I took my family to Universal Studio’s in Orlando Florida for the first time. My son is Simpson’s obsessed and we had already binge watched the first three Harry Potter movies. I was sad to learn that their Jaws ride was gone but was still excited about all the cool things the park had to offer. My only concern was a medical condition that one of my twins was experiencing which might have put a complication into enjoying the park. So, I called the park and they explained that they had an AAP, attraction assistance pass that we could get at guest relations to help us out.
So first thing in the morning, we stood in a pretty long line to get this pass and hopefully enjoy our day. It was hot and my child was already doomed with the heat. Here is my first piece of advice that a woman on line gave me, when she saw my broken down child waiting in line at guest relations. On a hot day, make sure you buy at the gift shop or bring from home a cooling towel. The towel works by wetting it with cold water, wringing out the excess water, and finally snapping the towel by holding each end in one hand and pulling the hands away from each other quickly. This towel was really amazing and kept my entire family cool on a super hot day.
Getting the pass was easy. I just explained my child’s medical condition and was given a paper pass with a table on it. After buying and using our cooling towels, we headed to Minions Mayhem to use our AAP. The line was almost 2 hours long so this was a great trial for the Attraction Assistance Pass AAP. You need to first find the Universal Express Queue or ask a Universal staff where you should go with your pass. Once you find the right spot for that ride, they will take your pass to fill out the first available line in the table with the number of guests in your party (up to 6) and a return time.
We then headed off to see the Secret Life of Pets parade and the shortest nearby ride called “Race through New York starting Jimmy Fallon”. That line actually went too fast because there is so many neat things to do there while you wait. They have a barbershop quartet singing your favorite songs in a new way, videos of late night talk show clips, and memorabilia everywhere you look.
After that awesome ride, we headed back to Minion Mayhem and waited on a 20 -30 minute line to experience that attraction. It’s a super cute computer-animated simulator ride. The length of this AAP wait was typical for most of the Universal Studio’s lines, with the exception of a few rides including Popeye’s Raging Rapids and Men in Black (MIB) where the wait time was less than 30 Minutes. When a line at Universal is less than 30 minutes, you don’t have to have the Attraction Accessibility Pass filled out and you can instead immediately enter the ride. Here are 2 off topic but great facts about those 2 rides. First the rapids ride gets you very wet but they have a special section in the middle of the raft to keep your belongings dry. Second, the MIB ride requires you to put your belongings in a locker before entering the ride. One small lockers is free for each guest and you can use either your park ticket or a locker card from a staff member to open and lock the locker.
When you use the AAP, you must of course have the person with the disability with you but I must be honest, on this day, no one checked up on this. The lines were definitely much shorter using the Attraction Assistance Pass but be prepared for a wait up to 30 minutes in length. We found that if the kids were comfortable with the ride, the single riders lane went faster for us. But for all intents and purposes the AAP allowed my child to get his required breaks in while still enjoying the park.
One last piece of advice about Universal Studios Orlando and Islands of Adventure, make sure you buy the free refill cups that they sell. I was able to keep my child well hydrated easily as well as treat them to Icees for about $10 a day. It was an amazing value.
Check this pamphlet out for more specific accessibility information on each ride.
https://www.universalstudioshollywood.com/tridiondata/ush/en/us/files/documents/universal_riders_guide.pdf
