Theme park news and photo blog. Disney parks, merchandise, movies, news and more. I'm just a guy talking about what I love.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure
Today I took a trip out to a few parks that I unfortunately don’t usually have the opportunity to see due to their short hours durring the off season. I of course am talking about the Universal Parks here in Orlando Florida. I have had an annual pass with them for a full year, but haven’t really been able to utilize it that much. So seeing how this is the last month I have to use it, I decided to take a nice leisurely day and explore. I had a nice time exploring all the little details that people miss at Islands of Adventure. I took the time today tokeep my eyes open for things I might have overlooked. I found evidence of a jail brake at Point of Entry and a bunch of gift shops that I have never noticed (in both parks) because some of them are so hidden. I made sure to walk through each and see what they had to offer.
After a nice meal of Shepherds Pie and frozen Butterbeer from the Three Broomsticks, I ventured over to Jurassic Park. Here is where my day became amazing. I just so happend to catch the Triceratops Encounter.
Let me give you a little background on this. This attraction was open when the park first opened in 1999. It closed in 2005. In fact I had heard that all the Triceratops were dismantled and removed. But this past year, to all our surprise and a result of the boom of funding they received from the new Harry Potter expansion, Triceratops Encounter (discovery trail) has reopened five years later. It is unfortunately only open seasonally and only on really busy days.
Today I got lucky and caught it. Most people didn’t seem to notice it and it seemed only two of the four paddocks are open. But let me just say, I really enjoyed it. Its a nice presentation of what is possible. The triceratops was in excellent shape, which is a far cry from the disheveled dinos on the River Adventure. But don’t get me started on what a stupid idea it was to make a raft ride when everybody wanted a ride in the SUVs like in the movie. But I digress. I took some nice video of the experience and i’ll post it soon. Also, for the first time I decided to explore Camp Jurassic. Awesome. I spent about an hour in their exploring all the different caves and paths.
They did a great job on this area, don’t know why I haven’t been through there before. There were a lot of fun hidden things in their too, like a water play area and a closed off cave in a hidden corner that was called Echo Cavern. It really echos. I took a short video of that as well and will post it soon. I only wish they loosened up the rules that adults can only ride the Pteranodon Flyers, if they accompany their child. I want to ride it!
Toon Lagoon has a lot of hidden stuff all throughout if you just take the time to stop and look. One of my favorites is the Family Circus strip hidden to the side. I also enjoy hearing all the different characters singing their parts, when it’s working.
I later took a trip over to Universal Studios and went on Twister, which I still find chilling and amazing for what it is. They do a fantastic job of setting the mood and psyching you out! Jaws is still lame and Jimmy Neutron is open again for the summer for the last time, before it becomes Despicable Me. I ended my day with one of my favorites, The Revenge of the Mummy, and for once everything worked. I guess Potter really is giving them lots of money to play with.