From kid-friendly rides like The Cat in the Hat to the thrilling VelociCoaster, here are the rides and attractions at Universal Orlando, ranked.
Opening on May 28, 1999, Universal’s Islands of Adventure theme park has only one binding theme among its various lands and attractions. Adventure, of course! Islands is undoubtedly a higher-thrill park than its neighbor Universal Studios, and has something to offer fans of anything from Marvel heroes to Dr. Seuss’ creations. (Try the Green Eggs & Ham tots. Just trust me.)
Once again, this list has not been compiled based solely on “Which attraction makes for the best ride?” This list is about which attractions best evoke the spirit and energy of the film, series or book upon which they are based. The Incredible Hulk coaster is going to be lower on this list than you’d like it to be, just as a friendly heads up.
Now that’s out of the way, let’s get in line and get ready!
There’s nothing really wrong about Storm Force Accelatron as a ride. I mean, it’s just Disney’s Mad Tea Party with a splash of X-Men paint, and that’s a pretty good time. But it really is just the Mad Tea Party with some X-Men detailing. It makes sense that Storm’s power would lead to the fun spinning action of this attraction, but that’s about as far as the ride seems to consider its X-Men connection. This queue is entirely outdoors, so there just isn’t a lot of opportunity for more exciting in-universe embellishments. As a tea cup ride, Storm Force Accelatron is just fun. As an X-Men ride, it’s pretty unexciting.
The Cat in the Hat is a cute little motion simulator that captures the feeling of Dr. Seuss’ most famous creation without ever really making the rider feel involved. The entire Seuss Landing section of Islands of Adventure is an awesome, fun, vibrant, and kid-friendly area, so it makes sense that all the rides there would be a little lower impact for young guests. The Cat in the Hat plops you down, and takes you right through the classic story. It is a fun and straightforward ride that’s perfectly suited for all little things, one and two alike.
RELATED: Riding (and Ranking) the Attractions at Universal Orlando Resort, From The Hogwarts Express to The Simpsons Ride
Alright, here’s another case of a pretty standard type of theme park ride getting a superhero shine on it. What gives this drop ride a boost over something like Storm Force, though, is the seemingly bonkers storyline suggested by the pre-show. As you wander the dark, spooky queue, you learn that Doctor Doom’s latest machine intends to suck the fear out of you. He’ll then use that fear to power his fight against our heroes, the Fantastic Four. Here’s the thing: through the course of the queue, the actual (and really good) drop, and then the unloading of the ride… The Fantastic Four never show up! Doom is victorious! Even if you’re a fan of heights, this 185-foot blast into the sky will have you powering Doctor Doom’s nefarious invention.
I warned you about this one, so here we go. The Incredible Hulk is, indeed, an incredible roller coaster with one truly great moment thematically worthy of Bruce Banner. It’s a little low on this particular list not for being a lackluster ride, but for not doing enough with the world’s Strongest Avenger. The Incredible Hulk coaster is a launch coaster, meaning it doesn’t get started with the classic “click, click, click… Go!” of many coasters but instead a two-second 0 to 40 mph acceleration. The story of the ride is that the riders themselves are submitting to voluntary gamma radiation testing, so the coaster’s first launch really gets the intense emotional and physical transformation of becoming The Hulk. Do I wish the queue and pre-ride videos were a little more exciting? I absolutely do. Do I understand how tricky Marvel stuff is for Universal Studios in Orlando? Yep, that too!
Reign of Kong might be the inverse of The Incredible Hulk, in that it is a fine ride, but an absolutely incredible overall experience, particularly in regard to the queue. Guests join the outdoor queue outside a massive sculpture of Kong himself before entering a highly detailed and legitimately eerie temple. As you navigate the temple, you encounter warnings and dead bodies before you grab your 3D glasses and board an expedition into the jungle. The dark ride begins, and you’re almost immediately tangling with ferocious creatures from giant bugs to dinosaurs. The queue has done such a good job of building up the threatening mystery of Kong that, even though you know he’s ultimately on your side, it’s still an awe-inspiring but terrifying moment when he shows up. The reliance on screens might be a disappointment to fans of more practical effect-based attractions, but hang on tight for a truly incredible animatronic at the ride’s conclusion.
A surprising opinion I’m discovering as I write this is that I believe Toon Lagoon might be the perfect theme park land. Toon Lagoon, dedicated to classic cartoons from our television sets to the funny pages, captures the madcap energy that makes a good cartoon appealing to children and adults alike. Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls, a log flume ending in a 75-foot drop, is an excellent representation of this energy. On paper, a 75-foot drop of any kind is pretty terrifying! But when you’re surrounded by the wacky characters of Dudley Do-Right’s world, you get so lost in enjoying the goofiness that, by the time you’re taking the plunge, you’re just grinning and laughing. This is a great ride to help usher big kids into the wider world of thrill rides.
