Love Universal's Islands of Adventure. Its more of an amusement park geared to older teens and…read moreadults, while Disney caters to families and younger children in my opinion. I love them both actually and try to visit both while in Orlando. Yet, some of the best rides are at Universal! Jurassic World VelociCoaster, The Incredible Hulk Coaster, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, Jurassic Park River Adventure, Skull Island: Reign of Kong, Flight of the Hippogriff, Doctor Doom's Fearfall, Hogwarts Express - Hogsmeade Station and Hogwarts Castle, Marvel Super Hero Island among others. Some good spots to eat too. Mythos is Greek and Mediterranean, Three Broomsticks, and getting a cold butterbeer is a must! Too bad the prices are getting out of hand nowadays and it's a small fortune to do a day or two here. Worth it if you can afford it though.

Islands is a tried & true theme park that I love going to. Although it'd been years since last…read moretime, my recent visit was a great one. It was definitely on par with how I remember it. Friendly staff, functioning rides & great theming all add to the experience. With Velocicoaster opening up in 2021 & not having been since, I was really looking forward to it. I was expecting a lot & that's exactly what it provided! It's by far one of the coolest roller coasters in FL. It has flips, rolls, heights, crazy speed & is relatively smooth. Without a fast pass I was able to ride twice on a Saturday morning. I especially love Dr. Doom's drop tower & the Spider-Man ride. While totally different experiences, they're both fun. I like how the drop tower is reversed, as it shoots you towards the sky & slowly lets you down. I just wish you went up more than once. The Hulk is also a classic. While it was a little more rough than I remember, it's the same adrenaline-pumping coaster that you either love or fear. I have a soft spot for Seuss Landing so I love walking through. Looking at the life sized characters & all of the colorful sets bring a smile to my face. The aroma from the food stands also add to the experience. I've grown up visiting all of the theme parks in FL & would say that Islands is towards the top of my list. If you love roller coasters, it'll scratch the itch. If you're into Marvel, you'll be drawn right in. If you're looking for a hit of nostalgia, you'll find it here.

Fun for the Family. Me and my family went to Fun Spot on a Friday. It was a little wet and cloudy…read morebut we made the most of it. Once the weather cleared up, we got on a few rides and did Go-Karts. I didn't know Fun Spot would be that fun. Enjoyed every minutes of it. We even were able to get a box of NY pizza. Grade: A

Fun Spot is really fun if you go without any expectations. It has a decent variety of rides, and…read moreit's not as tiring as spending a full day at a larger theme park. They have a lot to do in a relatively small space, including roller coasters, a racetrack, Ferris wheel, kids rides, splash pad, arcade games, alligators, and more. We have an annual pass for the kids, and we usually get the chaperone band since a few rides require an adult to ride with the child. There is no admission ticket required to enter the park, which I really like. You can either buy tickets for individual rides or get a pass if you plan to visit more often. The ride attendants follow the height requirements pretty strictly, which is good to see. There is also a large cafeteria, and the food is okay, not anything special, but convenient when you're there with kids. The annual pass is definitely worth it for us. It's a fun place to spend a few hours with little kids without feeling overwhelmed or exhausted, and older kids can enjoy it just as much.

Halloween horror nights at universal was a complete and utter blast!!…read more Be prepared for long lines... some times over 2 hours... wear your most comfortable shoes. We were there from open 6:30pm to close 2am and we hobbled out at the end of the night. If you can afford the lightning pass that is the way to go!!! Ride options are limited but a good break in between and what they have open is good. Food and drink options are many. My sons and I had a very memorable time! And are already planning for next year!!!

