Universal Studios was great! On our last trip we went to Disney World, so now we wanted to go somewhere else and chose Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure! My personal favorite rides were the Mummy Returns Ride (new!) and Spiderman. What am I talking about--every ride was my favorite! At Islands of Adventure the one ride that REALLY stuck out was Jurassic Park. That was very fun! The thing, though, about all these rides is that the waits are hours long! What we did on the Spiderman ride was choose the "Individual Riders" instead of the regular line with families and people who want to go together and were on the ride in about 3 minutes compared to 1.5 hours! That was the only ride we did that on, though, because we wanted to be together for most of the rides (not recommended for families with small children, but it works great for teenagers and adults). One day we went to Universal Studios and the other day we went to Islands of Adventure because it will take a day to go to everything!

Almost all of the hotels and motels in Orlando offer free bus shuttles to and from them (a great perk, because we didn't drive our whole trip). It was great!

Universal is divided into six themed areas: Hollywood, Kidzone, World Expo, San Francisco/Amity, New York, and Production Central. Each area is well themed and unique from the other areas. In my opinion, Universal has a much better theme and better rides than I of A.

Hollywood features a Terminator ride, a tribute to "I Love Lucy," and a "Horror Makeup" show. I went to the "Horror Makeup" show on a whim and was delighted. Special effects like blood and monster makeup were featured, and the two guys doing the show were very funny. I would encourage all guests to check out this show if you have a chance.

Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone is an adorable area that caters to the youngest guests. All of the kids loved the play areas and shows in this area. This area is also where you can find the E.T. ride, one of my personal favorites and a must for anyone who has seen the movie.

World Expo features the M.I.B. ride, where you get to shoot aliens with your laser gun and a Back to the Future ride.

San Francisco/Amity is home to a wonderful replica of SF's Fisherman's Wharf, complete with the delicious clam chowder. You will find the Earthquake ride here, which has great special effects, as you experience an 8.0 earthquake. The Jaws ride is also in this area. Beware, when Jaws attacks, the boat will start shaking!

New York houses shows (Blues Brothers, break dancing, and a movie/TV preview center), Twister (a realistic and somewhat scary encounter with a tornado), and Revenge of the Mummy, a cool and very unique roller coaster; beware of surprises on this ride!

The final area of the park is Production Central, where you will find the Jimmy Neutron ride and Shrek 4-D. Both are exciting movie rides with lots of cute special effects, and kids and adults will love these rides.

All in all, I was impressed with this park. I feel that it is a well-developed park with adequate activities to keep guests entertained throughout the day. Take advantage of Universal Express to skip the lines (instructions are in the guide map) and enjoy the adventure.