay basically double the price of an admission ticket so you don't waste half of your day queuing is absolutely ridiculous. We all know that Disney is a money suck, but this place puts Disney prices to shame in comparison.

All of the staff I encountered were super rude. I actually saw a staff member at the Leaky Cauldron scream at a child separated from their family for going underneath a chain to catch up with them in the restaurant and then have the balls to actually complain about it to me. WTF?! I can't even imagine how unhelpful and awful they are to kids who accidentally get lost.

At night they randomly seemed to block off walking roads on the park map. When I asked a staff member if they would open the pathway back up, their response was a rude "umm no. You need to find another way around" and then they rolled their eyes at me!

When your competition is the big mouse, you better freaking deliver if you are going to charge more and the staff had better be on point. The Harry Potter stuff, while cool, is a nightmare because it is so crowded and such a small part of the overall park. So not worth it in my opinion. This sh**hole will never get another dime of my money again. Disney does is better for less

We visited Universal studio on January 15/2020 after spending 4 days of joyous days at Disneyworld!!

Universal has it's own unique styles of rides and shows;however, I feel the place is over priced for an adventure park considering their poor customer service, long wait time, and crowded environment!!

Although we had spent an additional fee of $99 for express pass entry , not all the rides were covered under this pass.

It was very unfortunate that we had to face a very unpleasant encounter with greeting staff ( Rennetta and Dani), at Hagrids Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure.

When we approached the greeting staff( Renetta) inquiring if there was a separate entrance for express entry pass holders, she simply nodded her head and stated " read the board, it says 120 minute" ( in a very rude manner). As we requested for further clarification, her friend Dani joined her and stated mockingly" you got the information you wanted, now out!!if you have problem go speak to guest service. We gently reminded them that its imperative that the customer service should work with a good, welcoming attitude, and for that Renetta responded--" it's my attitude, no plan to change anytime soon". Also, when she overheard the discussion that we had amongst us about complaining to guest service, she shouted from behind " make sure you spell my name correctly, it has 2 T" and her friend Dani joined the laugh, reminding us not to forget to complain on our way out!!
I really hope the management offers them necessary training on customer service qualities so that they can decide if this is the job they are truly passionate to work for!!

Over rated, over priced and way under delivered. The lines were massive, the park was messy and I was disappointed to see so many water based rides. If I wanted to get absolutely soaked I would have gone to the water park next door. I wonder at what point they stop letting people in. Must be when the armored car is full because it seems like a money grab. Family of 5 almost $1000 spent with tickets, drinks and food and I think we were able to go on 5 rides all day. Not good value. For the money go experience some other local attractions like go carts, helicopter rides, gator parks etc. There's plenty to do in this town and way better bang for the buck. Oh another thing. Their app is very inaccurate as relates to the wait times that are posted on the app vs. actual.

We bought a 3 park ticket to Rock the Universe and chose IOA as our first park to tour prior to the concerts. Will call ticket was fast and easy only disappointment was lack of a shredder bin to destroy printed confirmations with personal information. Staff said they do not even have a trash can at the registers. Next stop was guest services for a disability pass as we are traveling with a disabled veteran as well as a friend who is suffering from leukemia. Both were denied a disability pass being told that all rides have been adjusted to accommodate thier disabilities and that they do not need proof of illness the decision is based on a discussion. They said they could direct them to get a wheelchair or to buy an express pass. Not sure what we were expecting but it wasnt that.

Other than that, the rides had between a 15 minute to 60 minute wait. Must ride Spiderman, and all things Harry Potter. Download the app for easy navigation and wait times to plan your day. 2 rides were down during our stay.

Dining was as expected, expensive but of decent quality. We bought a souvenir cup for about $14 & were able to get free self serve refill
*** note cup is only valid for day of service. Since we were at Rock the Universe until 1am, we were unable to refill after midnight.

We only had time for one park day, and debated between Islands of Adventure (IOA) and Studios. Given our kids are 9 and 11, and judging by the rides, we thought they'd appreciate the former. Also my daughter loves Harry Potter and there appeared to me more Harry Potter rides/attractions at IOA. We checked crowd calendars and went on a 'low crowd day', and everything outside Hogsmead had very reasonable waits, most under 35 min, some as low as 5 min. Hogsmead was very crowed and this is clearly where most people in the park spend their day. Hagrid's motorcycle ride was 135 min, so we didn't wait, but Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, was one of the best rides I have been on and we waited ½ hour when the posted wait time was 60 min. Skip Seuss land if your kids are over 6 - we didn't find much there and we waited 45 min for the train which was really not worth it.

I'm giving 4 stars because 1)The free lockers to put your bags in were WAY to small. They are kinda a pain to use as well, I had to use several lockers and you have to reopen them in reverse order which I didn't k now, as there is a lack of instruction anywhere. 2) It's incredibly greedy putting ½ of the Harry Potter attractions in one park and ½ in another so you have to buy a park hopper if you want to see everything. 3) the availability of fast passes reinforces that those with money can buy their way to the front. Once everyone is in the park, there should be equal access for everyone. 4)The cost of parking is ridiculous 5)The cost of food is also ridiculous

What I liked: 1)The rides were fantastic and the park does a good job of entertaining you while in line so the wait doesn't seen as bad. As well, all the lines are covered and most are inside with A/C. I felt those with fast passes actually missed out when racing through the castle on Harry's ride. 2)Wait times for rides were quite low outside of Hogsmead 3)The lay out of the park was easy to follow. We never got lost which we did several times at Disney and SeaWorld.

