What is the difference between Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando?

Anyone who remembers Universal Orlando Resort's early days may recall the slogan "Ride the movies."

"That's such an apt way of describing what it was," said Kevin Perjurer, a theme park historian and creator of the Defunctland YouTube channel, which has roughly 1.4 million subscribers.

In many ways, he says the cinematic experience remains.

"You know, you walk through Hogwarts," he said. "You walk through Super Nintendo World. You walk through Jurassic Park the same way that you do in the movies, and the rides are an extension of that."

Guests can immerse themselves in iconic entertainment franchises at both Universal Orlando and Universal Studios Hollywood, but there are some key differences coast to coast.

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Is Universal Studios in California or Florida?

Both. The actual film studios are located in Universal City, California, near Los Angeles. Universal Studios Hollywood is right next door.

Universal Studios Florida is just one of the parks at Universal Orlando and the first to open at that resort.

Which came first?

Universal Studios Hollywood predates Universal Orlando by several decades, but the actual studio began letting tourists in on movie magic much earlier, in 1915.

"In the beginning, people were invited to cheer the heroes, to boo the villains. They were invited to be interactive in all of these productions because it was during the silent era, and it didn't matter," Jeff Pirtle, then-director of NBC Universal Archives and Collections, told KCET's "Lost L.A." "However at the advent of sound in the late 1920s, there was a need for quiet sets. And so it's with that advent of sound that the studio had to cease inviting the general public to see how movies were made."

It wasn't until 1964 that guests would be invited back en masse for the opening of Universal Studios Hollywood and its Glamour Trams, which eventually became the World-Famous Studio Tour, according to NBCUniversal.

"It was truly an attraction," Perjurer said of the iconic tram tour, which he called "absolute magic" for people who had no idea how movies were made. It's still one of the park's most popular attractions. "Universal Studios Hollywood was very much a tram tour and then eventually a park that was built around real functioning studios, whose purpose was to make movies first and then you can tour them."

He said the opposite was true for Universal Orlando, which opened in 1990 and was designed as a theme park from the start, with Nickelodeon Studios on site to add to guest experiences.

"A lot of those (Florida) productions existed so you could see them being filmed there," Perjurer said. "They served a dual purpose, but it was definitely a reverse of Hollywood."

How many Universal parks are there in the US?

There are currently three Universal theme parks and one water park in the U.S.

Universal Studios Hollywood is one park, though it may feel like two because it's split into two levels, Upper Lot and Lower Lot, by a long series of escalators down a hillside. Movie-making Universal Studios and CityWalk, a shopping, dining and entertainment complex open to the public, are next door. There are no onsite hotels, but there are partner hotels nearby.

Universal Orlando Resort has two theme parks, Universal Studios Florida and Universal's Islands of Adventure, and Universal's Volcano Bay water park. Another park, Universal's Epic Universe, is under construction nearby. The Orlando resort also has a CityWalk and multiple themed hotels on property.

How many rides are at Universal Studios?

There are 11 rides at Universal Studios Hollywood including Kung Fu Panda Adventure, a lively but relatively stationary motion-simulated attraction unique to the park. Other location-specific attractions include The Secret Life of Pets: Off the Leash, Silly Swirly Fun Ride in the "Despicable Me"-themed play area Super Silly Fun Land and the World-Famous Studio Tour. Orlando's tram tour closed decades ago.

There are 30 rides across Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure, not including a small, single-rider waterslide in Fievel's Playland or both directions of the Hogwarts Express as separate rides. Two of the resort's most popular attractions, Jurassic World VelociCoaster and Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, are unique to Florida.

Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Orlando Resort do have a number of rides in common, though some are executed differently across parks. They include Despicable Me Minion Mayhem, Flight of the Hippogriff, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Revenge of the Mummy, The Simpson's Ride and Transformers: The Ride-3D.

Hollywood's Jurassic World - The Ride and Orlando's Jurassic Park River Adventure offer similar experiences, but Orlando's attraction is based on the original Jurassic Park franchise, and Hollywood's is centered on the newer Jurassic World franchise.

Additionally, two of the experiences on Hollywood's tram tour are standalone rides in Orlando: Fast & Furious and Skull Island: Reign of Kong.

"Everything's bigger and more expansive at the Florida parks," Perjurer said, noting the limited room to grow in Hollywood because of its hilly terrain and prime real estate. The park is, however, expanding with Super Nintendo World next year.

Why do people go to Universal Studios?

"There's a lot of people that go to Hollywood and go to Universal Studios because they want to still see the magic of the movies," Perjurer said. "They want to actually be on a backlot. ... They want Tinseltown."

He said Orlando guests are looking for something else.

"They want the food of the theme parks," he said. "They want the resorts. They want the highly themed thrills."

He said Universal Orlando delivers on those while Hollywood aims for both.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Universal Studios Hollywood vs. Universal Orlando: What's different