snowbell
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2007
- Messages
- 966
I just wanted to share with you guys my recent trip to Islands of Adventure.
To back track a little. The last time I was at Universal was 2 1/2 years ago. We always had such a great time, but since that time I have just been booking Disney only trips.
For my dbf brithday (9/3/07) I suprised him with a trip to Orlando... There was only one promise that I had to make.... We were not going to be in the parks all the time.
With that being said - I booked the trip. We decided to do one full day at IOA and City Walk and the other day at Epcot. The third day - Just relaxing pool side.
So - From what I have learned on these boards, here goes my short report.
9/1/07
We arrived at the universal gates at 8am... So I guess everyone knows that it does not open until 9am -- I just was a little nervous so I wanted to make sure there were no lines. dbf and I decided to walk around city walk and check out all the store fronts
..
At 8:30am I got on the voucher only line and picked up my one day/one park passes. If it were up to me, I would have gotten the two park passes -- but hey - it is dbf birthday weekend.
Gates opened a little before 9am and we beelined for Hulk. We rode this twice in a row with no line. The next ride we went on was Spidey - I just love this ride. I think this and Dr. Doom are my favorites in the park.
dbf was hungry so we got some fruit and then went onto dr. doom a couple of times in a row. again -- no line... IT is much different than going to a disney park wherethe lines are can already be out the door... it was so refreshing and stress free to know I can actually do the entire park.
The next ride on our list was Jurassic Park -- Would you believe that we were the only ones on the ride. It was AWESOME
and we were soaked. I knew that I was not ready for the water rides yet so I dried off a little (why - I don't know) and explored the park.
There are so many nooks to check out and the theming is great. I cannot wait for Harry Potter to arrive in a couple of years.
I took the advice from the boards and did the fire side of dueling dragons. I just love the part when both sides come together and you look like you are going to crash into each other
By this time it is 10:15 --- yup I did about 7 rides and explored the park in a little over an hour.
I decided it was now time to get wet -- dbf and I got prepared for the river raft ride (sorry I don't remember the name) - we put our valuables in a locker -- We had our bathing suits on just in case... but I made one big mistake -- I decided to wear denim shorts to the park.. Well -- I got soaked... and I am not one to walk around in just her bathing suit so I really made a mess out of myself.
so what better thing to do then do when you already wet -- Go on Ripsaw falls. It was soooo much fun. I wish They had more stuff like this at Disney. Although my clothes were now sticking to me, it was still very refreshing.
Our goal was to hang out at the parks until lunch time so we went through Dr. Suess land and hit some rides and then went back on Dr. doom. By 11:30 the parks were really starting to get packed.
As we were leaving - I got to meet some of my favorite characters -- Wolverine and Storm. I did not download my pictures yet, but will add them on (you will notice my wet sticky clothes )
By 12:30we were finished and had a great time at the park. We headed over to Margaritaville - we first had a tasty beverage at the outside stand, but it looked like it was going to rain so walked over to the restauarant and sat outside under the overhang... well -- not more then 10 minutes later - it started to rain - pour really. I felt so bad for the huge amounts of people that were still entering IOA. They shut down all of the fun rides (besides spidey)
It wound up raining for a good hour. But - we were having the best time. After our lunch/tasty beverage(s) and after the rain subsided - we walked around citywalk and checked out a few other places.. then it was time to head back to our hotel to relax.
I am so happy that I got to experience IOA again. I don't know if I will be headed that way for another couple of years so being able to go on all the rides so early was a real plus.... Thanks for the great advice
To back track a little. The last time I was at Universal was 2 1/2 years ago. We always had such a great time, but since that time I have just been booking Disney only trips.
For my dbf brithday (9/3/07) I suprised him with a trip to Orlando... There was only one promise that I had to make.... We were not going to be in the parks all the time.
With that being said - I booked the trip. We decided to do one full day at IOA and City Walk and the other day at Epcot. The third day - Just relaxing pool side.
So - From what I have learned on these boards, here goes my short report.
9/1/07
We arrived at the universal gates at 8am... So I guess everyone knows that it does not open until 9am -- I just was a little nervous so I wanted to make sure there were no lines. dbf and I decided to walk around city walk and check out all the store fronts
..At 8:30am I got on the voucher only line and picked up my one day/one park passes. If it were up to me, I would have gotten the two park passes -- but hey - it is dbf birthday weekend.
Gates opened a little before 9am and we beelined for Hulk. We rode this twice in a row with no line. The next ride we went on was Spidey - I just love this ride. I think this and Dr. Doom are my favorites in the park.
dbf was hungry so we got some fruit and then went onto dr. doom a couple of times in a row. again -- no line... IT is much different than going to a disney park wherethe lines are can already be out the door... it was so refreshing and stress free to know I can actually do the entire park.
The next ride on our list was Jurassic Park -- Would you believe that we were the only ones on the ride. It was AWESOME
and we were soaked. I knew that I was not ready for the water rides yet so I dried off a little (why - I don't know) and explored the park.There are so many nooks to check out and the theming is great. I cannot wait for Harry Potter to arrive in a couple of years.
I took the advice from the boards and did the fire side of dueling dragons. I just love the part when both sides come together and you look like you are going to crash into each other
By this time it is 10:15 --- yup I did about 7 rides and explored the park in a little over an hour.
I decided it was now time to get wet -- dbf and I got prepared for the river raft ride (sorry I don't remember the name) - we put our valuables in a locker -- We had our bathing suits on just in case... but I made one big mistake -- I decided to wear denim shorts to the park.. Well -- I got soaked... and I am not one to walk around in just her bathing suit so I really made a mess out of myself.
so what better thing to do then do when you already wet -- Go on Ripsaw falls. It was soooo much fun. I wish They had more stuff like this at Disney. Although my clothes were now sticking to me, it was still very refreshing.
Our goal was to hang out at the parks until lunch time so we went through Dr. Suess land and hit some rides and then went back on Dr. doom. By 11:30 the parks were really starting to get packed.
As we were leaving - I got to meet some of my favorite characters -- Wolverine and Storm. I did not download my pictures yet, but will add them on (you will notice my wet sticky clothes
)By 12:30we were finished and had a great time at the park. We headed over to Margaritaville - we first had a tasty beverage at the outside stand, but it looked like it was going to rain so walked over to the restauarant and sat outside under the overhang... well -- not more then 10 minutes later - it started to rain - pour really. I felt so bad for the huge amounts of people that were still entering IOA. They shut down all of the fun rides (besides spidey)
It wound up raining for a good hour. But - we were having the best time. After our lunch/tasty beverage(s) and after the rain subsided - we walked around citywalk and checked out a few other places.. then it was time to head back to our hotel to relax.
I am so happy that I got to experience IOA again. I don't know if I will be headed that way for another couple of years so being able to go on all the rides so early was a real plus.... Thanks for the great advice
