Universal Studios Florida is the original Universal park in Orlando, debuting in 1990 before Islands of Adventure, Epic Universe and the rest of the resort had been built out. The park has certainly evolved since then, with only one opening day attraction still running. Just like Universal Studios Florida, our Attraction Rankings series has to evolve (how’s that for a segue?) and that means we’re adding USF into the fold! In this post, we’ll rank all of the park’s attractions from worst to first.

I won’t bury the lede, Universal Studios Florida is my least favorite Universal or Disney Park in the States. There’s a lack of theme and the attraction roster, as you’re about to see, is lackluster. It’s also undergoing a few changes at this point with Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit closing to make way for a new Fast & Furious coaster. The park could use a few more changes but, for now, it appears that Universal’s attention will turn elsewhere.

This post will stick to our usual attraction ranking rules:

• No Meet & Greets. These are impossible to rank as each experience is unique. If you want to know which character meet & greets I do like, they usually involve bears. Melissa enjoys Shrek and Donkey. If she was writing this then she might find a way to rank them number 1.
• No Live Shows. Stage shows or nighttime spectaculars are hard to compare against rides. Universal Studios Florida has some interesting entertainment, including one show I mention below, but they won’t be ranked in this post.
• No playgrounds or splash pads. This one’s for my own sake. Po’s Kung Fu Training Camp does look very elaborate and the type of place that I would have loved when I was 7 but I don’t have kids and didn’t think it was advisable to crawl around in there with other people’s kids. Since I didn’t experience it, I won’t rank it.
• These are all my opinion. This list is completely subjective. I can’t account for other people’s memories in these rankings. You’ll likely disagree with these rankings even though I’m right 😉 Please let me know what you disagree with in the comments.

Universal Studios Florida nearly had me breaking one of my own rules. That would have been embarrassing! The Bourne Stunt Spectacular almost made the list, thanks to the constant showtimes throughout the day. It’s good and well worth seeing but wasn’t included because it still qualifies as a stage show of sorts. Along those lines, the Hogwarts Express was included but it should be noted that you need a ticket for both USF and Islands of Adventure in order to ride, as it hops between parks.

The attractions that did qualify for the rankings are a very mixed bag. This park has 3 of my least favorite rides that I’ve ever ranked in these posts. Even the high end attractions have some faults. In other words, Universal Studios Florida could really use a makeover. Before I reveal too much, let’s get to the list!

13. Fast & Furious – Supercharged AND Race Through New York with Jimmy Fallon

For the first time ever in our attraction rankings, we have a tie. And it’s not a good kind of tie, these attractions are so frustrating that they feel like a bigger issue than just a bad ride, more like the symbol of all theme park evil. Okay, that might be a little strong but… If you thought Disney Parks go too hard on their IP in theme parks then, oh boy, wait until you get a load of these. On top of that, both attractions feel like they’re talking down to the audience, thinking guests are too dumb to realize that these ride concepts are mailed in.

There’s also more basic feelings like “Oh, this looks terrible” or “Did a 4 year-old come up with this plot?” I don’t dislike Jimmy Fallon or the Fast & Furious franchise. Honestly, they both have some theme park qualities to them that could make for an interesting attraction. But both of these feel as if they were made over the course of a long weekend and then thrown into Universal Studios Florida.

11. Illumination’s Villain-Con Minion Blast

I thought about putting this in the last place tie, as well. This one feels less evil but fits in with the long weekend comment above. Guests board moving a platform and stand in a spot, shooting at screens full of villains while trying to help our Minion friends. Villain-Con Minion Blast stays out of last place because it never felt like the attraction thought the audience was stupid, but this ride is really bad.

10. Trolls Trollercoaster

This is the final bad ride on the list, as the Trollercoaster seems like it was shipped in from a defunct carnival. The kiddie coaster makes for an okay ride (at least for kids) but the facade appears as if it could blow over to Shrek’s Swamp when the wind picks up. Could you imagine Shrek having to deal with Trolls? And he thought Donkey was annoying!

