Adventure in the Islands of Adventure

In this week’s blog post I am going to discuss the Islands of Adventure theme park. Opening in May of 1998, Islands of Adventure is the second theme park in the Universal Orlando Resort. This park’s theme is quite different from its counterpart Universal Studios, as it relies on the theme of exploration rather than a movie studio. At the time of opening, the park consisted of six lands, adding a seventh in June of 2010.

Islands of Adventure

• Port of Entry
• Marvel Superhero Island
• Toon Lagoon
• Jurassic Park
• The Lost Continent
• Seuss Landing
• The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

At the time of opening this new theme park, Universal Studios Florida’s name was changed to Universal Studios Escape. This confusing name change is said to have attributed to poor attendance numbers the first few years of operation. 2001 brought the name change to Universal Studios Orlando and park attendance began to increase. Following the September 11 terrorist attacks, Universal Studios Orlando was the only resort in the Orlando area to have an increase in attendance.

I have heard so much about this park and its Harry Potter ‘land’ that I was very interested to see what it was all about. Upon entering, I took note that the park is modeled after a typical Disney ‘hub and spoke’ format. The ‘hub and spoke’ format generally consists of a center circle with themed lands spread out in all directions that are joined by a main entrance road. At a Disney park it is Main Street and at Islands of Adventure it is the Port of Entry.

Universal has seemed to do a great job on developing themes for their ‘islands’. Each different ‘island’ has at least one attraction, restaurant and a handful of gift shops. Jurassic Park seems to be the best themed of the original ‘islands’. It hosts a fairly faithful recreation of the original Jurassic Park Visitor’s Center which houses a restaurant, gift shop and discovery center. The Jurassic Park River Adventure is a water-based ride that pits visitors against escaped dinosaurs and an 85-foot droop below a hungry Tyrannosaurs Rex.

The most popular ‘island’ is currently the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which opened on June 18, 2010. The main attraction here is Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, which is located inside Hogwart’s Castle. This ride is a fast-paced blend of state-of-the-art video technology and advanced animatronics. I was not ready for all the action in this ride. There were spiders, dragons and many other creatures found in the storybook world of Harry Potter. I feel that this attraction and the wonderfully themed Hogsmeade village are very entertaining.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter holds two other rides; Dragon Challenge and Flight of the Hippogriff. Dragon Challenge, previously named Dueling Dragons pre-Potter is the world’s first dueling inverted roller coaster. Flight of the Hippogriff, formerly the Flying Unicorn is a smaller roller coaster that is aimed at children. Five shops; Zonko’s, Honeydukes, Dervich and Banges, Filch’s Emporium of Confiscated Goods, and Owl Post are all located within the ‘island’ and sell all the items you would need to become a wizard. The Three Broomsticks Inn and The Hog’s Head Pub allow visitors to enjoy food and drinks taken from the Harry Potter stories.

I hope that you have enjoyed my take on the Universal Orlando Resort and all it has to offer. Next week, we return to talking about what is going on a few miles away at the Walt Disney World Resort. Please post any questions or comments you have about the Universal Orlando Resort, and maybe I will continue to post some news stories about this theme park.