Universal Studios

The sister park to Islands with some great attractions but I came away thinking that the park in Hollywood was a little better in places. This however is the best place for a milkshake. Try the diner. It was so thick that it didn't spill over but continued holding it's shape like thick icecream.
Just don't try drinking it through a straw.

Revenge of the Mummy
This was the new ride for the park in 2004. I had intended this ride to be a complete surprise and so intentionally ignored any press articles or reviews of it (not easy to do in the internet era I tell thee). The ride itself is alright with some a nice mix of effects, coaster ride and animatronics. However the first time I came off the ride I expected more. The second time I rode it, I got more because all of the effects were working. I guess they were still having teething troubles with the ride.

Twister
A nice simulation of a twister which can be quite wet if you're in the wrong place (I'm not going to tell you where the wet areas are). There is a nice transition where they move the twister from screen to stage which I thought was cool. The high point for me was the cow though. I promise to explain why on a later post.

Men In Black
A pretty fun shooting attraction. I was rubbish at it but still wanted to reride it. I'd heard rumours that if you scored high enough you got to experience a 2nd level but I don't see how this could be and suspect it's a rumour.

Shrek 4D
This was the other new attraction for the park this year, along with the Mummy.
This is one of those 4D cinemas where you watch a 3D movie and get wet and thrown around.
I found this quite enjoyable with some good use of 3D however the hydraulics in the seats were very loud and detracted from the experience.

Jimmy Neutron
Another motion simulator ride, similar to Shrek but not 3D. However I enjoyed this much more than Shrek for the dancing sequence at the end of the film. The only downside to this attraction was that I wasn't familiar with all the Nickelodeon shows in it. I know who Spongebob is but I don't think I've ever seen it.

T2
A smaller arena than the Californian one but still a good show. Apparently it caught fire the day after we saw it, that would have been much more exciting.

Earthquake
One of the older attractions but still quite good. I'm sure everyone has seen this. There is some weird crowd interaction as it's pre-show which didn't really go with the rest of the attraction.

Jaws
Universal's version of Disney's Jungle Cruise attraction. Some nice effects and I preferred this to the California version (which is a small part of the backlot tour).

Back to the Future
They need to send this back to the rubbish bin because it's so dated now.