Universal Orlando Experiences Technical Outages

There seemed to be some park-wide issues yesterday as Universal Orlando experiences technical outages. Let’s find out what happened.

Universal Orlando Relies Heavily on Technical Aspects

Universal Orlando Resort is an American theme Park and entertainment Resort complex in Orlando, Florida. The Resort is operated by Universal Destinations & Experiences, a division of Comcast’s NBCUniversal.

Universal Studios opened its doors in 1990 with one Park, eventually growing to two more Parks, Islands of Adventure, and their water Park, Volcano Bay.

Universal was always in the shadows of Disney World as Universal struggled. But with Universal utilizing advanced technology on most of their rides, Universal began to hang with the big boys and girls of the Theme Park industry.

It wasn’t long before Universal Orlando Florida was creating classic and beloved attractions like E.T. Adventure, Revenge of the Mummy, and Transformers: The Ride 3D.

But things changed once Universal acquired the rights to J.K. Rowling’s The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and opened the themed lands to the public in 2010 and 2014.

Technical Advances Equals Technical Troubles?

Since opening its doors in 1990, Universal Studios would experience technical troubles almost all the time due to being a brand-new Park. From rides breaking down to attractions malfunctioning, Universal had a rough start to their bid in the Theme Park industry.

But they have since recovered with growth in technological advancements, popularity with their rides, Theme Park expansions, and the introduction to Park-wide wifi and their smartphone application.

Universal Orlando launched their mobile App in 2011 for free on Android and Apple devices. They were the first to launch a mobile app, along with SeaWorld Orlando, beating out Disney World and other major Theme Parks around the globe.

They launched their free Theme Park wifi in 2014 with great success, and since then, they have been knocking things out of the Park (see, what I did there?).

But yesterday, they experienced some technical difficulties that were Park-wide. Here’s what happened.

Universal Experiences WiFi and App Problems

Yesterday afternoon, it was reported on Twitter that Universal Orlando Resort was experiencing in-App problems, such as being unable to display current wait times for all their attractions.

All wait times on the Universal Orlando app just vanished.@UniversalORL pic.twitter.com/G2BkRkGeE4

— 🎉Orlando Amusement🎉 (@OrlandoAmusmnt) April 5, 2023

I decided to investigate the problem, and it turns out the App was indeed experiencing technical outages for everyone. I took some screenshots of major rides and attractions along with clicking on rides to see if the wait time was displayed…it was not.

This caused Guests to panic as the outage lasted around 30-45 minutes before Universal fixed the park-wide issue.

Aside from Universal experiencing App problems, they also had their wifi down for an extended period. Thankfully Universal was able to fix the problems before things got too much out of hand.

As of today, April 6, Universal Orlando Resort has no current technical outages.