Universal Studios Florida / Islands of Adventure PTR

[Beast1979]

Whether you may or may not know it, I spent last week and the week before vacationing in Cocoa Beach, Florida. Cocoa Beach is a beach on a few barrier islands in Brevard County, Florida, just 45 minutes due east of Orlando. It is the home of NASA and the capital of the Ron Jons Surf Shop chain of stores, which stretches from New Jersey to Pensacola.

Now, ever since I became a coaster freak, every time we went there I wanted to go to one of the numerous Central Florida parks. As a matter of fact, when we went in 2000 we went to Disney World where I rode my first ever roller coaster, Goofy's Barnstormer. Last year, I lobbied to visit Busch Gardens Africa in Tampa. That was shot down because we were too busy and it was too far away. So this year, I lobbied for Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure in Orlando. And guess what?

I did it!

However, due to this trip, I will not be visiting any new parks anytime soon. Why? The cost. Trooper Mom payed $360 for the tickets, $140 for the Expess Passes, and another $100 or so in souvenirs, but let me tell you, it was well worth it! I had such a fantastic time there, I have trouble explaining it in words. I also got my 50th different coaster in my lifetime, which you all should know by now (avatar, much?), but we'll get to that later.

For now, let's get to the pictures.

Remember how I told you that Cocoa Beach was on a set of barrier islands?

Well, I wasn't kidding. To get to the mainland, you have to travel over 2 huge rivers, resulting in multiple causeways, like this one, which goes over the Indian River, which separates Merritt Island and mainland.

As if the fun never ends, as you get close to Orlando you hit the famous tolls. Anyone who has traveled in Florida would know of these tolls, and how much of a pain they are. We ended up buying Sun-Passes later on to avoid these things.

While a 45 minute drive may not seem that bad (And it usually isn't) when your traveling to an amusement park you've never been to like Universal Studios, you tend to get kind of, eh, anxious. I took this picture just to try to keep myself entertained!

Luckily though, it wasn't long before we started seeing signs advertising Orlando parks. This one of many happens to be advertising Epcot.

We passed the Orlando International Airport, and I really got excited.

Ha ha!!! A parking garage! That must mean that.....

Yes! We're here!

Or are we? As much as I'd love to say "I love all of Universal Orlando" I can't. The navigation throughout the parking complex and entry to the park is extremely confusing.

But once I saw a roller coaster, I got over it.

After parking in the "Cat in the Hat 361" section of the garage, we headed to the park via these cool walking sidewalks.

From the walk to the park you can get a great view of the tallest rides in the park, like Incredible Hulk, Doctor Doom's Fearfall, and others.

Once you finish the walk to the park, you walk through the connector between Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure, called City Walk.

For those who have trouble understanding the layout of the complex like I did at first, use this handy dandy guide.

Anyway, CityWalk is basically what it's named. A giant midway surrounded by numerous restaurants, a couple of shows, some bars and grills, and even a Cinema!

On the side of Universal Studios Florida (USF) closest facing Islands of Adventure (IOA) is Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit. It's elongated to stretch the entire length of the park, and comes close to the lake separating the USF and IOA walkways.

While most of the brand name restaurants are located within CityWalk, Hard Rock is sandwiched in between USF and IOA.

We decided at the advice of a friend to do IOA first.

USF has a theme set to an on site movie studio, sorta "Diving into the movies" (And boy do you!), but IOA has a theme set to Adventure, a "Discovery of fun" sorta theme.

And so, we got our tickets. One is a 2 park one day ticket, the other, an Express Pass.

To store the Express Passes, they have these lanyards to put them in to prevent loosing them. And, I must say, these Express Passes saved us a LOT of time that day!

You enter the park, and so, the Adventure Begins.

Of course, as always, there are a series of stores at the entrance.

Now the pivotal moment....Left or Right?

As much as that beautiful tangled mess of Green and White tempted me, my better judgment told me to save that for last.

So, we headed right, through Seuss Landing.

The Zax ByPass!!!

Just like USF, IOA goes around a giant lake that the build some of their rides over.