9. Kang & Kodos’ Twirl ‘n’ Hurl

I have never been so happy to see a decently made spinner. Enough with the negativity, we’ve made it to this ride in the Simpsons Land that just goes up and down while spinning, like Dumbo. This looks fine, fitting in with the rest of the Simpsons stuff, and has a few funny jokes involved. We’ll count it as a win!

8. The Simpsons Ride

Your mileage may vary here, as 8th place is probably the lowest spot I could have it. I’ve never watched much of The Simpsons so some of the references here go over my head. This coaster simulator is pretty funny though and teases guests in a fun way, unlike our last place finishers. The ride is showing its age and sadly won’t be getting much of an update due to Disney owning the rights to The Simpsons now.

7. TRANSFORMERS The Ride-3D

This attraction sets guests right in the middle of a Michael Bay Transformers movie and tosses them around a little bit, as the ride vehicle goes up, down and all around. Like The Simpsons Ride, this attraction shows some age and doesn’t look as sharp as it once did. It’s a fun ride though and feels fitting for the franchise. I have questions about the punctuation of the title here but let’s just move along.

6. MEN IN BLACK Alien Attack

This interactive dark ride puts guests inside of the Men in Black universe, ready to hunt for aliens. For the Disney Parks fans out there, this ride is similar to Buzz where guests will have blasters and are looking for the right aliens to shoot. It’s a good amount of fun and there are some cool scenes to it. The setup to the ride is pretty funny and the whole thing works better than you might expect.

5. Despeciable Me Minion Mayhem

This ride has been duplicated on both coasts and is one of the better family rides at Universal. It doesn’t hurt that the Minions really get me! Guests board the simulator and then are turned into Minions, trying to join Gru’s squad. There’s some heartfelt moments along the way and a lot of laughs.

4. Hogwarts Express – King’s Cross Station

I had this a little lower but Melissa, a big Harry Potter fan, talked me into moving it up. Her view is that this is an elaborately themed and believable storytelling device, getting guests between Wizarding Worlds without ever showing other sightlines. She’s right! I always come away impressed by King’s Cross and the infrastructure built into the attraction. The on-ride experience to Hogwarts is well done but doesn’t match the scale of the queue.

3. Revenge of the Mummy

This roller coaster features some impressive special effects to go along with high speeds and a fun storyline. For those that have experienced the west coast version of this, you’ll be blown away by this iteration! Revenge of the Mummy is sinister, maybe even a little scary, but with a good sense of humor. While the coaster track isn’t especially exciting, the show elements make it memorable.

2. E.T. Adventure

The park’s lone opening day holdover may hold too much nostalgia for me but I can’t help but love it. Some of that is due to my love of Spielberg, as the attraction replays one of his most whimsical films. Even if I take a break from fanboying over one of the greatest directors ever, I think this attraction is impressive. The dark ride sends guests up and over scenes, eventually landing in an alien world. While the ride ends up a little cheesy and shows some age, Melissa and I were impressed with how good it still looks.

1. Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts

I find the land and queue around Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts to be more alluring than the ride, to be honest. I go back and forth on the on-ride experience, as the clunky pacing is paired with impressive technology and some jaw-dropping scenes. While this might be my least favorite of the Harry Potter attractions that Universal has created, that still makes it very good. Stepping inside of Gringotts is an incredible theme park moment and the whole ride embodies the immersion felt in the excellent Diagon Alley.

Unfortunately, Universal Studios Florida just doesn’t have enough quality rides. The top end has some personality and impressive detail but is brought down by a few of the worst attractions in any Disney or Universal Park. We’re hopeful that there will be some upgrades in the future!

What do you think of the attractions at Universal Studios Florida? Let us know, along with any questions you might have, in the comments below. Looking for discounted tickets to Universal Orlando? Check out this site! Here are all of our travel guides to Disneyland, Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disney Resort. If you enjoy what you are reading here on Wandering in Disney please share this post with your friends, as well as like our social media pages. You can also subscribe to the blog via WordPress or email. All of those links are on the right side of this page. Thank you for reading, we really appreciate it!