Should we go?

[Big Mack]

Hi everyone

I am planning my families first trip to Florida for September 2004 and i have quickly realised that there is no way we will be able to see every park (not enough time, not enough money!!)
We are planning to go to the 4 Disney parks plus Typhoon lagoon, Blizzard Beach, Universal and Sea World which i reckon will take up a large chunk of our fortnight.
My two kids will be 8 and 6 and basically i am wondering if IOA is a park we could miss out this time or is it one that we should definately do.

Thanks
[)]

[athurstance]

Although your kids will be too small for some of the major rides at IOA there is a lot there to interest them. Mine were 9 and 7 last time we went there. They were able to ride quite a lot - so it depends really how tall your kids are. Mine went on most things except The Hulk, Dr Doom and Duelling Dragons. They loved Spiderman and the Unicorn coaster and Seuss Landing was a huge hit.
We spent a couple of mornings at IOA. If you buy multi-day tickets for Universal you can just wander in for an hour or so and see what you think.

Angela

[Ann]

HI Mack
you are planning a lot for your trip [|)]
we went to IOA in october my kids 7 and 9 they had a great day really enjoyed watching me getting soaked
again as said before depends how tall your kids are what they can get on
as you have already planned a lot why not wait till you get there and see how much time you have left then you can always add it at the end if the wallet will stretch and the feet can take it
just a thought as you are going to Universal can you not get a 2 day 2 park ticket which includes universal and IOA ??or a 1 day 2 park ticket not sure what the price difference is

[esprit]

Islands of Adventure has Spiderman which is the best ride in Orlando and leaps and bounds technologically in front of any other ride. It would be worth going just for that alone. Poseidons Fury is another attraction that they will really enjoy as well as the Sinbad show. They will love Jurassic Park with its dinosaur themed big log flume ride, the Triceratops Encounter where you can see a " living breathing dinosaur" and the Pterandon Flyers where you can zoop over a primeval landscape in chair suspended from a flying dinosaur. There are loads of water rides, flumes and rapids, in Toon Lagoon and kids love to get wet and they will enjoy Cat in the Hat in Seuss Landing. Sure there are a lot of big heavy roller coasters but there is lots more besides. I would not miss it if you have any option. The two park escape pass is good value and entitles you to go in both parks on the same day and unused days never expire. If nothing else, ensure that you catch Spiderman by bopping into IOA before you go into Universal and doing that. It gets some fair queues so go in there first and fastpass it, not last. There is only a very short walk between the two parks.

[Andy & Arlene]

I personally prefer Universal & IOA to the Disney parks. As has been mentioned before, lots of ace rides that you and your kids will enjoy.

Arlene

[mikewj]

Islands of Adventure is my favourite park, but then I am 33 and love coasters.

Having said that, there are only three rides that your kids may miss out on, The Hulk, Duelling Dragons and Dr Doom's Fear Falls all of which have a 54" height restriction (I think).

While the first two are excellent roller coasters, Dr Doom isn't much to shout about and equivalents can be found in Blackpool (The Sony Playstation now called Ice Blast) and other static fairs around the UK.

But its not all coasters. There are three great water rides in Bluto and Popeyes Bilge Rat Barges, Dudley Do Right's Rip Saw Falls and Jurassic Park River Adventure, not to mention the brilliant Spiderman anda host of other child orientated rides and attractions that are dotted around the park including Suess Island which is specifically for kids, but fun for adults too.

As you can probably tell from this, I'd definitely recommend IOA for you and your kids, however that does give you 9 parks to get around in 14 days, which might be a bit tiring, especially for the children.

You could always use the two water parks as rest days, relaxing in the lazy river and wave pools giving your feet a well earned break.

As for tickets, you should buy a 2 day Universal Escape ticket, giving you access to Universal Studios and IOA in a similar way to Disney's hopper passes.

A bit of a ramble, but hope it helps with your decision.

[chris]

On our first trip to Orlando we left out Universal altogether. If you can possibly afford to go back for a second holiday I say its a good idea to keep something back for that time. We have just been for our 3rd holiday and this time used up the last day on our 3 day universal tickets. The advantages are you dont get theme park fatigue by feeling you have to do everything on the first visit, it spreads the cost as there are less tickets to buy in one go, and you've still got something new to look forward to.
Next time we will be visiting Busch Gardens for the first time and are also planning on a dinner show.

[Big Mack]

Hi guys

Many thanks for all your great advice. IOA sounds like the kind of place my kids would love so i guess i have a bit of thinking to do, just as well i am not going till NEXT September eh!!!!!

[chris]

Sorry to disagree with you cherryboy but my kids adore Blizzard beach and enjoy typhoon lagoon too. They love the yellow individual tyre ride at t-l and the massive wave machine pool. I suppose it all depends what sort of things you personally enjoy. I like just sitting on a tyre going around the lazy river all day, I cant stand the water slides.

[steph_goodrum]

We were most upset that we weren't allowed on the Pteranodon Flyers, to go on them you MUST be accompanied by a child UNDER a certain height and as our daughter is now 5'9" we didn't qualify, it's not to do with the weight or height of the adult as there were some very large people on there. What was annoying though was that if one of the adults was small then you could get on, we saw one couple where the lady was Chinese and must have been about 40 her other half was over 6 foot but they were allowed on as she came below the height. Our daughter would have been too tall even on our first trip when she was 10.