Experience The Magic of Adrenaline - Zero-g's or bust!
Written: Jan 28 '05 (Updated Mar 09 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Newer rides, large selection of styles, Designed for families.
Cons: Outdoor park, admission, not suitable for everyone
The Bottom Line: Are you man our mouse?
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| xyzwyatt's Full Review: Universal Studios Islands of Adventure |
This is a modern theme park that opened in 1999 which has primarily thrill rides, water rides, and some shows. This type of park certainly appeals to the thrill seekers. There is a lot of things for everyone, but not everyone can do everything.
I think this park is different and sometimes better than Disney. First of all, everyone has probably already been to Disney. Disney has been there since before I was born, Islands of Adventure has only been around for 6 years so is very modern. Disney there is a lot of watching and relaxing, Islands is a lot of feeling and adrenaline. Unlike Disney where it's marketed to the young kids, this park is marketed to the fun seekers. Daddy can enjoy the ride just as much as son so I think it makes a better vacation for bonding! Guys don't Ooooh and Aaaah over Princesses and stuffed animals walking around too much but they sure like Superheros and Dinosaurs! I'm not biased; I'd recommend and go to Disney too.
General admission is $59.75 plus tax for adults, $48 for children ages 3-9 years old. The park does not give refunds so be sure the weather is in your favor for the day of your visit. The weather can be checked at www.weatherchannel.com Orlando zip code 32811. If you get a one day pass and want to go back to the park the next day you an upgrade your ticket before you leave the park. Parking is $8 for the day. There is a kennel on site for dogs, they only charge $10 a day for that service and they stay open until late in the evening.
Timing is a big thing in this busy park. They busiest day of the week is Saturday as well as typical vacation times such as Christmas break, spring break, or summer. The earlier you can get to the park, the shorter the lines are, particularly the water rides. Most people don’t want to get wet right away so they go on the coasters. The lines for the water rides get longer as the day gets hotter. By afternoon the water rides can be 90 minutes long.
Express Pass is a free service that is included with the purchase of your general admission ticket. There are Universal Express ticket booths near most of the main attractions. You insert your tick and pick a time when you'd like to come back to the ride. Each person that will be riding in your group must express with their own ticket. Once you have a ticket you can not get another express ticket until you have used your original one or two hours have passed. These express booths have a limited supply of passes so once they are gone they close. By the afternoon, most of the expresses are gone so don’t wait too long to look into that great time-saving option.
In addition to the original price of your ticket you can upgrade to a plus pass for "only" $20 more. The pass will allow you to go to the front of the line at a designated time once for each of the 15 rides. There is a limited supply and they start selling this an hour after the park opens and usually sell out within an hour or two. If it's a really busy day, like a Saturday, this may be beneficial but off season the waits aren't nearly as long and can be very enjoyable with the free Universal Express pass.
Baby Swap allows all members of your group to go on a ride even if they have a young child that can not ride. How this works it that everyone in the party waits in line for the ride and at the entrance to the ride there is a "baby swap" station so person 2 can watch the child while person 1 rides. When person 1 is done, person 2 immediately rides while person one watches the child in the baby swap.
Rides are all a matter of taste but they're all newer, quality rides. If you're like me, I don't want to know too much about the ride before I go because it spoils some of the fun. Some of the rides are water rides. In my experience, jeans and jean shorts do not mix well with water rides, and neither do white tees for the ladies. They are impossible to get dry and walking around in wet jeans…ouch! Ponchos can be purchased at the park, $4 for a child size and $5 for an adult size. Even if you want to get wet you won’t want your shoes to so sometimes people sacrifice their ponchos and wrap them around their shoes.
I think that Spider Man is the best ride ever and is truly a one of a kind. They spent $250 million building this so it's state of the art. This is a 3-D thrill ride and uses a new technology called moving point of convergence. This ride really stimulates your senses and it's very hard to tell the difference between what is real and what is fiction. This ride is a little over 4 minutes long and worth the wait. It is near the entrance so you could express pass it when you walk in so you're sure to see it. You must be 40 inches to ride, and may be scary for the young children.
I don’t know what is more massive, the sight or the sound from The Incredible Hulk Coaster. This is a ride that you will see from outside the park and you will hear when you enter the park. This roller coaster is amazing. This ride catapults you from 0-40 miles per hour (mph) in 2 seconds with top speeds reaching 67 mph. You don’t have time to process the information in your mind because you are going through turns, loops, corkscrews, rolls, and threw a tunnel all in just 2 minutes 15 seconds. The line for this ride is the longest in the park every day, all day. They offer three lines: single rider, front coaster, and general seating.
