-UNIVERSAL - ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE

- ORLANDO TRIP 2009 PART NINE -
READ PART ONE HERE
http://ultimateparkreview.blogspot.com/2009/06/magic-kingdom-part-one-of-two.html
READ PART TWO HERE
http://ultimateparkreview.blogspot.com/2009/06/magic-kingdom-part-two-of-two.html
READ PART THREE HERE
http://ultimateparkreview.blogspot.com/2009/06/epcot-world-showcase.html
READ PART FOUR HERE
http://ultimateparkreview.blogspot.com/2009/06/epcot-future-world.html
READ PART FIVE HERE
http://ultimateparkreview.blogspot.com/2009/06/sea-world-orlando.html
READ PART SIX HERE
http://ultimateparkreview.blogspot.com/2009/06/disneys-hollywood-studios.html
READ PART SEVEN HERE
http://ultimateparkreview.blogspot.com/2009/06/orlando-trip-2009-part-seven-read-part.html
READ PART EIGHT HERE
http://ultimateparkreview.blogspot.com/2009/06/orlando-trip-2009-part-eight-read-part.html
READ PART TEN HERE
http://ultimateparkreview.blogspot.com/2009/06/orlando-trip-2009-part-ten-read-part.html
READ PART ELEVEN HERE
http://ultimateparkreview.blogspot.com/2009/06/reed-bingham.html
-----------
STATS
THEME PARK: UNIVERSAL ISLANDS OF ADVENTURE
RATING: 9 out of 10
Address: 1000 Universal Studios PlazaOrlando, Florida 32819 USA Official website: http://www.universalorlando.com/ioa_index.html
Status: Operating since 1999
---------

My wife and I arrived at Universal around 8:30AM. We took the Lynx Buses on our trip and the cool thing about the lynx buses is they drop you off right outside the entrance to the parks. From the Lynx bus drop off you simply go up some escalators and down a bridge type walkway and you end up right in the center of City Walk.Today we were going to Universals Islands of Adventure. Both parks at Universal are just a short walk from the center of City Walk and there are no other transports you have to take like at Disney. Once your there, your basically there.At the gates of Islands of Adventure we were let into the park about 8:50 with no walk backs like Disney does.

The gates opened and we charged in!The best thing to do to get this park done without waits is to get there early and to go from left to right! You’ll probably have to wait a bit for the shows but if you go left to right there won’t be much of a problem.
-------
HULK
Our first stop was HULK! Of course it was a complete walk on this time of morning. One thing I like about Islands of Adventure is that the cue lines are just as extravagant and cool as Disney’s queue lines are. Hulk was no exception. Once on the ride we knew we were in for a treat. This Bollinger & Mabillard tire propelled launch coaster is simply amazing. You hear Bruce Banner changing into the Hulk and is he turns you go faster and faster until you shoot out of the building and into 7 inversions at 67 MPH. The Hulk is one smooth ride and a great coaster all around. Not my favorite B&M coaster but still a great ride! 9 out of 10 stars because Hulk rocks!
-------
SPIDERMAN
Next on our list was Spiderman. It was still very early at about 9:00 when we got in line for Spiderman so it was walk on as well. If you come later I was told that the lines for this one get horrendous so best to come early. Spiderman was a great dark ride that features 3d film images with animatronics and other special effects while you are in a moving vehicle. The ride was really cool and very exciting. Though not near as good as the Curse of Darkastle at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, which is the same type of ride and features better effects and such than Spiderman, this is still a ride of greatness. You will spin a little but you shouldn’t get dizzy. Again I hear some people get motion sick on this one but I think you would have to be able to get motion sick pretty easy for this one to effect you. 10 out of 10 stars for this awesome multi-sensory dark ride!
----------
POPEYE AND BLUTO'S BILGE-RAT BARGES
We decided to ride the water ride in Toon Lagoon early because they too get a long line as the day goes by. Toon Lagoon is themed to the old comic strips in the newspaper! Bilge Rat Barges in Themed to Popeye. We walked onto this ride as well and walked off soaking wet! This is the best River Raft ride I have ever ridden. That’s right folks I have a new #1 Raft Ride. This one knocks Dollywood’s down a notch and leaves Disney’s Kali River Rapids way behind in the dust. The effects on this ride are great such as the sharks swimming in circle around the Me-Ship-Olive and near your raft. The rapids are crazy and for this type of ride you really get some speed. Some of the areas of this ride the water flows so fast around the curves your raft will bank the curves like a bobsled! 10 out of 10 stars for the best raft ride ever!
----------
DUDLY DO RGIHTS RIPSAW FALLS
We walked right onto this ride as well. We were both looking forward to this heavy themed water ride as well since we loved Splash Mountain and Atlantis! The log is cramped and hard for larger taller people to get into. You really feel like a sardine in this one. The themeing was great and the splash and the end gets you pretty good but the crampness really hurt at times. The ride itself is fun but I have to take off points for being uncomfortable and the fact the lap bars on this ride do nothing but add to the discomfort! 8 out of 10 stars for what could be a 10 if they got different boats than what they have and remove the stupid lap bar that doesn’t really need to be there to be safe.
--------
We headed to Pteranadon flyers but we were turned away since they were only letting children ride. This is the only ride in Orlando that we saw that would let adults ride. We even rode the wacky worm at old town with no problems. I just don’t get it. They say the children don’t have many options in the park but really they do! There’s a entire section based on Dr. Seuss etc. This is considered a Roller coaster and yet it is out of the grasps of most enthusiasts to ride. I hear if you come early they will let you ride, by early they mean park open. I don’t see why they just don’t let everyone ride.
-------------
JURRASIC PARK
After getting turned away from Pteradon flyers we headed to Jurassic Park! After Dinosaur in Animal Kingdom we were expecting something spectacular here. We really didn’t get spectacular. Thought he ride was fun the drop was not as big of a deal as the park would lead you to believe, the Animatronic dinosaurs were not that great and there were zero startling moments. This ride is not scary or adrenalin pumping whatsoever. This ride is like those movies that are all build up and no climax.. I think it really is one of the few skippable rides at Islands of Adventure 5 out of 10 stars for being mediocre.
---------------
We were going to come back to go to the Jurassic Park Discovery Center later in the day but once through the park and we were ready to call it a short day so we never go to it. We will defiantly make it a point next time. We also skipped DR. DOOM because we don’t like those type of rides at all. What we do like though are coasters so we were off to pick up our next two credits and two of the most anticipated coasters on our trip.
-----------
Dueling Dragons
The cue line is very very long for this ride. If you are wanting to ride both sides which I recommend, you will have to walk though it twice and that’s a lot of walking! This is worth it though. The Queue is gorgeous and kind of creepy in parts. Really sets the mood and is fantastically themed. The trains on this B&M inverted coaster were themed well also. The fronts of the trains are dragon heads and you basically sit in the dragons mouth! Fire was our first followed by ICE. The FIRE side was full of forces and great inversions. Really a great ride. Ice however didn’t have as many forces but had more head and feet choppers and one really got us where it looked as if we were going to hit the side of the castle. We liked Ice the best because of the maneuvers BUT both sides get a 10 so Dueling Dragons in all gets a 10 out of 10 stars! That goes for both sides and together as well! This ride is simply a 10 no matter who you slice it.
-----------
Once we entered the Lost Continent side of the park we were starving. It was only about 10:30 and most of the food places weren’t even open yet. This is the Biggest problem we had at both universal parks. They open the park then open the shops and food places way later. IT really kind of sucks when your hungry and cant even find anything to eat other than the small stalls with pretzels. We got a pretzel and it was just not good! The food at Universal was not the best either. We had planned on eating later at mythos but after filling up on bad pretzels we just decided to save money!

