Islands of adventure cat in the hat ride

Ride Type

Dark ride

Location

The Cat in the Hat ride is located in Seuss Landing in Islands of Adventure. You can find it near the entrance to Seuss Landing (through Port of Entry) to the right of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. Look for the big red and white striped hat.

The Cat in the Hat Ride Description

The Cat in the Hat ride features an audio and visual retelling of the beloved Dr. Seuss book, The Cat in the Hat. In the book, poor Dick and Sally are left at home on a rainy day with nothing to do. But everything changes when the Cat in the Hat and his friends, Thing 1 and Thing 2, show up to play. Mayhem ensues until the trusty pet fish scolds everyone into cleaning up before Mother gets home. The ride features 18 scenes from the book, complete with animatronics, colorful Seussian décor, and special effects lighting. Guests view everything from unique ride seating, which is actually a couch that spins and glides through various rooms. 

The Cat in the Hat Ride History

Dr. Seuss' book The Cat in the Hat was first published in 1957. Within three years, the book sold more than one million copies. The 236-word book is now considered a classic and remains one of the best known children's books ever written.

The Cat in the Hat ride opened in 1999 in Seuss Landing. This ride is one of the original attractions that opened with Islands of Adventure. After getting complaints from guests about motion sickness, Universal altered this ride in 2014 so that the couch did not spin quite as much. 

Express Pass

Express Passes are accepted at the entrance of The Cat in the Hat.

Single Rider Line

The Cat in the Hat does not have a single rider line.

Child Swap

As with other rides, the child swap feature can be used so that guests do not have to wait in line twice when a child doesn't want to ride.

Height Restrictions

The minimum height requirement on The Cat in the Hat is 36 inches. Guests who are above 36 inches but below 48 inches must be accompanied by a supervising companion. 

Accessibility

Guests must remain in a standard wheelchair or be able to transfer to a standard wheelchair for this ride experience. Assistive listening headsets are available from Guest Services and can be used on The Cat in the Hat ride.

UO Fan Guide Ride Tip

Spinning is now quite minimal on this ride, but it does occur. Consider taking precautions if spinning causes motion sickness for anyone in your party. 

UO Fan Guide Mini Review of The Cat in the Hat Ride

Cruising through a ride on a couch while someone else tells you a story is fun, and for fans of The Cat in the Hat story, it is downright delightful. The scenes - from the animatronic characters to the kooky home décor - are visually appealing, and the audio sounds great. There is also something about the lighting and the psychedelic colors that make this ride feel a little "trippy." 

The Cat in the Hat Image Gallery

See pictures of The Cat in the Hat ride in this Seuss Landing image gallery.

Send Us a Review of The Cat in the Hat

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Scene: It’s three o’clock. You’re sitting at your desk clacking away at your keyboard when you hear it. A whoosh. No, a tick. Ah, a trickle. You watch as the sun beams that once peered in from the windows disappear behind the deep clouds that now reign the sky. You motion over to the couch, blanket in hand, strike a match, and light your favorite candle to —

Oh, wait a second.  That’s me. Right now. Writing this guide for you. Your rainy day scene is just a liiiiiiittle different. It involves a younger you, a sprinkle of chaos, a fish, a couch, a cat, a hat, and few other uh, things.

The Story

Based on the book by the same title, The Cat in The Hat at Universal’s Islands of Adventure is truly a wild ride following the story of two children whose boring, rainy day takes a turn when an unexpected visitor enters through the front door. In a totally-not-scary, well-intended, bring-on-the-fun-that-is-funny fashion, the visitor makes it their personal mission to better a day where the sun is not sunny. He’s got a few tricks up his — hat — but you’ll have to read on some more to learn about that.

(Tired of the rhyming yet? No? I knew I liked you. Moving on!)

The Queue

Before we meet our very special house guest, we must walk under a giant hat to enter… the outdoors? (Don’t question the magic of the hat.) We aren’t just anywhere outside, we are in front of the home of a brother and a sister who just said goodbye to their mother while she goes off to complete a hefty grocery list. 

Stylized just like the art from the book, this world is a little wobbly, wonky, and you’ll hardly ever see a straight line. You’ll pass picket fences and vibrant green bushes before arriving at the front porch of a pink house (my dream house tbh) to find shelter from the rain. On the bushes and walls of the house you’ll find sentences straight from the book that set the stage for the story to unfold. Sit back, relax, and keep your arms, feet, and legs inside the couch because we’re off!

