Here is a story I do not know if I ever shared on this site.
In December 2023, we visited Universal Orlando and watched their Universal Holiday Parade featuring Macy’s. Here are my photos of that specific parade:
I noticed Universal had a video crew set up just across the street from us. I also noticed they were using a large professional VR camera (a large black sphere covered in camera lenses) to record the parade. I was intrigued because I had brought my own VR camera and was set up to record the parade from the same location they had chosen.
Here are photos of the crew and their equipment, as well as my camera mounted on the railing.
I wondered what they were going to do with this VR footage. They had their camera surrounded by a crowd. That would allow a 360-degree video to turn and look at them rather than the parade. How were they going to deal with that?
The following year, we found out. Universal posted this “immersive 180” degree video about their Christmas event. Instead of a full 360-degree video, they posted it using just the front portion. This allows you to look up, down, left and right, but not behind. Here is their video (and be sure to use your mouse to “look around, up and down” while you watch it):
Near the end of this video is where they used footage they recorded that night. At about 4:17, you can see us across the street wearing our yellow/orange Wizard Quest shirts. My camera was on the railing directly in front of us.
And here is the view from my camera around that same time, with their camera crew in the background:
I never posted my video of the parade. There were already dozens, if not hundreds, of videos of it that year. But now that I think about it, I was there on a special night when Universal was recording footage for one of their official videos. Because of this, I decided to upload my video with notes about the camera crew being there.
And now you know (er, have seen) the other side of the story 😉
In the past, it was well-known that the two Disneyland Resort parks (Disneyland and Disney California Adventure) had about as many attractions as all four Walt Disney World parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney Hollywood Studios and Disney’s Animal Kingdom). I was curious how things stand today with so many ride closures at Walt Disney World. I was also curious to see where Universal Epic Universe stands in the mix, since the overwhelming opinion I read online is that this new park has far too few rides.
I will dive into this more later, but for now, I refer only to rides with a vehicle you get in that moves — such as a roller coaster, or even a motion simulator. Later, I may do a follow-up post about non-ride attractions such as stage shows, parades and fireworks.
I also did not count double-rides, such as the two Dumbos at Magic Kingdom (it is the same ride, just increased capacity). I also wonder if I should count two-track rides when they are even slightly different – such as the two tracks of Matterhorn Bobsleds (quite different) or Magic Kingdom’s Space Mountain (slightly different though in opposite directions). Universal’s Stardust Racers also has two tracks, but I have not checked to see how different they are. Should these be counted? I think probably, since someone who likes coasters would want to ride both tracks. But for now, that is not included in the totals.
Please let me know if I missed any. I will place the ride data at the end of this article.
Here is my quick count, from most to least actual “rides”:
Disneyland – 36
Magic Kingdom – 22
Disney California Adventure – 18
Islands of Adventure – 18
Universal Studios Florida – 13
Epcot – 12
Epic Univesse – 11
Disney Hollywood Studios – 9
Disney’s Animal Kingdom – 6
Looking at resorts, this breaks down to:
Disneyland Resort – 54
Walt Disney World – 49
Universal Orlando Resort – 42
Yes, Virginia, you could ride more things at the two small parks in Disneyland than all The Walt Disney World parks, or at all three Universal Orlando parks.
Some of you (mostly fans of Disneyland) are aware of this.
For the rest of you, if you like rides, would you consider visiting Disneyland instead of Walt Disney World?
More to come, including a breakdown (and verification) of these numbers…
NOTE: For the pedantic/OCD types out there, some of the names in this list are not the official names. For example, Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run is just listed as Smugglers Run. I am happy to correct them if you bring them to my attention. (And I see at least one that has changed names since the name I was familiar with, so I need to fix that one at some point, too.)
