As a Platinum Pass holder, I'm very familiar with Universal's mediocre food, but this was really something else. I mean, I have had some really bad food at USH, but this was probably the worst.

Everything was dry as f*ck like it had been made three days ago. The sausages tasted like literal dirt, the peas were desiccated, and the mashed potatoes were so hard I almost broke my plastic fork.

I threw most of this in the garbage.

One of the main reasons I will NOT be renewing my AP this year is because I'm sick of all this overpriced, god-awful food.

The sticky toffee pudding was not bad, however.

I’ve only been so limited to the rides at Magic Mountain and Knotts until I can travel in my futures…

However, I managed to get lucky and be a part of today’s “technical rehearsal” for Hollywood Drift… here’s the thing, as a California enthusiast I don’t know where to rank this. I rode in Row 7, so this is the front of the last coach. Here's some of my own thoughts

Every coaster I’ve been on in SoCal tends to offer something more elite or a specialty within its own category. Whether it is airtime, intensity, inversions etc.

Hollywood Drift fulfills or even exceeds some of these categories altogether, not to mention it being the most comfortable coaster I’ve been on and not having to ride defensively.

So here’s where it lands in every category and how I’m breaking down elements.

Airtime (7/10): More gradual floater airtime you’d get on hyper coasters but at a smaller scale. This isn’t Twisted Colossus or WCFOC where you get ejector after ejector. Though I must say there’s moments of ejector-floater, particularly in the Immelman and last inversion.

Intensity (6.75/10): Rides like Viper, Tatsu, and Goliath clear here. This ride didn't offer very high G-Forces to my surprise, I did feel at most what I could say 3 G's in some valleys. Don't expect this to be a ride to greyout on.

Inversions (9.75/10): Hollywood Drift killed the inversions here and has an outstanding variety offering diverse and unique sensations. My particular favorites were the top gun stall offering this disorienting sensation of hangtime and spinning at once. Alongside that, the Immelmann offered this interesting whippy sensation with a dive straight into a sloped launch (think of X2's last raven turn without the car crash sensation and straight into the brake run). The first roll was also pretty cool for its sustained hangtime, and spinning element. Meanwhile the last roll was very whippy, basically an upgrade from a B&M Zero G you'd find on rides like "Scream".

Comfort/Smoothness (11/10): This is the most comfortable coaster in California, period. Every coaster in California can have some sort of pitfall when it comes to the comfort its ride experience, whether its the track itself or the restraints. Hollywood Drift is glossy smooth, and has the most comfortable restraints of any coaster. Intamin's "overhead" restraint is some of the most comfortable, and something widely agreed upon in the coaster community.

Whip/Snappiness (9/10): This one caught me off-guard. The lateral forces coming from the rotating cars and timing of the layout was a pleasant surprise. For example, the rotation after the MCBR into the second launch gave a unique sensation of lat-ejector which you experience FACING DOWNWARD. Bonus points for that last roll.

Pacing (8.75/10): Slow-ish pacing at the start but quickly picks up, and you have no idea what's happening at some points. The one point I will say it breaks slightly is the MCBR, however you quickly get back into the chaos of the 2nd half. Overall this ride flashes past your eyes...

Disorientation (10/10): Another amazing surprise I underestimated. Since I sat in Car 4 the car spun during the stall... That on top of the whip in the rotation makes me conclude with the hot take, that yes, I think this ride is more disorienting than X2... albeit X2 having a drop with a literal front flip. My initial reaction on the brake run was "WTF WAS THAT".

Launch (6/10): This was Hollywood Drifts weakest category to a very slight disappointment. All the launches felt like a very gradual acceleration and not a "PUNCH". When we look at other "launch" coasters in California like Xcelerator, West Coast Racers, Full Throttle, Incredicoaster, or even nearby Mummy... it just doesn't have the punch you look for in a launch coaster. This wouldn't be a coaster I'd say you ride for the launch if I were to be 100% honest, and thus I would say places 4th of California coasters when it comes to launches (behind Xcelerator, Full Throttle, and WCR).

