On Wednesday morning we were up early and headed to
Universal Orlando. There we visited Islands
of Adventure and Universal
Studios.
Islands of Adventure, without a doubt, was the best
theme park we visited. We only went to three of the five islands
(Marvel Super Hero Island, Toon Lagoon, and Jurassic Park), but each
one was just terrific! Each island was designed to be just like what
it was supposed to be--so Marvel Super Hero Island, for example,
looked just like the panels of a Marvel comic book. It was really
cool!
Islands of Adventure was also where we found the best
attraction of our whole trip, The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man. We
wanted to ride it a second time, but the line was over an hour
long--and it wasn't even nine in the morning yet!
Here are the attractions we saw at Islands of
Adventure:
The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man
This ride was super! It was definitely the best attraction
we saw on our entire trip--and may be the best theme park attraction
in the world! It combined everything you found on other
rides--3D effect, motion effects, twisting tracks, drops, heat, water,
you name it. It started out with the line for the ride taking us through
the Daily Bugle building, which was filled with all sorts of
incredible detail. (We even got to see Peter Parker's office!) Then we
got on the vehicle and started riding through downtown Manhattan,
where Doctor Octopus and a bunch of other bad guys are wreaking havoc
and trying to steal the Statue of Liberty. Naturally, we get caught up
in all this, and Spider-Man has to come to our rescue--including
saving us from a fall from the top of skyscaper!
(Two really, really, really big thumbs up--the
best ride of our entire trip!)
Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges
Now this is how river rapids rides are supposed to
be. There was no--absolutely zero--line, and we walked
right onto the loading platform and strapped ourselves in. Then our
barge got shot down a bunch of rapids, and even sent through a
barge-washing machine! We got really, really wet--and had a lot of fun
watching Popeye wrestle with a giant octopus and beat up Bluto at the
end.
(Two big thumbs up--and the wettest ride of our
trip!)
Jurassic Park River Adventure
This one started out calm enough, with us in a boat
floating down a river in Jurassic Park, watching the relatively calm
vegetarian dinosaurs (which looked pretty realistic!). But then--something
went horribly wrong! Our boat got sidetracked into a top-security
compound, where a bunch of Raptors and other meat-eaters had gotten
loose. (We even got spit on by one of them spittin' dinosaurs!) At the
end of the ride, our boat was headed right towards a giant Tyrannosaurus
Rex--when, all of a sudden, we were dropped 85 feet almost straight down! We
didn't get eaten, but we did get wet! It was waaay cool!
(Two really big thumbs up from Alec and
Ben--one of the best rides of the trip!)
When we saw everything we wanted to see at Islands
of Adventures, we walked over to Universal Studios. Each part of this
park is decorated to look like a particular city, so there were
streets that looked like San Francisco, New York, Beverly Hills, and
so on.
In general, the attractions at Universal Studios
weren't as cool as the attractions at Islands of Adventure. Of course,
when you start the day with the best ride in the world (Spider-Man!),
everything else is a little disappointing. In addition, it was getting
pretty hot by the time we got there, so we may have been a little
grumpy at times. Still, it was kind of fun, all things
considered.
Here are the attractions we saw at Universal
Studios:
Lucy: A Tribute
Alec and Ben's mom really likes I Love Lucy,
so we decided to stop in here before we hit any of the other
attractions. (Plus, it was air-conditioned!) Part of this was a store
full of Lucy stuff, and the other part was kind of a museum. Alec and
Ben especially liked playing the interactive I Love Lucy trivia
quiz!
(No thumbs--it really wasn't much of an
attraction)
Terminator 2: 3D
Alec and Ben really didn't want to go on this
one--they thought it would be too scary. Because of this, they watched
the 3D movie without their 3D glasses on--and missed one of the best
attractions in Orlando! Uncle Mike really liked the way this
attraction blended a terrific 3D movie (with all the original actors
from Terminator 2--including Arnold!) with live actors and
other special effects.
(Two thumbs down from the kids, who didn't give
it a chance--and a big thumbs up from Uncle Mike!)
Kongfrontation
You know, a couple of years ago this may have been
a cool ride. Compared to all the newer rides today, however, it's just
kind of disappointing. After waiting in line for way too long, we got
on an aerial tram and moved very slowly through New York City,
where King Kong was running wild. Yeah, he shook the tram a little,
but that was about it. Pretty boring.
(Two big thumbs down--maybe the worst attraction
of the entire trip.)
Earthquake: The Big One
Earthquake was a little better than Kongfrontation,
but not much. After some preliminary stuff about how the movie Earthquake
was made, we got on a San Francisco subway car and got to
experience an earthquake. Yeah, some stuff blew up and we got just a
little wet (but not much, really), but that was about it. Frankly,
these older attractions just don't compare to the newer, wilder rides
at the other parks.
(Two thumbs down from Ben and Alec)
(click on any thumbnail to
view a larger picture)
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Ben
and Alec outside the store (with the sign that says
"Store), with a giant-sized Wolverine outside, standing
guard. |
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Alec
and Ben getting ready to enter Islands of Adventure. (Once
again, Ben looks really sleepy before the first ride of the
day!) |
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Ben
and Alec giving Doc Ock a good fight. |
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Ben
and Alec outside Jurassic Park--after Alec had acid shot into
his eyes by one of them spittin' dinos! |
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Nobody
could remember the name of this evil water guy (who was also
on the Spider-Man ride), but Alec and Ben took him on
anyway. |
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Run!
Godzilla! Run! (Oops--sorry, wrong giant lizard!) |
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The
outside of the best ride in Orlando--The Amazing Adventures of
Spider-Man! |
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Alec
and Ben outside the Lucy Tribute--a picture just for Mom! |
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The
Spider-Man ride was inside the Daily Bugle building, which you
can see in the background. The inside of the building had
incredible details, right down to Peter Parker's handprints on
the ceiling of the darkroom! |
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Despite
what the sign says, Alec and Ben really aren't in Beverley
Hills--it just looks that way. (Note the entrance to the T2:3D
ride behind them.) |
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A
view looking into the Marvel Super Hero Island. That's the
Fantastic Four Cafe on the left. |
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Alec
and Ben standing on the streets of San Francisco--Fisherman's
Wharf, to be exact! |
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The
main street of Marvel Super Hero Island. Like in the comics,
everything was kind of generic--including the
"Comics" comic-book store! |
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Ben
and Alec running away from a parked car at Mel's Diner from American
Graffiti. |
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Another
view of Marvel Super Hero Island. (That's the Hulk roller
coaster track on the left--way too wild for us!) |
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We
caught a short vehicle parade. That's Marilyn Monroe in the
Cadillac... |
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Alec
and Ben at the entrance to the very colorful Toon Lagoon. |
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...and
this is the Ghostbusters Mobile. |
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The
main street of Toon Lagoon--home to every comic character that
isn't Disney or Warner Brothers! |
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We
thought this was a cool revolving sign for the Monsters Cafe. |
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Who
can resist a picture of Ben outside Rocky & Bullwinkle's
Wossamotta U. stadium? |
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This
is the famous Universal sign at the entrance to Universal
Studios, with some guy we don't know standing in front of it. |