Rides at Disneyland
Alice in Wonderland
Astro Orbiter
Autopia
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Buzz Lightyear
Car Toon Spin
Casey Jr. Circus Train
Davy Crocket Canoes
Disneyland Railroad
Dumbo
Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
Gadget’s Go Coaster
Haunted Mansion
Indiana Jones Adventure
It’s a Small World
Jungle Cruise
King Arthurs Carousel
Mad Tea Party
Main Street Vehicles
Mark Twain Riverboat
Matterhorn Bobsleds (x2)
Monorail
Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride
Peter Pan’s Flight
Pinnocchio’s Daring Journey
Pirates of Caribbean
Rise of the Resistance
Runaway Railway
Sailing SHip Columbia
Smuggler’s Run
Snow White’s Happy Time Adventure
Space Mountain
Star Tours
Storybookland Canal Boats
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
Winnie the Pooh
Rides at The Magic Kingdom
Astro Orbitor
Barnstormer
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Buzz Lightyear
Carousel
Disney World Railroad
Dumbo (x2)
Haunted Mansion
It’s a Small World
Jungle Cruise
Mad Tea Party
Magic Carpets
Peoplemover
Peter Pan’s Flight
Pirates of the Caribbean
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train
Space Mountain (x2)
Tiana’s Bayou Adventure
Tomorrowland Speedway
TRON Lightcycle Run
Under the Sea
Winnie the Pooh
Rides at Disney California Adventure
Critter Carousel
Emotional Whirlwind
Golden Zephyr
Goofy’s Sky School
Grizzly River Run
Incredicoaster
Jumpin’ Jellyfish
Junkyard Jamboree
Littler Mermaid
Luigi’s Rollikin’ Roadsters
Midway Mania
Mission: Breakout
Monsters Inc
Pal-A-Round
Radiator Springs Racers
Silly Symphony
Soarin’
Web Slingers
Rides at Universal Islands of Adventure
Accelatron
Bilge-Rat Barges
Caro-Seuss-el
Cat in the Hat
Dr. Doom’s Fearfall
Forbidden Journey
Hagrid’s Motorbike
Hippogriff
Hogwarts Express
Incredible Hulk
One Fish, Two Fish
Pteranodon Flyers
Ripsaw Falls
River Adventure
Skull Island
Spider-Man
Trolley Train
VelociCoaster
Rides at Universal Studios Florida
E.T.
Escape from Gringotts
Fast and Furious
Hogwarts Express
Men in Black
Minon Blast
Minon Mayhem
Race Through NY
Revenge of the Mummy
Simpsons Ride
Transformers
Trollercoaster
Twirl ‘n’ Hurl
Rides at Epcot
Cosmic Rewind
Friendship Boats
Frozen Ever After
Gran Fiesta Tour
Journey into Imagination
Living with the Land
Mission: Space
Ratatoullie
Soarin’
Spaceship Earth
Test Track
The Seas
Rides at Universal Epic Universe
Battle at the Ministry
Constellation Carousel
Curse of the Werewolf
Dragon Racer’s Rally
Fyre Drill
Hiccup’s Wing Gliders
Mario Kart
Mine-Cart Madness
Monsters Unchained
Stardust Racers (x2)
Yoshi’s Adventure
Rides at Disney’s Hollywood Studios
Alien Swirling Saucers
Rise of the Resistence
Rock n Rollercoaster
Runaway Railway
Slinky Dog Dash
Smugglers Run
Star Tours
Tower of Terror
Toy Story Mania
What did I miss? Please let me know in the comments.
I had completely forgot that while we were in town last year, we took a ride share over to one of the resorts and then explored the Skyliner routes. (Probably the “cheapest” day to spend in Orlando, if you don’t stop and buy food and drink while visiting them 😉
I am still going through the VR360 footage and uploading it to my Park Hopping in VR YouTube Channel as time permits:
There are a few nighttime ones taken at Universal Epic Universe in the Dark Universe area of the park. They are pretty cool to watch, even if the low-light quality is pretty poor. It is a much more accurate way to “see” what it is like in that immersive area compared to photos.
I also have a similar on walking through the portal (green pipe) to Super Nintendo World all the way to the entrance to Donkey Kong Country. These, and more, will be showing up soon-ish.
Meanwhile, my submission to Google Street View of the walking path from Stella Nova Resort to the entrance of Universal Epic Universe has been processing for 11 days so far. While it is promising that it did not get rejected the first day, as often is the case (gaps in the GPS signal being the usual suspect), it is bothersome that it is taking this long. I am now bracing for some new error telling me to try again.
Before visiting a new theme park or such, I like to verify what they do or do not allow to be brought in. While Universal Orlando allows selfie sticks, Universal Horror Unleashed Las Vegas does not. This makes me wonder if Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights even allows them. I’ve had mine with me the times I have gone, but we were already in the park. The park may allow them in, but perhaps they stop allowing once they are letting in HHN guests. Does anyone here know?
I reached out to UHU Vegas to clarify something about camera equipment after seeing someone sharing their point and shoot was not allowed in. While no photography is allowed inside the haunted houses at Universal, I saw plenty of cameras and YouTubers there with their cameras.
NOTE: This page is a work-in-progress and will be updated in the next few weeks with videos and more details.
Much like the Garden Walk (see my maps for them here) that connects Universal resort hotels to CityWalk and the theme parks, there is also a walking path from the new Universal Stella Nova Resort to the entrance of the new Universal Epic Universe theme park.
Depending on how fast you walk and whether or not you have to wait for a traffic light, the walk can take about 5 minutes from where you board the bus at the hotel to where the bus drops you off at Epic. The total walk from hotel lobby entrance to park entrance is about 8-10 minutes (again, depending on if you have to wait for the light to change and how fast you walk).
I will have a VR video of the walk available on my Park Hopping in VR YouTube channel soon. (The screenshot above is from the Street View submission.)