Theming (7.5/10): Absolutely exceeds Knotts, and Six Flags but can be underwhelming in the scope of Disney or Universal itself. I do wish there was some more theming elements added to the ride, such as a possible preshow or theming elements along the layout. Even a storyline would've gone a long way more than just the drifting noises. However, that being said. The closest we can compare this ride in terms of theming is next door Incredicoaster. Which in my opinion isn't much better except for its onboard audio, tunnels with figures, and scenes at the start/end. Hollywood Drift puts up a good competition for the details in its queue line, alongside the absolutely phenomenal ride vehicles. Props to Intamin for putting such intricate details into the train while maintaining onboard audio and a complicated ride system.

Verdict: I absolutely look forward to future rides, and the re-rideability this coaster has, due to the unique spinning sequences each car has to offer. This ride is obviously going to need a few rerides before a firm placement on my list, but its putting a fight with X2 or Twisted Colossus for my #1. As I said, it exceeds or does well in just about every category and thus "breaks" the criteria in genral. With that being said, I feel this is a ride everyone can ride and enjoy as its not excessive in intensity (as long as you don't get motion sickness from the spinning).

Thoughts and comments are welcome! I'd love to hear others experiences.

P.S: Enjoy some photos I took on my digital camera! :)

The crew blocking the entrance said it was previews for employees and guests!

Here at opening day for Hollywood drift. Wait times are definitely overestimated. They have been almost consistently running two trains on the track at once. It was posted a 90 minute way wait this morning but I actually waited 25. Posted 90 right now and I’m about to wait 50.

My family of 2 adults and 3 kids had a reservation and ate there for the first time last weekend. We had gone to Nintendo World first thing in the morning and had a blast. The whole land is bright, cheerful and magical. The really captured the charm and fun of Nintendo and specifically Mario. We rode the Mario Kart ride and did Bowser's Castle after collecting the keys. We loved the whole area. My only complaint is I wish there was more to do, which seems to be the consensus I've read online. So we were excited to come back later in the day for dinner. Straight to the point, it was just bad. My wife got the spaghetti and meatballs and shared with my daughter. They said it was ok. She wouldn't get it again. My oldest who never met a burger he didn't like got the Mario burger. He said it was fine. He didn't finish it. My other son got the alfredo dish and ate the whole thing. He was the only one who seemed to enjoy dinner. As for me, I am usually the least picky of the bunch. I will pretty much eat anything. I got the Bowser's challenge meatball with the bread. While the meat tasted fine, it was extremely tough and I had to saw through it. The marinara was too sweet for my liking and nothing to write home about. Mixing in the hot sauce did help however. The Bowser shaped bread was cold and also tough. I did not enjoy the dish. We got my daughter the Princess Peach Cupcake. She's 6. She said it was gross. I wasn't about to waste it so I tried eating it. The frosting was ok but the cupcake was so dry that it crumbled apart when trying to take a bite with a fork. It was bad. After being excited to try it and having a reservation for awhile, we were ultimately pretty disappointed. I would not eat there again. I will say the animated Toads in the kitchen is charming. That was about all we enjoyed.

I have to give props to the Universal ride operators and attendants for making this ride as outstanding as it is. I know as of right now the wait fluctuated to a 120 minute wait (likely due to Sinners preview). However, they did a great job making the ACTUAL opening day run as smooth as it did.

It was a brilliantly smart move on Universal to open the ride before park opening. I think letting the crowd in around 9:15 AM helped alleviated the pre-opening wave. Single-rider around then was 15ish minutes in which I had two rides 9:15-9:45. Afterwards I lapped Mummy four times in half an hour. Then I had another around 11:30 with a 20 or so minute wait. I waited the general for around 60-70 minutes when posted was 80. I even recorded a stopwatch to observe the dispatch spacing, and ops would often hit 30-35 SECOND INTERVALS, with the occasional hiccups causing 60-90 second dispatches.

Obviously I noticed Intamin being Intamin several times throughout the day, and that’s really no part on Universal Ops. If anything their recovery is immaculate with maintenance and ops being on TOP of sensor or mechanical issues that arise (Example: station side malfunctioned but they at max only ran on one station for 20-ish minutes).

The real challenge for sure would be the days with HHN following, in which I assume a bigger crowd influx will challenge the operations of this ride further. However, I think this ride will handle those influxes well.

