Universal IOA tr. 16 sep park 2

Associated parks:
None

Well after a fanttastic day at BGT there was no letting up, so off to Islands of Adventure. A park which i had not been to before, so was looking forward to some totally new thrills.

Again the park was quiet with 20mins maximum q time although most were walk ons- got to love that. Weather was fine, although i am a bit concerned about that bloody hurricane screwing my flight up to Cleveland.

On to the coaters:-

Hulk: I had read and seen a lot about this ride and was looking forward to it, especially after kumba yesterday. It did not dissapoint. The launch is fun, if not overly forceful, but a very nice change to the normal chain lift and drop. The in-line twist at the top is a great first inversion as are the cobra roll and the loop. I loved the dive to the tunnel and the second loop, but i found the second half of the ride after the brakes to not be as much fun, especailly in comparison to Kumbas second half. This ride is not as smooth as Kumba, not at all, I am not going to use the R word, but it is a bit shaky. This is probably because it is a year round park unlike BGT who can totally smooth out their rides in the off season. I still really enjoyed this green monster, especially as there was no Q, due to them running 2 trains. Good on you universal. The ride ops, were so quick on this ride as well. 3 rides, front and back twice, no q at all, the front is way the best seat. 8/10

Duelling Dragons. Fire After my disapointment of Gazi not racing, i was a bit concerned to only see one side working, but they opened the other at 12. So we ended up geting the 3rd duelling ride of the day from the front seat. Total result. This coaster is so impressive to look at, and being the first duelling coaster i have ridden i did not know what to expect. It totally blew me away. The thing that sticks in my mind, is going straight towards the other train at 50 mph. Amazing. Then both trains flying upwards into the loop, oh my god, unbelievable. The near miss when ice does an inline twist was also great, bu the third was not so good. Fire would be an amazing coaster on its own, but add in the duelling and it is totally out there as one of the best on the world. 1 ride front row 10 mins. 9/10

Ice:- I did not remember reading if one coaster of the two was better than the other, but i think fire was better. That is not to say this is a bad coaster- not at all, the duelling on this was better i think, we were in the middle of the train, which made the inline twist close encounter just breath taking, as well as the loop, but i dont think that the rest of the ride is as good as fire. Both coasters are silky smooth, as they should be, which is why Hulk surprised me a bit. I still really enjoyed ice though and together with fire they make an amazing coaster experinece unlike anything else out there. They could have added another train to both sides as the wait did get up to 40 mins when we were leaving. 1 ride middle row 10mins. 8/10

Flying Unicorn; Family coaster, that is a bit of fun, bit rough, but worth going on, if not for your coaster count. They were running 2 trains on this thing so no wait at all. 1 ride back seat, 5/10

Spiderman:- Now i know this is not really a coaster but it so amazed me, i just want to talk about it a bit. I did not really know what to expect, was it a dark ride?? A 3d thing, or what. This ride is just everything, it is part coaster, part 4d ride, part dark ride, part insane. The amount of money that this thing cost must be enormous. The special effects were out of this world. This must be the most complete ride experience out in the world. A masterpiece. 2 rides both walk ons. 9/10

Other rides. Jurrasic park was fun, but i thought i got wetter in the one in hollywood, great themeing. Ripsaw falls was another excellent water ride, great themeing and a really fun last drop. Popeyes rapid ride was closed, and not on the map or any of the signposts. Whats going on with this ride, anyone know?? Bit dissapointed it was closed as the other 2 water rides were excelent and i had heard the rapids were the best- never mind. Posideons fury was a bit crappy really, long wait (20 mins) and the special effects were not as good as say backdraft. But a bit of fun nonethless. Doc dooms fearfall was fun but should be taller.

Overall i was totally impressed with this park, the park was immaculate, ride ops were very efficient although the ones at BGT were friendlier. the themeing was awesome, better than anywhere else i have been. An excellent day all round.

I have heard rumours that say the next ride will be a flying coaster themed to Jurrasic park 3. I think that would be a great addition, in what is a quieter part of the park. the park in itself does need some more attractions. We did them all and left with hours to spare.

Am off to Cleveland on thurs (hurricane permitting) for cedar point on fri and sat. Cant wait to ride the beasts there. bring em on.

Hope you liked this trip report, more to follow, from CP,SFMM and Knotts.

cheers

Glad you have fun at Universal/IOA. BTW, BGT is a year round park like all of the parks in Florida. All the parks in Florida peiodically close some of their rides during the winter for rehab.
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Bob Hansen
Resident Airtime Whore

Another good TR. Keep them comin'

Once again I agree on the Hulk and DD observations. Fire is better and Hulk dies in the second half. Kumba is the best coaster in Florida, IMO.

Popeye's Rapids are indeed awesome. Maybe next time. There is a new coaster opening next spring themed to the Mummy at US. It's hard to say when IOA will get a new attraction, especially with all the ownership stuff going on.

Did not know BGT was year round. Must get pretty empty when all us tourists go home!!

The mummy does sound like an amazing attraction, might make me want to go to the studios next time i am over here.

Am getting very worried about the hurricane now. It says on the weather channel (but are they ever right) that the winds and rains will effect ohio. If i come all the way up there and the rides are not operating, i will not be happy.

glad u had a great time at these great parks, i am a little worried about Popeye's rapids not being on the map, that's my favorite rapids ride. And while I agree that IOA is a little low on rides, it's also not as old as the other parks, give it time and it'll be even better than it is now. and if that rumor u heard about the flying coaster is true that would be awesome, hopefully the ride would be better than the movie.

Just to let you know, Spiderman cost over $200 million, and oh yeah, don't worry about tourists leaving and the parks getting empty, because they never leave. The summer is the slow season in most cases. Just come around Christmans or Thanksgiving time, you'll see.

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Did you know that 3 out of 4 people make up 75% of the world's total population?- Light travels faster than sound; that's why some people appear bright before they speak.-"Did you know that the hole's only natural enemy is the pile?" -Bart Simpson

$200 million, thats a lot of cash, but you can see where it went, a truely amazing ride that spiderman.

I would really not enjoy going to a park in the peak season, waiting in line for hours is just not fun thats why i come when it is quiet!! What is the longest you have seen the q's get?

Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges are closed until December for annual maintenance.

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Sue Barry
CoasterSue@aol.com

I'm not suggesting that you do come at that time of year, I'm just letting you know. The only line that gets really bad at IoA is Dudley Do-Right, which can be about 3and a half hours at certain times due to the heat and constant break downs. But most Orlando lines don't really ever get more than 2 hours during peak season, due to the great capactiy in parks.

The Hulk does in fact have a pretty lame second half of the ride but I'm pretty sure the first half makes up for it. I never remember it being "shaky" as you put it. I always thought it was a smooth ride the hole way through. I also thought Kumba was a very smooth ride as well but never really thought the Hulk was even remotely shaky. Nice TR and enjoy the rest of your vacation!

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"Get busy living or get busy dying"
~Shawshank Redemption

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