So, honestly not much has really changed for us with this part of the park since the last time we…read morecame here. Outside of what was Shrek 3D is Villain Con. Staff we interacted with still did amazing but I do feel like it's time for a few changes. Villains con while a cute experience and fitting to changing that area to minions, took away a nice relief from the heat that was Shrek theater. (And before that Alfred Hitchcock Experience!) The horror make up show was being redone during our trip. A few stores in the Harry potter store felt ... Smaller than I remember, though in that area our intent was mainly looking around. We were able to do everything we wanted to quickly and easily. During a non busy time we did everything my kid wanted to do in about a half a day. Saving a few things for when we did HHN as we knew we needed a few time killers while we waited for the staged openings of the haunts. We skipped the little kids area and Jimmy Fallon, due to lack of interest and not being geared to our age group. I'll be interested to see what they do to bring new life to this park when the Simpsons contract runs out, especially since they are closing the Animal actor experience. So that's a sizeable amount for something new! For HHN, it ran well for us. I liked that they had two houses open at 2, and then we hit some haunts as they opened at 515 or 545. Thought I will say our feet ended up killing us from having to bounce back and forth. Since where they had two haunts that felt like a long walk off to the side where one opened at 2 but the other didn't open for a little more than 3 hours after it, so made for some unexpected back tracking.

This was always my favorite part of IoA! The Spider-Man ride…read morewill never get old! It's been updated a bit since the ride came out, but it still has an old school comic book charm! In my late teens, I finally found the courage to go on the Hulk ride. It's the fastest and scariest coaster I've ever been on! Hulk yelling at the beginning doesn't help btw! I don't like drop rides, so I avoid the Doom fall. I'm glad Universal and Disney still have an agreement to keep this part of the Island! It would be sad to see it go!

Old school (pre Disney) Marvel comics, ride, and stores in Islands of Adventure in Orlando…read more Lots of comic book themed colors and designs here, good for those who are historic comic fans and the meet & greets here looked like fun if busy lines. The Hulk coaster, Fearfall wasn't on when we were there, and the Spiderman 4D experience. End of the day could've used some cleaning, someone had thrown up or really lost a meal on the ground, no one out there cleaning it up...

This was my very first time visiting Icon Park, and I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised…read more The first thing I appreciated was the parking. They have a convenient parking garage where the first three floors are paid parking, while the fourth floor and above are free. That was a nice bonus and made getting there easy. I was actually on my way to a restaurant, so exploring the park wasn't part of the plan. But once I walked inside, I couldn't help but look around. There were restaurants, food vendors, candy shops, drink stands, and so much more. The atmosphere was lively, fun, and full of energy. It looked like the perfect place for families, couples, or anyone just looking to spend a few hours enjoying themselves. This is a short review because I didn't get the chance to experience everything Icon Park has to offer. However, based on my first impression alone, I can definitely say I'll be back. It was filled with excitement for both children and adults, and I'm looking forward to exploring it even more on my next visit.

Overall, I think this is a great place to check out if you are in Orlando…read more We came here because we have Legoland gold passes which means we get free admission to sea life, Madame Tussaud's, and the Orlando Eye. All three of these together took up about two hours and then we were able to go to Cafe tu tu tango to get a bite to eat. This was a great half day experience while we were visiting Orlando. There was a parking garage and parking was super easy. By that time we left around 8:30 PM there were so many cars, but when we first got there at about 5 PM there were tons of spots. They do have parking spots you can pay for in the lower levels so it seems like if you're willing to pay there will always be parking. If you want free parking, you need to go earlier because this seems to be popular for nightlife. I always appreciate when there's so many attractions together that you can walk to. This place has quite a few restaurants, some shops and the attractions all in a contained area. It was very clean and when we came, there was a huge police presence, because apparently a couple weeks before there was hundreds of teenagers that descended to the area and fought. So the place was doing a really good job making sure that everything was safe. This is a place for both families and non-families alike.

Seeing Diagon Alley for the first time in real life is breathtaking, but perhaps the only thing…read morebetter is getting to see it through the eyes of a close friend or family member. It is SO MUCH MORE immersive than the Hogsmeade Village side at Islands of Adventure. And to be honest, I still get excited about watching the dragon breath fire here, even though I've seen it a thousand times by now. This section of the park also comes to life at night and the storefront lights are illuminated. And don't forget to stop by Knockturn Alley as you never know what type of mischief you can get up to there! And don't forget to grab a treat at Florian Fortescue's ice cream shop!

