great park usually stays open an hour than the other universal park that is right next store. you can walk from city walk to gain entrance or take platform 9 3/4 to this area. I recommend the train personally. This was a fun theme park with several high intensity thrill rides such as the Velocicoaster and the Hulk

It was great to experience so many great new attractions after not having been here for 7 years. Velocicoaster is so far my favourite roller coaster on the planet, and the Harry Potter bike ride is the best ride. Kong is also a very impressive immersive 4D experience

Visited Oct/Nov 2022 this was our first visit as premier pass holders and it made the visit experience so much better with discounts and fast pass after 4pm. unfortunately the construction walls caused some bottle necks at entrance so we entered through Hogsmeade on the Hogwarts express when it was running (not always running) i managed a few rides i wouldn't have done without the use of the express pass i.e. dr doom (never again) hulk (WOW) I still have not managed Hagrids or Velocicoaster but hope to rectify these next year we also enjoyed the Hogwarts castle light show on the down side we fail to see what lost continent brings to the park apart from the one show which we have done 2 times over the years we just walk through it as its just little shops selling stuff (just my view) overall great park my favourite ride is bilge rats followed by Jurassic river adventure it was a great idea to link both parks by the Hogwarts express. we will be back next year in may and then October (we live in UK)

Universal is by far the best theme park, EVER! We have always enjoyed coming here at Christmas time. This is out fourth trip here. We decided not to do "the other" theme park and just have a good time here. As always, the park is wonderfully maintained, clean, and easy to get around. They have found a way to make everything run so smoothly, from the rides, to the drink stations, to the restaurants. The rides are fantastic. The kids are thrill ride junkies and love the new Velosicoaster. They said it is their favorite ride by far. There was always something going on. No matter what part of the park you were in, there was always something to catch your attention. My kids are older now and being that we were not as rushed this vacation trying to fit everything in, we really had an opportunity to explore the park. The one thing that surprised us were all the "hidden" shops, including a Halloween one and the old movie shop. Even the stores were entertaining with so much to see in addition to great merchandise. I couldn't have asked for a better experience and we look forward to going back.

Massive walk to actually enter the park. So we were happy we splurged on VIP parking. Lots of little shops along the way to keep the walkers interested. And tons of clubs for filling the daytime with activity. Into the park itself we stopped to take our family pic. Which has become like a tradition at this park under the sign the says: The Adventure Begins. Liam and daddy were the tour guides. And what an adventure. We enjoyed Kong, Skull island. The simulator was engaging. But not that thrilling. We did Ripsaw Falls. Think we did Spider man. Lots of jerks and falls. But kid friendly for sure. We did the Jurassic park river adventure. Then the epic Velocicoaster ride and that was thrilling! Lots of twists and turns. It was a long ride. We actually felt better about having left Zoya to wait for us. As we three took on the challenge. This was our fourth park. So everything now seems a blur. I don’t remember them having any fireworks. But the food at Pizza Predattoria was fairly priced and ample to bridge us until dinner. Certainly lots of space for fireworks. Maybe we left very early. At the end of the day we did take the time to soak in the grounds. Calming and relaxing. Lots of water. Good wind down atmosphere after a long day.

The second half of the park. Make sure to ride the Hogwarts Express from Universal Studios to Hogsmeade Village because the attention to detail there is nothing short of breathtaking. Even if you don’t want to buy into (literally) the commercial aspect of The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter, you MUST try the Butterbeer®. It’s a caramel foam-topped cream soda that is absolutely worth it. The evening light show projected onto the side of Hogwarts castle was my favorite part of the entire Universal theme park. The old school Marvel area is fun but the Dr. Seuss and cartoon strip character sections of the park, even though they’re mostly for children, seem like they could be replaced with something from this century. Overall, Islands Of Adventure is a exactly what the name says: an adventure waiting for you.

I would love to give the park 4 of 5 but the sting of 2-hour waits for pretty much every ride (after paying more for these tix than Disney's high prices) took the fun out of the day. Would definitely not recommend going Christmas to New Year's unless you're willing to pay the extra for the express passes. PROS: The Harry Potter section is fantastic. Headed to Forbidden Journey Ride first thing in the morning, so it only took an hour in line. The new Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure did not disappoint, but it was a solid 2-1/2 hour wait. Mythos restaurant is excellent. Make reservations in advance CONS: Between 9am and 9pm our family of 4 managed to get on 4 rides. No matter what park you go to, be prepared for the "my family is up ahead" ploy where people cut in front of you. Very annoying. There's never a team member there when you want them to see that stuff.

We went to have fun but mainly went for the Grinch and Grinchmas so we did the holiday tour. The Jurassic Park coaster is amazing. It does get crowded. My suggestion is get there early so you can ride the rides you really want to ride first. The Grinch made our day.

I visited both theme parks in Orlando: Universal (with the family), and Island of adventure with my 12 years old son. Dates december 27th and 29th. I would say that the visit to Universal went as expected...with our expensive express tickets. However, experience on Island of Adventure had mixed feelings (also with expensive express tickets). Good cadance in AM hours, but less and less fun in PM. Furtunately, we managed to keep a positive balance by the end of the day. Rides in general are great, but experience is quite expensive when you consider you pay for 1) Tickets, 2) Express Pass, and 3) TIME. Is this something worth? My pesonal opinion it is not, but my son has a different point of view, and I am happy this is the case, since at the end of the day I was there for him, this is what really matter. That being said, if you decide to go I strongly recommend to do so with express pass. Otherwise, you are basically paying to do long lines. At the begining AM hours all was good, but in PM hours lines were incredible long up to 3 and 4 hours (for none express pass rides), and on top of that Hagrid and velociraptor were experiencing "technical difficulties". The message communicated to customers was something like "we apologise, and will continue shortly", which definetely was not the case. People tired, lying on the floor.... Somehow, we managed to do Hagrid`s Motorbike experience which is really good, but the time spent is simple not worth it. The balance of the great fun does not compensate for this 4 hours line attracktion. Just before doing the ride, I complained before one staff member, and he did not care, just listened to me with an approch: This is it, wether you like it or not, was a kind offensive. After that long line, we decided (my son aggred with me) to go only to exprees tickets attractions, but Harry Potter & the Fobidden Journey was also having "Technical difficulties" with file not moving for express tickets holders neither. At this time I decided to continue my complain. This time staff was more cooperative, and guided me to the right person, now with a better approach...most customer service driven (for someone that spent that day at least $800 in tickets for two. Furtunately, we still had time to have fun and complete all the atracktions, and my son, despite 6 hours in line for two atracktion (2 for Velociraptor and 4 for Hagrid) keeps great memories, with a wow feeling (not me). I believe this is one of the reasons why the crowd is still crazy during holidays, but evaluate carefully your decisions before making your purchase. There are plenty of options out there to consider