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Universal Studios Florida vs Islands of Adventure

Better park?

  • Total voters
    35
ThemeParkHistorian

ThemeParkHistorian

Roller Poster
I know, it's been asked thousands of times since 1999, but the parks are always changing! So i'm curious as what overall everyone thinks. Which is the better park? If you were in/stopping through Orlando, or if you only had one day at the Universal Orlando resort, and had a one day single ticket to either of the two theme parks, which would you choose? Based off the parks right now.

Would it be the original park, Universal Studios Florida with it's Production Central, New York, San Fransisco, Diagon Alley, World Expo, Springfield, Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone, and Hollywood lands?

Or the newer park, Islands of Adventure with it's Port of Entry, Suess Landing, The Lost Continent, Hogsmeade, Jurassic Park, Skull Island, Toon Lagoon, and Marvel Superhero Island lands?

Explain which is place that is more worth it, better, mention rides/atmosphere/restaurants/theming/if either of them are one of the best theme parks ever designed;)(this poll is easy, the question is obvious for me), etc.​
 
For me, there is no competition. The only ride I enjoy at Universal Studios Florida is Revenge of the Mummy (which in all fairness is fantastic). Unfortunately, the supporting line-up is lacking. Rip Ride Rock-it is dull and has a nasty rattle, Gringotts is the first ride i've ever been on where the queue was more entertaining than the ride (which was barely a coaster, more a screen based simulator) and MiB, Simpsons and ET are all ok, but nothing exceptional. Islands of Adventure on the other hand is just stunning. I wouldn't even know where to begin. You've got world class dark rides and water rides alongside some great fun coasters and soon to be one of the best coasters in the state. Islands of Adventure is a stunning park, easily one of the best i've ever been to. Universal Studios unfortunately has a long way to go until it can even come close to being considered a 'Good' park for myself.
 
Ya, this one seems pretty cut and dry. Islands of Adventure is the better put together park. While USF has far and away the best land out of the two parks (Diagon Alley is possibly the best theme park land, at least until Nintendo opens), the generic "Universal Backlot" theme tying the park together has aged very poorly. Perhaps in an age where the "magic of Hollywood!!" was marketable, I would feel differently, but, with behind the scenes videos easily accessible and especially the loss of innocence toward Hollywood that came with the Me Too movement, it just doesn't work the same. Plus, beige concrete boxes as the main look of any park is pretty uninspired.

Islands of Adventure, on the other hand, is probably the best park in Orlando and possibly the country. It has some of the best dark rides in the world, the best water ride collection anywhere (Phantasialand is right behind), and is about to have a nearly unbeatable coaster collection with a world-class Intamin multi-launch looper, an insanely impressive family coaster with Hagrid's, and a great old school B&M looper. It also helps that the focus of the park itself became the idea of being immersed in the worlds from your favorite movies, as opposed to the world where they made your favorite movies.
 
I’m personally going to go with the others and pick Islands of Adventure, although it’s much closer for me than it is for most as I honestly think that both of Universal’s Florida parks are terrific parks. Am I the only one who has IOA and USF as their top 2 in the state of Florida, as I feel like that’s quite an uncommon opinion?

But in terms of the topic of this thread, Islands of Adventure takes it for me because I feel like as opposed to focusing on just one element of the park experience, it tackles a number of different areas and does them all so, so well. It’s perhaps the theme park I’ve been to that feels the most like a “jack of all trades”, although I think it seems to do each element exceptionally well in spite of this. The theming and detail are absolutely breathtaking, in my opinion, and each area immerses you into its own different world so effortlessly. The dark ride selection is fantastic, in my opinion; Spider-Man is my personal favourite dark ride I’ve ever been on, and FJ isn’t too far behind. Jurassic Park River Adventure and Bilge-Rats are my two favourite water rides I’ve done, and I’ve never even ridden Dudley, so I imagine if I was to ride that, it would elevate IOA’s water ride lineup even further for me. I must admit that the coaster selection was probably the park’s weakest link for me when I last visited in 2016; although Hulk was really good fun, and a coaster I very much enjoyed, I don’t think it’s quite top-tier material for me, and both Dragon Challenge coasters seemed nothing more than average. However, the park seems to have hugely improved in this area since my last visit, as both Hagrid’s and Velocicoaster look utterly sublime (albeit in different ways). So with these improvements, I’d imagine that IOA would elevate itself even further for me with a revisit!

So my vote goes to Islands of Adventure, for the reasons I just specified above; it’s not just my favourite park in UOR, it’s not just my favourite park in Florida, it’s my current favourite theme park I’ve ever visited.
 
Pretty much echoing what Matt said above, IoA is also my favourite park in the world. Fantastic rides, excellent theming and it is just a joy to walk around on a warm Florida day. Not to mention that since my visit they've added Hagrids and are about to open what could potentially be the best coaster in the world.

I still think USF is decent though - The Mummy is great, Diagon Alley is the best themed area I've been to anywhere (and I enjoyed Gringotts more than Forbidden Journey) and some of the shows and dining options are decent too. But there is a lot of filler there and it is definitely weaker than its sister park.
 
