Universal Theme Parks – Orlando, Florida

Many people who have visited Orlando’s Universal Studios park in the past will be surprised at just how much the resort has evolved. There are now two major parks, three hotels, and the CityWalk Entertainment complex.

Universal Studios opened in June 1990 as a single park with no dedicated hotels. The park’s theme, decor, and attractions are based on the movies Universal has produced over the years, including E.T., Jaws, King Kong, Shrek, Twister, and in recent years, The Mummy, and The Simpsons. This park is less about thrills and more about bringing movie magic to life, taking advantage of special effects and movie making technology. Areas are themed by location, with New York and Los Angeles being two of the main areas, and of course, the entire park is built around a real working movie studio.

In the late 90′s, Universal decided that to compete with Disney, they would need to transform the park into a larger resort with more to entice visitors. Up until that point, Universal was typically added to people’s Orlando vacations as an after-thought to Disney. How much mouse can you take anyway?

In 1999, Universal opened the Islands of Adventure theme park and the CItyWalk entertainment center, along with three major hotels. Islands of Adventure still maintains that movie-making theme, but adds some major thrills too. There’s the Incredible Hulk coaster, based on the movie, of course, that happens to be one of the best coasters in Orlando. Another favorite attraction in the Spiderman ride, which features some impressive technology and lots of stomach dropping excitement. There are several other coasters in the park too.

With these additions, Universal became a destination resort on line with the Disney parks. Many people now travel to Orlando just to make a vacation out of their visit to Universal, and may tack on a day at Disney or Sea World at the end of their trips. The expansion was truly smart, because it brought many more visitors to the park, and in 2008 it became the 6th most visited park in the United States, and the 11th most visited park in the world.