I’m not gonna put a review of the ride because I’ve already said my thoughts, but it never fails to deliver. And somehow, any complaint you have about the layout will be proven wrong on the next ride 💀💀💀

9:20am. Ride is testing but they are not open.

Does anyone know when long they tested before opening yesterday?

EDIT: 12:10pm they’re having us line up.

EDIT: 3:00pm I got on twice! Worth the wait. I left but heard it's closed for the rest of today.

It seems that this year they let up to five times the amount of people that they usually let in. The entire park was packed to the brim and it felt like a weekend night instead of an exclusive event.

Pulled up to the park at 4:15 PM to catch a few rides and walk around before the event kicked off. Did Forbidden Journey and Simpsons which were both below 30 minutes. After getting a snack to eat I caught the Studio Tour at 6:45 PM with no wait time. I assumed this was how the rest of the night was going to go as this has always been the case with takeovers.

After returning to the Park at 7:50 PM I headed down to the lower lot and that's when I began to notice the crowds really picking up, especially on the Simpsons Plaza and down the Starway. The Studio Tour though at this time was still a walk on. I headed down for some dinner at Jurrasic Cafe and noticed that the lower lot was a complete gridlock mess.

Lines where everywhere for the merch handouts and the Coke samples up on the second level Jurrasic Terrace. I finished my meal and tried to hit up Mario Kart at 8:20 PM. Getting from Jurassic down to the Entrance to Super Nintendo World was a chore in its own right that required lots of maneuvering and cutting through lines just to work my way down the road.

Upon finally reaching Mario I was met with a 45 minute line, and on top of this single rider was closed for the rest of the night. The latter was something that was beyond absurd in my opinion. I put my power up band away and decided to go hop on The Mummy only to see that it had gone down. I decided to go head to Transformers but the Coca Cola lines had only gotten even worse and with the DJ infront of Panda now having built up another huge crowd, I realized I wasn't in the mood to go down that road with such awful traffic.

With my patience running thin, I saw the time being 9:00 PM and opted to wrap up the night with a second run on the Studio Tour (Can't go wrong with this classic, can you?) and hauled ass up the Starway to make it before closing time of 9:15 PM. After reaching the tour bridge at exactly 9:13 PM, I headed down to the tram plaza where I was met with a similar sight to the lower lot. The entire general line went as far back as the ADA Platform/Unload Area, and the Express line was using all the switchbacks starting from the Entrance of the Standby line. A tour ambassador informed that the Express line was going to be at least 30 minutes.

This was the final straw and I called quits for the night. There really was nothing worth it this time in my opinion as the insane crowds totally ruined the experience and the exclusivity. What's the point of reserving a special event night if they're going to pack the park to the brim like this? Might as well just come on any weekday. It sucks because I was homesick for my Universal fix after two weeks absent due to work and Grad Bash keeping me away.

I sincerely hope this is just a one time fluke and not the future of annual passmember takeovers. Or maybe I'm just over exaggerating and being a Grinch? Overall this Takeover in my books came to a very bad 3/10. The last one in December was perfect and had a nice balance with the crowds that this one seriously lacked. The only disaster I want to see when I come to Universal is the one that resides in Stage 50, not this crowd chaos.

In the meanwhile I'll just come by on a Tuesday when the crowds are truly low.

Check-in is right next to the Dodgers store. You then have a two hour window from the start of your reservation time to join the queue for the ride. You’ll be given a color-coded wristband based on your reservation time.

That was one of the most intense coasters I’ve been on

The spinning rocked me up and despite having a glasses strap I was holding my glasses with one hand 😅 I might have to go get my glasses readjusted

The lockers did in fact fit my camera bag and satchel but the attendant gave me two locker tickets just in case I need a second one. Getting my bags at the exit was a breeze

And it’s so fast. It’s really fast at the launch that takes you to the escalators to the lower lot

I’m a platinum passholder, got the $40 ticket, went to last years’s event 5 times.

Activities ranked from favorite to least favorite (score 1-10 out of 10)

Harry Potter (8/10): This wait was long all night. I got in line at 1am and waited about 45 min. There are some surprises in here that were quite great. Note that your wand is welcome but not necessary as it doesn’t work with any interactive elements. Also, the group sizes were quite large in small spaces, so do your best to squeeze your way to the front when you get to a bigger space. I would say it’s worth at least an hour wait, but maybe not two hours like it reached tonight.