Here's my little brother Joe, acting silly in front of Incredible Hulk

Eventually Joe (Left), Trooper Mom (Center), Dad (Right), and Me (Behind Camera) made our way to the Lost Continent.

I had no clue what Poseidon's Fury was, but it's next showtime wasn't for a few hours so that was a "No"

Ahh! Dueling Dragons! w00t!!!

As you might be able to tell, I was quite anxious to get on my first major coaster in Florida.

Although, with all that they were doing, it wasn't very easy.

In case you haven't heard, Islands of Adventure is expanding for next year to build a new area along the lines of Harry Potter.

What confuses me is that Dueling Dragons is part of the Lost Continent, but to get there you have to enter Jurassic Park. I believe that is because of the construction. At least I got to ride it as Dueling Dragons Fire and Ice, not whatever they are rethemeing it to next year.

Either way, Joe was enjoying himself. Joe is a huge Dinosaur fanatic, and when he saw that "The roller coaster park" had a section devoted just to Jurassic Park, he was ecstatic. Here he is driving one of the gas powered jeeps from the movie.

Well, he could enjoy it all he wanted. It was time for me to get my fix!

The entire walk to Dueling Dragons was boarded up with signs that say "Ministry Proclamation #1. Magic in progress, your patience is requested."

So I spent a lot of the long walk to the ride thinking: "Fire, or Ice?"

Hmm....Fire is said to be better,

But Ice has a Cobra Roll Luckily, it is not like Racer where you decide when you enter.

I entered the castle containing the station, and was awe struck instantly.

The entire walk through the castle is a pleasure, it is themed so well and goes above and beyond the call of the average ride decor!

Everything down to the last rock is done fantastically!

Right before you enter the 2 side by side stations, it tells you to go left for fire and right for ice. I, deciding to save the better for later chose ice.

I waited 2 trains, yes, 2 trains, for the back row. And you know what?

It. Was. AMAZING!

Every single bit of the ride is enjoyable. It's smooth as glass and has tons of positive, negative, and lateral g-forces! The near misses with the other train are spectacular!

Coming within inches of the other train is something to experience!

[Beast1979]

The ride is so fun, so fast, so amazing, I know I might get flamed for this, but I find it BETTER then Raptor!

But, before I could do the fire side, it was time for Joe to choose something.

Yes, this Joe, the Joe that likes to imitate scenes from movies in public.

So, he chose the play place called "Camp Jurassic"

Camp Jurassic is a giant play place themed to Jurassic Era adventure. While that sounds great,

If you're more then five feet tall, it starts to loose it's luster.

It also has these slides, which would work a lot better if they weren't insanely sticky from the Florida Humidity.

They also have things like water spraying jets controlled by the kids, and this mini coaster called Pterodactyl Flyers. I tried as hard as I could to get on this ride, but there was no mother willing to "surrender their midget"

So after riding Dueling Dragons Ice, I reached coaster #47. Pterodactyl Flyers would have made a nice #48, but I couldn't reach that one. Also, Flying Unicorn was closed, so I was in a bit of a fix. Joe and Dad decided to check out the Jurassic Park discovery center while I went and got #49.

Dueling Dragons Fire, anyone?

It's supposed to be better, but we'll see.

The giant castle that surrounds the station and queue. From the moment I saw this, I thought to myself, "I'm gonna like this park!"

Now honestly, you don't see Cedar Fair doing this sorta themeing, do you?

Everything, EVERYTHING, is themed!

I mean, check out that train decor. Tell me that's not awesome!

Speaking of Awesome, they were right. Fire IS better. In the back, it's so forceful, so intense, so sudden, it's so fantastic! I wouldn't mind having this at KI!

We went to the discovery center to look for Joe

I love how the Discovery Center is made to look like the tourist center in the movie.

