Just got back from Islands of Adventure (Thursday, 13 May 04). I used a military discount ($50.00 per ticket x 4). I was astonished at what that $50 buys you.
There are 10 major attractions at IOA. The best by far is the Dueling Dragons roller coaster attraction. The Cat in the Hat is the amazing attraction in that the wait to go on it is typically 30 minutes. For about 90 seconds of pseudo-amusement. And FearFall is just plain lame. Less than 45 seconds after a 25 minute wait.
Poseidon's Fury was closed for refurbishment.
We did a calculation of the time spent on the attraction (timed a bunch of them) and found that the ten major attractions involved less than 13 minutes of actual on-ride time. The Jurassic Park and Dudley Do-Right attractions skew the curve due to their longer durations. Flying Unicorn and FearFall are less than 45 seconds. With an average wait of 25 minutes that means over 4 hours of standing in line for less than a quarter hour of actual attraction time.
Aside from that, large drinks cost a mere $2.99 (plus tax).
Parking is $8.00. At least after 6:00 pm the cost is free, good for going to City Walk.
Recommendation: Spend the $$$ elsewhere. Some of the attractions ARE very good, but the waits and short durations don't justify the expenses.