Seth Kubersky - Universal Orlando 2012: The Ultimate Guide to the Ultimate Theme Park Adventure

UNIVERSAL

ORLANDO

2012

The Ultimate Guide to the Ultimate

Theme Park Adventure

Seth Kubersky

Universal Orlando

The Ultimate Guide To The

Ultimate Theme Park Adventure

Published by

The Intrepid Traveler

P.O. Box 531

Branford, CT 06405

http://www.intrepidtraveler.com

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission of the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

Copyright 2012 by The Intrepid Traveler

Eleventh Edition

Book design by Jana Rade

Cover photo 2010 Chip Litherland Photography

Maps designed by MapGorilla.com

ISBN: 978-1-937011-06-2

About the Author

Seth Kubersky is an author, artist, and entertainment professional who has been based in Orlando for fourteen years. After graduating from the College of William and Mary in Virginia, Seth began his career at Universal Studios Florida, where he was a technician for the Ghostbusters , Terminator , and Barney shows, and an entertainment supervisor for Mardi Gras parades, Halloween haunted houses, and other special events. He has been interviewed as a theme park expert on Rudy Maxas satellite and broadcast radio shows. As an independent theater producer, he has worked on stages across Central Florida, from dinner shows and Fringe Festivals to the Shakespeare Center and Centroplex. His arts & entertainment opinion column Live Active Cultures appears in each issue of the Orlando Weekly alternative newspaper.

Trademarks, Etc.

This book mentions many attractions, fictional characters, product names, entities, and works that are trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of their various creators and owners. They are used in this book solely for editorial purposes. Neither the author nor the publisher makes any commercial claim to their use.

Table of Contents

List of Maps

Planning

Your Escape

Have you heard about the magical kingdom in the middle of Florida? There, the halls of an enchanted castle echo not with the squeals of little girls playing princess, but the screams of teens and adults having the ride of their lives. And you can find dozens of other adventures within walking distance of this one, inside an intimate resort that epitomizes new urbanism. For Orlando visitors willing to wander beyond the usual World, an extraordinary new Universe is waiting.

Youre forgiven if Mickey immediately came to mind as you read the preceding paragraph. After all, the Mouse has been the Big Cheese of Florida tourism ever since 1971, when Walt Disney World opened on 43 sprawling square miles of scrubland southwest of Orlando in Lake Buena Vista. Two decades later, Disneys domination of Orlandos attraction industry was still essentially unchallenged. By then, this new and improved version of Californias Disneyland had been expanded to include hotels, water parks, nightclubs, and multiple theme parks. But when Universal Studios, in distant California, announced plans for an East Coast edition of their famous Hollywood tour, Mickey was spooked enough to rush the Disney/MGM Studios (today known as Disneys Hollywood Studios) into construction.

Universals entry in the Florida theme park sweepstakes was dubbed Universal Studios Florida. When it opened in 1990 it quickly became Orlandos number-two attraction, but it was just one theme park to Disneys many and seemed doomed to perpetual also-ran status. It didnt help that some of its signature attractions were initially plagued by breakdowns, giving the park a reputation for unreliability that haunted it for years.

That all changed in 1999 when Universal Studios Florida reinvented itself as Universal Orlando Resort, adding a second theme park, a nighttime entertainment complex, and several hotels. For the first time, Walt Disney World had competition worthy of the name and Orlando had its second multi-park, multi-hotel, multi-activity, all-in-one, never-need-to-leave-the-property vacation destination. Then, in June 2010, almost exactly 20 years after opening their original park, Universal Orlando upped the ante again by opening The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, a highly-anticipated expansion that reset the bar for theming and thrills. The resulting rush of world-wide attention brought record crowds to the resort, and attendance has continued to increase ever since Potters arrival.

Universal Orlando is no mere Mouse copycat. It represents a new departure in theme park and resort destinations that is very shrewdly positioned in the marketplace to build its own following and capitalize on any decline of the Disney brand. It is sure to capture the imagination of both theme park veterans and a new generation of vacationers hungry for entertainment experiences designed with the twenty-first century in mind.

Just What Is Universal Orlando?

Universal Orlando and Walt Disney World are both multi-park, multi-resort vacation destinations. But whereas Disney sprawls over a vast area, Universal Orlando is comfortably compact, allowing its guests to spend less time getting around and more time enjoying themselves. And while Disney World harkens back to an earlier time, Universal is very much of the moment, with an eye to the future.

There are two theme parks here. The original movie-studio-themed Universal Studios Florida (USF) is still going strong. It continues to add new thrills using the very latest in technology. Almost literally next door is Islands of Adventure (IOA), an attraction that takes the whole notion of theme park to the next level, with awesome rides and hyper-detailed environments.

CityWalk is an entertainment and restaurant complex that lies between the theme parks. This is very much an adult experience, although several restaurants will also appeal to the younger set. CityWalk recognizes the ethnic diversity of America with a cross-cultural sampling of dining and entertainment. And CityWalk rocks, thanks to the worlds largest Hard Rock Cafe and Hard Rock Live, a performance space that hosts some of pop musics biggest names.

Universals trio of themed, on-property resort hotels likewise go toe-to-toe with Mickeys best lodgings. Portofino Bay Hotel has established itself among Orlandos premiere resort hotels. This ultra-luxury property is a photographic reproduction of that favorite destination of the international jet set, Portofino, Italy. More casual is the Hard Rock Hotel, which radiates a hip California sensibility and is just steps away from the front gate to Universal Studios Florida. The Royal Pacific Resort evokes the romance of far-off Bali, just minutes away from the theme parks by foot or boat. Land is reserved for up to two additional properties, but a ground-breaking has yet to materialize.

Across the interstate on an adjacent parcel sits Wet n Wild , a water park that Universal now owns. It has not been officially rolled into the Universal Orlando brand, but it is included in some ticket options and is well worth a visit. Rumors persist that Universal may relocate the park to vacant property it owns when the lease on its current location expires in the near future.