What is it?

The Dr. Seuss train ride at Universal’s Islands of Adventure is a slow-moving train ride chugging above the entirety of Seuss Landing. You’ll get spectacular views of the entire land as well as some of the best views of Marvel Super Hero Island, Jurassic Park and The Lost Continent, all while a narrator rhymes along in the background.

Despite its angle toward kids, the Dr. Seuss train ride is quirky and unique enough to allow for multiple trips back. It’s one of two rides in the entirety of Universal Orlando Resort which interact with something entirely outside of the ride and honestly does provide some of the best pictures in the entire park.

What Can I Expect?

Seuss Landing is comprised of multiple rides and you could argue that the High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride is the marquee one. The major theme of this ride is based on one of Dr. Seuss’s short stories called “The Sneeches”. This theme comes up a lot more in the queue than in the actual ride, but they do have one final callback to it to bring everything full circle. The ride is outdoors, but each train is covered, so you’ll be out of the sun, but still in the heat.

The Queue

The Dr. Seuss train ride queue is mostly covered and entirely outdoors. The parts with the least sun are, unfortunately, the parts you’ll spend the least amount of time in. The line probably won’t be long enough to be under cover in the beginning parts of the queue, and probably won’t be short enough to miss the sunny parts entirely. All that being said, you’ll pop in and out of the sun throughout.

The queue starts completely under cover where you have the option of getting your picture taken in front of a green screen. This is for the My Universal Photos, so use it if you have it, but don’t worry about passing it up otherwise.

Past the photo op, you’ll see the story of the Sneeches displayed on the wall in 10 frames. This gives you a good opportunity to get caught up with the story if you aren’t familiar with it. The ride itself only has bits and pieces of the story, so if you blow by it there’s no harm done, but it’s more fun if you know what’s going on, so we recommend taking a few minutes to read it.

Once you get past the pictures, you’ll get to the part of the queue you’ll spend most of your time in. Since the ride goes quite literally above the land, you need to elevate yourself somehow. In lieu of stairs, The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride opts for a giant spiral ramp. The ratio of the spiral that is under cover to covered is actually about 50/50 because there are holes in the ceiling, but the sun’s pattern on the spiral depends on what time of day you’re going to be on the ride. We recommend going in the morning or the evening to avoid direct sunlight.

Once you get to the top of the spiral it’ll straighten out and you’ll be at the start of the ride.

The Ride

One of the unique features of the Dr. Seuss High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride is its two tracks, meaning there are two different experiences. It is essentially two rides if you want to think of it that way because there are different narration tracks along the different routes.

As you are facing the loading areas, the track to the right features the other unique aspect of this ride: directly interacting with another building. Right away you’ll find yourself chugging through the Circus McGurkus Cafe Stoo-Pendous. Be sure and wave to the people eating their lunch below!

Once you exit the restaurant you’ll ride around Seuss Landing and hear the narrator talk about the park (all in rhyme of course). It’s during this section that you unearth the real hidden gem of this ride, the spectacular views.

Aside from being elevated over most of the structures in Seuss Landing, the Dr. Seuss train ride is also right at the border of the lagoon. For the briefest of moments, the Dr. Seuss train ride parallels the lake, giving you spectacular views of Marvel Superhero Island, the Jurassic Park Discovery Center, Mythos Restaurant, and Hogwarts Castle. The views alone are worth coming back and re-riding just to see the park in a whole new light.

The track to the left features no such land interaction, but just as good of views. You really can’t go wrong either way. The main difference between the two sides is the narration track. The left side features a silly version of the ABCs.

Both tracks end with a final diorama of our Sneech friends.

What’s the Verdict?

We have a standing joke that if you can’t take this ride, then theme parks just aren’t for you. The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride is extremely family friendly, a fun break between thrill rides and a picture-taker’s dream.

There are no drops, spins, bright flashing lights or loud noises. The ride isn’t really tall, but it is elevated about two stories. Because it’s an open-air ride, if you have a crippling and severe fear of heights there is a chance this might trigger it.

The biggest downside to the Dr. Seuss train ride is the legroom. These cars have no legroom whatsoever. Tyler is 6 feet tall and just barely fits in with no room to spare. Anyone over 6’3 will be pretty uncomfortable. Fortunately, the ride is short and you have the ability to turn your legs if need be.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re with children or not, The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride at Universal’s Islands of Adventure is a must-ride, if for the views and photo ops alone.