Jimbo
6 AM and already the boy ain't right.<br><font col
- Joined
- Aug 18, 1999
- Messages
- 2,362
If you haven't read the intro, DW and I (both 55) took our granddaughters (13 and 9) to Universal for the first time. We stayed at HRH, and this post will describe what we thought of Islands of Adventure.
Overview:
I absolutely loved this park! Some of the attractions that I didn't think I'd like much turned out to be some of my favorites on the whole trip. We spent a full day at IOA, and then after checkout we spent most of a second day here. We had planned to go to MK that day but IOA plus FOTL can't be beat!
The theming at IOA is amazing. When I rate the attractions there, IOA doesn't score any higher than USF. But the atmosphere at IOA puts it in a whole other level. Make sure you bring a camera!
Attractions:
Overview:
I absolutely loved this park! Some of the attractions that I didn't think I'd like much turned out to be some of my favorites on the whole trip. We spent a full day at IOA, and then after checkout we spent most of a second day here. We had planned to go to MK that day but IOA plus FOTL can't be beat!
The theming at IOA is amazing. When I rate the attractions there, IOA doesn't score any higher than USF. But the atmosphere at IOA puts it in a whole other level. Make sure you bring a camera!
Attractions:
- Incredible Hulk Coaster We rode this around 6 or 7 times, maybe more. It was fun, but we go to Six Flags a lot and it didn't seem much different than some of their coasters. The kids, OTOH, went nuts over it. I'm not sure how long the regular line was, but FOTL let us pretty much walk on.
I gave it a B+, DW an F (but she never should have rode it in the first place!). The kids thought it was the best ride in the park.<p> - Spider-Man We rode this 3 times each day. This really is an amazing ride. It's able to combine 3D, other special effects, a motion simulator, actual motion, and a coherent story. They even give FOTL users an entertaining queueing area. It's the total package.
FOTL lets you walk on. We walked past some of the standby people twice, and they looked like they wanted to kill us the second time.
Everybody in our party gives the webslinger an A+!<p> - Popeye and Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges To my surprise this was my favorite ride of the whole trip (Disney included). I've ridden Kali River Rapids at AK, and a similar ride at Six Flags, so I wasn't expecting much. But those are the minor leagues compared to Popeye. This is a much longer ride than those, with lots of cool surprises.
Now, bear in mind that it was 95 and humid and you get very wet on this ride. We were prepared for it, with quick-drying clothes on and sandals. Even DW, who usually hates getting wet at the parks, thought the ride was big fun.
There was no wait in the FOTL line, even while the standby line had a posted wait of 75 minutes.
I give it a A++, and everybody else agrees.<p> - Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls The first time we rode this it was kind of a letdown. We didn't get very wet, and the drop isn't near as exciting as it looks. It didn't have very many surprises, at least compared to Popeye, and Dudley Do-Right was kind of a fringe cartoon (the kids had never heard of him).
DGD13 and I rode it a second time, though, and had a much better time. This time we got very wet. There's some coin-operated cannons at the end, and they soaked us.<p> - Jurassic Park River Ride This is a another ride that we liked more the second time. I think we may have expected too much going in. Plus the kids were pretty nervous the first time, and we all had more reasonable expectations the second time.
We sat in the front row on ride two, which helped. We got drenched that time, after hardly getting splashed the first time. And by all means use your FOTL... there was a brutal standby line.
<p> - Jurassic Park Discovery Center We probably spent 45 minutes or so here. There's a lot to see and do. Make sure you set aside a little time to visit the Center.
<p> - Flying Unicorn The kids rode this little coaster. They said it was OK and seemed to mean it, although it was kind of short.
<p> - Dueling Dragons To be honest, none of us were too taken by this. It's really not much different then a Six Flags coaster like Batman. It does have the "near miss" thing going for it, but on our second visit only Ice was working.
It's also one of the few rides where FOTL lets you down. You merge with the standby line earlieer than you do on the rest of the rides. At that point there's a big mass of people, and it's up to you to pick a side and a row.
OTOH, it's a beautifully themed attraction. So the next time we visit we may treat more as a photo opportunity than a ride.<p> - Poseidon's Fury Even with FOTL we had to wait about 40 minutes to get into this, our longest wait for anything. We liked the show, but didn't love it. We all agreed that it's worth seeing, but once was enough.
It's another spectacularly themed attraction. It's right outside of Mythos, too, so plan on taking a lot of pictures.<p> - Seuss Trolley We rode this once at the very end of our trip. It's a pleasant little ride, probably worth going on if there's no line. It's worth taking if only to see Seuss Landing from above. You get a decent view of the rest of the park too.<p>
- Cat in the Hat This was kind of like MK's Pooh ride, but with a few upgrades. I don't know the Cat in the Hat story, and I liked it. The rest of our group knows the story and they liked it a lot.<p>
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