So, a little bit of a background of Islands of Adventure. Like I said IOA is the second park that was added to the Universal Studios Resort. It opened on May 28, 1999 along with City Walk. The park’s overall theme is a journey of exploration; where guests depart from the main port of entry and explore the eight themed islands. Those themed islands are: Port of Entry, Marvel Super Hero Island, Toon Lagoon, Skull Island, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter-Hogsmeade, The Lost Continent and Suess Landing.
When you enter the park, you’ll be in the Port of Entry, this is the park’s main entrance and it is where you’ll find guest services, shops and a few dining locations. And before you even enter the park you’ll the park’s icon, the Islands of Adventure Lighthouse. Some of the dining locations in this area are Confisco Grille, Croissant Moon Bakery, Backwater Bar and Cinnabon. Once you pass all of the shops you’ll then enter the park and have to make a chose to go right into Suess Landing or left into Marvel Super Hero Island. But before you make your choice you’ll see a ride times’ display to help you make you decision. But for me, the roar of the Hulk roller coaster always calls me to I’m gonna take a left and go into Marvel Super Hero Island!
Marvel Super Hero Island is made up of rides at attractions all themed to the Marvel Super Heroes. There’s an Incredible Hulk Coaster, Storm Force Acceleration, The Amazing Spider Man & Doctor Doom’s Fearfall. Also, on this island you’ll be able to meet Captain America, Wolverine, Rouge, Storm Cyclops and the Green Goblin.
The next island on the map is Toon Lagoon. This island is based on comic strip characters with attractions that are water based. The main two attractions are Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls, which is a traditional log flume coaster. The other attraction is Popeye and Bluto’s Blige-Rat Barges, which is a river raft water ride. There is also a kid’s play area here, called “Me Ship, The Olive” where kids can further soak the riders on Blige-Rat Barges. There are also some interactive photo spots all throughout Toon Lagoon that are fun to take pictures with!
Skull Island is the newest section of Islands of Adventure. Its sole attraction is Skull Island: Reign of Kong, which is of course a ride about King Kong.
The next island that you’ll come to is Jurassic Park. This island is themed to the film series, Jurassic Park. Within this area you’ll find attractions and exhibits that would be in the “real” Jurassic Park. The main attraction of this area is, Jurassic Park River Adventure that takes you through some exhibits within Jurassic Park. The attraction ends with your boat dodging a T-Rex as you fall 85’ down. There have been some updates to this area to reflect the new movies for Jurassic World, but pretty much this area of the park is still themed to Jurassic Park.
Next up is probably the most popular section of the park and that is The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Hogsmeade. This section is themed as Hogsmeade Village from the Harry Potter franchise. You’ll also find the iconic Hogwarts Castle in this area of the park. Located inside the castle is this area’s main attraction, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey that takes guests through scenes that are inspired by the franchise. The other attraction in this area is Flight of the Hippogriff. You can also get selected to find your very own wand at Oleander’s. You can also board the Hogwarts Express that takes you to and from Hogsmeade to Diagon Alley. Please note that in order to board the Hogwarts Express that you must have a Park-to-Park ticket because it takes to you and from the two parks. Also in this area, you’ll notice a good bit of construction going on. Currently there is a new attraction being built where Dragon Challenge used to be. As of now we do not know what kind of ride this attraction is going to be or when it will open. So, stay tuned for any updates on that.
The next island is The Lost Continent. This island is themed to ancient myths and legends. Most of this island been re-themed with the expansion of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. There are three attractions in this area and they are the Eighth Voyage of Sinbad, The Mystic Fountain and Poseidon’s Fury. This area is home to one of the full-service restaurants in the park, Mythos. It has also been voted winner of best theme park restaurant by Theme Park Insider.
And the last section of the park is Seuss Landing. This section of the park is of course themed after the works of Dr. Seuss. The island features several Seuss-themed attractions that are geared towards kids. As in the books, one of the unique characteristics of this area is that there is not a single straight line anywhere. Palm trees bent by the winds of Hurricane Andrew were even planted in the area to continue this theme. Seuss Landing is made up of six attractions they are: The Cat in the Hat, High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish and Oh, The Stories You'll Hear. This island is also home to two restaurants, Green Eggs and Ham and Circus McGurkus. During Christmas, this area of park transforms into a Christmas overload thanks to all of the Who’s Christmas decorations. Also during Christmas, you can catch the stage show, Grinchmas, that is a re-telling of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”. This section of the park really comes alive during the holidays.
And with that, this is gonna be the end of this poat. This was just an overview for Islands of Adventure, I will be posting more blog posts in the future that will go into a little bit more depth of the rides and attractions, the places to eat and the Harry Potter section of the park.