Left or Right?

[Tribe]

First time to Islands of Adventure. Spending one day there. Will get there at opening on April 27th (no early entry for us- offsite), moderate maybe a little lower crowd day. We want to do everything. Should we start off going right or left and hitting each attraction on the way eventually getting to FJ? Or go straight to Forbidden Journey?
Thanks for the advice.

 

[Tribe]

Just simplifying my question. Is it important to go straight to FJ at opening or can we work our way around the circle and get there a little later? Single park, no park to park pass.

 

[Terra Nova guy]

The shortest wait time on FJ should be right at opening, so try to get to the park early and go straight to FJ, if that is your priority. If for some reason you can't make it early, you can probably take your time through the rest of IOA while making your way to Hogsmeade. As for walking left or right, if you have small kids who like Dr. Suess, go to the right and spend some time in Suess Landing. IMHO, there's nothing else on the right side of IOA worth spending time on, so just walk straight through to Hogsmeade from Seuss Landing. If you want to spend some time on attractions before Hogsmeade (and don't have small kids) then walk to the left. I find that side of IOA much better.

 

[macraven]

if you have never been on FJ or in the potter area at IOA, go straight to that ride.

when you are done with that portion of the park, work your way forward towards the park entrance for the rest of the rides.


if you go to the right out of potter, you will go thru jurassic park area, then on to marvel section

go to the left to exit potter and you can hit seussland section.

it is a short walk to cross over to the other section you do last near the front of the park.


either way you should be fine.

 

[keishashadow]

other option is to wait until the end of the day. I wouldn't be able to do it. Swim with the tide & head to FJ ASAP

 

[Imagineer22]

Our experience was actually the opposite of what most are saying. When we went in February it was our experience that Forbidden Journey was the busiest in the morning because of early entry. If you like thrill rides (which I assume you do since you are going to IOA) than I would actually suggest starting with Marvel. We went to Marvel for rope drop one morning after our early entry to HP and it was empty (walked up to the bridge as they were dropping the rope). We rode Spiderman 3 times in a row literally walking onto the ride (didn't even stop to wait for the ride vehicle). Everyone was heading to HP and hardly nobody went to Marvel. You could easily ride Hulk, Doom and Spiderman each in the first hour (possibly multiple times each).

Assuming it is moderate to light crowds I wouldn't expect Forbidden Journey to get above 30-45 minutes throughout the day. Even with early entry we only got to ride FJ once in the morning because everyone was rushing there and by the time the park opened the line was easily 45 minutes before day guests even got to the ride.

No matter when you do FJ I highly recommend the single riders line for repeat rides. You have to go through the main que line first to get the Hogwarts experience. But after the first ride use the single rider line for any additional rides.

Also, FYI back in February they dropped the rope about 10 minutes before the posted opening time so be sure to be there a little early just in case.