Everyone knows that Orlando is a favorite US destination for kids, and Disney is popular for some adults I know. We, however, chose to visit Islands of Adventure, which is geared more toward adults. I’m so glad we did!
The layout of the park is genius. You can pick a direction and walk in a huge circle and not miss a thing. Over our six hour visit, we made two laps around the loop. See the map below.
Port of Entry
The first area you reach from the parking garage is shared by both parks and is dominated by restaurants and stores.
Marvel Super Hero Island
We started walking to the left in a clockwise direction because I heard that Hulk was one of the best rides. It took less than fifteen minutes to get through the line. The line was even shorter later in the day. Yippee!
We are huge fans of the Spider-Man encounter. We wore 3D glasses and sat in a car that swirled us into different scenes with spidey. The visual effects were superb!
We ate an overpriced lunch in this area. A hamburger meal and chicken tender meal was $30 at the Captain America Diner. Food is definitely a money maker for the park.
Toon Lagoon
The rides here are geared for little kids. It was a great picture taking area for adults, though.
Jurassic Park
The only ride we experienced was the River Adventure, although it was a bit chilly. A raft takes you through a raptor zone and you fall down a giant slide into water. The line was short because people did not want to get wet and cold. Luckily, we didn’t get soaked in the back of the raft.
If you happen to get too wet, there is a gigantic dryer that you can enter to dry off and warm up. Too funny!
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Harry Potter’s world was by far the most crowded area. We have not read a book or watched a single Harry Potter movie, so we made it through rather quickly. I know, I know….
We went on a ride with video screens and you felt like you were flying. Unfortunately, something happened at the end and the ride stopped for about five minutes. It was fun, but not our favorite.
The Lost Continent
This zone consisted of slightly corny shows. We timed it out perfectly and saw both of them. In my opinion, Poseidon was not really suited for small children.
Seuss Landing
This was another area dedicated to small children. Just for grins, we jumped on the Cat in the Hat ride. It was indoors and you saw animated pages of all the famous Suess books.
I will wrap this up and stop adding pictures now. Overall, we never felt crowded and never waited very long in lines. January is a great time of year to visit (between cold fronts). An added bonus is the exercise we accomplished – over six miles of walking! On a side note, we could have crammed Universal Studios, the other park, into our day given the small amount of people.