An Ice Cream a Day is the Moreton Way! - Day 5 Islands of Adventure

[LLKJDisney]

Tuesday 28th May 2019

Despite our new surroundings we all had a great night’s sleep; Lee said the beds were very comfortable although I must admit I prefer a softer mattress. We wanted to be in the park for opening at 9am so we set the alarm for 7am. It was due to be another scorcher. Lee got showered first and then went to guest services to purchase our tickets for IOA. As we only wanted 1 day in the Universal theme parks, we were unable to find any cheaper 1-day tickets before we came out. We did consider trying to do IOA and US in the same day and buying a multi park ticket but in the end, we decided that might be bit too much to handle. Lee said there was a small queue at guest services but he got sorted with the tickets and $525 later we had our little bits of card to enter the park. While Lee was gone, I packed up the room and got the boys ready, trust me Lee had an easier job! We left the room to put our case in the car, the hotel lobby was packed people everywhere.

We decided to walk over to IOA and we were at the turnstiles by 8.45am. We were let in just before 9am. The crowds seem to split; half went towards Hulk and half went towards Harry Potter. We were not in too much of a hurry as we knew our front of the line passes would save us lots of time today. You may have noticed that we had not had breakfast yet so we stopped at the Moon Bakery which was empty. Lee had an egg/cheese and ham croissant, Jacob had a bacon and egg croissant and I went for a bacon/egg and cheese croissant with a nice cup of tea, which was very nice.

Lucas just wanted cereal but halfway through his tummy troubles struck and he didn’t finish his Frosties. We gave him some more “Magic medicine” and hoped he would be ok. He really was struggling with these soaring temperatures.

After a family meeting we decided to go on Spiderman first, we all loved it, Lucas though it was amazing. We then met the man himself in the shop,

although both boys seemed to be star struck and wouldn’t say a lot despite Spiderman’s best efforts.

We then strolled through toon lagoon, the rapids were not open yet so we avoided a soaking and no one wanted to go on Dudley Do Right Ripsaw falls.

Next up was a new one for us the Revenge of Kong. Standby was 30 minutes but with our FOLPs it only took 10 minutes. I thought it was brilliant, it was quite intense and I thought Lucas would be a bit unsettled but he loved it. We said we would go on again a bit later. We wondered round to Jurassic World and the boys went on the Pteradon flyers. Jacob was classed as an adult so could supervise Lucas. We waited about 20 minutes for them as the FOTL passes are not valid on this ride. We watched as loads and loads of adults were turned away from the ride for being too big. Lucas said it was ok but did not want to go on again. Next up was the Jurassic Park River Adventure, this was a walk on so Lucas didn’t really have time to back out, he is not keen on big drops. We were sat in the 2nd row, so got more sprayed rather than soaked. Lucas hated the drop but liked the rest of it.
It was now time for a little break, that’s the good thing about having the passes you don’t have to worry about wait times going up and you can actually take a bit of time, we were starting to realise that the FOLP were a real game changer!

We purchased a refillable cup for $16 which meant we could refill all day. This was only really for Lee and I as the both the boys only ever drink water. I like the refillable cups but I do find you do drink a lot more soda when you have them as you want to get your monies worth. We also had some snacks that we had brought with us (little pots of Oreos, cookies and pringles).

The queue time for the meet and greet with Blue was 30 minutes and there was no shade so we didn’t fancy that.

Next up was Harry Potter and the crowds in this area increase dramatically. Jacob and I went on FJ while Lee waited with Lucas. Last time Lee went on it made him feel sick and he didn’t want to ruin the rest of the day and Lucas wasn’t keen either. The ride is still amazing although I think FOP is better. It was Jacob’s first time and he loved it. We decided to go on the Flight of the Hippogriff, mainly because we wanted to get a look at the new Hagrid ride but it was well covered up. We waited 15 minutes for the hippogriff which was probably our longest wait of the day.

After soaking the cooling towels and refilling the drinks cup we had a quick look round but the area was packed and it was so hot and sticky it wasn’t enjoyable at all. We moved onto the Lost Continent where there were no crowds at all. It seems a wasted area in my opinion maybe it will be developed soon. Into Seuss Landing and onto the trolley ride which was fun and gave some great views of the park.

It was then straight onto the Carrousel which seemed to take for ever to load people on and off. We then decided to have another break in the café, we cooled down and had some more snacks.

The only problem with taking these breaks is that it is harder to get going again. Next up was one fish, two fish. Despite my fears we didn’t get to wet. We complete Seuess Landing by riding the cat in the hat ride which Lucas found hilarious. We never waited more than 5 minutes for any of the rides in Seuss Landing thanks to the FOLPs.

We were now back at the entrance and after a quick chat we decided to do a 2nd circuit and go on some more rides. We met some animals from Madagascar who were tucked away.

Lee wanted to do Hulk as it is his favourite coaster. He tried hard to convince Jacob but fear got the better of him and he wouldn’t do it. Lee rode on his own and was on and off in no time, he asked for the back row and said it was as good as ever. When he came off, I decided I did not want to miss out so went on. I was near the back and thought it was brilliant.

The boys wanted to do Spiderman again which was great but it did break down during the final scene but that didn’t bother us. We then met the Green Goblin and Doctor Doom.

As like previous days it was absolutely sweltering. The boys decided they want to go on the Barges, having been on before I didn’t fancy squelchy shoes so I held the bags while they went on. There was a 70-minute standby wait but they just walked straight on. They were absolutely soaked but had great fun. Lee said they might as well have jumped in the water they were that wet. Jacob was a bit of a wimp and decided he wanted to get changed; I had take a spare change of clothes for the boys as I knew this could be on the cards!

Next up was Kong again and I think it was better 2nd time around as you noticed more things going on. We also had a different guide narrating the ride. It was now 4.30pm and we decided that we had done enough for the day and made our way to the exit. Lucas dropped off in the stroller which was a shame as on the way back through Marvel Land we saw Wolverine and Jacob had a picture with him. Wolverine is one of Lucas’ favourite characters and he was gutted to have missed him.

We filled up our drinks cup on the way out to make sure we got full value 😊. The walk to the car park in 100-degree heat seemed to take forever but we eventually made it. We all agreed it had been a great day, I had not been expecting it to be so good as I am a Disney person but I think having the FOTL passes really helped as we didn’t have to rush and we didn’t have the stress of standing in queues for long periods. The boys definitely were fans of IOA.

As usual it was a slow drive down the I4. We decided to go straight out for dinner as if we went back to the villa, we would probably not get back out of it. We decided on Millers Ale House, it is another one of our favourites and kids eat free there on a Tuesday (although they are not keen on honouring this).
I had a Chicken Burger which was ok (not great), Lee went for a double burger with cheese and bacon and both the boys went for hot dogs and fries although Lucas said he didn’t like the taste. The service was ok, there was quite a big American party in (20+) so they took up a lot of the waitress’s time. They did try and charge us for the kid’s meals, which happened to us last time we were here. They advertise it all over their menu but then say you have to request to take the kids meals off the bill. Anyway, they were taken off and the bill was $50 including tip. The boys wanted some more water squirters for the pool as they had broken the ones, they got the other day (they were only a $1) we went to the 5 below store, they some huge water guns which they bought instead they looked great but turned out to be pants! To be honest I found the $1 tree shop a lot better than $5 below. We went back to the villa to chill out and have some fun in the pool.

Tomorrow was our first visit to Hollywood Studios and possibly our last early morning 😊