We found Joe nourishing a Raptor egg

We then took a ride on Jurassic Park River Adventure. Now, I must say this: My parents disagree with me when I say this, but I say that Universal Orlando is a park of such caliber that in my opinion, rivals Cedar Point for my favorite park. And it is rides like this that make me say that. While Trooper Mom and not-so-trooper Dad are into "Rides Per Dollar", they do not understand how much ride experience matters! While they are both water rides, you couldn't even compare River Adventure to say, Congo Falls! On Congo Falls, your 50 feet above concrete, take a plunge into a moderately themed lake, and that's it. But on Jurassic Park River Adventure, you start out on a River Tour, looking at Dinosaurs. Now, going into this ride, I hated water rides. But going through the first half of the ride, I couldn't help but to smile. The theme is fantastic, the flow is great, the dinosaurs are done very well. And then, a surprise dino throws you off course. You see that around you there are destroyed trucks, holes in the walls, there's even a raptor cage that nearly falls on you. Over the intercom you hear "The raptors are out, we have to save them!", and you venture into the control building. While the movie you just sit there, "Yea, yea, chased by a dino, uh huh" but on the ride, it's actually scary. The ride flows so great, it's just so fun to ride! There are raptors, a t rex, anematronics, everything is great. I loved It!

We skated through Toon Lagoon, being that there wasn't much there besides a lot of water rides. Also, it looked like it was going to rain any minute.

We decided as it was going to rain that the best idea would be to do inside rides. Spiderman had an hour wait, so we decided we might as well go to Universal Studios and do things like Men in Black, Revenge of the Mummy, and all those inside rides.

We could always come back later and finish up IOA.

So we left IOA without a Spiderman ride. Without a Hulk ride.

*sighs* just looking at it makes me shiver

I think Jesse (Avatar) said it best when he was here. There's your Thrill Seeker Jesse, and your family Jesse. Now, I had to let my thrill seeker Jackson go.

Be strong, I told myself, you'll get your chance. If it doesn't rain out.

We exited IOA, and then it really started to come down.

So, while it rained itself out outside, we sheltered ourselves in Margaritaville.

I had a PB&J, french fries, and a chocolate shake. Yea, I know, I'm picky.

We hid ourselves in the restaurant for around 45 minutes before the rain started to let down. It's not all that bad of a place, but it had a LOT of Jimmy Buffet...I wonder why .....

So as the rain came down to a drizzle, we went on to Universal Studios Florida.

For all those wondering, the big Universal ball sits on the lake between the USF and IOA entry walkways, next to the USF walkway.

The majestic gate to enter the studio, with music from "Men in Black" playing

We all said "What first" and in my mind the first thing I said was "Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit!"

This beautiful piece of steel did a good job of mocking me throughout the day. Being the tallest coaster in Florida, it can be seen everywhere.

We came into the park unprepared. Without a plan. We didn't know what we wanted to do the most and what we wanted to do if we had time. We didn't know our time constraints. We just were not prepared. So, we mindlessly wandered throughout the park, only knowing we wanted to do Revenge of the Mummy and Men in Black, and not sure of what else to do. We strolled down Beverly Hills and the walk of fame first, me recognizing some names like William Shatner, Trooper Mom recognizing more like Johnny Carson.

We passed up the Simpsons ride due to a long wait and the fact that Trooper Mom is NOT a Simpsons fan.

Men in Black time!

Trooper Mom could not ride due to her bags she was carrying, but Dad could. So we used our handy dandy Express Passes to get in. We first walked through this hallway full of signs like this one.

Then we entered the main hallway area, made to look just like the movie. Now, Men in Black, Alien Attack, has got to be one of the best shoot 'em up rides out there. It has easy to use guns, and the anamatronics are very cool. The ride flow very nicely, and the aliens are a lot easier to hit. Unlike Scooby Doo where you have to hit a tiny little target, MiB's aliens are bigger, and you have to hit them from the mid section up. You also have an opportunity to hit the dueling players on the other side. Of our group of Joe, Dad and I, I got the highest score of 835. Joe got 535, and Dad (Who spent most of his time shooting at us and pressing the big red button he wasn't supposed to press (That's just my dad, he's naturally silly like that)) got 225.

Next up was Revenge of the Mummy.

Joe and I used our Express passes and only waited about 10 minutes.

