5 do Florida for the 1st time - October 2018 - Day 12 - Islands Of Adventure

[Milpston]

Index

So today the plan was once again Islands Of Adventure so hopefully will make it there and not end up in Islands Of Adventure again. We set the alarm nice and early. When checking in to HRH yesterday we were told that both IOA and US were 07:00 early openings for resort guests this morning so we wanted to be there to make the most of the early opening. She had written it on our resort maps so that we wouldn't forget.

We had a nice short stroll across from the Hotel and arrived pretty much bang on time and decided we would get breakfast on the move this morning.

On arrival at the IOA entrance there were not many people around and it didn't look much like opening. We spoke to a member of staff who was just arriving for work. She told us IOA wasn't early opening today as it was just US. When asked what time IOA was opening he said, "8... or maybe 9". Helpful. There were a few more people milling around now all saying that they were told IOA was opening at 07:00. I checked the app and that also said 07:00. Eventually there
was a staff member posted there with a loud speaker saying that it was just US with early opening for resort guests this morning.

I even took a screen shot from the app just to stop me feeling like I was going mad.

That annoyed me a little bit but not as much as some of the Americans around us that really had the hump

We took a stroll over to City Walk as we weren't really much the wiser as to when it would open and we didn't fancy going in and then back out of US.

I decided I would have a healthy breakfast this morning so found myself walking into Voodoo doughnuts.

None of the others were feeling the same health kick as me this morning. I, after a while, went for a voodoo doll.

It was a nice doughnut and from my credit card I can see was £2.64 so a nice cheap and nutritious breakfast.

I met up will the rest at Starbucks. I only have a picture of a couple of pastries but can see Sally spent £18.31 so there must have been a bit more to it.

Whatever Emma had she seemed happy enough with it. We sat on the tables outside to eat. There wasn't many people about at all and it was about 07:45 by this point.

We were soon strolling back towards the park entrance. There was a film crew setting up for something but I didn't make a note of what it was for.

We arrived back at the entrance at 08:00 and there wasn't really much movement going on. Benjamin and Emma were happy playing on the rocks and enjoying the early morning sunshine.

It was a bit of a waiting game now. For those of you that enjoyed my review of the Publix rest rooms here is a nice shot of the rest rooms outside the entrance to IOA.

There is a short back story to why I felt the need to take this photo and WhatsApp it to Sally and friends back home but I've decided The Dibb probably isn't the place for it

Soon staff were appearing at the entrances and queues starting to form. We were eventually heading in at 08:45.

For about the first time on this holiday I felt like I knew my way around this morning and things were looking familiar.

We headed straight round to Hulk.

It's always been one of my favourite coasters. Chloe an I headed straight in. Within a few minutes we were on. Chloe loved this and was itching to get straight back on with Sally. I waited outside as watched them disappear into the Express queue. It was only a few minutes before I realised the ride had stopped and, no movement and the familiar sound of the Hulk flying by had stopped. Slowly people were leaving the queue due to it being down. I waited for about 20 minutes before I started mumbling to myself, "why the hell are they still waiting when they can get on it quicker than this at any time later with the express passes". I got bored of waiting them and took Emma and Benjamin on the ride net to it... can't for the life of me think what it Is called. We walked straight in it... like most people walking on rides rather than waiting for one which was down

Emma and Benjamin really enjoyed the ride and it cheered me up as I was really worried about there not being much for them at IOA.

After waiting for 40+ minutes for the Hulk Sally and Chloe gave up and came and met me where they left me. I politely enquired as to why they felt the need to wait for so long It turns out that the CM's had kept telling them it would be likely to open in the next few minutes and they were actually sitting in their seats ready to go the whole time. I kind of forgave them. Sally was gutted though as this was pretty much her must do ride for the whole holiday having hand fond memories of it from 2011. We vowed to make it back on later in the day if it re-opened or even return another day later in the holiday if it didn't.

Peace and my mental state restored we moved on. Chloe didn't fancy Dr Doom's Fearfall so Sally and I went it alone. It's a bit of a slow loader this one but it wasn't too long a wait with the passes. Sally and I enjoyed it. We then headed straight to Spiderman. I think Chloe and I went on first then Sally and Chloe did it. I remember this ride from my first ever trip and it was completely state of the art then. I didn't think it seemed as good this time but it may just have been that I had already been on some of the modern simulators this time like FOP, Gringotts etc. Still enjoyed it though.

