Guest rcfreak339 Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 It's safe to say that I had a very eventful Spring Break this year. Besides visiting Dollywood for the first time with a couple of my good friends (Find the PTR here: http://www.KICentral.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=23623) I went on a 5 day Bahamas trip with my schools band and before we boarded the ship the next day, we stopped in Orlando where we spent the day at Islands of Adventure. We were at the park from opening to close and I must say it was amazing. For a person who has never visited a park like it (Disney's Magic Kingdom or Universal Studios) I was blown away with the small details the park included into everything, it was the best. I simply can't wait to go down there again and spend a couple days at both parks. I entered the City Walk area kind of confused on how it worked exactly. I never understood that Universal itself was one huge resort consiting of three areas; City Walk, Island's of Adventure on Universal Studios. City Walk is a nice area, with it's corporate stores and restaurants, just like a strip mall. It's a nice entrance way for both the parks. City Walk We had a awesome buffet breakfest at Margaritaville. It was a very nice place, we even had our own private DJ who couldn't have done his job any better...he was great! Margaritaville Universal Studios in the foreground. Sadly, I didn't get to do this park considering we only had one day at the resort. After seeing Islands of Adventure I must go back and check it out. Rip, Ride Rocket was teasing me all day........ughhhhh. I love how Hulk dominates the skyline at the front of the park, it looks great and the entrance looks fabulous. Upon entering the park I was greeted to what seemed like thousands of people trying to gain entrance. I knew that it would be crowded but at first sight i was horrified to wonder how long the lines would be... First impressions are everything for me and Universal did not disappoint...Just seeing how much detail was put into EVERYTHING made the park have a wonder feel to it, and the building were beautiful. Our first ride of the day was of course, Incredible Hulk. Hearing about this ride all over TV and the Internet made me giddy with excitement to finally ride it...and we were pleasantly surprised with the line at the beginning of the day. We walked on 3 times in a row. Although we didn't have a line at all in the morning, lines around noon or so picked up rapidly....we came back later to discover it was over a 90 minute wait. Of course, you can't have a PTR by Cody without some cheesy artsy shot right? Incredible Hulk Incredible Hulk Incredible Hulk was exactly that, Incredible. I loved almost everything about the ride...the themeing, the intensity, the smoothness. It really did live up to the expectations of me. As for many, the launch out of the first lift hill is one of the best elements on any coaster Ive been on, although I knew it was coming I was still surprised by the launch every time I rode it. Hulk will always been of the favorites at Islands of Adventure simply because it's an amazing ride that never will disappoint. Great ride. Quickest shot Iv'e ever taken of any ride. After we got our fill of Hulk for a while we went on and entered Marvel Superhero Island to check out the ride Iv'e been waiting years to try.... Spider-Man! I heard so many good things about this ride, and it was amazing. I thought it was the best simulator ride Iv'e ever rode...it had a fantastic story line and the effects were great. The plot of the ride was very original, you must help fight with Spider Man to defeat every villain so they woldn't take over New York City. Through the ride water was blasted on us and fire was shot at us, truly a great ride....Once again it had a walk-on through out the morning. Super Hero Island Right beside Spider Man was "Doctor Dooms Fearfall", a simple double shot ride. The theming was good but really nothing to right home about.. Doctor Dooms Fearfall See...told you it got VERY packed over the course of the day. More in a bit! (Tomorrow night) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkroz Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 What a great report so far. Universal's Islands of Adventure is hands down my favorite corporate-owned park that I've been to. As you pointed out, the attention to detail is so incredible. The park was built to be years and years ahead of its time, and although other parks are beginning to catch up, it still has a certain something that no place else can match for me. From the Lighthouse to Spiderman to Poseidon's Fury, each ride has something so special and unique. I look forward to reading more!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 Same here, plus I really look forward to seeing more. (especially about Dudley!) Terp, who needs to get down that way (esp. since the way will be less soon)...soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
standbyme Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 Thanks for the report...and the photos! (Although seeing the photos of the crowds is reminding me of the awful time that I had there last summer. ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasper Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 Glad you got to enjoy your 3 walk on's on the Hulk, I must admit I am jealous. Spider Man is nothing less than what you described it as, amazing. For said rides I got to ride them both once and the wait times were about 90-120 minutes, and 180 minutes, respectively. I cannot wait to read the rest and se what you thought of Dueling Dragons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flightoffear1996 Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 Its been since 1999 when I went down there. Is the park really always that packed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jzarley Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 Great PTR...looking forward to part #2 You're a really good photographer...I thought your shots of Hulk were professional quality! Universal Orlando is by far my favorite park complex, and IOA is my favorite individual park. Four of my top 5 fav rides are located at Universal Orlando! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thekidd33 Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 Great pics! Glad to hear you had a good time. Don't worry, you didn't miss anything by not getting to ride Rockit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkroz Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 Its been since 1999 when I went down there. Is the park really always that packed? If you go for spring break, it certainly would be. On my trips in early December and throughout January and February, I've rarely seen a line beyond 15 minutes... The parks close at 7:00 PM during those months, and since most rides are a walk-on by 5:00, that makes sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSnapper Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 The park was that packed for Spring Break.... The summer seasons, Xmas and Spring break our the busy times. The parks are not that busy when it is not a peak season. The best time to go to ANY park down here is Jan, Early Dec and Sept. The reason why the park seemed empty at the beggining of the day is because everyone is at Harry Potter... So if anyone is planning a trip down here and go to IOA go to Harry Potter last!!!!! Spend the last 2-3 hours of the day there right before park close! You will thank me! I now live down here and I