Besides the pretty cool scenery and the escape from gringotts ride, this area is mostly shops…read more When you're in this part of the Harry Potter Park, you have to stay on your around for a little bit and wait for the dragon the spew fire. That's the main draw of this area besides the rides and the shopping

It's magically overwhelming in Super Nintentdo World, and I don't mind it. If you are an adult, I…read morehighly recommend having an adult beverage before entering as it will really make you lean into it all :) Incredibly immersive, I have really lucked out by going at times where it wasn't overwhelming busy--clutch. I do want to go back and focus on mini-games one time as last time I felt a bit rushed.

A very interactive and immersive world in Epic Universe, Super Nintendo World mostly lived up to…read morethe hype for me. I was blown away with the level of detail inside of Bowser's Castle and almost wished I had more time just to look around it before getting on the ride. The Yoshi Ride was underwhelming, however, and I feel like there was more that could have been done with it, even if that meant building an additional structure. I did not participate in using the Power Up bands, but noticed several children that were loving it. It would have been so amazing to experience this world back in the N64 days!

Reviewing an Orlando local childless couple in theory 30s:…read more We rode this for the first time recently and it's really really cute. Neither of us were children's when Despicable Me & Minions become popular, nor do we have children's so we don't have much of a personal affinity for the franchise. Still this is really cute and fun. We would definitely do this again. My husband is prone to motion sickness and this did not bother him at all

Out of both Minion attractions, this one was the better one. My mom is a fan of The Minions, so we…read morewanted to try both out. This was pretty cute, but I didn't feel it was worth the wait. Especially since there were lots of screaming little ones. If it's 30 minutes or less of a wait, I would definitely recommend trying it.

My husband is the car buff in our family. When we were visiting Orlando, we were looking for…read moresomething to do in the daytime while waiting for our grandchildren to finish summer camp for the day. Dezerland kept us busy for a few hours and inside during a very hot day. Besides the Auto Museum, Dezerland also features an arcade, escape room, bowling alley, bumper cars, lazer tag maze, ax throwing, and pool tables. Being of a certain age, we chose to visit just the Auto Museum. There are a variety of attraction packages available if you want to use one or several of the attractions. Everyone entering must fill out a waiver, even if you're visiting just the Auto Museum. The waivers are available online as well as advance ticket purchases. There is also a food court and several shops within the Dezerland complex. I'm not into cars myself but the Auto Museum was impressive. My husband especially loved seeing the vintage cars from the 1940s through the 1970s, although some of the cars shown preceded the 1940s. The displays include vehicles used in movies and popular culture. My favorites were the Mystery Machine and Herbie the Love Bug as I saw the movie Love Bug as a child. Besides cars, the museum also features vintage motorcycles, scooters, bicycles, fire trucks, police vehicles, post office delivery vehicles, subway cars, and buses. The backdrops, movies posters, pictures, and cardboard cut outs of the movie 'stars' and historical figures greatly enhance the experience. I can't imagine the time and energy it must have taken to amass this collection of vintage vehicles. We spent about two hours browsing the huge collection of cars but easily could have spent another hour or two here admiring the old time motor vehicles.

I remember when this used to be festival Bay mall. And then,…read moreafter that, it was already on marketplace. Both were really cool concepts and a fun way to spend a sunny afternoon outside of the heat. Now it's become a year-round indoor car show, and I really don't care for it . Most of the shops they used to be here are gone. The only thing that really remained are the theater and the putt putt golf. It's cool if you're into vintage cars and a car museum for props that were used in movies and TV, but other than that, there's not much else to do

This is another classic dark ride from the park. It starts off as a fun river raft type ride and…read morethen has a pretty sick drop at the end. This is one of the rides I used to scare the crap out of me when I was a kid . It was all fun and games until the drop at the end ! This is a pretty good thrill, seeking ride though !

The Jurassic ride at Universal Hollywood has been an attraction I've enjoyed for over two decades…read moreas I live on the west coast. When I heard Universal Orlando kept theirs Jurassic Park themed versus Jurassic World, I was super stoked for my trip in December 2024 with my parents. The concept is the same between parks, but loved it being a little different. Still a great ride regardless of what coast you are on. Bring a poncho, and be prepared for a wild adventure where you will get wet. Pro tip: there are dryers if you want to purchase time to drive yourself off. Love this concept as I haven't seen recently in a theme park.