We made our way up towards the Pteradon Fliers. I have memories of waiting with my Dad in 2011 whilst Sally took Chloe on this. It must have taken about 2 hours... and that was January! There are no express queue for this so I did wonder how long this would take. Chloe too Emma on whilst we were waiting with Benjamin. They were gone for just over 20 minutes. Whilst they were gone we noticed a frantic woman crying who had lost her child. They were soon reunited amongst floods of tears. The thought of it did make you shudder but it didn't matter how hard I tried we could never seem to lose any of ours!

Emma loved the Pteradon Fliers. The only hiccup came when they came to get off. Apparently the bar holding Emma in got jammed and they had to pause the ride momentarily to get her out. Emma was starting to have a bit of a panic.

All was good and we headed into Hogsmeade.

I was really looking forward to doing Forbidden Journey again. I think was my favourite ride on our last trip in 2011.

Sally said she wasn't too worried about going on this so Chloe and I headed in. The only downside of the Express Queue is I'm sure we didn't see a lot of the things in the queue that I remember from last time. Maybe we just walked past it all too quickly though. I thought this was Ok. I remembered it being better. It just felt like we were being rolled backwards and forwards a lot but we still enjoyed it.

We came out of here and moved on to Flight Of The Hippogriff. Sally and Chloe took Emma on. Pretty much a walk on with the Express Passes.

Emma absolutely loved it and was full of it when she got back. I watched some of the pupils of Hogwarts parading past whilst they were gone.

Emma wanted to go back on Flight Of The Hippogriff so I took her on.

That was Emma being happy and within about 5 minutes she was having a bit of a tantrum for no apparent reason. Sally and Chloe went to have a go on Forbidden Journey afterall and I dragged Emma away to give her a beating... joking but she was pushing her luck! I took them for a walk and ended up in the smoking area just as you enter Jurassic park from Hogsmeade. In fairness to her it happened rarely on the trip and was probably a mixture of hunger and tiredness. I took some snacks our of the pushchair and that seemed to solve most of the issue.

It was about noon by now so we headed into the Burger Dig for some lunch. We ordered a mixture of burgers and Chicken Tenders between us. I'm sure they had much more, "Jurassic", names than that.

The food filled a gap and came to about £51.00 including drinks. The kids seemed happier now they had lunch. We decided no would be a good time to do Kong as we thought they Emma and Benjamin would probably be asleep soon. Kong was one of the rides Emma could do so we wanted to get that done before she went to sleep.

I took a couple of rubbish pictures as we arrived at Kong.

Chloe and I went on first. This was a new ride to us and one I hadn't really read much about. I have to say I got a bit of De ja vu as we were handed yet another pair of 3D glasses. The ride was enjoyable but a little bit, 'same old'. Emma looked a bit worried most of the way through but soon went straight back on with Chloe and Sally. The queue was probably 15-20 minutes with the Express Passes. Whilst the girls went on I had a bit more boy time waiting wih Benjamin.

It was about 13:00 by now so we decided it was time to hit the water rides. Chloe never does water rides and today was no different. She never has for some reason. We hit Jurassic River Adventure first. This has always been one of my favourites for some reason. It brings back nice memories of going on with my parents in 2011. Sally and I headed on and it was pretty much a walk on with the Express Passes.

We enjoyed it and I just got a bit wet down one side so a pretty unscathed start.

We headed straight off to do the Ripsaw Falls next. We didn't think we would get as lucky in the final drop of this one. As it turned out the final drop wasn't too bad. Purely because by the time we had done all the smaller drops leading up to it we were soaked from head to foot trough the underwear anyway. The final drop couldn't make us any wetter. Chloe amused the kids by watching out for us and squirting water at other unsuspecting guests whilst they were waiting.

When Sally and I returned we looked like drowned rats.

