Regular theme-parkgoers may find themselves in ruts, making favorites their top priority while avoiding others out of habit. I recently revisited a handful of rides that had dropped off my radar to see what, if anything (including my attitude), was new.
The queue area for the Fast & Furious — Supercharged ride at Universal Studios Florida includes winding through an automotive garage setting. (Dewayne Bevil/Orlando Sentinel)
Car talk
What: Fast and Furious — Supercharged, Universal Studios Florida
Why so long gone: I could blame how the attraction blends into the park so much like the other faux storefronts (although oddly fronted by the San Francisco restrooms). But really, it’s just never been a favorite. Mostly, it makes me appreciate the similar Skull Island at Islands of Adventure more.
Wait crimes: Points are earned in the queue for its immersive atmosphere, a working garage and chain-link fencing. Maybe I would care more if I were a car person. Those folks were taking selfies with autos. In the pre-show rooms, both real-life actors seen were excellent at interacting with real-life visitors and prerecorded monotone movie stars.
My Supercharged experience was enhanced by the lack of wait, basically a walk-on.
In the thick of it: We’re loaded into a so-called party bus, and the scene is filled with intriguing, dancing holograms. But there’s gunplay, a flamethrower, the FBI, and a video game reference, which may explain the mature themes warning. In the storyline, we are warned multiple times to stow our phones so we can’t be traced. Anyway, it feels like it’s about to get interesting, but instead it’s more monotone.
The chase scene rocks and rollicks — inside a curved tube of a screen — but it’s hard to see what’s happening and feels a smidge endless. The water and heat effects were well-timed.
New Universal Studios coaster will be Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift
Aftermath: My party-bus people were awfully quiet afterward, like they had merely checked a box off a to-do list. The attraction recently got attention for being on the way out after the park’s new Fast & Furious: Hollywood Drift roller coaster opens next year.
But the gift shop/exit had more car stuff and auto merch, including this mystery: Used license plates, from various states, selling for $49.
Young Magic Kingdom visitors interact with the hunny wall, part of the queue for the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride in Fantasyland. (Dewayne Bevil/Orlando Sentinel)
Honey disposition
What: The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Magic Kingdom
Why so long gone: The sheer amount of parked strollers in this area of the park – from Mad Tea Party to the entrance of Seven Dwarfs Mine Train – indicates that it’s not meant for grown-ups traveling solo. Pooh is for kids, unlike the mature themes going on, Disney Adults might try to argue, at Peter Pan’s Flight on the other side of Fantasyland.
Wait crimes: For a straightforward up-and-back queue, there are good diversions, especially for, you guessed it, kids. There’s a playground area, pop-up gophers and a big touchscreen that looks like dripping honey, but my pandemic-lingering brain won’t allow me to touch it.
The posted wait time was 35 minutes, and the actual wait time was 35 minutes. Gold star for Pooh and friends.
In the thick of it: I immediately was appreciative of the hunny pot ride vehicles and the storybookish theme. Over the years, I had forgotten about the bouncy Tigger-inspired stretch and the nightmarish dream sequence with woozles and a harp-playing heffalump, so those were pleasant surprises.
Aftermath: There was a bounce in my step afterward that had me rethinking the resentment of the removal of Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride in favor of this ride. Yikes, that was more than 25 years ago. Oh, bother!
Expedition Odyssey, a flying-theater attraction, opened at SeaWorld Orlando last year. (Dewayne Bevil/Orlando Sentinel)
Flying in wait
What: Expedition Odyssey, SeaWorld Orlando
Why so long gone: The attraction only opened last May, replacing the Wild Arctic ride, but I had only experienced Expedition Odyssey in preview phases, so no queuing up was necessary.
Wait crimes: The posted wait time was 60 minutes, usually a hard pass for me, but there was a mission. Actual wait time was 50 minutes as I was snagged up as a single rider to fill out the row of the flying theater ride.
This is a tough queue for a couple of reasons. The attraction is not a continuous load, so 30 people are forwarded into the pre-show areas at a time. Everyone moves up, then stands and waits for the next surge. The bulk of the queue is in one room, completely back-and-forth, stanchion-style, with only static photos of arctic animals to distract. Small wonder it is loud in there and children get, um, creative with self-entertainment. (Most unusual this day: a jumping jacks marathon.)
In the thick of it: That energy continued onto the ride with a set of fun-loving middle-school boys who acted horrified as we were (virtually) submerged into the water. Other effects were startling in a good way. This is a version of Epcot’s Soarin’, but smaller and closer to the screen. There are no dangling feet, but from my end seat, I noticed shadows on the screen.
Expedition Odyssey captures beautiful scenery and wildlife on film. I didn’t think it was AI, but when a polar bear memorably stumbles, I automatically started thinking about AI.
Aftermath: After disembarking, there’s an option of observing beluga whales and walruses — real ones — in a themed atmosphere.
Email me at dbevil@orlandosentinel.com. BlueSky: @themeparksdb. Threads account: @dbevil. X account: @themeparks. Subscribe to the Theme Park Rangers newsletter at orlandosentinel.com/newsletters.