2015 / 2016 Universal Studios Orlando Florida Compilation - Walking Thru and Onride HD
The Universal Orlando Resort, commonly known as
Universal Orlando, is a theme park resort in
Orlando, Florida. It is wholly owned by NBCUniversal and its affiliates.[3] Universal Orlando is the largest property operated by
Universal Parks & Resorts, is the largest resort in Orlando, Florida, and is the second-largest resort in
Greater Orlando after
Walt Disney World.
Universal Orlando consists of two theme parks (
Universal Studios Florida and
Islands of Adventure), a night-time entertainment complex (
Universal CityWalk Orlando), and four
Loews Hotels (
Loews Portofino Bay Hotel,
Hard Rock Hotel, Loews
Royal Pacific Resort,
Cabana Bay Beach Resort
Originally, Universal Orlando opened in
1990 with a single theme park Universal Studios Florida. It was opened as a joint venture between
Universal Entertainment and
The Blackstone Group, the latter sold its half in early
2011. Universal Studios Florida opened in direct competition with
Disney-MGM Studios (now called
Disney's Hollywood Studios). Over the years, the park saw various changes, however its largest change was the opening of its sister theme park
Universal's Islands of Adventure. In
1994, executives met to discuss a possible expansion of the resort. It was decided that the current theme park would undergo a series of construction projects transforming it into a multi-day vacation destination. In late
1995, Islands of Adventure broke ground and construction immediately began.
The Islands of
Adventure Preview Center opened in May
1997 replacing the
Screen Test Home Video Adventure. It was meant to give visitors a preview of the upcoming Islands of Adventure park, along with the rest of the resort. As the new theme park was under construction several new attractions were being built and opened at Universal Studios Florida. Among those new attractions was
Woody Woodpecker's KidZone which opened in the
Summer of
1998. Attractions such as
Men in Black: Alien Attack and
Animal Actors (formerly
Animal Planet Live) also opened during the expansion phase.
On May 28,
1999, Islands of Adventure opened to the general public. It featured six themed 'islands' including
Seuss Landing,
The Lost Continent,
Jurassic Park, Toon
Lagoon, and
Marvel Super Hero Island. Several new attractions were closed shortly after the opening of the park, such as Island
Skipper Tours, due to lack of attendance. Although the park opened to mediocre attendance, the park's attendance sharply improved making it the only theme park in Orlando to have had an increase of attendance following the
September 11 Attacks.
Along with the new theme park, the resort also opened a
Florida version of
Universal CityWalk from
Universal Studios Hollywood. CityWalk Orlando, however, differs from CityWalk
Hollywood in many ways such as the venues and design. Universal also opened the resort's first onsite hotel in 1999. Loews Portofino Bay Hotel (originally
Portofino Bay
Hotel, a Loews Hotel) was operated and partially owned by Loews Hotels but was also partially owned by Universal and The Blackstone Group. The two theme parks, CityWalk, and the hotel were branded as
Universal Studios Escape, however the name was quickly changed to
Universal Orlando Resort. In
December 2000, Hard Rock Hotel opened as Universal Orlando's second onsite hotel.
Despite the name, the hotel is owned by Loews Hotels just as Loews Portofino Bay Hotel is.
Following that, in
2001, Loews Royal Pacific Resort opened
. In the midst of all these openings, two parking garages were constructed and the popular water park
Wet 'n Wild Orlando was acquired. On June 18,
2010, the newest 'island' at Universal's Islands of Adventure, The
Wizarding World of Harry Potter, opened.
The resort is within the city limits of Orlando in
Orange County, Florida. It is located north of the
International Drive resort area, where many of the resort's '
Partner Hotels' are. The resort is located on a piece of land framed by
Interstate 4 to the south,
Kirkman Road to the east,
Vineland Road to the north, and
Turkey Lake Road to the west.
The resort is directly accessible from
I-4 eastbound via
Exit 75A onto
Universal Boulevard, and I-4 westbound onto Hollywood Way.
Universal Orlando is served by
Lynx buses (links) 21, 37, and 40.