Is 75 feet not quite enough for you? Keep on strolling from Toon Lagoon into Jurassic Park for a drop ride with far more teeth. The Jurassic Park River Adventure absolutely captures both the awe and wonder as well as the terror of the original film. The ride begins as a pleasant little boat journey through Stegosaur Springs and Hadrosaur Cove, allowing you an up-close look at some great animatronic dinos. But this is Jurassic Park, so, sure enough, you’re suddenly taking a wrong turn into the velociraptor containment area, where all hell has already broken loose. As you begin your ascent, you’re menaced by raptors and dillophosaurus alike. Of course, though, these predators are just the warm-up act. Just before your boat plunges down 85 feet, the T-Rex herself appears from behind a waterfall and lunges at your raft.
It is, journalistically speaking, awesome.
Fun fact: the development of this ride began before the first Jurassic Park film was even in production!
This multiple-launch coaster is actually the longest roller coaster currently in Florida, which is great because wow, there are a lot of creatures to see! Hagrid’s Magical Creature Motorbike Adventure takes you into the Forbidden Forest alongside Hagrid for a lesson like no other. The seven launches in this coaster absolutely mimic the feel of being on a motorcycle, and this ride smoothly allows you to slow down and check out the Blast-Ended Skrewts while still offering thrilling acceleration and speed.
Maybe it’s weird to not want to “spoil” a ride, but there’s a moment in this coaster that, if you haven’t had the chance to experience yet, I’m not going to tell you about. It’s as close to magic as I’ve ever experienced on any theme park ride, and it’s all the better for not knowing it’s coming.
If you’re starting to get sick of so many Spider-Men in today’s pop culture landscape, I urge you to take a spin on The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man for a more timeless Spidey adventure. This 3-D/4-D motion simulator doesn’t take place within any particular live-action Spider-Man film franchise, but rather within a broader, vaguer world of the animated Spider-Man. The Sinister Six is menacing New York, and J. Jonah Jameson needs the scoop! So, he’s sending you out into the streets inside a new, high-tech vehicle called a, well, “Scoop.” The ride queue takes you through the offices of the Daily Bugle, and there are tons of fun Easter eggs to catch the eye of fans on the lookout.
The motion simulation on this ride is truly a work of web-slinging genius, capturing the iconic swings and slings and twists and turns and near free falls of a good Spider-Man adventure. With all due respect to Tony Stark and Stephen Strange, sometimes it’s nice to sit back, and really let Spider-Man be the star.
The first big Harry Potter attraction at Universal absolutely understands where we most want to be within the Wizarding World, and that is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Walking into Hogsmeade at Islands of Adventure doesn’t carry the punch of a reveal that walking into Diagon Alley at Universal Studios does, but seeing the castle for the first (or 50th) time is a legitimately breathtaking experience. I have never been so delighted to stand for hours in a line as I was the first time I had the chance to walk through the corridors of Hogwarts. The ride itself is a motion-based dark ride taking you through some of the most exciting set pieces of the Harry Potter films. Quidditch and Dementors and dragons are all here! Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint are also all here to reprise their famous roles, alongside many other members of the cast. There’s a really lovely friendliness to complement the thrills of Forbidden Journey: even as a Muggle, you are immediately welcomed within the halls and grounds of Hogwarts. As with several Universal attractions, a lot of the music comes from John Williams’ beautiful score, instantly transporting you into a world of magic.
Are the Jurassic World films very good? Eh, it doesn’t really matter. Does this ride make their existence absolutely worth it? A resounding yes.
If we learned anything in Jurassic World, it's that the park owners absolutely value numbers and dollars over guest (or animal) safety. So, of course they would open a roller coaster that goes through the velociraptor paddock while these predators are hunting! What could go wrong, after all? The pre-show expresses as much, seeing newer franchise stars Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Pratt argue over the safety of the untested experience guests are about to embark on. With all due respect to Owen and Claire, the most exciting human cameo in the queue comes from B.D. Wong’s Dr. Henry Wu, the inexplicable big bad of the Jurassic universe. When Dr. Wu tells you, “Welcome to the VelociCoaster,” you understand you’re in for something scary, no matter how well-meaning its intentions might have once been.
And then the ride itself! VelociCoaster is a coaster absolutely worthy of Jurassic Park’s most enduring nightmare-creatures. This ride is fast. The drops are big, the inversions are intense, and you will absolutely feel like you are contending with animals you never stood a chance against. VelociCoaster is the tallest and fastest coaster currently in Florida. After the staggering greatness of rides like The Incredible Hulk and Hagrid’s Magical Creature Motorbike Adventure, you might find yourself skeptical that another ride could somehow be even better. In terms of both ride experience and commitment to the themes of its source material, VelociCoaster blows everything else at either Universal park out of the water.
Dani is a freelance feature writer for Collider. In addition to having a lot of strong feelings about cartoons and Good Omens, they are a theatre artist and playwright. Their first full-length play is about monsters who work at a doughnut shop, because of course it is.
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