The lowdown of this ride is similar to River Adventure. The ride is much, much scarier then the movie. Heck, I was scared! The ride is truly unique not only because of it's theming but the entire way the ride operates is to work with the theme to make it the best ride possible! The entire decor is fantastic, it goes above and beyond in all aspects.

We did a quick stop in Woody Woodpecker's kiddie area to group together and organize the rest of our trip.

We finished off our trip at USF with a ride on Twister: Ride it out. Basically, it takes you into this room where you stand up in a stadium style arrangement, and there is a big open area in front of you that looks like the Drive In Theatre scene of the movie Twister. Then it simulates what it's like to be in a weak Tornado. Very cool ride!

We exited USF to finish up where we left off in IOA

And by the way, you get a nice view of the Tilted loop of HRRR from the walkway between the 2 parks

Ahh. When you hear a B&M Roar you know your at home.

Our first ride was the Amazing Adventures of Spiderman

[Beast1979]

Yet another reason Universal rocks - They made it look like a real newspaper station

You sit in these cars while wearing 3-D glasses. The ride takes you through a bunch of different scenes, while the 3D glasses project images of Spiderman and his enemies toying with the car your in. The car shakes, spins, rattles, and puts you in the middle of the action in a way I never thought possible for a ride. Way to go IOA!

Joe in front of one of his favorite rides!

Next up, the one everyone loves,

Incredible Hulk!!!!

With the help of my Express Pass, I was able to walk on to the very back row.

And.....drumroll.......Coaster #50 for me! The paper says "Coaster #50. Universal Studios / Islands of Adventure. July 7, 2009" Then the Millennium Force "M" logo.

And, the question everyone wants to know, "How was it?!?!" Well, it was a great ride, don't get me wrong, but it's extremely short. Before you know it you're in the Mid course. Then before you know it you've hit the brakes. It also lacks the amazing queue theming most other rides have, and the in ride theming experience. It's a good ride, of course, but part of me would rather ride Dueling Dragons Fire.

Time to do Dr. Doom's Fear Fall right? Wrong. It was closed for rain, so we moved on.

We decided to end the day with a ride in Seuss Landing.

Yea, the Caro-Seuss-el

Joe was intimidated by an animal that was 3 times bigger then him

Mom enjoyed one of her favorites, the pink elephant,

While I hung with one that shared the same taste in hair style as me

The cat in the hat, featuring a 20 foot tall hat!

I just need to squeeze one more pic of Incredible Hulk in there, then I'm done with pics of it.

Then we exited the park for good. But only after getting a few shirts and toys from the gift shop! Remember: The Adventure Lives On

We both took one last look at the Universal Globe before leaving

Universal Studios Orlando is a fantastic park. There are several fantastic rides there, all with superior theming before and throughout the ride. The park couples a movie going experience with an adventuresome motif to create 2 wonderful theme parks. There is great food and entertainment in CityWalk, lots of stuff for young and old alike, Hands on Fun and more, then, well, you have yourself one amazing park. If you ever get the opportunity to visit, GO. No matter what the cost, it will be worth it. It's nothing short of fabulous. Whether your by yourself looking for some thrills or with your wife and kids looking for some good family fun, you'll find it at Universal.

That's all! Thanks for reading!

[HTCO]

Glad to hear you had a great time! DD (both fire and ice) is way better than Raptor in my opinion. So I agree with you there. Also, Hulk was my 50th coaster too! It was a meh, ride for me. But glad to hear you had a good time! I love USF and IOA. But next year, I'm going to DISNEY!

[AgentSoB]

Nice trip report...as always your pictures are fantastic. I'm hoping to score a trip to Universal later this year. My friend actually won tickets to go and has invited me. As a matter of fact, he won a full fledge vacation now that I think of it.

[The Interpreter]

Fantastic trip report...and you have so many things to look forward to when you go back, from Dudley's to Popeye's. Yes, even old Terp likes the water rides at IOA. That alone speaks volumes. You wrote a wonderful trip report, and it's obvious the four of you had fun!

[TheCryptRaider]

Great! I'm excited to go! Thanks.

[Avatar]

Jackson – first let me say I think this was a great trip report and I think it is the best one you have done. I enjoyed reading it and looked forward to seeing what you all did next. Great Job, very interesting!!!

