Hidden gems of Islands of Adventure?

8.3, I worked there full time for a year and during my last days I still discovered things I never knew were there. The little details are unimaginable. I agree, don't rush. Take your time and soak it all in.

Make sure if that you go through DD's queue, even if you have front of the line access or are not going to ride it. It could have been an attraction by itself.

Do not miss the Marvel parade. You can't get anything like that anywhere else.

Doom's Fearfall may seem skipable, but the queue, theming, and storyline are unique enough to warrent trying it out.

The fortune tellers in LC, if they are still there, are the real deal, at least in my experience with them. There is no way they could have known the exact details that they knew. A little expensive, but not fake at all.

I disaggree with Jeffrey R. Smith about not waiting for P. Flyers. If the wait is short and you can find a way to ride, go for it. That last tight turn may take you off guard, and you get a very interesting view of the park. If the ride is lacking a long line of children, they may let adults ride without kids. Early in the morning or late at night is the best time to try to get a ride on them.

Camp Jurassic, where the P. Flyers are located, is a nice little getaway. Make sure you explore the volcano for at least a few minutes. It's dark and scary, and the special effects are really cool. It's hidden away so you need to explore CJ to find it.

One of the most basic ways to find a less traveled path is to always look for the lake. Each island has a lake view, every one stunning.

Sorry for Two in a row, but I must say in reply to PT300...Do NOT skip Poseidon's Fury. It's may just be a walk through attraction but if you don't know what's going to happen, it just might freek you out a little. ;)

There is one magic trick near the end that they...well you'll see. The first Ten times I asked myself, "How did they do that?" I had to ask some of the guys who worked there to be sure it worked the way I though, which still seems impossible because their is no sound, wind, or any other indication of it working. "Did we just move?"

Incredible...

Yeah, but Poseidon was SO much better with the original storyline.

I personally spent 2 days at the park a month ago and here's a couple of things that I picked up...

The bad news:
Dudley Do-Right was closed for major rehab. Much of the track for "the" drop was missing and the ride also had a huge wall up around it. BTW, is supposed to be fantastic but I still haven't had the chance to ride.

Suess Landing: Sneech Beech is closed because of the reconstruction of that monorail ride. Sorry I can't remember the exact name. So basically, it's one pathway straight through that particular land.

Trik Encounter: Not sure if it's been mentioned but this walk-through attraction is closed probably for-good. I did have the opportunity to do it back in '01 and thought it was decent. It was interesting seeing such a HUGE, life-like creature. I tried to pet it but apparently it only liked small children.

The Amazing Spider-man: There was one missing element in the falling sequence. I won't give-away what exactly it was but you'll definitely notice when you ride.

The Good News:
DD & Hulk were running amazing both days I was there. Operations were as good as always with slight stacking on Hulk.

My advice... TAKE YOUR TIME! If you have the opportunity for multiple days, go for it. Also, do ALL of the attractions. Grown-up to kiddie. It's worth it. I'd never done Cat in the Hat the previous time I was there and I missed out big time. If your a fan of the book, it's a must. Always be on the look out. The details are amazing. I also took along my video camera and got about 50 mins of footage. It made for a nice 9+ minute video. :)

Coasterman Mike

BTW, gotta love the song for Red Fish, Blue Fish

It's also so much better when the trick 'works'.
My second trip there I brought my whole family, my Dad and I were the only one's who'd been to IOA. We had been blown away by Poseidon's Fury (Both trips were in the first 2 years of operation, so they were both the original show) and we'd talked it up to the family about how cool it was, and how surprising it was, without giving anything away. Anyway, in room 1 the storyteller does his spiel and then the music goes into a loop and he starts ad libbing, asking kids questions about the story he just told, etc. VErrry lame. Something was up.
So during the blackout at the end of room 3, I fixed my gaze on a red LED that I saw, up in the rafters (It was probably a status indicator on a piece of lighting equipment), smiling, expecting the LED light to 'dissappear' at any moment when the you know what did you know what.
nothing. The lights came back on, and the exit doors opened and everyone shuffled out. "It" never happened. My family was like' That was okay' and my Dad and I were crushed. It was like telling someone you're about to show them the coolest movie ever and you put in the DVD and it turns out to be Revenge of the Nerds or something. blah.

Anyway, I haven't seen the new show but I just don't get it. regardless of the storyline, why put "It" at the beginning of the room?? It was the freakin HIGHLIGHT, baby. Oh well. Someday when I rule the world...

Hey, Revenge of the Nerds IS the coolest movie ever! Just kidding.

Anyway I have to pretty much do the exact opposite of what everyone here is saying. I'm going to have to do this park for the first time and in one day and with 2 kids ,my wife and our moms. Yeah I know,good luck. What are the chances of me getting the hulk,dragons(both sides),spiderman,Poseidon,sinbad and jurassic river in the hours the park is open March 30(spring break)

Going to Universal march 29 hoping to do mummy shrek terminator MIB jaws in one day

All that follows 5 days at Disney

Yeah I'm nuts

John, it's more than possible. Just arrive before the park opens and beat the crowd going clockwise. A suggestion which won't come cheap and may not be feasible is for you to book the night of the 29th at one of the three on-site resorts. That way you will have front-of-the-line access all day at USF on the 29th and IOA on the 30th.

