Universal's Islands of Adventure
To cap off an incredibly short trip to the Sunshine State, I chose to spend as much time as possible at Universal's Islands of Adventure. Joining me were Erik and Misty of Erik & Smisty's Florida Oddventures and Erik & Misty's Smoky Mountain Adventures fame. Erik and I go way back, back to the days of the Haunted Shack, but that's a whole other story. This update is about Florida. We also took a brief tour of SeaWorld, but don't ask me why that's not in this update. Just enjoy these pictures because it takes me forever to organize photos, OK? Click to Enlarge
The adventure - and my day - begins.
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The entrance to Islands of Adventure is nicely themed — and dare I say "adventurous"?
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First island up is Seuss Landing, where The Cat in the Hat was unfortunately closed for rehab.
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The High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride, which was fun but oddly required restraints.
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On to the Lost Continent, otherwise known as the future site of more Harry Potter-based attractions.
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Which is too bad, because there are a lot of cool things to look at here.
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But while it's cool to look at, the biggest attraction on the island at this point, Poseidon's Fury, has seen better days.
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Now we're heading into Hogsmeade.
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See? I told you it was Hogsmeade.
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The shops are straight out of the Harry Potter books, full of fun details and incredibly cramped.
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There's Honeydukes. No word on if there's a secret tunnel in the cellar that leads to Hogwarts.
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There's the Hog's Head pub, where you can buy butterbeer at the bar instead of waiting in a crazy line at the cart outside.
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This shop has a squealing mandrake in the window, which is cute but annoying.
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Fun little details all around.
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Then there's Hogwarts, which is actually a massive show building for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.
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Sherbet Lemon.
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Talking portraits, or as Erik likes to say "Ooooh (sarcasm). How did they do that?" Where is Erik, anyway?
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So I said, "Hey! Why don't we go on Dudley Doo-Right's Ripsaw Falls?"
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That's us in the back of the second boat. We got a little soaked.
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Erik (pictured) had a devious plan. "Why not go on Popeye and Bluto's Bilge Rat Barges? It's cool, and you're already wet!"
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So off I went, in a raft all by myself, thinking, "This can't be too bad."
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It was. And the walk-in dryer outside the attraction was out of order, so I had to dry off the cheap way: using the Florida sun. The End.
Photos by M. Sedlar, 2011 |
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