Going the other way, voted for the Studios park. Bear in mind that I haven't been since 2007, both parks have changed a lot since then, so I can't say whether I'd feel the same way now. But back when I first went there (2003), the Studios park always felt more special to me. It was the one I longed to visit as a kid, much more so than its Disney counterparts. The Jaws ride, Back to the Future, Twister, Earthquake - all that stuff. Finally getting there was my first proper theme park based pinch-me moment, helped enormously by the BttF theme tune blasting out over the entrance plaza.
IoA on the other hand, while amazing, felt more like a 'traditional' theme park.
What can I say - I'm a movie guy, and the Movie Studios style of park just felt newer and more exciting to me.

On another note, I've always visited during off-peak periods and have been able to do both parks comfortably in one day, so I've always classed them both as one resort anyway. ?‍♂️
 
I've always liked Islands of Adventure better for its overall lineup and theming!!!! Better selection of Roller Coasters and Spiderman, Doom, River Adventure and Forbidden Journey are a better selection of rides overall!!!
 
Howie said:
Going the other way, voted for the Studios park. Bear in mind that I haven't been since 2007, both parks have changed a lot since then, so I can't say whether I'd feel the same way now. But back when I first went there (2003), the Studios park always felt more special to me. It was the one I longed to visit as a kid, much more so than its Disney counterparts. The Jaws ride, Back to the Future, Twister, Earthquake - all that stuff. Finally getting there was my first proper theme park based pinch-me moment, helped enormously by the BttF theme tune blasting out over the entrance plaza.
IoA on the other hand, while amazing, felt more like a 'traditional' theme park.
What can I say - I'm a movie guy, and the Movie Studios style of park just felt newer and more exciting to me.
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I'm with Howie on this. It was around 2003 I last visited the Florida theme parks and I only had time for either IoA or USF. It was an easy decision to choose the latter. IoA had three great rides, of course, but Back to the Future and T2: 3D were probably my two favourite screen-based attractions of all time (although admittedly the original film-based Spider-Man ride came close). Transformers, with its crappy fuzzy video screens, can't hold a candle to any of these.

But I imagine with all the changes in the interim I'd now choose IoA.
 
FarleyFlavors said:
...but Back to the Future and T2: 3D were probably my two favourite screen-based attractions of all time (although admittedly the original film-based Spider-Man ride came close).
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I can't believe that, when describing why I love the Studios park so much, I forgot to mention T2: 3D! Shame. On. Me!!
I remember watching the 'Making Of T2: 3D' documentary that came as a bonus feature on the T2 dvd, finally getting to experience it was quite surreal.
Now then, when you say "original film-based Spiderman ride", is it not original anymore? What is it now? ?
 
IoA. I enjoy US but the lord baby Jesus knows that I can only take so many simulators. They're rank. && US is legit just.... Simulators as far as the eye can see ?
 
Interesting hearing other people talk about how much better USF was in the 2000s. It got me thinking about my first visit in early 2010, just before Wizarding World would open. And, at that time, USF was the far superior park. They'd put some money into the park recently, building Simpsons, Disaster, and Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit in the span of two years. They had some still fresh additions with Revenge of the Mummy and Men in Black. But, most importantly, they still had the core Universal classics: JAWS, Terminator 2, ET Adventure. Now though? Well...

I understand why they closed Jaws, and it was undoubtedly the right move. Diagon Alley is, in layman's terms, the s**t. But the park's flow was hurt by the loss of Amity. Then they closed T2, Disaster, and Twister. And, their replacements are, well, not great (the Bourne show looks fine but, I mean, c'mon, it was Terminator 2: 3D). Those do, to me, seem like short sighted decisions. All the while IOA is hitting home run after home run: Kong, Hagrid's, and now Velocicoaster?!? The choice is easy in this case.

IOA made a great decision in maintaining their opening day rides. Apart from Lost Continent, the park's foundational opening day attractions are all there and (mostly) well taken care of. Instead of closing rides, they built new ones around them. And, sure, Dueling Dragon's slow death was a sad one, but no one can say that Dragon Challenge, in its final state, didn't need to be replaced. (still baffles me that they renamed Dueling Dragons: Fire and Ice to Dragon Challenge: Chinese Fireball and Hungarian Horntail. Has got to have the worst coaster name since Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure.)

There's a pretty good chance that Nintendo Land, if it ever opens in Florida, will go to USF, and I think it would help tremendously having two of the best lands in the world in the same park. But, with all their classic rides now gone, I don't think it'll be enough. In conclusion, we must protect ET Adventure at all costs.
 
Howie said:
Now then, when you say "original film-based Spiderman ride", is it not original anymore? What is it now? ?
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When it opened it used actual film. Each scene was screened from dual 70mm projectors - essentially the same system as T2: 3D, which used three pairs of projectors. Spider-Man's were replaced with video projectors in 2012.
Howie said:
I remember watching the 'Making Of T2: 3D' documentary that came as a bonus feature on the T2 dvd
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Thanks for the reminder! I haven't seen that for nearly twenty years. Must dig out the DVD.
 
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