Some of the secrets/surprises that haven't been mentioned yet but can be found here:

http://www.islandsofadventure.com/surprises.htm

Include McElligot's pool (toss a coin into the mouth of the fished outside of Cat in the Hat's gift shop exit), the baby raptor hatchings downstairs at the Jurrassic Park Discovery Center and the Popeye piano at the Me Olive kiddie play ship that overlooks the Popeye ride.

Am I understanding correctly that Poseoidon is now moving people through backwards or did I miss something? How would THAT work?

I love the One Fish, Two Fish song. "One fish Two fish up up up, Red fish Blue fish down down down..." LOL! Know what fish you are riding in and follow the song's instructions or else you'll get fish spit on you. LOL!

Spring Break is one of Orlando's busy season, I'm sorry to say. I like the hotel key idea myself.

Ripsaw Falls has the single most intense drop I've ever rode. Airtime on a log ride? Maybe it will be open for Spring Break. I hope the drop hasn't changed much.

If you can pay for the hotel do it, you can litterally ride every attraction at Universal and IOA in one day if you wanted to with the Resort Fastpass. During my 3 days there I must have logged 20+ rides eacg on Mummy, MIB, Hulk and Spiderman. It will definatly give you time to apppricate the hidden gems.

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Jeff said:
Yeah, everything 'Moosh said. I could watch that stupid fountain for an hour. Brilliant.

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Ahh! That stupid fountain scarred the crap out of me! lol :p

I think City Walk is the winner here. After a great day in IOA, or as a break to enjoy a great meal. Downtown Disney is okay, but City Walk has ENERGY!

You can't beat an early dinner at Margaritaville. And also there is a awsome souvenier shop with 'everything Universal', so no need to carry packages. Enjoy the park to close, and shop after dinner.

Dexter,
Not backwards, but when you enter room 3 "It" is in its down position and then raises up during a blackout once everyone is in the room. Hope this explains it w/o giving anything away.

I also thought that the original show of PF was better then the current one. Walking through the tunnel into the main room seemed visually more impressive. Though the current show had those very bright lights that really did a great job at disorienting you.

As for the River Adventure, the splash down looks close to what Shriekra does for it's splash down. Large scoops built onto the ride vehicle that force water upwards. Maybe that's what the maintainence guy was talking about?

Mike

I worked on the ride and I had a hard time believing the guy who told me that their were "water jets" that were triggered when a boat goes over them. I've noticed that maintainence workers like to bs ride opperators, for some reason.

That sucks for PF. Forget everything I said about how great the trick is. It was a good trick because I thought that I somehow ended up back in the previous room. How in the world do they fit the way it is now into the story?

Maybe they had to do it for machanical reasons or something.

IIRC, Landmark Entertainment said to Universal "You know, we can make PF better without building anything new!" and Universal said "Okay, here's lots of money!"
Or something like that.

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ToledoDan said:
I especially like the hidden phone number in the Spiderman ride!

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OMG. Call the number.

Seriously.

407/224-1783

I am not sure about Universal being all that busy during Spring Break. A friend of mine and I went there two years ago for our spring break, and the only long waits we had were for Shrek 3-D (Lot of kids and at the time only one theater), and the other was the DD had only one train on each side and had mechanical problems for a bit of time. I guess it depends on when your spring break is.

DD would have slow moving line early in the day because it wouldn't be until later that they would run both trains on both tracks. The line is a great touch, make sure to look up when in the chamber covered in ice, you will see the armor of knights frozen to the celing. If there is little to no wait, and you want to go for concecutive rides, there is a small path down the exit that goes right back to the queue so that you don't have to go all the way back to the entrance.

City Walk is worth hanging out in. I thought the Nascar Cafe had some good burgers, and the cars hanging off the ceiling start up and the tires spin with smoke coming out of the exhaust pipes.

Reading these things everyone has pointed out, it makes me wana go back and take a little slower step to see more and take it all in.

Spring Break in Charlotte is the last week of March. I'm not sure how that compares to the rest of the country but it's got to be close.

Is there anything in the immediate surroundings outside the resort complex that shouldn't be missed?

How late do the City Walk establishments stay open?

Found this on the web.

The projection screens are perfectly framed with actual building props. It's hard to not to wonder how an animated Spider-Man jumps onto a real fire escape ledge, which teeters in perfect sync, and then onto the hood of your car -- which leans forward with a thud. This ride put the awe in awesome. I think you will agree. As an interesting insider bonus, check out the movie theater's phone number, 224-1783. When the ride first opened, calls to that number with the local 407 area code found an answering machine message explaining how the theater is closed due to the Sinister Syndicate and will remain that way until Spider-Man remedies the situation. Sadly, the number has since been disconnected.

source:http://www.fortunecity.com/millennium/briarwood/145/id43.htm