In this great family attraction riders get to return E.T. to his home, the Green Planet. Steven Spielberg hosts a pre-show explaining the urgency of E.T.'s plight. His planet is dying and Botanicus needs E.T. healing touch to restore the planet to splendor. From there you will be given a passport which is encoded with your first name. Yes, you can make one up -- but don't be too outlandish since the name must be in the computer's data bank of more than 5800 names. The line then trails around a well-made nocturnal forest until you get to the boarding area where you will hop on an aerial tram that holds 12 passengers on bicycle-style seating. While the initial scenes are a bit substandard in quality the freedom of the vehicles and the colorful return to Green Planet with more than 80 audioanimatronic residents more than compensates for this original attraction. The interactive finale, where E.T. names all 12 passengers (from the pre-coded passports) is a unique bonus. While most of the ride, including the indoor queue area, is in the dark, this is not a frightening ride and even the police chase early on is quite tame. So, respect your child's wishes if the forest line area spooks him or her, but do tell them with assurance that the ride is not scary at all.

Stay onsite at Portofino Bay Hotel

Stay onsite at Hard Rock Hotel

Stay onsite at Royal Pacific Resort

By booking your stay at one of the three onsite resorts you will not only be staying a short walk or complimentary boat ride from the park -- you will also receive the Universal Express benefit to avoid long lines and get on your favorite rides like this one quickly.

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