I visited Universal Studios Orlando for the first time recently and thought it would be a good idea to highlight the worst rides and attractions at Universal Orlando so you can focus more on the other attractions and not waste your time.
After all, we all have a limited amount of time to visit the theme park and there’s no way to do every attraction. That’s why it’s helpful to know which ones are worth skipping from the get-go.
So if you’re planning on visiting the park anytime soon and want to plan ahead, here is my list of the worst rides and attractions at Universal Orlando that you should consider avoiding.
1. Shrek 4D
I generally enjoy 3D and 4D shows if they’re done well, so when I saw this ride I was curious to try it out thinking it wasn’t going to disappoint my expectations.
The 3D experience on the ride turned out to be very basic and cheap feeling and didn’t feel realistic at all. The 4D experience was nothing more than moving chairs and water being sprayed on your face, which got annoying after the first time.
Maybe if you’re under the age of 8 or a Shrek fanatic you may enjoy this ride, but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone, especially when there are other better things you can spend your time on in the park.
2. Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem
This ride is similar to the Shrek one mentioned above. It’s a 3D simulator type ride where you sit in a seat and look at a screen ahead. It’s nothing special in my opinion and a bit underwhelming which is why it made it on my list of the worst rides and attractions at Universal Orlando.
The other downside to this ride is that there aren’t many simulator seats, making the lines for this ride very long and moving quite slowly. For what the ride is offering, I don’t think it’s worth waiting in line for hours for. Overall, I think kids might enjoy this ride but for older folks, I would skip this one and check out the other attractions.
3. E.T Adventure
Believe it or not, the best part about this ride was the queue in which they recreated the forest scene where they are searching for E.T. That was pretty cool to go through, and made the waiting not feel as long.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t get any better after that. The ride itself is a flyover style ride where you’re seated on bicycle seats and fly over the city and through a forest experiencing the story of E.T. There’s nothing really more to it than that. It does feel a bit outdated, considering that this ride opened in 1990 and the effects are not up to date on today’s standards.
If you’re a fan of E.T you might enjoy this ride, but if you want a more thrilling experience and want to save some time, I would pass on this experience.
4. The Tales of Beedle The Bard
I am a Harry Potter fan and when I saw that they had a show that they were doing, I was definitely up for it. The Tales of Beedle the Bard recounted the story of ‘The Three Brothers’ from Deathly Hallows using puppets and actors and took place on a stage within Diagon Alley.
The puppets were very cool and the actors’ performance while maneuvering with them was done very well. However, the show itself was nothing special. They had some cool effects incorporated into it but story-wise it just told the story of ‘The Three Brothers’ and was nothing new.
During the showing that I was a part of, they also had some technical issues at the end, so the show had to be cut short. So when you’re deciding on what shows to check out at Universal Studios, I would recommend skipping this one and opting for their other selections.
5. Fast & Furious: Supercharged
When you think of a ride based on Fast & Furious, you would think of a super-fast roller coaster or a car simulation type race track. Unfortunately, this ride had none of that.
Riders were seated in a large bus surrounded by screens with the story of you being in a car chase. There was no speed at all involved in this ride, and the screens were on either side of you so it was hard to follow along to what was happening since your vision was blocked by the people sitting beside you. The only thing you felt was a lot of shaking but the experience didn’t feel immersive at all and just seemed very fake.
This ride also had one of the longest rides in the park, with a wait time of over 2 hours and slow-moving lines. Definitely one of the worst rides at Universal Studios Orlando and not worth the wait for the experience you get. So unless you want to waste your time, go for it, otherwise, I would definitely recommend passing on this one.
