Universal Studios Florida is the third most popular theme park in the United States after Walt Disney World and Disneyland. It is continuously updating and introducing new attractions to keep the crowds pouring in. There are more than forty rides, shows and movie set streets to enjoy, and as many restaurants and boutiques.

The park is open every day of the year at 9am. Closing times vary so check. It normally closes at 7pm but stays open to 10pm and later during the summer and on special holidays. Mondays to Wednesdays followed by the weekend are the busiest days of the week, with Thursdays and Fridays the least busy.

You need a very full day to see and do everything available. Unversal experts reckon you need 12 to 14 hours. If this sounds too daunting, you can either buy a two day pass and do the visit at a more leisurely pace, but at greater expense, or make a list of things you want to see in the time available, accepting that there will not be time for others. If you decide a second day is necessary once inside the park, buy the second one-day ticket before leaving. This way you will only be charged as if you have bought a two day pass, cheaper than buying two separate one-day tickets.

The Universal Studios theme park covers a large sprawling area, with the attractions spaced around the Lagoon. It is essential to have a route worked out that covers everything in the shortest possible distance, especially if you have young children. Try to enjoy attractions as you meet them on your planned route, rather than jumping all over the place, which will get you tired soon.

A suggested lightning tour on arrival is to head straight from the “E.T. Adventure” and then “Kongfrontation,” as both of these get very busy later on, and then to work your way round the park in a clockwise direction taking in the rest of the main attractions. Skip the street sets until last and take these in if you have time, before buying your souvenirs and heading home.

For a more thorough one day tour, start at “Back to the Future,” “The Ride,” and then work anti-clockwise round the Lagoon taking in the “Wild, Wild, Wild West Stunt Show,” “Jaws,” “Earthquake – The Big One,” “Beetlejuice’s Graveyard Revue” and “Kongfrontation” before lunch. Grab a quick snack and then head for “Ghostbusters” followed by the two tours – Nickelodeon Studios Tour and the Production Tram Tour. Then visit the “Gory, Gruesome and Grotestque Horror Make-Up Show,” followed by “Alfred Hitchcock: The Art of Making Movies,” and then across 8th Avenue for the “Murder She Wrote” Mystery Theater. Finally stroll down Sunset Boulevard before making a right turn for the “E.T. Adventure.” The new 440 acre “Back Lot” has sets which whisk you round the world from New York Sideways, Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, to the Garden of Allah!

The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera should not be missed even when time is tight, and the Blues Brothers, a band of musicians who cruise in their Bluesmobile and give regular performances outside 70 Delancey in New York. The studios also have the largest assembly of working film and TV animal actors in the world, including Benji the dog, cats, primates, penguins, vultures and parrots. They appear in the Animal Actors show.