As I was reading your description about all the theming I was glad to hear you found that a good theme can turn a good attraction into an awesome experience. Jurassic Park River Adventure is very well done and I think you described it well. I about fell on the floor when I was reading that you all were passing by Spiderman, The Hulk (thanks for the Thrill Seeker interpersonality plug by the way) and The Simpson's, but you did get back to most of them. I admire your family in trying to get through both parks in a single day, I think it takes at least 2 -3 days to see everything and to reride your favorites. Your pictures in this report were superb and I looked forward to reading this report since you said you were going to do one. I see by your brother that you all must have hit the Ron Jon shop before you went to Universal. I just love Coco Beach area and glad to see you all had such a great time.

Again you did an awesome job with your trip report if I had to give a grade for it I would give you a A+. I know it takes a long time to do one like you did and I just want you to know I enjoyed it and thank-you for sharing.

[CrazyKay07]

I enjoyed your PTR. It made feel like I was there. I haven't been in about two years and I am ready to go back? But no Poseidon's Fury?? It's a pretty interesting show because you are walking through out it.

I agree with Avatar, you need at least 2 days, in those parks. I was about to feel horrible had you missed Spiderman. That ride amazes me everytime haha. The theming for the Hulk makes it feel like a laboratory, so it's pretty tame. And the Dueling Dragons line is amazing, I so agree with you. I am blind without my glasses and I had to walk through the line without them, and I was so scared haha.

The Mummy is awesome! Did you get to ride the Hollywood Rip Rock It, Terminator or the Disaster/Earthquake?

[Touchdown]

You don't need two days when you stay on property, then you get unlimited Express Line access. Ive done every attraction at both parks in a day, no sweat (and even marathoned a few) but of course you want to stay more then one day.

You know you're part of a coaster enthusiast family when you rabidly compete on MIB and chastise members who do poorly (especially if this results in you "not earning your suit" that ride.)

[Monroe]

Great TR, great pictures, great fun. See Terpy, you can have a great adventure outside of Jersey!! I particularly liked the pictures of Caro-Seuss-el, the detail that went in to that ride is spectacular. Not to mention you rode with the family. Very well written and an enjoyable read, keep it up.

[dragsterfan420]

Awesome TR. Your pics were so framiliar to me. Starting from the bridges going to Merritt Island. My uncle lives there and I travel those rodes often. All the pics of the coasters and whatnot were amazing. Congratulations on your 50th coaster. Whatever your next park is, I look forward to the next TR.

[DaveStroem]

Great TR Jackson. I would love to squeeze in a day or two at USF/IOA on our Sept Disney trip, but I just can't seem to make that work. Hopefully we can do this next year.

[jzarley]

Great trip report & photos! I'm really glad you posted the photos of USF with Rip, Ride, & Rockit--I didn't have a good understanding of its visuals in the park until I saw your TR.

IOA is my #1 favorite park...anyone who says "theming doesn't matter" should really go to this park and see what a huge difference quality theming makes in the overall experience.

Glad you had the opportunity to go, and glad you had a great time!

[cassie_KY]

I LOVED your trip report. I went to Universal in 1995 and I recognized very little. I can't wait to get back.

Your sign was a great idea. Are you going to keep it as a memento?

[StalkerChick]

Did you ride Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit? i think it sounds amazing! Glad you have fun, and Twisters kind of a fun little ride when you don't know whats coming... but man, almost everythings different from when i went 10 years ago. I remember when they were building some of those coasters. i think universal's doubled in size since i've been... and now thank you i totally need to get back >.<

Nice trip report...as always your pictures are fantastic. I'm hoping to score a trip to Universal later this year. My friend actually won tickets to go and has invited me. As a matter of fact, he won a full fledge vacation now that I think of it.

same here! Uncle Henry and KIMan, got the superbowl deal of a free week, and for some strange reason i'm going with them we could make this a huge group outing in december!!

[Beast1979]

Thank you everyone for the great positive responses. I love doing reports like these so I can go back and read them again and remember the fun I had, and also because it's extremely satisfying to see that everyone loves them. My CoasterMania! 2009 trip report is still in my mind and when I get the time I will write it.

