Negative-G - Universal's Islands of Adventure

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Universal's Islands of Adventure, Orlando, Florida

Universal's Islands of Adventure has been at the top of my parks to visit list since it opened to the public in 1999.

When guests came through the gates of Islands of Adventure for the first time the theme park world changed. It wasn't just a new park. The buzz not only in the enthusiast world but with the general public was that this was a game changer. It had amazing rides, immersive theming, and the thrill that the Disney parks sorely was missing.

In the following twenty-two years the buzz about Universal's Islands of Adventure hasn't died down and I was more than a little psyched to head through the gates to finally explore this park.

Just a side note that I didn't first enter Islands of Adventure through the Port of Entry. My days at Universal Orlando began at the Universal Studios and as a result I took the Hogwarts Express between London to Hogsmeade. For the purpose of being able to really tell the story of my experiences at Universal's Islands of Adventure we will start at the front of the park. Also a little warning that this trip report is forty-six pages long. It could have easily been triple that length as Islands of Adventure is insanely photogenic. In fact I walked away with well over 2,500 photos of the park. It took me forever to put this trip report together partly because it was so hard thinning out the mass of photos and choosing which ones to use.

Universal's Islands of Adventure is themed to be a journey through distant exotic lands that are easily the kind of place where even the heartiest explorer could get lost in.

The Port of Entry is the place to prepare for your journey. There are a number of outfitters and even a tuk-tuk to get you around....well not really as it is just some theming. Dear Universal if you ever want to build a coaster/dark ride themed to a wild tuk-tuk ride I'll gladly line up to take you up for a ride.