The Ride

Wait, is the couch moving? This is quite out of the ordinary, but lucky for us, mother just left for meats, breads, and dairy! 

Did you feel that bump? Perhaps a bump that might just make you jump? On your right you see a door open and stepping out on a mat is everyone’s favorite cat, The Cat in the Hat! But the Cat isn’t the only animal that can talk! The pet fish (a goldfish named Mr. Krinkelbein) warns us that the Cat should not be in the house while mother is out. However, we have no time to listen when we could be playing America’s new favorite pastime, “Up Up Up With A Fish.” The game is played with the Cat balancing on a ball. He has to balance books, umbrellas, toy boats, milk, a rake, a cake (my personal favorite), and of course, a fish, for as long as he can! It looks like a lot of fun but proves to be a worthy challenge for the Cat. (Spoiler Alert: Balancing on a ball with all that? Not always the best idea if you’re trying to NOT make a mess.)

While the Cat ends up on the floor, the fish makes a tea kettle his new home. Now that our first game is over, we need a game that’s new, so the Cat brings out a crate and introduces us to Thing 1 and Thing 2! The Cat claims that these things are tame, but when our blue-haired friends start flying kites, painting the walls, decorating the house with toilet paper, and tipping pianos (amongst other things), that gets to be a little hard to believe. The Fish warns us that mother is almost home so it is time to take action! As the brother and sister think of what to do, an idea strikes! As fast as they can, they go after their net! They bet with their net, they can get those things, yet! WHUMP! Got ‘em! But the house is still a disaster! Can they clean up before mother arrives? Will the Cat come back to clean up their mess? I guess you’ll have to ride and see if that answer is a yes!

Ride Details

The Cat in the Hat is a dark-ride, motion-simulator with couches that can seat up to six humans, LARGE Cats, or things — not necessarily in that order — at least 36” tall. 

FUN-THAT-IS-FUNNY FACTS:

• Similar to the book and all of Seuss Landing, there are almost no straight lines in this attraction — everything was designed in the same curved, slenated, and wonky matter that Dr. Seuss drew in.
• Of the brother and sister in this story, only the sister is officially named. The sister is named Sally where the brother is only referred to as Conrad in the 2003 film adaptation of the book.
• In the book the mother’s face is never revealed. The ride follows the tradition of mystery by ending any image of her right above the neck before she can be revealed. 
• While we don’t know where the children’s father is during the story, a family photo can be seen where you board the ride vehicles. Once again, conveniently cutting off before both parent’s heads.
• While it may look like just a couch to the untrained eye, this attraction’s ride vehicle design was adapted for use in Men in Black: Alien Attack at Universal Studios Florida. 

Gift Shop

Appropriately named Cats, Hats and Things, this gift shop is where you can find all of your feline-inspired wacky wares. Adorned in Red, White and Blue this shop is a tribute to our star Cat. You’ll find the Cat in The Hat front and center in the shop juggling household items just like he does in both the book and the ride. Where the Cat is, the things aren’t far, Thing 1 and Thing 2 are running along the ceilings and overseeing shop ops from atop merchandise shelves. The gift shop offers souvenirs such as plush toys, home wares, apparel and more.

(Yes, you can grab a “Thing” T-shirt for yourself and all your wacky travel companions!)

Character Encounters

You may exit this ride feeling one (or a couple) of the following feelings:

1. An INTENSE urge to clean your home
2. A sudden desire to own toilet paper adorned with “Thing” heads (unfortunately, not in the gift shop)
3. A want, no, a NEED to meet the Cat of the hour

You can meet The Cat in the Hat and Thing 1 and Thing 2, amongst other Dr. Seuss characters in the Dr. Seuss Character Zone at Universal’s Islands of Adventure.

Appearance times can be found on the official Universal Orlando Resort app.

I wanted to end this guide with “What would you do if your mother asked you?” but I simply couldn’t find a way that would do. So instead I’ll say “that is that” and be gone with a tip of my hat.

Adrianna Santiago is a Central Florida native with a STRONG #TeamHolidays alliance. When she's not clacking away at her keyboard, you can find her sniffing all the flowers, taking all the photos, and probably asking the question "does that come in pink?"

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