We bit the bullet and headed straight onto the Bilge Rat Barges. We were on a boat with a family that included two teenage Daughters. One of the Daughters was already saying as we got in the boat that she didn't want to get wet. We didn't fancy he chances much. Literally as soon as we set off she pretty much went straight under a waterfall and was drenched from head to toe. Her make up was running all down her face and Sally was shrieking with laughter at her. Sally was apologising for laughing all the way down but was still in fits of giggles about it. She was not at all impressed to have got soaked.

I've read lots of differing opinions on the water rides at IOA but we think they are brilliant. You know you will get soaked and we have always had a great laugh on them. Admittedly I was walking around for the rest of the day with thinking I was going to catch Trenchfoot but you soon dry off in the Florida sun.

It was almost 14:30 by the time we arrived back in Marvel Super Hero Island. We headed into me Spiderman with just a short queue. Emma was being a bit funny and wouldn't have her photo taken with him so Benjamin seemed to follow suit a little bit.

We stopped in the shop on the way out as Sally needed to buy something for a friend. We grabbed the kids a lollypop each. Benjamin's fell into a thousand pieces as soon as he opened it but they exchanged it for another one straight away. I'm pretty sure he had dropped it on the floor before opening it.

It was then time to head to Seuss landing to get the kids rides in there done. First of all we all went on One fish two fish blue or whatever it is called. We remembered this ride from 2011 as this was about the only ride Chloe agreed to go on with her much younger niece. She got squirted with water half way round and cried She used to be so brave!

I then took Emma on the Cat in The Hat ride.

In terms of quality it was probably up there with the Winnie the Pooh ride in Disney but Emma was enjoying herself.

Next we all went on the Carasuess-el.

I'm pretty sure all of these had an Express queue. Even if they didn't they were all pretty much walk ons and the kids were loving it.

Last up I took Emma on the trolley ride. I remember this from our last trip. Sally used to smoke a little back then but no one else new so Sally and I went for a smoke whilst everyone else rode. We spent the whole time worried they would go over head and see her

A short wait for this.

By now it was approaching 16:00 so we headed back to The Hulk which we had heard running. I don't know how long it had been down for.

Sally and Chloe went on. I took Emma and Benjamin off as Emma needed the toilet. Whilst on our travels we saw the superheroes on their quad bikes and stopped to watch for a few minutes.

We headed back to met Sally and Chloe and Sally was a bit disappointed she missed the quad bikes but was very happy now she finally got to ride hulk again. I quickly had a another ride with Chloe before we made our way out of IOA. Still one of my favourite rides.

On the way out we visited Toothsome for a milkshake that we had missed out on yesterday.

(Picture taken on the way in this morning)

They were pretty steep for a milkshake but we all seemed happy enough with them. They were good!

Feeling rather full we headed back towards Highlands Reserve. We had planned to go for a meal on the way back but after a long but fantastic day (and the milkshakes) nobody really felt like it so we got a bit to eat from Macdonalds on the way home which made the kids very happy.

We then had a chilled out evening at he villa. Sally threw a fe bits of washing on and we were all in bed for about 21:30.

We absolutely loved our couple of days at Universal and the Express Passes were worth their weight in gold in easily managing to do everything we wanted to do in the two days. It's still a lot of money to spend for a couple of days out though especially with kids the ages of ours. We had no regrets at all. I have read a lot of people's experience at Universal with problems such as unfriendly CM's, Queue jumping etc. I thought it was spotlessly clean and had a great experience. being told the wrong time the park was opening aside we had a fabulous time. There was very little for Benjamin which we knew anyway but there was just about enough to keep Emma happy. IOA remains one of my favourite parks. My only regret was not getting the photo package for the ride photos but by the time I thought of it we were half way through the second day so it was a bit late!

We have SeaWorld planned for the morning and Chloe and I will be heading back to Universal for Hallowe'en Horror Nights later in the day. We were trying to decide whether SeaWorld would be too much tomorrow when we went off to bed.

[DisneyDaffodil]

Brilliant couple of days at Universal, nice to see your younger children enjoying it so much as many people seem to think as it being more suitable for older children. We visited Universal last year, without small children, but I felt there was quite a few things for all ages.

