Islands of Adventure 3/14

Since many of you advised me on whether to go to IoA or Busch, I thought I'd let you know how the trip went.

Our group of 11 dwindled down to a group of 2 as most of my group decided they'd rather go to the beach. (Losers). So they got the van, but myself and one other paid $30 for a cab and headed down to Universal.

Got there around 11. We decided to head towards the back of the park and hit Poseidon's Fury first. I had no idea what it was. I thought the theming in the line/cave was incredible...really first class. As far as the attraction...the big drawback is standing in line for an attraction, and then not getting to sit down. The first two rooms were kind of weak, but the third was good. I also liked walking through the water tunnel, or whatever you might all it. All in all, I wouldn't do the attraction again.

We headed towards the front and went to the Freefall. Again, I loved the fact that the line was indoors. The upward launch was terrific...not much after that...but again, the theming of the ride and even the announcer talking about defeating the Fantastic Four, or whatever, was a cool little detail that I enjoyed.

To Hulk...about a 20 minute wait. Was surprised by the launch halfway up the hill and loved the inline twist at the top...definitely intense for a B&M...almost reminded me a little of Iron Wolf. Good ride.

Ate lunch at the pizza place...good pizza, decent price. Decided to save Mythos for dinner...big mistake.

Went over to Dueling Dragons. INCREDIBLE theming in the line...really adds to the experience. Went front row on fire and was blown away. Later went front row on ice and was equally impressed. Took a third spin towards the back of fire and it obviously lost something over the front, but still, DD is really an outstanding invert...I think it's definitely the best ride in the park.

Went over to the Jurassic area and really...this is a first class area. Beautiful. Unfortunately, it had started drizzling, so we couldn't ride the water rides. However, enjoyed the Discovery center.

Longest wait of the day was Spiderman...40 minutes. Again, theming couldn't be much better. As far as the ride...I'm not a fan of simulators, but this was the best one I've been on. Unfortunately, without my glasses, my vision is about 20/85, so everything wasn't crisp...still, there were a few moments when it really felt like we had lifted above the city.

I had to take a break after this ride because it made my stomach a bit sick. We ended up getting two more rides on Hulk in the rain (very intense and fast) and two more freefall rides. We ate dinner in NBA City. Great Burgers!

Islands is an excellent park... my only suggestion is that it could use another coaster. (Wooden?) It's great for a one-day, but I'm not sure it would be worth a season's pass with just two coasters and a drop ride. Still, gotta love the park for its theming and creativity. They really did their homework in the planning stages and have created a magical theme park.

You missed out on the water rides, they are some of the best. Especially Dudley Doright Glad you had a nice time.

Nothing on Seuss Island? I love that area...

Thanks for the TR, Kevin. Glad you had fun. The wooden coaster is unlikely at best, but it hasn't stopped me from asking for one for YEARS...hehe. I like the fact that you used the word "magical". It's certainly how I've always felt about the place.

Spidey and DarKastle are definitely the cream of the "newer" darkride genre. I can understand how you might get queasy on the ride, though, it IS kinda spinny in that last section.

P.S. I wear the 3-D glasses over my own...not great, but better than nothing. Hope you feel that IoA was a good choice! :)

Why would a little drizzle stop you from riding the water rides, where you're going to get soaked anyway ? Seems kind of strange.

I love Islands of Adventure it seems like you missed out on a few great attractions though such as the water rides and things in Seuss Land as was mentioned before.

Well, as far as the water rides go...it wasn't just drizzling...it was quite cold. Mid 50's, and all I had on was a t-shirt and shorts. Water rides would have been miserable. Eventually it started raining hard. It was my fault not to hit the water rides first.

The Seuss area...blew me away. Should have mentioned it. I got a few good pics in that area. Is there a better kids area anyway?

Also, regarding Hulk...this is a strange comment...does anyone else feel the ride might be a tad too long? I think I may be getting a bit soft but on each ride I kept hoping the ride would end a bit before it did. I really enjoyed the beginning, think the middle is good, but by the end I'd always had enough.

Everything after the mid course brake on the Hulk is just wasting time IMO.

I think that's true of most B&M's with MCBR's. :P

That's why the Batman clones , Georgia Scorcher and Iron Wolf don't have that problem. :) *** Edited 3/21/2008 8:11:11 AM UTC by Chitown***

^...and a major reason why Nitro is no (SFoG) Goliath... ;)

....yeah, I'll pay for that one... :)

Hulk suffers from SOB syndrome.

Basically after you do the BIG huge elements, The little ones do nothing to IMPROVE the ride.

Chuck

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rollergator said:
P.S. I wear the 3-D glasses over my own...not great, but better than nothing.

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That's what I was going to say. They're designed pretty big, and I've never had any problems wearing my own glasses as well.

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rollergator said:
^...and a major reason why Nitro is no (SFoG) Goliath...

....yeah, I'll pay for that one...

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Well, if Mitch's poll is any indication, the majority of the community agrees with you.

(Then again, where did La Ronde's Goliath end up?)

29th I believe... which I don't understand one bit!

Goliath La Ronde is just a serie of floater hills, a flat turnaround, brake on the first of 3 smaller hills, a slow S turn and a slow banked turn... *** Edited 3/21/2008 9:54:50 PM UTC by Absimilliard***

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rollergator said:
^...and a major reason why Nitro is no (SFoG) Goliath...

....yeah, I'll pay for that one...

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Since I mentioned Georgia Scorcher, I don't know why I didn't include the SFOG Goliath. That is by far and away a great speed coaster with the MCBR basically not engaging. Puts Raging Bull to shame.

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ApolloAndy said:
I think that's true of most B&M's with MCBR's. :P

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Gotta give props to rides like Kumba and Montu then, for kicking my butt all the way to the end. ;)

^^LOL, even *with* the MCBR effectively destroying the bunnies on Nitro...Bull is basically just a good way to draw people away from the REAL coaster in SWT. ;)

Back to IoA....Fire Dragon, baby. Pyrrhock, you never get the love you deserve. :)

P.S. On the way out from the park last weekend, there was a British family talking about BPPB and their upcoming day at IoA. Told them to go EARLY, to make sure their kid (5-6 years) got a lap on PFlyers. STILL haven't given up convincing them to buy new "cars" for the ride - biggest drawback is the horrendous capacity...