Fantastic trip report...and you have so many things to look forward to when you go back, from Dudley's to Popeye's. Yes, even old Terp likes the water rides at IOA. That alone speaks volumes. You wrote a wonderful trip report, and it's obvious the four of you had fun!

I'm sorry I didn't ride the water rides lol.....and no, the 4 of us did not have fun. The 3 of us did. While I love my dad and he is usually a really fun guy, he loathes amusement parks.

Jackson – first let me say I think this was a great trip report and I think it is the best one you have done. I enjoyed reading it and looked forward to seeing what you all did next. Great Job, very interesting!!!

As I was reading your description about all the theming I was glad to hear you found that a good theme can turn a good attraction into an awesome experience. Jurassic Park River Adventure is very well done and I think you described it well. I about fell on the floor when I was reading that you all were passing by Spiderman, The Hulk (thanks for the Thrill Seeker interpersonality plug by the way) and The Simpson's, but you did get back to most of them. I admire your family in trying to get through both parks in a single day, I think it takes at least 2 -3 days to see everything and to reride your favorites. Your pictures in this report were superb and I looked forward to reading this report since you said you were going to do one. I see by your brother that you all must have hit the Ron Jon shop before you went to Universal. I just love Coco Beach area and glad to see you all had such a great time.

Again you did an awesome job with your trip report if I had to give a grade for it I would give you a A+. I know it takes a long time to do one like you did and I just want you to know I enjoyed it and thank-you for sharing.

Thank you. Admire my family? No, we tried to do it in a day because certain members of our group just couldn't stand another day there. We spend 2 weeks in Cape Canaveral and Ron Jons is the first place we go after Publix. I have 5 Ron Jon T-shirts, about $120 worth!

I enjoyed your PTR. It made feel like I was there. I haven't been in about two years and I am ready to go back? But no Poseidon's Fury?? It's a pretty interesting show because you are walking through out it.

I agree with Avatar, you need at least 2 days, in those parks. I was about to feel horrible had you missed Spiderman. That ride amazes me everytime haha. The theming for the Hulk makes it feel like a laboratory, so it's pretty tame. And the Dueling Dragons line is amazing, I so agree with you. I am blind without my glasses and I had to walk through the line without them, and I was so scared haha.

The Mummy is awesome! Did you get to ride the Hollywood Rip Rock It, Terminator or the Disaster/Earthquake?

Thanks. No, Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit wasn't opened yet, and we didn't have time for Terminator or Disaster. There's a lot we missed and I look forward to going back in future years to do them.

Great TR, great pictures, great fun. See Terpy, you can have a great adventure outside of Jersey!! I particularly liked the pictures of Caro-Seuss-el, the detail that went in to that ride is spectacular. Not to mention you rode with the family. Very well written and an enjoyable read, keep it up.

I too enjoyed the Caro-Seuss-El, it's places like Seuss Landing that make me wonder how in the world Nick. U. got best kids area. And my dad didn't ride, he was sulking in misery.

I LOVED your trip report. I went to Universal in 1995 and I recognized very little. I can't wait to get back.

Your sign was a great idea. Are you going to keep it as a memento?

Thanks. Yes, I am going to keep the sign, and quite possibly frame it. I plan on making similar signs for every 50th coaster.

Did you ride Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit? i think it sounds amazing! Glad you have fun, and Twisters kind of a fun little ride when you don't know whats coming... but man, almost everythings different from when i went 10 years ago. I remember when they were building some of those coasters. i think universal's doubled in size since i've been... and now thank you i totally need to get back >.<

Nice trip report...as always your pictures are fantastic. I'm hoping to score a trip to Universal later this year. My friend actually won tickets to go and has invited me. As a matter of fact, he won a full fledge vacation now that I think of it.

same here! Uncle Henry and KIMan, got the superbowl deal of a free week, and for some strange reason i'm going with them we could make this a huge group outing in december!!

Thank you. No, we did not ride Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit. It was closed. That's why I said it was mocking me.