Top Experiences at Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure

Intro

I was in the middle of my Orlando Epic Universe Trip, and so far I had only been in the Walt Disney World bubble. You can see more of these adventures here:

• Disney Parks Challenge: Typhoon Lagoon, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios
• Walt Disney World: 4 Parks in 1 Incredible Day

Finally, I was getting closer and closer to get back to Universal’s Epic Universe, my favorite theme park in the whole wide world (at least right now). But first, I had a buffer day between WDW and Universal, so I decided to use my Universal Annual Pass, and go enjoy the 2 old parks of this resort: Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure.

Getting to Universal Studios Florida

Living in New York City, it is amazing to have an Annual Pass for Universal Orlando. It means I can come down here whenever I want without having to buy the very expensive tickets into these parks. I also get discounts for their hotels, food and merchandise, and discounted entrance to Epic Universe. Coming to the parks at 11 AM does not feel like a waste of money anymore, so that is exactly what I did in this buffer day, transferring from my Disney hotel to my new home at Universal Orlando.

It was a day to take it easy, before my full Epic Universe couple of days. I chose to go first to Universal Studios Florida, since wait times were way better in this park right now. Hagrid’s and Velocicoaster had crazy wait times at 11 AM and I was not going to go through it at the start of my day lol.

Rides at Universal Studios Florida

It was a sunny June day in Orlando, and doing a dark ride like Transformers, where I could get some AC as well, sounded like a great idea.

And then, in the same vicinity, it was time to secure all my belongings in the lockers, and head to Revenge of The Mummy, using the Single Rider line. Feels amazing doing this, it is a very convenient way to do this ride in a quick time.

After exploring a little bit of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley, and doing Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts, I decided it was time I jump to the next park using the Hogwarts Express train. Be aware that you need a passholder or park hopping ticket to ride this train. To do so, you gotta go through the King’s Cross station, just like the real one in London.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade

Arrived to Islands of Adventure, entering through the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade, the original Harry Potter themed land ever, now present in many Universal Theme Parks in the world. Immediately jumped in line for Hagrid’s Motorbike Adventure, and I was shocked to find out that they closed the Single Rider line forever, since they just had opened the Express Pass line for this attraction, just a couple of days ago. They definitely ruined this ride, the most popular of the 2 parks, with now unreliable waiting times, since the Express Pass guests would have priority at any time.

Was in entirety of the line for the first time in years (since I always do Single Rider, even with other people with me), and the whole thing was a mess. The poor couple in front of me was their first time on this ride, and they could not comprehend the so many rooms and caves we had to pass to finally, after 2 hours, get into the ride. But as always the wait is worthy, but will consider these changes next time I want to ride Hagrid’s.

After that long wait, I needed to pamper myself with a nice meal, so got the Fish and chips and butterbeer from Three Broomsticks. I got the kids meal which included some grapes for a change lol.

From this restaurant, you could see a nice view of the Velocicoaster, my second favorite attraction of this park. I was going there later.

Not before enjoying some live entertainment in the hands of the Frog Choir, right in front of the Hogwarts Castle.

Time for another ride in this land, and I went to Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. Not my favorite since the screens kinda make me sick, but still enjoy the queue and the scenes.

Jurassic World

It is not my fault that Universal planned to have 2 very valuable IP lands right next to each other, so the highest concentration of guests are always here on the back of the park (maybe it was on purpose?). Regardless, time to go into Jurassic Park/World to ride River Adventure, and get some thrills and get wet in the middle of this hot day.

The drop is definitely amazing: 85-foot drop compared to the 50-foot drop at Tiana‘s Bayou Adventure. And yeah, I got soaked on this ride.

The other lands in Islands of Adventure

And talking about being soaked, I had to pass by Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls, and see people getting fully drenched in this nightmare of a water ride. It’s crazy that it’s one of my friend’s favorite ride lol. I did it once and never again.

