Islands of Adventure?? About This Page:

[DMAC91]

We are doing 2 weeks in Florida. I have 8 days at Disney (yeah) and one day at the Holy Land, 2 days at the beach and one day at Islands of Adventure planned.

It has been about 8 years since I went to IOA. Can I still do it in one day and get in most of the attractions? I don't care about the shows as much as getting on most of the rides. My kids are 13 and 5 so I have to mix big and small rides.

What do you think? I don't really want to spend 2 days in that park.

[Colexis Mom]

Personally I think it might be tough. We were there last week. First priority was WWoHP. We were let in at 8:45 and headed straight for Forbidden Journey. Then did the small rollercoaster, and then DD did the Dueling Dragons. DH and DD then went to ride the Hulk while DS and I went to Seussland (we only got in the Caroseussel and the Cat in the Hat). Had lunch, and then went to do Spiderman. We finished up around 2 PM, but hadn't even gone to the other areas of the park. If WWoHP isn't important to you, then yes, you could probably do it. Or if you split up, with one of you taking the older one on the thrill rides and one taking the smaller one thru Seussland and the smaller rides (like Ptyeradon flyers - I think I spelled that wrong).

[Gin]

We did it in a day over winter break but we stayed onsite and had the unlimited XPasses.

[Shell_of_the_South]

I think you can hit the high spots in IOA in one day.

[FlaJill]

It depends on your definition of "most" I guess. Most of the rides in the whole park? Or most of your favorites? I would say definitely not most of the rides in the whole park. If you are really set on only spending one day in IOA, it would be worth it to pay extra for the Express Pass. It's a smaller park and gets insanely crowded really quickly. Make sure you are waiting when the gates open and go to the area where you want to spend the most time first, and perhaps you'll get all your favorites in. We also like to get the 2-park option, but my kids are older teens and really like the Rip Rocket and Mummy rides over in Universal Studios.

The biggest problem I have with Universal is the lack of maintenance and frequent breakdowns. It seems every time we go there is at least one ride that we really, really want to ride that breaks down before we get on it. Last time it was the Forbidden Journey, the time before that it was Dueling Dragons and before that it was Mummy's Revenge. They just don't invest in the maintenance like Disney does.