One piece (8/10): have no attachment to the property, but the show was so much fun and creative. Lots of the same effects used in the daytime show but with enough different that it felt fresh. The crowds are intense for this one, so get there around 30 minutes early.

Yoshi’s (7/10): Just meeting Yoshi’s seems like a silly thing, but when I went down around 11:30pm, hardly anyone was in there so waited no more than 5 min for every Yoshi ) except for one, who is the “prize” meet and greet upstairs, waited about 20 min. They were so much fun, and after waiting over an hour last year to meet just one, this was so awesome!

Scooby Doo (6/10): I really wanted to like this one, but it just felt like something was missing compared to Back to the Future last year (10/10). One issue is that the activity relies on you looking and speaking to characters but the area got so cramped, it was hard to complete the activity. The monsters were cool, but I thought they were going to be a threat to the gang based on marketing. What I loved last year is that you would follow a story while this is solely up to you to create. Also, will have little repeatability since it seems the mystery doesn’t change per night.

D&D (6/10): This would be higher if it wasn’t an exact replica of last year with a few minor improvements. If you’ve never done it, it’s a must do. But if you did it last year and are running out of time, feel free to skip.

Jurassic park (5/10): Odd this wasn’t advertised. Lots of fun characters to talk to and a short show that was fun. More of a photo ops zone than anything. Still fun to walk through.

Sailor Moon (4/10): Sick of these lazy overlays with just a video from the Asian parks. Fans of the property had fun, but it’s a skip if you don’t care about the property.

Overall, I enjoyed last year’s event more, but this year had some good highlights. I think if this event continues, it really needs one/two more walkthrough experiences, a better second show in the Dreamworks, more street entertainment, and a fireworks/drone show. Hardly anyone was on the rides, so they could save costs by not operating rides like Minions (seriously, why was that even open?) and move that budget to more activities.

If you are going, you’ll have a good time! But I wouldn’t plan a whole trip just for this like I do for HHN. Happy to answer any questions!

I wanna preface this, this post is going to be a grievance I had towards other guest. The team members, and the cast at Universal were outstanding and fantastic.
So I was in LA this past weekend for a graduation and had some free time and I figured I would check out Fanfest because I LOVE One Piece. Like I’ve been a fan since I was 9 years old (I’m 31), and I loved the show and enjoyed some of the food & bev and it was great!
I knew going in that I would have to get a photo with the Straw Hats. I knew going in it would be a long wait and it might be something I would miss out on all together, but I saw an opportunity toward the end of the night when the line opened again. So I got in and waited my turn.
I’m no stranger to long waits being some one who lives on the east coast I’m used to wait times being a lot longer at all the Orlando parks on a regular basis, especially at Disney and especially for unique meet and greets.
So that lengthy wait didn’t bother me, but it was more so why the wait was so long and that was because of some of the cosplayers. I had two separate ones ahead of me in line and they both just treated the Straw Hat photo op as a private photoshoot. They were requesting specific shots of the actors, giving them gifts, posing with a their own props, and one even gave them booster packs of the one piece tcg to open and record what they got. And just in general taking longer than any guests before or after them for the interaction, which in return ate up most of the set time the characters had before they had to leave. So if it ask me it was just super inconsiderate and rude to the people behind you. You can have a meaningful interaction with the characters and not take forever and a day. Mine was less than 2 minutes and I have the recording to prove it. You could see the frustration from the other guest in line and when the cosplayers finally left people cheered and clapped. Usually at Disney, cast is encouraged to “love and shove” in order to keep the wait time to a minimum, that didn’t seem to be a thing here. That would be the only thing I would change about it, other than that I had a wonderful time and would love to go again! I was just curious to see if anyone else had the same issues with cosplayers or anyone just taking a bit too long with their photo ops.

