Universal Islands of Adventure October 2015
Entry posted by Cal
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So it was the first day of our holiday, and waking up stupidly early due to jet lag we arrived at Universal after eating an IHOP. Yum.
We got our tickets, and we waited for IOA to open (even though studios opened at 8) not having a clue how busy it was going to be.
It opened a bit before 9, and after scanning our fingers we were in. We went straight to the back of the park for the Wizarding World.
Seeing the whole area, and Hogwarts for the first time is amazing. Photos, like of most places won't do it justice.
So much bigger than I thought it was going to be, looks so much better in person.
Not really knowing what to expect for my first proper dark ride (previous favourite being Dual) I was very exited to say the least.
Forbidden Journey
Was seriously amazing, and in my opinion better than Gringotts. Gringotts may be more thrilling, but as an overall experience Forbidden Journey was my favourite dark. Perfect combination of screens and proper theming, and the ride system is soo cool! Amazed as I came off, I went straight round the single rider queue for another go.
Whole area has lots of shops to go in and experiences like live performances. Even if you're not a fan of Harry potter the area is amazing, yes I've seen the movies but I'm really not a fan of harry potter myself, and Forbidden Journey is still my favourite dark ride. The area also has a small Vekoma coaster called Flight of the Hippogriff with insane operations, and then obviously dragon challenge.
Dragon Challenge
This ride literally never had a queue, the only queue was annoyingly for the metal detectors. If you didn't know, you have to go through metal detectors for both Dragon Challenge and Hollywood rip ride rocket, and I'm assuming Hulk as well which wasn't open at the time. This is so that no personal belongings such as phones can be taken in the queue line.
After a really long indoor queue, you then get to the point where you choose Chinese Fireball or Hungarian Horntail (easier to just say Fire and ice still 
)
They are both really good coasters actually, a lot better than I thought they were going to be! I do wish I rode them when they dueled. The entrance looked amazing back when it was dueling dragon! I personally preferred the Fireball however they were very similar!
Re-ride queue takes you straight to the front of the building again, so you don't have to queue to get through the metal detectors again. Great idea.
Jurassic park
So Jurassic park was next, a really really good experience, especially the inside section and drop. So well themed, and the animatronics are amazing. It was however a really short experience and only had the 1 drop, a lot shorter than I was expecting it to be, especially the inside section. It was more outside than inside.
Ripsaw falls
Getting all the water rides done at once, ripsaw falls was next, the best looking log flume I've ever seen by far 
It didn't disappoint. Theming was great, and had quite a few good drops. Lap bars did make it uncomfortable, and I believe it didn't have them when it first opened? Guess they're there for a reason.
Theming in this whole toon area is really nice, and the music is cool.
Popeye
By far the best rapids I've ever done. The theming is amazing, has a themed troff the whole way round. All the water effects make it so so good because of the randomness, lots high speed points and some good drops. I've heard so many times its the worlds wettest rapids, and after 4 re-rides, enough was enough. Still took a few hours to dry off in the heat.
Spiderman
That facade
Spiderman is an awesome ride, mainly screens but lots of scenery which adds to it. Lots of effects including fire, the music is perfect, one of my favourites. The ride system is really cool as well, and theres one point where it spins round loads which is fun. Defiantly my 2nd favourite dark ride I've ever done.
Say this about every area but he whole area is really nice, but it was such a shame hulk was closed and the ride was boarded off. Most of hulk was still there when I was there, but as I was there it was getting taken down.
Dr doom fearfall
2 S&S towers next to each other. Was really looking forward to this as I love drop towers and had never done a launching one before. I really enjoyed it, and the airtime once you get to the top is amazing. Single rider worked really well on this with it being up the exit, so no one really knows about it 
Seaus Landing
A really really nice kids area, defiantly the the nicest I've ever seen. Did a few of the rides including the cat in the hat dark ride which was nice.
It then of course had the Hogwarts express which takes you to Studios, such a fantastic idea and is really handy. Not once did we spend the whole day in one of the parks, so this is great to take you from each one, when it doesn't have a queue.
Overall I loved IOA, its seriously such a beautiful park with such a good atmosphere. The whole park is superbly themed and has some great soundtracks just walking around the park. It's home to my 2 favourite dark rides, 3 great water rides and good coasters. The only downside in my opinion was the lack of rides, it really doesn't take long to get it all done especially during quiet days like when we visited. Was such a shame to see Hulk closed but I'm looking forward to visiting again to ride that and Kong 
The journey continues at Studios... http://forum.maniahub.com/blog/76/entry-750-universal-studios-orlando-october-2015/
- Matt 236, Mitchada04 and Ryan
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