A great park, but overall my kids liked Disney and SeaWorld better

The park execs need to go over to Disney and figure out the benefits of having a much better app, queuing system and electronic wristbands. I feel like the park hasn’t updated itself in 15 years. The odd staff are outstanding, especially the performers and the characters. But overall a poor experience which is a shame because the rides are more fun than Disney but the overall experience is “needs to be better.” Very expensive even without the express tickets - standard tickets should have fast passes though.

Ok so after being at the house of mouse for two weeks we moved to endless summer and universal for a week
We have visited islands of adventure

So here is my honest review step by step

Disability wise the staffs are great and very helpful
If your disabled remember go to guest relations and ask for a disability pass. It's free and you will be able to get a return time for rides and not have to hurt yourself standing in the queue. It's free and can be used for one ride at a time
A life saver for disabled people

Harry Potter land is quite good the castle ride is entertaining and no 3d glasses and full of twists and turns
The hipogriff ride ? Forget it, it ends after about 40 seconds as it should be getting started, a complete waste of time
Hagrids motorbike ride is the show stopper, really fun, fast and a lot of fun definately try it

I do feel however that the the shop facades ruin it in disney every door leads to something every door is utilised with something new to see
That's just not the case here, they look good but are not open and are rather largely useless

Jurassic park, complete washout, the river ride was closed and pretty much that's it for adults, it deserves so so so much more universal take note
The flying kids ride is ok but even my 7yr old thought it was dull
Wheres the rollercoaster and I even dare to say motion ride !!

Long skull island wow just wow a huge amount of the park is taken up with this yet the ride ends far too quickly ? It's a shame it could have it's own land and area with rollercoaster or mini rides

The hulk is a beast of a ride and well worth doing super fast and a must for thrill seekers

The cat in a hat area is ok for babies but is looking so so dated now with the Betty boo areas its needs removing

Marvel, the spiderman ride shows how motion rides and 3d should be. But the charectar spots are lacking. Why are they not largely available as at disney

There seems too much crammed in for one area and not enough of anything
One spiderman ride, ok where tha x men one? Where the captain america one or avengers ? Iron man
It just leaves so many questions unanswered
If could have a park all to itself I stead it's like someone has tried to jam them all into one area and done it no justice at all

Also on the Dudley do water log ride why do people have to pay to splash people with water ? That's pathetic completely and utter pathetic
At disney it's free and adds to the attraction, universal sort it out

Overall it feels like not enough rides or things to do, so many empty spaces that could be more so much that could be more
It's good but could be so so so much better

I will admit that we were dumb enough to attempt this park during spring break, so bear with the negativity. I will also admit that, on the whole, my family enjoyed our day there, but it could have been SO much better.
First of all, Universal is filling their parks to capacity, even though there is a pandemic still going on. Seriously, we didn't even think about it until we got there and saw the crowds, even early in the morning. Despite the "cast members" constantly reminding people to wear masks and to keep their "parties" 6 feet apart, there was no way that was happening, except in most of the ride lines. The Harry Potter area was particularly crowded, to a point where it was not possible to stay 6 feet apart from anyone, especially teens who kept removing their masks and standing in the middle of the walkways for photo ops. Universal should never have allowed those crowds. If we hadn't paid so much to go in, we would have left early.
Speaking of paying, Universal's prices are ridiculous. We had to pay $146 per person just to enter the park, then we were told that we could buy Express Passes to get onto the rides quickerfor $389. EACH. That is just highway robbery. We have money, but we aren't stupid with it. They explained that those were "seasonal" prices because of spring break, but $389 on TOP of the regular admission? That is disgusting, and way out of range for the average family. Okay, so we didn't pay the outrageous price for Express passes, but a lot of people did, otherwise they were all guests at the "premier" Universal hotel resorts. If you pay a LOT of money to stay at a "premier" resort, you automatically get an Express pass. I can understand the concept and have gotten such passes at other theme parks, but Universal is different in how they cater to the people willing to pay the exorbitant prices. They let the people with these passes skip the lines again and again and again without pause while everyone else in the lines just watches them, and the regular lines grind to a halt. The wait time of 45 minutes on one ride stretched to almost 90 minutes because so many Express pass customers were allowed through multiple times while the rest of us watched the same kids skip ahead of us again and again. It was disgraceful. There are better ways to run Express pass rewards, but Universal obviously wants to line their pockets to grant privileges to the wealthy, while families who saved and saved for a day at this park had to explain to their little kids why the wait was just getting longer and longer. It. Was. Disgusting. Shame on you, Universal.
We won't be back, or at least not unless we can make it during a dead season (if there even is one) so we can avoid the crowds and ludicrous wait times.

I was there for a week ago (25 years old) and my biggest recommendation is to purchase tickets in advance!!! There is a BIG price difference when you read at the website and when you buy the tickets before entering the park. The tickets are already expensive enough so don't to the same mistake as we did and purchase in advance!!
Additional to that , WHAT A PARK! Both Harry Potter rides were incredible (Hagrid & Hogwarts), definitely worth the wait and long lines. We also liked King Kong & Jurassic park very much. I can also recommend the Hulk if you like fast rollercoasters but the other rides were more of an experience than the Hulk.
Overall a good experience but as earlier mentioned, very expensive and be prepared to stand in long lines, especially for Hagrid's ride.

There are hardly any adventurous rides for adults. Hulk, Spider-Man and Harry Potter bike rides are the only 3 good rides. It’s not value for money. I visited in the month of February, on a working day, still it was over crowded and there was long queue in every ride. I had purchased express ticket so it was less waiting for me. But express ticket is does not fetch any advantage for Harry Potter ride. It is advisable to buy refilling cold drink souvenirs glass for unlimited refill of 100 plus cold drinks. Over all I would say, it’s way to expensive and the rides are not really thrilling or adventurous for adults.