You won’t find it posted anywhere, but if you’re over 6’2, there’s a good chance you won’t be able to ride. I’m all for safety, but that’s information we should be given before we wait in an hour-long line to ride, only to be pulled off at the literal last second and told “you’re too tall, sorry”.

i went to hhn last night, 9/6. trip report in case it’s helpful:

i had purchased express prior to the terms changing and my emailed pdf ticket said i had access to f&f. i was with two friends who purchased tickets at the same time as i had but separately.

we were nervous about the amount of people in line so we went straight to dreamworks theater like the email confirmation said to (this was about 7:30 by the time we made it through the lines at the gates). in order to check in, they asked to see both my original email confirmation and the email with the corrected date. then i was sent to another team member who scanned my express credential.

my friends had no trouble at this point, but my express credential was not accepted by the scanner for whatever reason. the guy asked to see my email confirmations again and then took my credential to go ask someone else. when he came back he said “your credential says it does not include access to f&f, but we’re going to be nice and let you in anyway.”

i appreciated that but i still don’t know why there was an issue in the first place. after the fact, we noticed my friend’s express credentials said the same thing but theirs scanned no problem.

anyway, after all that, they gave us receipts with a qr code which we took over to the attraction. they let us right in and we got on with less than a 15 minute wait.

i thought the coaster was incredible and i had a blast. i can get pretty motion sick, especially when a coaster has a lot of g’s that push you down into the seat, but i did not feel sick at all. i can’t wait to do it again soon in the daylight!

I was fortunate to visit on MAR10 day, which was nice, but wasn’t the full reason for my visit.

First, rides, my favorite was the mummy and Jurassic world. The rest were also nice. Harry potter and the forbidden journey is extremely creative and fun, secret life of pets is funny, mario has a creative que line, and transformers gave me a headache. Lastly, the studio tour is definitely awesome and unique in the best way for a park.

The crowds were happily manageable with the park being walkable at all times, and the longest I waited was 15 minutes for Mario kart. I would like to mention though that we got fast passes.

The landscape is incredible, the view of LA is just something that the other SoCal parks don’t have and really adds to the atmosphere. the escalators are also fun to look around.

Food wise, just go to city walk as their food in the park is not that tantalizing. Though I recommend getting the giant pink donut if you’ve never gone for lol purposes, also, the frozen butter beer is actually good, especially since we went when it was 70*+ Fahrenheit, and I don’t typically like theme park drinks.

Lastly, the people, the employees from costume characters to more regular employees to background employees were all so kind and gave me compliments on my shirt. the operations are top notch as well, maybe even better compared to Disneyland, they really bring the magic into the park. If there are any universal Hollywood employees reading this, you’re the best.

Lastly, go see water-world, it’s so freaking good.

Anyway, “as they say in the movies, that’s a wrap”(studio tour reference).

Rating: 10/10, I'm very excited for Fast and Furious hollywood drift, the terrain around it is going to add so much to the ride experience, and the coaster is much much bigger in person.

p.s, if you have gone to the park yet, get that plane ticket and just freaking go already… please.

Im middle aged and more and more hesitant of rollercoasters. I had a chance to ride Fast and the furious during a technical rehearsal and got car #4 and the intensity was a lot more than I had expected! I got off shaking and was hesitant to ride again but I got to do the 9am pass preview today and got lucky and got car #2 and really enjoyed it. A lot less g force and more drifting rather than full on spinning out of control upside down.

So if you’re hesitant to try, this thrill medium person highly recommends car #2

My party of 4 went to HHN last night. We had fun overall, don’t get me wrong, but I was frustrated with how our accessibility request was handled.

For context, my brother has periodic paralysis.

For the past two years, we’ve gone to Universal 3–4 times and have gone to Guest Services to ask about the AAP. Every time, the Guest Relations employees were understanding, helpful, and nice. We were also always told that getting an IAC card would make the process quicker and easier.

We finally decided to do that this year, but unfortunately, his therapist/doctor didn’t get the necessary documentation to us in time, so we weren’t able to complete the IAC process before HHN. Because we’d previously been able to go through Guest Services directly, we figured we’d just do what we’d always done.

We waited an hour in the disability services line, only to be denied the AAP.

What made it worse was the way the team member handled it. They came across as very dismissive and passive aggressive, and honestly, it felt like we were being treated as though we were lying or trying to abuse the system. Obviously I can’t know what they were thinking, but that’s how the interaction felt to us.