I have also uploaded this VR video to Google Street View. If they approve it, it will be live on Google Maps soon, as well. (Currently, Google’s satellite imagery of the area is from during construction but this Street View will still work.)
Photos of the walk
If you want to see it in photo form, I have images in my Universal/SeaWorld photo gallery. They start at the bus pickup spot at the hotel. This may help you see how far the walk is from where you’d get on the bus to where the bus would drop you off:
The walking path follows the road the bus drives on. Both walking pedestrians and the bus have to stop at the same traffic light. The hotel informed us that the walk was quicker than taking the bus, but if you get to the bus stop right when the bus is about to leave, the bus ride could be faster. From what we saw, unless you walk slow, that is really the only case when the bus is faster.
Since the bus will wait for awhile before departing, walking could also let you get to the light and cross the street before the bus even leaves, making the walk considerably faster that the bus.
I just wanted to post this now to get it in the search engines. Check back for more details.
I have a few VR photos and videos taken at Universal Orlando Resort’s Universal Epic Universe. (Yeah, that full description is a mouthful full, innit?)
Many of the photos have already been shared in the Park Hopping in VR Facebook Group in albums:
These videos always take a long time to process, with some reports saying it can take about a week for an “8K” 360 video to be completed. We shall see how it goes this time. Right now, I am just seeing “Video processing is taking longer…” and “Checks still running” messages.
While we wait, here is a boring 30 second reel looking out the Helios Grand Hotel top floor where Bar Helios is located. At least during our visit, anyone was allowed to enter the hotel and go to the lobby level bar as well as the rooftop bar. This view is away from the theme park. Turning around is a short hallway where the elevators are, then it opens into the hosts are to sit you at a table (if you choose) or just let you go sit at the bar or patio.
That video is posted to my non-VR Park Hopping YouTube channel:
And if you think that one is boring, wait until you see my extended video looking around the top floor of Bar 17 Bistro at Aventura hotel 😉 Michael Bay has nothing to worry about!
Thousands of photos taken last week at Universal Epic Universe have been sorted, and are currently being generated into a gallery. It will take a day or so to get it all complete and uploaded, but they will be in the Universal-SeaWorld gallery:
I have also fixed some mistakes (misspelling of “Sapphire Falls”, having the wrong Water Taxi destination, moving some files to where they need to be), but nothing significant.
There are also new photos from Universal Studios Florida, CityWalk, Islands of Adventure, and resorts such as the new Stella Nova, and visits to Aventura, Hard Rock Hotel, and even Grand Helios Hotel (with its downstairs bar, and upstairs bar). Lots of new stuff in this one.
And Discovery Cove still needs to be sorted, including underwater photos from the SeaVenture uncharge experience.
TL:DNR – Gushing posts about how epic many things in Universal Epic Universe are will be coming. But there are already some maintenance issues that are a bummer to see.
After spending two days visiting Universal Epic Universe within four months of the public opening in May 2025, I find myself comparing it to when I visited Islands of Adventure in November 1999, just six months after that parked opened in May 1999.
I will have about 2500 photos from the new park to add to my Universal/SeaWorld photo gallery in the next week or so. I will also be adding photos from the new Stella Nova hotel, as well as new photos from Universal Studios Florida, Islands of Adventure, and SeaWorld’s Discovery Cove.
It is clear to me that this park sets new standards in theming and experience. Whereas Disney will occasionally throw in a single high end animatronic (the wicked witch from Great Movie Ride or the one in the Pandora Avatar ride, for example), Universal seems to have only put high end animatronics in their two dark rides – Monsters Unleashed and Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry. These two rides contain some of, if not the, best animatronics I have ever seen. It seems unlikely Modern Disney(tm) would ever spend that much money in one of their attractions — at least not here in the U.S.A.
Yet, for a park that only opened to the public four months ago, there are already things broken that really shouldn’t be. For example, stairs leading down to the fountain viewing area are roped off due to many cracks…
I fear that “today’s construction” is sub-bar compared to how things were built in the past.
The new “carousel” (calling the Constellation Carousel a “carousel” is doing a disservice to that ride — it is far, far beyond what any of us likely think of when we hear the term “carousel”) already has paint in very bad shape:
There are just two examples, but there were other spots in pavement that had been roped off with similar cracking issues, and areas where the “shiny and new” paint jobs looked like they needed to be redone.
“All of this has happened before, and it will all happen again.”
When I visited Islands of Adventure for the first time in 1999, I waited six months after public opening to give the park some time to settle in and get things working. Even then, almost nothing in the park was working the first hour or so on the day of that visit. A few hours in, we managed to ride basically everything in the park that we wanted to. The crowds that November were low and lines were short. Islands of Adventure did not end up being the “Disney killer” many had hoped it would be, in spite of amazing theming in some areas. I still miss the Enchanted Oak Restaurant.
