Attractions at Islands of Adventure

Here are my thoughts on the attractions at Islands of Adventure in Universal Orlando.

Islands of Adventure

Marvel Super Hero Island

Doctor Doom's Fearfall - From the name I expected the main focus of this ride to be the drop, but the initial launch was a lot more thrilling. This ride has to have the worst queue to ride length ratio. The posted wait was 40 minutes at 10 am and the ride only lasts about a minute. Luckily it has a Single Rider line (enter through the arcade) which was a walk-on. It was a fun little ride but there is no way it would be worth waiting 40 minutes for.

The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man - This is a track ride with a combination of real sets, effects and videos (for which you wear 3D glasses). It's technologically very impressive although even after riding it a few times I still find the plot a little difficult to follow (I think it involves the villains stealing the Statue of Liberty). I'd definitely recommend it.

Toon Lagoon

Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges - This is a raft ride themed to Popeye - but the main focus is on getting absolutely soaked. I tried wearing a poncho once but my shorts still got soaked - the best bet is to ride the major water rides (two in Toon Lagoon plus Jurassic Park) before a break at the hotel. Note that for some reason this ride doesn't open until 10am.

Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls - This is a flume ride based on Dudley Do-Right from the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. I'm not really familiar with the source material at all and there doesn't seem to be much of a plot but there are a few funny jokes along the way. The drop at the end is not quite as long as Jurassic Park's, but when you're in the front row it looks very steep from the top. You don't get quite as wet as on the Popeye ride, but you do get pretty wet.

Jurassic Park

Camp Jurassic - I hadn't been here before because I thought it was just a kid's playground, but it's actually very elaborate, a little like Tom Sawyer's Island. It would have been a lot more fun if I actually had a kid along with me but I enjoyed wandering (and clambering) around, although I did find the slides difficult to get down as an adult. Also be warned that you may get wet here.

Jurassic Park River Adventure - This is a flume ride which starts with a peaceful ride through sets of animatronic dinosaurs before, in typical theme park fashion, everything goes wrong, concluding with a steep drop. Like with Splash Mountain, I enjoy the music and animatronics of this ride and I could actually do without the drop at the end. You get wet on this ride, although not as wet as on the rides in Toon Lagoon (and a poncho is probably more helpful for staying dry here too).

Jurassic Park Discovery Centre - This large buildings houses several interactive exhibits about dinosaurs. They mainly seemed to be aimed at kids and there wasn't much interesting to look at as an adult.

Harry Potter - Hogsmeade

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey - This is one of the most difficult rides to describe. It's set during the fourth book and the basic plot involves riding a flying bench around Hogwarts, through Quidditch games, and past various creatures from the Harry Potter universe. The ride vehicle is attached to a Kuka arm which is in turn following a track, and there is a combination of animatronic sets and video screens displaying the action. The integration of movement and visuals is really well done and it is a fun ride although a little bit on the intense side. No loose items are allowed on the ride and there are lockers to store bags, although there is also a small compartment in the back of the seat where you can store a phone or small camera if you want to take pictures in the queue.

The queue is just as interesting as the ride itself, winding its way through several rooms and Hogwarts and with moving portraits, projection effects of Gandalf and Harry, Ron and Hermione, and an animatronic Sorting Hat. We rode during Early Entry so the wait was quite short, but I found that we moved quite quickly through the first part of the queue and didn't see all of Gandalf's speech, but then got stuck in the DADA classroom for 3 repetitions of the Trio's speech. Next time I would try to linger a little more in the earlier parts. There is also a Single Rider line which skips the pre-shows - I waited less than 5 minutes.

Flight of the Hippogriff - This is really a lightly themed kids' rollercoaster. The best parts are the view of Hagrid's Hut in the queue and the animatronic Buckbeak. Luckily the wait in Early Entry was less than five minutes and I don't think it got much longer during the day.

Dragon Challenge - This is probably the most intense ride at Universal (especially since the Hulk ride is closed). It's actually two rides - a Chinese Fireball and a Hungarian Horntail. I'm not enough of a rollercoaster enthusiast to be able to say what the difference between the two is. The ride itself is not really themed, although there is a little theming in the queue including the flying Ford Anglia and the Triwizard Cup. There is a metal detector to make absolutely sure you have no loose items on the ride (glasses with a strap were fine). The Ford Anglia is before the metal detector so you could take photos of that and then go back to the lockers to store your phone/camera. Past the metal detector the queue is long and winding (obviously designed for a much longer wait than the 5 minutes I waited in Early Entry). Near the loading platform the queue splits - one side goes to the Fireball and one to the Horntail, although I never saw any signage. Once you get off there is a re-ride path that lets you skip a lot of the empty queue for a second ride, but the ride made me too motion sick to want to go twice in a row.

Hogwarts Express - This train ride takes you from Islands of Adventure over to Universal Studios Florida. The ride experience is different depending on which direction you are going so it's definitely worth going in both directions; I think it is better to ride the train starting in IOA first as it is more of "normal" ride while the ride from USF is more "interesting". The USF end has the more interesting queue.

The Lost Continent

The Mystic Fountain - This is a talking fountain. It's probably more entertaining to kids who are too young to realise there is a person concealed somewhere nearby doing the voice. It makes some vaguely funny jokes though.

Poseidon's Fury - This attraction is a series of shows with a bunch of special effects. I found it exciting the first time I saw it and had no idea what was about to happen but it wasn't nearly as interesting the second time around. The attraction doesn't open until 10 and even at about 11 the wait was already 20 minutes - I don't think there's much you can do to avoid the wait here.

Seuss Landing

The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride - This ride has some things in common with the TTA People Mover in Magic Kingdom. It travels over and through most of the attractions in Seuss Landing as well as telling the story of Dr Seuss's The Sneetches. The queue is a little on the long side compared to how long the ride is. I think it would be fun for little kids - except for the fact that the minimum height requirement is 40 inches.

Caro-Seuss-el - This is a merry go round with characters from Dr Seuss. I found the character I rode on a bit uncomfortable - I think for adults it would be more enjoyable to just watch this ride than to go on it.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish - This is a ride like Dumbo except that, like many attractions in Islands of Adventure, you get wet. The song that plays tells you which direction to go avoid some of the water, but even if you follow the instructions exactly you will still get wet (especially during the last verse, when you're basically on your own).

The Cat in the Hat - This is a dark ride with animatronic sets based on Dr Seuss's The Cat in the Hat story. It's a fun ride as long as the wait isn't too long.