Universal Islands of Adventure

 

Let the adventure begin! This is an immersive park where guests travel to many different islands, being placed in the worlds of each land. In eight lands: Port of Entry, Marvel Super Hero Island, Toon Lagoon, Skull Island, Jurassic Park, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Hogsmeade, the Lost Continent, and Seuss Landing. Every land is a new reality.

Originally conceived as "cartoon land," the park was developed shortly after the first park opened. As the idea evolved, more than cartoons were featured, and this idea eventually became Islands of Adventure. The park opened as Universal's second gate in 1999, bringing literature worlds to life. Although this is a more family-friendly park than Universal Studios Florida, it still has its fair share of thrills, including the resort's most intense coaster, the Incredible Hulk Coaster.

Now let's go over the top five things to do here in this park:

#5 Jurassic Park River Adventure

Location: Jurassic Park
Height Requirement: 42
Opening Year: 1999
Scope: E-Ticket
This water ride takes guests on a tour of Jurassic Park, where they get a mostly gentle ride. However, as the suspense builds, so does the lifts, and soon, the boats drop down into a lagoon amidst an 85-foot drop.

The story of this ride is that Jurassic Park creator John Hammond has learned from his mistakes on Isla Nublar and has built another, operating Jurassic Park (since the original park on Isla Nublar never got to open to the public) on a nearby island, Isla Aventura. The major attraction here is the River Adventure, where guests will see dinosaurs up close in an educational experience.....or so it's supposed to be.

The ride starts off gentle, going by some feasting ultrasaurs, a stegosaurus and her baby, and some playful parasaurolophuses. However, things get out of hand when the guests are knocked off course and into a restricted area, and their timing couldn't be worse. A bunch of predators have escaped from their paddocks, and they come across them as they go through. This includes compsygnathuses, dilophosauruses, and velociraptors. Then, as they go into the water treatment center, the guests come across a giant T-Rex, and there's only one way out.....a big drop into the darkness ahead of them. Prepare to get wet as you go down!

#4 The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man

Location: Marvel Super Hero Island
Height Requirement: 40 in.
Opening Year: 1999
Scope: E-Ticket
This exciting 3-D dark ride was a first-timer for many things when it first opened. It was the first ride to include 3-D visuals, motion-based dark ride vehicles, special effects like water and fire, and live sets. It was a hit then and is still a hit today. The ride was even re-animated in 2012 to include better visuals.

The story of this ride is that guests are coming in as employees for the Daily Bugle, the news company that Peter Parker (Spider-Man's secret identity) works for. It is a dangerous time for New York City, as a super villain group known as the Sinister Syndicate have stolen the Statue of Liberty and will not return it unless the city surrenders to them. The boss of the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson, is sending the guests out to catch the news of the ongoing event in a high-tech news vehicle called "The Scoop." Along the way, they will see Spider-Man fighting the bad guys, trying to get the statue back. However, the Scoop does not go unnoticed and the villains attack it, but luckily, Spider-Man tries to save them. There is even a part where the Scoop is shot with an anti-gravity ray and floats up, and then falls back to the streets below.

#3 Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey

Location: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Hogsmeade
Height Requirement: 48 in.
Opening Year: 2010
Scope: E-Ticket
Guests board some flying "benches" and soar over Hogwarts. This is a groundbreaking attraction using KUKA arm technology, moving guests up and down through the air and left to right to simulate flight.

Professor Dumbledore has invited guests to Hogwarts to tour the castle and receive a lecture on its history. However, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, have other plans. They intercept the visit to take the guests to a Quidditch game instead. The guests go to the Room of Requirement, where Hermione enchants some benches and sends them out of Hogwarts via Floo Powder. Although things seem to go well at first, things quickly get out of control when the benches are chased by a dragon, sent through a den of giant spiders, attacked by the Whomping Willow, and even fly through a horde of Dementors. Luckily, Harry and his friends are watching their back, making sure the guests are safe from all of this peril.

#2 Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure

Location: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter: Hogsmeade
Height Requirement: 48 in.
Opening Year: 2019
Scope: E-Ticket
This lengthy roller coaster combines story and coaster to create a unique experience. It features seven launches, including one backwards launch, and a downwards drop, as well as many different speeds. Guests can even have a different experience if they sit in either the sidecar or the bike.

Guests will be joining Rubeus Hagrid on a Care of Magical Creatures lesson. Here, they will be riding these enchanted motorbikes and speed through the Forbidden Forest, encountering many magical creatures. However, things go wrong real fast when some blast-ended Skrewts get loose. If this wasn't bad enough, the motorbikes go out of control. From there, they are speeding through the forest, coming across centaurs, Cornish Pixies, Fluffy the three-headed dog, and even some unicorns.

#1 Jurassic World Velocicoaster

Location: Jurassic Park
Height Requirement: 51 in.
Opening Year: 2021
Scope: E-Ticket
Located in Jurassic Park is the apex predator of roller coasters. This intense coaster features two launches, four inversions, including a stall and a barrel roll over the lagoon (known as the "Mosasaurus Roll") and it immerses you in Jurassic World. This is the fastest ride in all of Universal.

Guests come into Jurassic World to experience its newest ride, the Velocicoaster. Before going on, they see raptor heads, videos about the attraction, and interviews with Henry Wu, Claire Dearing, and Owen Grady. Then, they board their coaster and go through the raptor paddock, racing alongside Blue and the other raptors. Then, they speed up and go out of the paddock, going through the park.

Honorable Mention: Interactive Wands

Location: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter (both Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley)
Height Requirement: None
Opening Year: 2010
Scope: A-Ticket
Located in both Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida, these interactive wands allow guests to cast spells in both Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. There is an Ollivanders shop in both locations, where guests can buy wands, whether it be original wands or character replicas. Guests can even watch a wand choose a wizard in these shops as well.

And that wraps things up. Make sure to buy my book, Magecraft: Legend of the Last Snawfus, on Amazon, and stay tuned for more posts.

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