We waited for the first show of Poseidon's Fury because it starts before the first show of Sinbad! We had to back track a bit but they are not that far from each other. Seeing Poseidon first allows you to catch the next Sinbad show only a few minutes afterward
------
POSEIDON'S FURY
We were worried about this show because of the famed effect of the water tunnel had been removed. Everyone in the forums were talking about how the show was horrible without it. All I can say was that we didn’t feel like anything was lacking without it. The show is amazing and one of the best in Orlando. Not #1 but defiantly in the top 5 somewhere. The epic battle at the end is simply amazing. I don’t want to give away too much so I will just say if you never seen this one it is a must! 10 out of 10 stars with or without the water tunnel! You must see this one!
------
EIGHTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD
This show was better than expected but I expected really bad! Not the best show in Orlando but the kids seemed to like it and with good reason. It feels as if it were designed with kids in mind. Its shopped full of cheesy moments and corny jokes. Water and fire explosions, martial arts style fighting and cartoon like story lines. Like I said its not horrible but I think smaller children would love it more than us adults would. 7 out 10 stars! I love Sinbad movies and wished this show was more like that but instead its more like a dollar store animated video version performed in live action.
---------------
We headed out of the beautiful themed area of the Lost Continent and into the Dr. Seuss area which was very surreal and interesting. This is the coolest looking section of the park! Our first ride was the…
________
The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride
This is a fun ride though very short. It has two sides and they are completely different rides. If they would connect them into one ride it may be more worth the wait, we waited 15 minutes for this short ride! The animatronics are cool and riding above the crowds below is cool too but it is just very short! 5 out of 10 stars for keeping us wanting more, not in a good way!
--------
CAT IN THE HAT
This dark ride is exactly how I remembered the book and the cartoon! AWSOME! You will spin a little on this ride but we never got dizzy. The animatronics are great and parts of this ride were so chaotic you feel that your actually inside the book! This is DISNEY Quality and a good rival for the fantasy land dark rides! This was walk on for us but I could see how line could form pretty easily on this one! This is a must ride though! 10 out of 10 stars!
------
Caro-Seuss-el
We skipped one fish two fish because the wait was 20 minutes and we just didn’t see the point waiting that long for that type of ride. The line for Caro-Seuss-el was zero so we went on that before we left the park! The ride was as fun as any carousel but the problems with this one is how it showed its age. The characters had huge chips out of them, the parts were not working such as their ears etc. Really looked liked the park let this one go for some reason, That’s sad too because it’s a pretty ride. 5 out of 10 stars because it needs some TLC bad!
______________
I figured out the overall theme of this park is literature and its different forms! This is really a great idea and yet so subtle most people don’t get it as that. That’s a cool thing.

We left the park satisfied of everything we got done about 2:30PM! We headed to the Whopper Bar in City walk but couldn’t find it. When we asked for directions we were sent up to the top section where the bars are and it wasn’t there. This is another problem we had with Universal, the bad directions the workers there give.
-----
PARK OVERVIEW
This is a great park but it has some bad problems.
The good stuff…
- Staff just as friendly as Disney (only found one unfriendly)
- The rides are excellent
- The park is kept very clean
-.The park is designed excellently and is easy to navigate
- The themeing is wonderful!

The bad stuff...
-Food places open too late!
-Workers give bad directions or just dont have answers
-Some of the rides seem neglected

I am only taking one star off for all these because the good stuff really outweigh the bad. The bad things could really be fixed easily but if not this park could drop more on another visit. 9 out of 10 stars hoping the improvements needed here are taken care of!

TO BE CONTINUED...
TOMMORROW
UNIVERSAL STUDIOS FLORIDA