In as much as I hate to give anything a bad review, I must start this one out by saying that this is quite possibly the most over-rated tourist attraction I've ever been to. Being one of the things that Orlando, and in fact Florida is well known for and one of the things that brings in so many visitors from places far away, it has the potential to be extremely disappointing. But also, as with most things, it does have its positive parts. I'll try to lay them both out in this review, so that any considering visiting this well known and generally well liked theme park will have some idea if it will meet their expectations.
The first thing I will say, is that if you have kids, in particular kids in that awkward age that are too old for Disney but who still want a bit of childhood fun theme park entertainment, this could well be a good thing. Growing up right outside of Orlando I spent most of my preteen years wishing desperately to get to Universal Studios and sadly never made it. As an adult, with friends visiting from abroad also wanting to see what all the hype was about, we excitedly made our way to Orlando for a trip around some of the best known theme parks. For an adult, this is a very disappointing experience, especially if you had been wanting to go when you’re a kid.
I highly recommend if you, or the people you are travelling with are over 17, go to Islands of Adventure next door instead which has a lot more adult entertainment and actual roller coasters which I wasn't aware that Universal completely lacks. But despite your age, I have to say I found this theme park over all disappointing. It was very dated and more than a few of the 'seams' were showing.
All in all it was very expensive (tickets for the day at $50 each not including any parking or extras) and consisted mostly of a lot of walking around in very hot, very busy lines for short, childish things that I can hardly even call 'rides.' There were some very good bits, like seeing the Back to the Future De Lorian, or the Jurassic Park jeeps...movie memorabilia to photograph yourself in front of. But the 'rides' on a whole were bad. Many involved just standing in a room watching a screen that made you 'feel' as if you were in a bit of a film. Not impressive if your not 10.
The Jaws ride was the highlight of the day, and was enjoyable, but the well known King Kong ride was old, dirty and actually kind of shabby (and after standing in line for over an hour). Again, had I been 8-13 I may have found it fantastic, but as a 22 year old I and my friends wandered out half way through the day and had nachos at Margaritaville.