Islands Of Adventure In Orlando

Universal Studios' introduced Islands of Adventure, the second gate at its growing Orlando Resort in 1999. This is one of the best world-class theme park with striking features of immerse theme and an incredible thrill ride. While visiting the place you'll experience unexpected adventure and innovative thrills through five lands - Seuss Landing, The Lost Continent, Jurassic Park, Toon Lagoon and Marvel Super Hero Island. Universal's Islands of Adventure is the "must to visit" Orlando theme park.

History of Universal's Islands of Adventure

Universal's Islands of Adventure commenced in 1999, making Universal Orlando the nation's second multi-gate theme park resort (after Walt Disney World). IOA was Universal's first non-studio theme park, and was intended to pay attention to characters from books, comics, cartoons and legend, rather than movies. Of course, this hasn't stopped Universal and other studios from making films about almost every character represented in IOA over the past few years, rendering the park thematically indistinguishable from its sister, Universal Studios Florida.

wHow Do You Get To Universal's Islands Of Adventure?

Islands of Adventure are situated in the Universal Orlando Resort, on the south-east side of Orlando, 10 minutes north of Walt Disney World. It takes I-4 minutes to the Universal Orlando exit, and then follows the signs to the parking interior. From there, you will walk through Universal's City Walk shopping and dining complex, taking left to enter IOA.

wWhen Is The Best Time To Visit?

The least crowded seasons are from Labor Day to Thanks giving and from the week after the President's Day holiday (in mid-February) to the start of Spring Break, in mid-March.

Whenever you visit, arrive early, about an hour before the scheduled opening time, to get in place to visit many popular attractions early, before lines build later in the day.

Universal Orlando also hosts the very popular and attractive Halloween Horror Nights at IOA evenings from late September through Halloween. This is a "hard ticket" event that does not include daytime admission to the parks.

wHow Do I Get Tickets To Universal's Islands Of Adventure?

Check for discount tickets through the auto club, or your school's, employer or union's activities office. Otherwise, tickets can be purchased online through Universal's web-site. In addition to the single and multi-day Universal passes, Universal also offers a Five-Park Orlando Flex Ticket that includes unlimited admission to IOA, Universal Studios Florida, Sea world, Wet 'n Wild and Busch Gardens Tampa for two weeks.

Whatever you do, though, buy your tickets before you get to the park. There is no sense wasting the first couple of hours of your first day's visit waiting in line at the ticket booths.

wPlan Your Day At Universal's Islands Of Adventure

Older Kids Ages 9 and Up: Should start left through Super Hero Island, followed by Toon Lagoon, Jurassic Park, etc.

Younger kids ages 8 and under should start right to Seuss Landing, followed by the Flying Unicorn and a rumble through Camp Jurassic.

wRide And Restaurant Reservations At Universal's Islands Of Adventure

Universal offers a ride reservation system called Universal Express. This is similar to Disney's Fast Pass, except that Universal offers visitors the chance to buy a book of Express passes at the park's front gate, instead of collecting them in the park one at a time, on a first-come, first-served basis. A stay at one of the three official Universal Orlando hotels offers you to get free front-of-the-line access to IoA and USF attractions.

wIslands of Adventure

An island of Adventure is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida. It was opened in 1999 as an expansion to the Universal Orlando Resort and City Walk areas. The park comprises six distinct "islands", each having its own theme.

The six zones are (from the entrance, clockwise):

vPort of Entry

The Port of Entry is the area due north of the entrance, positioned at the southernmost point of the park. It is primarily a shopping center, and has the features of an Arabian bazaar. Its main feature is the unique restaurant called Confisco Grille.

vMarvel Super Hero Island

Next to the Port of Entry is the famous Marvel Super Hero Island located that has rides reminiscent of Marvel comic books. Its four rides are the Incredible Hulk Coaster, the only launched Bolliger and Mabillard roller coaster, The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, a simulator ride set in New York, Doctor Doom's Fear fall , a vertically launched ride similar to Power Tower at Cedar Point in Ohio, and Storm Force Accelatron which is a faster version of the traditional Teacup ride.>

vJurassic Park

The Discovery Center at Jurassic Park Sets in the time of the Jurassic Park movie, the focal point of this area is the Jurassic Park River Adventure. Park goers can view animatronics of dinosaurs and experience an 85 foot drop out of the destroyed raptor containment zone. Also in Jurassic Park is Camp Jurassic ,a play area for children, the Pteranodon Flyers roller coaster, and the Jurassic Park Discovery Center, a replication (but not entirely duplicated) version of the Visitor Center from the film. Inside this is a re-creation of the dinosaur skeletons seen in the movie center's lobby.

vThe Lost Continent

The Lost Continent has a theme of a lost medieval city. Dueling Dragons is an inverted dueling roller coaster with two different tracks, Fire and Ice. Poseidon's Fury is a special effect show where you can explore Poseidon's underground tomb. Closer to it is The Eighth Voyage of Sindbad, which is a live action stunt show. Outside the entrance to this show is the mystical Talking Fountain which talks to, and soaks, passers-by. The Lost Continent also has the Flying Unicorn, a roller coaster for children and The Enchanted Oak Tavern. Mythos is another casual sit-down restaurant at the entrance to the Continent.

vSeuss Landing

Seuss Landing is the only zone at Islands of Adventure especially started for small children based on the works of the author Dr. Seuss. It has several Seuss-theme adventurous rides including the Caro-Seuss-el, The Cat in the Hat Ride, and If I Ran the Zoo, an interesting and interactive play zone for kids. It also features One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and the Green Eggs and Ham Cafe.

Coming in 2006, Seuss Landing will finally see the opening of a new attraction, called Sylvester McMonkey and McBean's Unusual Driving Machines. This was opened in 2000, a year after the park's opening, but did not workout due to contractual disputes, safety issues, and the bankruptcy of the ride manufacturer.

vFormer Attractions

The park also opened, a boat ride, named Island Skipper Tours that took park guests around the central lagoon of Islands of Adventure. It had stops in Port of Entry across from the Confisco Grille restaurant, and in Jurassic Park adjacent to the Discovery Center. This ride was finally closed in 2002.

Originally Toon Lagoon featured a live show with cartoon characters. It was replaced in 2002 by a Matt Hoffman-theme BMX stunt show. The space is currently trended for Bill and Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure (every October) and the former BMX stunt show during peak seasonal weeks.

There used to be a Triceratops Encounter in Jurassic Park that featured a lifelike animatronic dinosaur. It was converted into a more self-guided Discovery Trail, but was ultimately closed in 2005 and currently stands under recovery.

vHotels

There are three best theme hotels with transportation provided to City Walk by boat. The hotels are operated by Loews Hotels. Guests of the hotels receive complimentary Universal Express access to bypass the regular queue at most attractions in Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure.

vPortofino Bay Hotel

It’s a recreation spot of the Mediterranean seaside resort village of Portofino, Italy.

vHard Rock Hotel

Its the famous musically-theme hotel.

vRoyal Pacific Resort

Its the tropical, South Pacific theme hotel.

Also See:

Vacations
Disney Land
Busch Gardens
Universal Studios Florida
Sea World
Florida Beaches
Wet And Wild Water
Everglades