Universal Studios Islands of Adventure
I spent the past five days in Orlando with my son (the bandit), my brother, mom and one of my many aunts (from Kentucky). We visited both Universal Studios Orlando theme parks, Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventures. Admission to the parks is separate but you can buy tickets that get you in to both parks or one or the other. We got our tickets from KGS Tickets at a discount. If you are looking to save time and money on tickets to the attractions in and around Orlando, I highly suggest you check them out!
We gave ourselves one day for both parks. Big mistake. There is so much to do in each one that you need at the very least one day per park. It’s definitely a vacation in itself. You could stay at Universal Orlando Resort and never leave… yes, there’s that much do to. You can ride rides, eat at amazing restaurants and see amazing shows like the Blue Man Group.
Universal Studios is a 30-acre entertainment complex, the world’s premier movie and TV based theme park. It is amazing. The rides are like jumping right through the screen and into the action of your favorite movie or show. Besides the amazing parks, there is also the Universal CityWalk filled with nightclubs, restaurants, shops and cinemas. The CityWalk definitely comes alive at night! We have awesome reviews of Blue Man Group and CityWalk’s Antojitos Authentic Mexican Food coming very soon!
Universal’s Islands of Adventure
We started our day at 9 am in Universal’s Islands of Adventure and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park. Getting to the park is no quick task. First you park and then walk through a movie set style setting by themed shops and restaurants. The resort offers a variety of entertainment like live shows and even a movie theater. Once we got to the park we picked up a map and begin our journey through the amazing rides…
First stop, Seuss Landing!
The bandit standing at the Seuss Land entrance in Universal’s Islands of Adventures. Note his new hat he was pretty proud of that kept him cool.
My son and I love Dr. Seuss so going in to Seuss Landing was such a special treat. We enjoyed the Cat in the Hat ride. We rode in these cute little carts that whirled us through the pages of the famous Dr. Seuss Cat in the Hat children’s book. The colors and re-creations of our favorite Dr. Seuss books were incredible. If you have smaller kids, this is a perfect spot to spend in the theme park with a great selection of different rides.
After feeling like a kid again in Seuss Landing, we ventured through the mists of time in The Lost Continent.
Sadly we did not have time for the rides in this area but it was amazing to walk through and feel like we were on an epic adventure.
We then ventured off into The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. This was my favorite part of our whole vacation while in Orlando. The setting was incredible. It was just like you were walking through the set of a Harry Potter movie. The Frog Choir was a fun presentation of songs by a small choir of Hogwarts students. They were even accompanied by their own large croaking frogs. The Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride was outstanding. We enjoyed it so much we went on it again. Join Harry Potter and his friends on the amazing adventure. You actually feel like you are flying with Harry. Best ride I have ever been on in a theme park.
Here is a video of us waiting in line to ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. It was so dark in there but I wanted to capture how neat the wait in line actually was because it really made the time go by quickly. The picture frames were like a video and they had the characters come out and speak. It was so neat!
We couldn’t wait to go on the Jurassic Park River Adventure to cool off from the heat. It’s a fun river raft adventure that leads you through a winding and wet trail of fascinating dinosaurs and other scenes from the movie. If you want to get wet, this is definitely a ride that does just that. We went down a drop at the end and it was like a giant bucket of water hit our faces. It was so much fun! Glad I had on my Reebok Skyscape sneakers that dried out quickly! It’s no fun with wet socks all day!
Next stop, Toon Lagoon. My aunt rode Dudley-Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls with my son and I. Boy, we thought we got wet at Jurassic Park… this ride just added to it and pretty much got anything that wasn’t wet, wet! It’s a fun log style ride with a 50 foot drop. Awesome! It wasn’t bad at all! My son absolutely loved it and giggled through the ride.
Our last stop in Universal’s Islands of Adventure was the Marvel Super Hero Island. I wish we’d had more time in this park because there are so many amazing rides here like the Incredible Hulk Coaster and Doctor Doom’s Fearfall. We rode the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man which is now available in high-def 3-D so we got to wear glasses through the ride. We all set in a cart that winded us through the city like we were in the movie and the amazing Spider-Man came to life. We were jumping to buildings with Spider-Man right in front of us. We were even fighting bad guys. It was awesome!
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Be sure to check out our review of Universal Studios Florida – coming soon!
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— Giveaway Bandit (@GiveawayBandit) May 28, 2014
Wow! What a great trip! I love Universal and have been dying to go to the Harry Potter Village (it wasn’t open last time I was there). You got some great pictures. Thanks so much for sharing!
That looks like an amazing trip!! You all look like you are having fun which is the most important part!!
It looks like you all had an amazing time. Now I have to plan a trip for my nieces and nephew 🙂
I loved this post! I’m so excited for our trip in August!
sounds like a wonderful trip. I am planning one soon for my family
We went the first year Harry Potter opened. We just happened to be staying on the onsite hotel and they gave everyone there an exclusive visit before the park opened. It was so much fun.
always wanted to go but never seem to have the money hopefully soon tho it really looks fun
we love universal, can’t wait to get there to see the harry potter exhibit.