Last week, Hurricane Ian tore through the state of Florida, leaving in its wake a trail of destruction, major flooding, and more than 70 people confirmed dead. The damage is in the billions of dollars, with some of that damage occurring at popular theme parks like Walt Disney World Resort and the Universal Orlando Resort. Both Universal Studios and Walt Disney World were closed on September 28 and September 29, but had phased reopenings for Guests — at Universal, it was hotel Guests only — on September 30.
At Walt Disney World Resort, it appears that the damage has been minimal, as no major repairs have been announced yet. At Universal Orlando, however, the damage was a little more obvious, with part of The Incredible Hulk Coaster completely underwater and a portion of the Jurassic World: River Adventure being completely ripped off.
It appears that quite a few areas of Universal Orlando’s Islands of Adventure theme park experienced heavy flooding, which is causing expensive damage. One Guest visiting the theme parks recently noticed something interesting floating in the water near the damaged Incredible Hulk Coaster.
Twitter user AndrewOfPeace took a photo of a Sneetch — which is typically found in Seuss Landing — had been carried away by the floodwaters and ended up all the way in the Marvel area of the Park.
One of the sneetches are floating away @UniversalORL
One of the sneetches are floating away @UniversalORL pic.twitter.com/9ydhFumJZV
— AndrewOfPeace (@AndrewOfPeace) October 2, 2022
Even though The Incredible Hulk was flooded and the building of Jurassic World: River Adventure was damaged, Universal was able to quickly take control of the situation. Both rides are currently operational. Universal drained the flooded area and will repair the Jurassic Park building as quickly as they can.
For the most up-to-date information on Universal’s operating hours, as well as attraction wait times, you can download the Universal Orlando mobile app. While its original reopening was only for Universal Orlando hotel Guests, Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure are now open to all Guests.
