Universal Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida

Visited: September 20, 2026

Attending: Brian, Buzzed Bars Coaster Club

I like the Port of Entry better than other parks' main streets. It's different than the Americana others serve up.

The second day of the trip was rather different than the first. A large part of the appeal of the trip was Halloween Horror Nights on Friday, which I declined to participate in. Therefore, many Buzzed Bars folks had either gone home, or decided to sleep in and not take advantage of the early admission on Sunday. I met with some folks throughout the day, but I also did quite a few things solo.

Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventures

It seems to be a matter of received wisdom now that if you want to ride Hagrid’s, you’d better rope-drop it, and even then, you’ll still be waiting a while. I went with the standard line, rather than the single-rider, because I’d missed out on the queue experience last time. I still spent about 30 minutes in line, but most of that was with a nice woman and her 10-year-old son, who were willing to chat. My primary motivation for this ride was to get the motorcycle seat, and I was surprised to discover that it was in fact a seat, with nothing to straddle. I then thought there might not be any difference between the two seats, but I was pleased to discover that the motorcycle puts you further away from the track, and the openness of the restraints let me lean into the Intamin-style curves, even though they were pretty gentle. And that was about the most fun thing that happened. Since I knew the layout, I wasn’t surprised by the reverse or the drop track. If anything, it all seemed a bit shorter than last time. Which unfortunately makes me want Dueling Dragons back, but I’m definitely in the minority there.

Velocicoaster

The morning was sunny, but I took this from far away, after the rain.

Velocicoaster is kind of an odd coaster in my list. I know tons of people who have it in their top five coasters, but for me, it wasn’t at that level. However, I wanted to give it a try from the back, and at night, preferably with other enthusiasts. Well, I got one out of three. I ended up riding solo, which meant I was assigned as filler, but I requested row 11, and received it. I also noted that the restraint was somewhat looser than I’d experienced in the past, for better or worse. Both of those factors definitely made a difference. I got plenty of airtime during the paddock section, enough to be startling. I knew what was coming with the top hat and the stall, and managed to keep my hands up for both, but when the Mosasaurus Roll started, I took one peripheral glance at the water and found myself holding on with one hand. So mission accomplished there, I guess? I still didn’t get a night ride, but I have only myself to blame for that (and the weather, I suppose). I still don’t know if it’s top five for me, but it’s probably moved up a few spots in my rankings.

The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man

Gotta love the 90s Spider-Man logo. Brings back memories of the Clone Saga.

After Velocicoaster, I met up with Ethan and Anthony from the club, and we decided to check out the Marvel Super Heroes. We had no particular agenda, and just did whatever caught our eye. It turns out that Ethan is quite fond of the Spider-Man dark ride. I am too, and I said in 2011 that it would be my favorite dark ride of all time…except that I’d just experienced Forbidden Journey that morning. It’s definitely showing its age a little bit, with the chunky ride vehicles and somewhat outdated effects, but the simulated multi-story drop still does the trick. If anything, I could wish I was a little less familiar with the characters, as they’re definitely 90s incarnations, which strikes me as quite odd now.

The Incredible Hulk

Don't make me rattley. You wouldn't like me when I'm rattley.

So Hulk is a legendary coaster. The signature of Islands, the big thrill machine that Disney doesn’t have, 100% retracked by B&M rather than let it be pulled down. Except it’s still painfully rough even after the retrack, as I discovered last time. But we’re enthusiasts; we still had to do it. We ended up waiting all of 15 minutes, which I think is the longest I’ve ever waited for this ride. We pulled row three, which I was fine with. The initial launch is pretty intense, even with the tires, and that inversion is fairly aggressive. After that, it’s bog-standard B&M, although the vertical loop is pretty cool. I applied standard B&M defensive riding techniques, and even though I was on the edge seat, it wasn’t bad. The rattle is still there; I just dealt with it better this time. I think that’s about the best I could ask for.