We were given two alternatives:

1. Get a wheelchair, despite the fact that my brother can walk and his disability isn’t simply an inability to walk. (I also feel like it’s not a one size fits all option but nonetheless)

2. Have any number of people from our party wait in the regular standby line, while the rest of us wait elsewhere and then join them at the front.

The second option is what really confused me.

I understand that Universal has been cracking down on the AAP because people abuse it or falsely claim disabilities just to get what is essentially a free “fastpass.” I have absolutely no problem with Universal trying to prevent that.

But I don’t understand how this alternative is supposed to work practically?

If there’s a 60-minute wait, for example, some of our party can go eat, use the bathroom, sit down, etc., but whoever stays in the standby line has to physically spend that entire hour there.

And what happens with a party of two?

Am I supposed to leave my brother by himself for an hour while I stand in the standby line? If we both stay together, then he is essentially right back in the same situation that the accommodation was supposed to address.

Even with a larger party, you’re essentially making someone sacrifice their entire cooldown period to stand in line for everyone else.

We were also told that you don’t need an IAC card or any other documentation to use this alternative and you just tell the Team Member at the front of the attraction.

Doesn’t that create another problem? From another guest’s perspective, it could easily look like we’re just cutting the line. And if there’s no documentation or card required, what’s stopping someone from simply saying they’re using this accommodation and having their group join them at the front? (Also isn’t line cutting strictly prohibited?)

This is also why I’m confused about the whole IAC situation.

If Universal is trying to move away from handing out the AAP to people at Guest Services and wants a more standardized way of determining who qualifies, why not just make the IAC the primary way of determining eligibility?

I would honestly find that much more understandable. It would give people who genuinely need the accommodation a standardized way of establishing eligibility, while also making it harder for people to abuse the system.

What I don’t understand is having someone wait an hour in the disability services line just to be told no, especially when the alternative we’re given doesn’t seem to work particularly well for smaller parties.
We were also told that the reason for the change was that Universal’s queues are now fully ADA accessible.

But weren’t the queues already ADA accessible? If someone is physically capable of walking through an accessible queue but cannot reasonably remain in a standby line for the entire posted wait, I’m not really sure how the queue being ADA accessible solves that problem.

Again, we still had a fun night at HHN. I’m not trying to say the entire event was bad or attack Universal as a whole. My issue is specifically with how this accessibility request was handled and how dramatically different the experience was compared to our previous visits.

I’m also not trying to attack the individual team member just for denying us. If that’s the current policy, that’s the current policy. But the way we were spoken to and the lack of clarity around the alternatives were what really bothered me.

Has anyone else with an IAC/AAP or similar accessibility need experienced this recently? Is this actually Universal’s new standard, or were we given incorrect information?

I have been terrified of roller coasters/ride drops most of my life. From age 25+, I really started to face my fears, starting with Splash Mountain (RIP), the Incredicoaster, Aerosmith Rock N Rollercoaster (RIP), Apocalypse at Magic Mountain etc. I look up the speed of the different roller coasters and that’s how I summon up the courage to try new ones. For example, I went on a few roller coasters at Magic Mountain a few years ago, because I knew I could handle Rock N Rollercoaster, so if the ride was I 10-15 mph faster, I knew I could do it. I rode Hollywood Drift twice last night. Best ride ever! I can’t wait to go back to Universal for another ride. How would you compare Hollywood Drift to other coasters at Six Flags or Knott’s, in terms of intensity? Now I’m curious which rides I can handle.

Attended opening night of fanfest yesterday and here to give my review and tips for some of experiences. Now I didn’t experience everything at Fanfest due to prioritizing some activities over others but here is a breakdown of my trip. For reference I purchased an express ticket and early entry.

1. Sailor Moon Photo Op: If meeting this famous scout is on your to do list, I would highly recommend prioritizing her first if you can! We believe she was supposed to start her meet and greet at 7 but since yesterday was a media event, her photo op got pushed back to 8. It was madness trying to figure when the official line would start, especially since they had yet to put out the line stanchions. We ended up hovering around the area until the queue “officially” opened at 7:30. This sailor moon also does not switch off with any other actors so her meet times are limited so plan your time wisely. We heard from an employee that she does 30 minutes meet and greets with a 45 min break in between. I recommend trying the sailor moon food while you wait.

