The sophomore trip to Universal began with an eight-hour bus ride. The bus itself was not bad by any means, with only mildly uncomfortable seating and available outlets. Most students brought blankets and pillows, but some took it a step further and brought an air mattress and a dog bed. The bus ride felt long and arduous, but eventually we did arrive at the park. I don’t know what time exactly; everything is a blur. Our first stop was Margaritaville, which was alright, nothing to write home about. Really, we just all wanted to get into the park already.
We got into the park around 7:30 (I think), and had to do a group photo, which took way too long before splitting up to hit different rides. Isle of Adventure was the first park we went to, with many sections of it. There was Jurassic Park with the Velocicoaster; Harry Potter with Hagrids and butter beer; Dr. Seuss with a cute carousel and meet and greets with characters like the Grinch, and a superhero area with a very rough roller coaster, The Hulk, Toon Land, and a plethora of water rides. We had plenty to occupy ourselves with throughout the day and theme park food to eat for dinner, which by all means was probably the best food theme park food could be. Meanwhile, in another section of the park, there was another Harry Potter area with Escape from Gringotts, The Simpsons, Transformers, and my personal favorite, The Mummy. Really, it was a great first day with only one minor hiccup (a singular person throwing up on a chaperone on a roller coaster).
TK got the class to do a solo ride on both Hagrid’s and The Hulk so we didn’t have to wait in the crazy lines, which was super nice because otherwise a lot of people probably wouldn’t have done them, due to, again, those obscene waits.
Day two, we went to the new Epic theme park, about 15-30 minutes away from the hotel. With new attractions and amazing scenery, the park was spectacular. The Nintendo part looked like it just came right out of the Mario games, with interactive elements thrown in throughout the area. The rides were alright there, but the real highlight ride-wise was Stardust Racers, two roller coasters on two different tracks: one green, one yellow that “race” each other to the end of the ride. There was a horror-themed area as well, with a good Frankenstein ride, and there was a werewolf rollercoaster, but I was told it wasn’t worth the wait time.
On a negative note, I do have one complaint about Epic, and that is the Harry Potter ride. The wait was on average anywhere from two to five hours. That is insane, and no ride is worth that wait. The reason the wait was that long was because the ride kept breaking down. Imagine if you waited four hours for that ride only for it break down once you get on. This has been a reoccurring issue since the park opened, and this multi-billion dollar company has yet to address it, which leads to the delays further negatively impacting consumer experiences.
On the other hand, the Isle of Berk was amazing. It was straight out of the How to Train Your Dragon movies. The rides, atmosphere, music, food, and gift shops were all great; no notes. The touch of the well-made dragon animatronics only enhanced the atmosphere further; this park is easily my personal favorite of the entire trip.
The third day, we went back to Isle of Adventure/Universal Studios to revisit anything we may have missed the first time around. However, we did not spend all day there, leaving at four to go bowling at Disney Springs, where food was provided for us as well. After dinner, we were offered free time to shop, which was nice, and we managed to make it back to the hotel at around 11.
On the final day, we packed up the bus and left the hotel early. Our final destination of the trip was SeaWorld, and we would be there till 1:30 (but we had to meet up at 1:15). The chaperones advised students to bring a change of clothes after, and I’m glad they did because we all got soaked.
The bus ride was a lot easier the second time around, but that’s probably because we were driving at normal times and not through the early morning. Overall, the Sophomore 2026 Universal trip was great.
