Universal Studios Florida · Hollywood
E.T. Adventure
The last opening-day ride still running, a suspended flying-bicycle dark ride at 34 inches with the lowest height stick in the park.
Ride facts
- Type
- Dark ride
- Height
- 34in (86cm)34 inches, the lowest height requirement in the park.
- Intensity
- Gentle
- Motion sickness
- Low motion risk
- Getting wet
- Stay dry
- Indoor / outdoor
- Indoor
- Air conditioned
- Yes
- Rider Switch
- Available
Last verified July 2026
What it is
E.T. Adventure opened with the park in June 1990 and is the only original opening-day ride still operating. It is a suspended dark ride: you sit on a bench built to look like a bicycle, hanging from an overhead track, and glide through a dark forest, a night flight over a city and finally E.T.'s home planet.
It is dated, and it is dated in a way that has become part of the appeal. The animatronics are of their time, the sets are painted rather than projected, and the whole thing moves at a pace no ride built in the last twenty years would attempt. There is not a screen in it, which at this park is close to a novelty.
The closing sequence is the reason people are fond of it. Your first name is collected at the boarding station and E.T. says goodbye to every rider individually by name at the end. It is a small trick and it works on almost everybody.
What riding it is actually like
The queue runs through a pine forest set that is properly dark and cool, one of the better queue environments in the park, and a cast member takes your first name on a card before you board.
The vehicle is a row of bike seats suspended from above, boarded by stepping up and swinging a leg over — the hardest part of the ride for anyone with mobility issues, despite everything else being gentle. The first section through the forest is dark and includes government agents at close range, which is the only part that troubles small children.
Then it becomes the flight over the city, which still works, and finally the alien planet, which is a strange, soft, brightly coloured place full of creatures moving slowly. E.T. thanks each rider by name at the exit. About four and a half minutes, and it is the gentlest substantial ride at Universal Orlando.
Is E.T. Adventure scary?
The forest section at the start is genuinely dark and includes government agents appearing at close range, which is the only part that upsets small children. After that it becomes gentle and bright. There are no drops and the ride never moves faster than a slow glide.
Scores are editorial, on a 1–5 scale, judged against what frightens a typical four- to seven-year-old rather than an adult.
Accessibility
- Wheelchair
- Must transfer to the ride vehicle
- Audio description
- Not offered
- Handheld captioning
- Not offered
- Assistive listening
- Not offered
- Sign language
- Not offered
- Service animals
- Must use a kennel or wait with a companion
Transfer onto a suspended bicycle-style vehicle with a bench seat and a lap bar, which requires stepping up and swinging a leg over. That boarding motion is the main barrier here, and it is harder than the ride's gentleness suggests.
Tips that actually help
- Give your real first name at the boarding station. The personalised goodbye at the end is the entire point and it does not work with a nickname the machine cannot pronounce.
- At 34 inches this is the lowest height requirement in the park, which makes it the anchor of the ride list for a family with a small child.
- The forest section at the start is dark and the agents appear close. Warn a nervous child about that specifically; everything after it is gentle.
- Boarding requires stepping up and swinging a leg over the seat, which is harder than the ride itself. Ask at the platform if that is a problem.
- Ride it in the middle of the day. The queue runs through a cool dark forest set and the ride is air conditioned, which makes it a rest as well as an attraction.
Timing
- Best time to ride
- Middle of the afternoon, when the cool queue and the air-conditioned ride do double duty as a break.
- Typical wait
- Usually 20 to 40 minutes. Rarely the longest queue in the park and often walkable in the last hour.
- Express Pass
- Universal Express Pass
E.T. Adventure: common questions
What is the height requirement for E.T. Adventure?
34 inches, the lowest at Universal Studios Florida. Only Trolls Trollercoaster at 36 inches comes close. That makes it the most important ride in the park for a family with a small child, and the anchor of what a preschooler can actually do here.
Is E.T. Adventure scary for young children?
Only the opening forest section, which is properly dark and has government agents appearing at close range. After that it is gentle, bright and slow, with no drops and no sudden movements. Warning a nervous child about the first two minutes specifically is usually enough.
Is E.T. Adventure still worth riding?
Yes, and increasingly so. It is the last opening-day ride still operating, it has no screens in it at all, and its personalised ending still lands. It is also air conditioned with a cool queue, which makes it a rest as well as a ride in the middle of a Florida afternoon.
Why does E.T. Adventure ask for your name?
A cast member records your first name on a card at the boarding station, and E.T. thanks each rider by name during the closing scene. Give a real name rather than a joke one; the effect is the reason people remember the ride.