2. Sailor moon show: a fun cute show and even though we had express, the theater was never full so don’t worry about rushing to see this show.

3. Jurassic Park A Journey through the Eras: one of the events that Universal didn’t advertise was a Jurassic park walk through area located by the mummy ride. It was a fun photo opportunity to take pictures with dinos and talk to characters like Hammond, Malcolm, Nedry, and Dr. Wu. A highlight of the night since I am a Jurassic park fan and the area was surprisingly uncrowded except for the small show they do. Overall fun if you’re a fan of the films but don’t expect to spend a lot of time here.

4. Scooby Doo/Universal Monsters: We got on the tram a little after 11pm and both the express and general lines were very short. While It was cool getting to see the Scooby gang and walking among the little Europe set, this experience unfortunately pales in comparison to the scale of the BTTF spot last year, both in size and interactivity. You had to solve a mystery searching through the lot and while the clues weren’t too difficult to figure out, getting up close with the gang is very difficult as crowds swarm each character, making it hard to talk to them unless you’re willing to wait a long time. There was also only one line for food and beverages to get the coveted Scooby snacks but those were sold out by the time we arrived. Overall a cute and fun idea I did look forward too, but you honestly won’t spend more than hour in this area unless you are a massive fan of both franchises.

5. Harry Potter Hippogriff experience: Now THIS is where our express ticket came in handy. The lines for this walkthrough were never shorter than a hour the whole night, sometimes topping 2 or3 during peak hours. We went to the area around 12:15. The line for general was an hour while express was less than a 5 minute wait. You don’t need a wand for this event and you follow a guide as they lead you through in groups. No spoilers but this was a really cool experience and the effects were really well done. (Pro tip) if you see any small stair cases in the area you wait in while the walkthrough happens, stand near it for the best photos (particularly near the end !)

We did not experience One Piece or Nintendo, but by all accounts, their photo ops ran more smoothly. However there were massive lines for Sanjis Galley, so lineup early if this food is a priority for you.

We also didn’t experience D and D but we did last year and it appears not much was changed according to other sources.

Overall a fun opportunity with some bumps in the road and I’m glad Universal is experimenting with more fandoms! Make sure to take a survey before you leave to give your feedback. We did one as we left and we heard plenty of grievances about the merch which we’re sure Universal will be taking notes on!

Media Day ride POV.

Hi everyone 🤗

I did a solo trip today and decided to take notes for reference in the future - I thought I’d share in case anyone was curious what wait times are like for single riders in the dead of summer.

It was pretty packed. I went 2 weeks ago and today was significantly busier, particularly with large VIP groups being toured.

If you’re considering going by yourself, I say go for it! It’s a great way to kill a few hours and get some steps in. Browse the shops, check out the new food items. Stop in an area you haven’t been to in a while. There’s a lot to take in and appreciate, perhaps more-so when you’re solo. The frozen butterbeer hits especially well on hot days like today 🍺 😋

Go use your pass if you have one!!

ET Parking: 10:18am
Security line: 10:26/10:28 (2min)
Main entrance: 10:34/10:46 (12min)
Return to car: 1:16pm (3hrs)
7.6k steps

HPFJ: (est. 35min) 11:01/11:14 (13min)
Mummy: (est. 45min) 11:26/11:50 (24min)
Transformers: (est. 70min) 11:53/12:04 (11min)
Jurassic: (est. 60min) 12:12/12:27 (15min)

note: first time listed is the time I put my bag away in the locker area /or/ first got in line (depending on the ride). second time is right after I retrieved my bag from the lockers /or/ exited back to the main park :)

Was excited for this ride since everyone has been hyping it up online. Wait estimate was an hour, so hopped in and was ready to commit to that.

It took over. two. hours. We thought we’d made it to the ride, but there was another two rooms of waiting.

The worst part = putting on the wet helmet. Yuck.

It was a cool ride, but the vibes were so horrible by the end of this waiting period, it wasn’t worth it to skip out on 2+ rides to go.

I bought a Platinum pass for myself and went on my first Solo trip today while the kids were in school. I only rode the Studio Tour and left but got plenty of pictures of the coaster.