Although I was trying to be chill about Islands and Studios, as I’d been to both before, I did have one credit I needed, because I was stupid last time and didn’t realize that Mummy was a coaster. Anthony needed a Gringotts credit, so we crossed from Islands to Studios across the front, which I hadn’t done before, and then we headed to Diagon Alley.

Escape from Gringotts

Yeah, it does this at regular intervals, but I still think it's a cool photo.

The last time I did this ride, I waited in an absurdly long line, telling myself that was fine because I was indoors. This time, the line was much shorter, maybe 30 minutes total, and we cruised through the first parts, up to the fake elevator. I don’t remember the floor shaking last time I did that, but it definitely improved the experience. As for the ride, well, it’s a coaster, but it’s just on the right side of the boundary between coaster and dark ride. I found the story a bit more coherent than Battle at the Ministry, but I couldn’t make out much of the audio, which was a shame.

After that, Anthony didn’t need to do anything more at Studios, so he went back to Islands, and I spent the rest of the time on my own.

Revenge of the Mummy

The exterior isn't too shabby; this was once the major attraction of this park.

The Mummy was the last official credit I needed from Studios (at least until they finish Fast & Furious: Orlando Drift, which looks to be nearly complete), so I headed over there. With the advantage of the single-rider line, I barely had to wait at all. Doing it so soon after Gringotts made comparing the two inevitable. They both have similar starts, with some projection sequences and a fake-out ride element. However, that’s about as similar as they get. Mummy is definitely an indoor coaster, with a fair bit of speed, and quite a lot of swooping turns. Unfortunately, it’s all in the dark, and with the 3D glasses on, I could basically see nothing. Which I guess is the point, but I barely remember any individual elements. The end-of-ride fake-out is also pretty funny, but not much happens afterward. In 2004, I’m sure this was groundbreaking and amazing. Today, it’s just fine.

After the Mummy, I had lunch at the Leaky Cauldron, which is just about as claustrophobic as it’s intended to be. The chicken sandwich was good, but I could have wished for some drink refills. Epic has a number of water fountains in its lines, which is brilliant. Studios definitely does not, and I could feel the dehydration as a result.

Transformers: the Ride

Whatcha pointin' at, Prime?

Under other circumstances, I don’t know if I would have done this ride. However, Ethan said this morning it was quite similar to Spider-Man, so I was curious, and the single-rider trick worked so well on Mummy that I thought I’d try it again. Sure enough, it was equally effective, and I got on almost immediately. I don’t have any particular love for the Michael Bay Transformers films. I’m on record as objecting to the first one, as I found the characters unrecognizable, just “a pile of sharp bits.” That was true here as well, and I found it very difficult to tell who was supposed to be on-screen, unless it was Prime or Bumblebee. Once again I was stuck with the 3D glasses, which I’d rather go without. The ride itself was awfully similar to Spider-Man, even having the same effects in some places, and a similar simulated drop. I will say that the plot made ever so slightly more sense, in that the ride vehicle is supposed to be a transformer, so we had an excuse for being on the battlefield, as opposed to just being some yutzes who need saving all the time, like most dark rides are. Other than that, I have no idea what the story was supposed to be, but I got to hear the voice of Peter Cullen (who just recently passed away as I write this) tell me I helped save the world, and that’s pretty cool.

After that, I wandered around and took some pictures, then wandered back to Islands with the intent of doing the same. However, the obligatory afternoon thunderstorms were more frequent and more intense today, and I found myself waiting them out in a pavilion outside of Islands. I sneaked inside for some quick photos and a little shopping, then tried to get back to my bus. Unfortunately, there was yet another thunderstorm, and I had to hide out in Margaritaville for a bit. The rest of the afternoon, the sky looked strange – 50% sunny with high clouds, and 50% ominously dark gray, with a fairly clear dividing line. If the clouds ever moved around, I couldn’t tell. Didn’t matter to me, though. I got back to Stella Nova, aggressively hydrated, got a car over to the Hampton by the airport, and was thoroughly exhausted.