But one I decided to do this day was Hulk. Despite avoiding it the last few visits to Universal, since it gets me a little dizzy afterwards, I felt ready to ride it again. Passed by the metal detectors and went on it. And yes, once again it made me dizzy. I had to take a Tylenol at this point. And take a coffee break at the closest Starbucks by the Port of Entry.

Feeling better now, I decided to go into another ride I had avoided in my last visits: Skull Island Reign of Kong, and let me tell, I kinda had fun on this one. Doing it in Universal Hollywood on the Studio Tram is more fun, but the queue here is very interesting.

Back to Jurassic World

I started to slowly return to the Hogwarts Express to eventually park hop into Universal Studios, and on the way I had to get one of the beef empanadas by River Adventure. They are super recommended, really good flavor, and not super expensive.

Since I had avoided the long lines earlier, I decided to go on Velocicoaster this time time around. It was my last opportunity this trip to do this ride, and now the wait time had dropped a little bit on the app. I actually set an alarm for when the wait time was less than 35 min and it actually went down a couple of times. The Single Rider line was closed for today.

It is always so fun, I love this roller coaster.

On the way back to Universal Studios Florida

Quick stop at the always changing All Hallows Eve Boutique next to Hagrid’s, and reminiscent of the Halloween Horror Nights events coming up, and that I will definitely be going.

Had one more thing to do at Universal Studios Florida, so I took the Hogwarts Express, which had a surprising short wait, probably because USF was closing a little bit earlier. The scenes on the train change completely on the way to Diagon Alley.

CineSational: Symphonic Spectacular

Different from last year’s shows, CineSational: Symphonic Spectacular in 2025 lacks the drone show. I barely missed the beginning but it was still amazing to see this show, with a lot of music from John Williams like Harry Potter, E.T. and Jaws.

It was way pass Park Close, and the sea of people were just walking out Universal Studios Florida. It was an excellent day, and a great use of my Annual Pass, besides maybe the long wait at Hagrid’s.

Stella Nova Resort

I had left my suitcase earlier at Stella Nova Resort, the new Universal hotel close to Epic Universe, and now I was coming back to finalize my check in and see what would be waiting for me in my first time in this hotel. The lobby itself is amazing.

The gym was great but I was so tired to even use it. But love the opportunity of having it, something that Disney World lacks a lot.

Finally in the room, and I have to say that it reminded me a lot of the stays I have had in the Endless Summer Resorts, but Space Themed lol. The person at the lobby hooked me up with a nice high floor, semi view of the park.

So I was able to see Helios Grand Hotel and Epic Universe.

After a nice sleep, tired from the long day, I woke to a beautiful sunrise.

And after I went to get some coffee downstairs at the Cosmos Cafe, I could not believe all the nice views I had of Epic Universe: Helios Grand, Paris at the Ministry of Magic, Super Nintendo World…

Darkmoor and Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment, and some construction still happening next to it.

View of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic, and Super Nintendo World including the back of Mine-Cart Madness and its portal.

One of the most prominent views is the Isle of Berk from How to Train your Dragon. Stardust Racers was also very visible, and the main portal to the park as well.

The next few days I spent them at Epic Universe, and of course I will bring all the details in the upcoming blogs, but for now, I wanted to show the look of this beautiful hotel from the outside.

Depending of the natural light, it actually changes colors and tones. This facade is amazingly beautiful.

The reason I picked this hotel, was not only for the price and the Early Entry benefit, but also the proximity to the park, being able to walk to it in about 10 min. It was amazing not having to take a long bus ride to get there.

The sign coming back from Epic later that night.

And if the legs will not let you go 10 more minutes, you can still get the bus from Epic Universe but it is not as frequent.

On my last night in Stella Nova I had to get this famous pizza from Cosmos Cafe. It looked so good, and the taste was better than expected. But for now, and as promised, wait for the full coverage of Epic Universe in the upcoming blog posts.