Bilge Rat Barges has to be the wettest ride in the world, I came off it absolutely dripping! Squelched around all day afterwards and left a puddle on my seat in the Leaky Cauldron 😀

We love all the superheroes meets at Universal, Emma didn’t look too impressed at Spider-Man though 😀 .

Love the look of the milkshakes, we were going to try them but never got around to it but they look so good, pricy though. At least your healthy doughnut breakfast was good value 😀

[Eccle]

Sounds like a great couple of days at Universal, I’m looking forward to doing it for the first time next year. It’s good to hear there was a decent amount for Emma to do too.

Frustrating that you were all ready for the early opening though only for it not to happen

[Milpston]

Originally Posted by DisneyDaffodil

Brilliant couple of days at Universal, nice to see your younger children enjoying it so much as many people seem to think as it being more suitable for older children. We visited Universal last year, without small children, but I felt there was quite a few things for all ages.

Bilge Rat Barges has to be the wettest ride in the world, I came off it absolutely dripping! Squelched around all day afterwards and left a puddle on my seat in the Leaky Cauldron 😀

We love all the superheroes meets at Universal, Emma didn’t look too impressed at Spider-Man though 😀 .

Love the look of the milkshakes, we were going to try them but never got around to it but they look so good, pricy though. At least your healthy doughnut breakfast was good value 😀

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I think our Universal days were up there with our most enjoyed of the holidays. Yes, there are lots of rides the kids couldn't do but if you actually count up how many rides Emma went on at IOA it would be up there with as many rides as she probably did in a day at ny of the Disney parks with her not yet been tall enough for Splash, Soarin etc. I think the water rides are great. I cannot wait til the kids are old enough to do them one day

I just think Emma was in one of those moods where it wouldn't have mattered who the character was. When I booked the tickets for Universal one of the main reasons was because she was Spider man mad at the time

The milkshakes were really good! I'd have had doughnuts from there for breakfast every day if I could have.

[Milpston]

Originally Posted by Eccle

Sounds like a great couple of days at Universal, I’m looking forward to doing it for the first time next year. It’s good to hear there was a decent amount for Emma to do too.

Frustrating that you were all ready for the early opening though only for it not to happen

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We really liked Universal and I think it sometimes gets ropey reviews but we have always liked it.

It was a bit annoying waiting around for nearly two hours

[caitlinsmummy]

What a chew on with early hours, at least you managed to fill in the time with breakfast.

You look so happy on that ride Smile your in Florida!

I wasn't too keen on Kong either, I found the rides in Universal very samey too. I'm glad Emma seemed to enjoy it, Caitlin refused to go on it again

Glad to see Ripsaw Falls did it's job we didn't manage to do it although Bilge Barge Rats did a good enough job for us

Another fab day, the express passes really help don't they xx

[Milpston]

Originally Posted by caitlinsmummy

What a chew on with early hours, at least you managed to fill in the time with breakfast.

You look so happy on that ride Smile your in Florida!

I wasn't too keen on Kong either, I found the rides in Universal very samey too. I'm glad Emma seemed to enjoy it, Caitlin refused to go on it again

Glad to see Ripsaw Falls did it's job we didn't manage to do it although Bilge Barge Rats did a good enough job for us

Another fab day, the express passes really help don't they xx

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It was a bit of a pain as I could have slept for another hour or so

That's my happy 6 chins face I'll have you know!

I really do the enjoy the water rides at Universal. They are just a really good laugh.

I think I would struggle without the express passes. I hate the idea of others being able to get though the queues quicker than me

[LizzyBear]

Great end to your universal stay 😊 Voodoo donuts is defo on my 'to eat' list, I've wanted to go there since they just had the Oregon store. Have to say I don't think it's possible to get anything less than drenched on Bluto's bilge rat barges 😂

[Milpston]

Originally Posted by LizzyBear

Great end to your universal stay 😊 Voodoo donuts is defo on my 'to eat' list, I've wanted to go there since they just had the Oregon store. Have to say I don't think it's possible to get anything less than drenched on Bluto's bilge rat barges 😂

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We had a lovely couple of days at Universal.
If I had my time again I would stock the villa with a few take outs from Voodoo donuts
I don't think you can beat the water rides at Universal. Can't wait until our youngest two are tall enough to join us