The Dueling Dragons roller coaster ride is interesting. One roller coaster goes forward, the other coaster goes backward. They both leave at the same time and which one wins it’s hard to say. I never knew what I was getting myself into when I went on this ride. This roller coaster has no floor! Right there my fear factor was realized. This coaster is 2 ½ minutes long and goes up to 60 MPH. The tracks nearly intertwine and three times it looks as if you will collide. I’ve been told the front seat is the best seat, but the line is significantly longer for it. Once you have waited your turn to get to the front of the line you choose if you want to go on the red coaster or the blue coaster.
Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls is great in two ways. The ride itself is a blast. It’s a plume that takes you through a dark building and then unexpectedly you are fired out of the hole like you were in a cannon. I swear I was airborne; there aren’t any seat belts! You land abruptly at the bottom and get swamped with water. Wetter than any ride in the park. You can also have fun with this ride even if you don’t go on it! There’s benches and lookouts all along the ride. It’s fun to watch unsuspecting people stand at the balcony to rest and watch unwise that they are going to get drenched when the plume hits the bottom. The candid expressions are just a hoot! If you’re mean like we are you can get your kids to pose in front of it for a picture and presto! Paybacks!
Popeye & Blutos Bilge-Rat Barges is another water ride though it is a seasonal ride so sometimes closed for months at a time. This is your typical white water raft ride that lasts over 6 minutes which allows plenty of time for a good soaking!
Another honorable mention goes to Jurassic Park River Adventure. Your boat tours the lake looking at dinosaurs in a setting similar to Jurassic Park until your boat has technical difficulties and things get scary and result in an 85 foot plunge into the water.
The kids have their own section called “Seuss Landing”. You’ll find Cat in the Hat which is a traveling story, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish which goes around, up and down, and Caro-suess-el which is a basic carousel replaced with Seuss characters. These are all kid rides that children around ages 1 and up can ride and unlike some other theme parks where only little squirts get to ride the adults can enjoy these rides too!
Unicorn Flyer is a roller coaster ride that is suited to child who can fly solo or with an adult. The ride is fun but rough, if you have a tender back or neck it’s best to avoid.
There are a few shows at this park and all are very entertaining. We have seen the Matt Hoffman show which was quite impressive. There were some professional biker and skaters from the country like Chris Gentry.
I would recommend Poseidon's Fury at least for adults. This has really neat special effects and can usually be express passed or just walking in when the show starts. We typically see this show in the heat of the day since it is air conditioned. This is a 15 minute story about a battle between two mythical gods, Zeus and Poseidon. This is a walk through presentation, it is not a ride so you can hold and carry children. This presentation is very frightening for a lot of children because the room becomes pitch dark at times and the purpose of the show is to generate fear which it successfully does for children.
There are neat little play areas in each of the islands that are fun for the kids which you probably wouldn't notice if you weren't looking for them. They are not rides, no lines, and suitable for toddlers and up. It's a good way to relieve the tensions of little ones that have been waiting in long lines all day or to get the youngsters out of the strollers that they've been strapped to. One of our favorites is the large Olive Oil and Popeye ship that has a long slide. My son prefers the nets in the Jurassic Park area. Don’t forget to say to Hi to the Mystic Fountain in the Lost Continent, because it will talk back to you!
Dining is listed on the back of the park map and divided by type of food and where it's located. There are lots of healthy choices mixed in with the typical junk. They offer burgers, hot dogs, chicken, pizza and pasta, Asian, ribs, salads, and snacks. The food is good but it is a bit expensive. If you have time, I'd recommend eating in City Walk for a healthier more relaxing meal.
We found out that Mythos was rated the best theme park restaurant in 2003 and 2004 by Theme Park Insider so we went there to see what the hype was all about. The interior was amazing, and our waitress was fabulous, and the food was good. We didn’t care for the menu selection, and the prices were high.
Overall
One thing that held us back from going to this park with guests is sometimes not everyone in your group can participate. A lot of the rides are not suitable for individuals who have heart conditions, back problems, a mom to be, afraid of heights, or young children. There are some things at the park that can be done that don’t require getting on rides, but you can do that sort of thing elsewhere fore less than $60 each.
In general, Islands of Adventure still offers something exciting for everyone. Roller coasters, water rides, shows, and some good food. This combination along with your friends or family makes for a very exciting vacation!
Other Things around Orlando:
Amusements
Universal Studios, Orlando Sea World, Cypress Gardens Adventure Park
Indoor Entertainment
Orlando Science Museum, The Florida Aquarium
Malls/Shopping Areas
The Mall at Millenia, The Florida Mall, Universal CityWalk
State Parks
Lake Louisa State Park
Best Food
Universal Margaritaville at CityWalk, Hard Rock Cafe at Citywalk, NBA City at Citywalk, Seasons 52, New York Pizza Deli, Jungle Jim's, Bajama Breeze
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
xyzwyatt
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Location: Nashville, TN
Reviews written: 542
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Be a coffee-drinking individual - espresso yourself!
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