go to the park all the time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frisbeefan Posted April 14, 2011 Share Posted April 14, 2011 Great pics! Glad to hear you had a good time. Don't worry, you didn't miss anything by not getting to ride Rockit. Unless you want an enormous headache. The vertical ift hill was really the only good part of that ride. Great photos by the way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rcfreak339 Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 I'm back! Part 2! After walking and looking around most of Superhero Island we walked right on down to Toon Lagon to give Rip Saw Falls a ride. Besides Suess Landing, Toon Lagon had to be one of my favorite areas of the park. I loved the bright colors and interactive theme with the water jets and such. Like most attractions at Islands of Adventure, Iv'e heard about this ride everywhere over the media. I simply couldn't wait to ride it. Like most of the morning, we once again had a complete walk on. The Queue looked fantastic and very, very confusing. Ripsaw Falls Universal took an ordinary log flume ride into a world class attraction, the explosion shack and bridge on the final drop was very cool. Ripsaw Falls Rip Saw falls was a very cool ride, although we got DRENCHED, I even held my camera the entire ride and I was for sure it was done for...Luckily my case protected it from getting too wet. I liked the little bunny hill that caught me totally by surprise...a very fun ride indeed. Continuing to follow the circle, next up was Jurassic Park. Sadly, we didn't do much in the land considering most rides had a 90+ minute wait...I'll just leave you with some pictures. Pteradon Flyers Jurrasic Park River Adventure Jurrasic Park River Adventure Jurrasic Park Walking out of Jurassic Park you get a good view of Hulk from across the Lagoon. IoA is the most photogenic park Iv'e ever been to. hmmm...what is this? OMFG...IT IS. After waiting only about 5min for a time ticket to gain entrance to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter we were finally allowed entry around 3pm, our assigned time. They have a strange set-up when it comes to entering into Wizarding World...you must first wait for a time ticket to gain admittance, then you may return during your assigned time. Around 3pm that day they ran out of these tickets causing the section to be closed to anyone wanting to gain entrance...this created LOTS of angry guests and I believe sometime around 4 they just said screw it and let everyone in. I was VERY impressed with the themeing of the area, although slightly cramped it was still an awesome experince. Wizarding World of Harry Potter Of course we just HAD to get Butterbeer...Iv'e heard mixed reviews but I liked it. I ended up getting just the original and it was also pretty cheap at only about $2.50. From the taste it just tasted like Cream Soda with some kind of sweet cream topping. I'd get it again. I thought the architecture of the building was fantastic. Besides the fantastic themeing, I enjoyed the way employees interacted with guests calling them "muggles" as if you were really in the realms of Hogwarts. Wizarding World of Harry Potter After some cool Butterbeer it was time for some Dragon Challenge! Which....probably wasn't a very good idea. To be honest I wasn't to excited about Dragon Challenge...I'm not that big of a fan of the B&M inverts for some reason. I really didn't care for Raptor much or both of the Batman inverts Iv'e ridden. The line for Dragon Challenge that day was never over 15min...which was very nice. I ended up riding both sides twice. Dragon Challenge Dragon Challenge I was VERY surprised by Dragon Challenge, I absolutely loved the red side...the feeling of almost hitting the other train was awesome. The last ride I couldn't wait for was the farily new Forbidden Journey. As you can tell, the queues were packed. The wait time was around 90min but for this ride I didn't care...the line never stopped moving and the castle was so cool I was fine with it. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey The castle was huge. This is inside the moving picture room inside of the castle. The amount of effects and details put into the ride was mind blowing, simply incredible. Grainy picture but I liked this effect...while queuing Harry Potter and friends explained the story plot and some basic ride rules, they looked almost real. Since I had to turn flash on the colors in this pictures aren't correct. The loading area was essentially just a moving platform where you loaded into a small car 4 across, this sped up wait time. In this picture you can see floating candle high about the rides cars. Wizarding World of Harry Potter This was in my opinion the best section of the park, I thought the creativity and detail put into this section was outstanding and unmatched to anything Iv'e seen. It's perfect for families and even young adults like me. Seuss Landing My favorite ride by far was the Caro-Seuss-el! I waited around 25min and I really liked it...the creatures you were rifing on all had this little handles that do something, like for mine you you lifted a handle the eyes simply closed. It may seem like a really small detail, but it's details like these that make IoA one of the best parks in the world. Caro-Seuss-el Seuss Landing >, angry face that I didn't have time to do this. I honked your honkers.. As I said earlier the entire area is beautiful, although i didn't do many things attraction wise in the area I probably spent about 2 hours just looking around shops and taking pictures. Moving right along to the Lost Continent area of the park where I ate lunch at the famous Mythos restaurant. it was a great place t sit down and have a good lunch, the prices were fair and the food was great! Posidiens Fury...I didn't get a chance to ride it, meh I heard I didnt miss much. Well wraping up my final thoughts, I'd have to say the I MUST visit IoA again and also hit Universal Studios. Everything about IoA was amazing, simply unmatched to anything Iv'e been to. the service was great and the rides were spectacular. Can't wait to visit again! Thanks for reading! (or rather looking, I bet my captions bored to death.) Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasper Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 I really did not know Dueling Dragons became Dragon Challenge, it used to be in the lost continent section of the park I thought? It has been a while since I have been down there. Very nice PTR and very nice photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 Gee....as you have so beautifully proven and written, IOA is a wonderful place. I'm glad you had a great trip. Terpy, who will take a short trip over there come late autumn...if at all possible! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
standbyme Posted April 15, 2011 Share Posted April 15, 2011 I bet my captions bored to death. The opposite is true...the captions made the report! Thanks for sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCryptRaider Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 I wish I could make PTRs as awesome as this! I truly loved this park (no. 1 in my book). And you're right, the attention to detail is AMAZING. Great, great PTR! Thanks so much for sharing! [600th post] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FOFsavant Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 Thanks for the PTR!! You are an outstanding photographer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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