But, during that first visit, we noticed shortcuts. On a “castle” column, there were windows. The outside of the windows was nicely painted, but the edges remained unpainted wood.
At the fancy Enhanced Oak, they had nice menu boards, but no lighting installed yet. Instead, they used some clamp-on lights like you might buy at Home Depot. This clashed with the extremely nice theming of the rest of the establishment.
Pavement that should have been shiny and new had already begun cracking (and not in the intentional way they crack it in places like Lost Continent; it was cracking in places like Toon Lagoon).
There was already mildew (? or something ?) collecting along one of the water rides.
I *think* this may have still been during the years when Disney would brag about changing light bulbs before they were expected to burn out, and would sell you multi-day tickets where unused days would “never expire.”
It was a different time.
But still Epic…
But even with some “the construction company should be fired” issues, the park is indeed Epic. While eleven rides and two shows may not feel like a very big park, when you compare it to the “half-day” parks Disney has opened in the past, it is quite ambitious.
We can’t wait to return. But in the meantime, I’ll get some photos posted, as well as some VR360 video clips, and then break down some things we found most epic about the visit.
But give me a week or so to get caught up from this visit, and get all the photos sorted and videos converted.
As I often point out, my first theme park visits where in the 1970s, including a big family trip to both Disneyland in California and The Magic Kingdom in Florida. Suffice it to say … I’m old and I’ve seen lots of stuff.
I have also become very good at procrastinating. Doing things early often means wasting effort as plans change.
Pack weeks in advance, and if something comes up and cancels the trip? Wasted time.
Get some work task done a month early, then the project gets cancelled? Wasted effort.
Book your Universal Orlando Resort hotels a month or more in advance, then the prices drop? Wasted … money?
A bird in the hand…
I understand why folks want to reserve in advance. That guarantees your seat on the airplane, and the room at the hotel, and the ticket into the new Epic Universe theme park.
If you are anti-procrastination, here are some tips that could save you hundreds of dollars.
Suppose on June 22, 2025, you booked a two-night stay at the new Universal Stella Nova Resort. The cost at that time would have been $358.88.
If you also booked five nights at Universal Aventura Hotel it would have cost you $1167.75.
Your $1526.63 hotel stay is now secured and you can sit back and wait for your vacation… unless you would like hundreds of extra dollars (potentially) back which you could spend to enhance your vacation (or just make it cheaper).
A bit of work can save some bucks…
Don’t stop there. Keep checking your dates at the hotel(s) and if the price drops, call in and request the new rate. For example, as I write this, the same two nights at Stella Nova have dropped to $283.50 – that is $75.38 cheaper!
And Aventura is now $673.89 for the same stay – that is $493.86 cheaper!
This means by just checking the website every so often, and rebooking when rates drop, this trip would cost you $569.24 less than when you booked early.
Let me say that again… $569.24 less!
That savings is more than enough for a $475 one-year Power Pass or come up with a bit extra or so and get the better $630 Preferred Pass.
Or maybe you just use the savings to add some extra days to the trip, or buy more beer.
But … Please note that I do not suggest procrastinating. That is gambling on the price going down, which is not always the case. As we monitor hotel prices, sometimes they go up. I suggest book early if it is a price you are willing to pay, then keep checking and call in each time you see a drop — even if it is just reduced by $10. That may seem small, but that buys you a churro or a soda or two.
Timeline of price drops.
Here is a timeline of the times these two hotel prices changed (we did not check every day so there could have been more):
Aventura price drops
6/22/2025 – $1167.75
7/10/2025 – $1150.88
8/19/2025 – $1121.63
8/21/2025 – $1075.50
8/22/2025 – $1037.25
8/24/2025 – $931.50
8/25/2025 – $916.88
8/26/2025 – $892.13
9/2/2025 – $776.25
9/4/2025 – $700.88
9/5/2025 – $673.89
Stella Nova price drops
6/22/2025 – $358.88
7/10/2/2025 – $329.63
9/2/2025 – $318.38
9/4/2025 – $283.50
…and there may even be some more drops. If so, I will update this page.
And as you can see, those who don’t procrastinate and book early, but do not follow up and check for price drops, may be paying alot more than those of us that wait until the last minute 😉
Unless things are really busy and selling out, in which case the prices are very unlikely to do anything but increase.
Yep, dozens of visitors still end up at this blog! Huzzah.
I am a bit late on this update, but if you compare the Top 10 articles of 2023 to this year, you will see something interesting. It appears this site is slowly attracting Silver Dollar City visitors. This makes me happy, since this is a park I knew basically nothing about. I had visited one time as a teenager in 1984, then finally got back in 2024. Since it is just a “short” 6-hour drive down the road, I am now kicking myself for not making the trip sooner. It is far more affordable than most of the other theme parks I have visited.
Anywho, here is the list of the Top 10 most-viewed from 2024.
