Thoughts on IOA

[mickeyfanz]

My husband and I did a one day trip to IOA on Thursday 12/20. We arrived right before the park opened and we were able to have done all of the major attractions by 11am!!! There was nobody there and we had no waits on anything. We enjoyed IOA very much - we have been to US before and did not have a positive experience there. I am glad that we decided to try IOA though.

We both felt that this park is great if you have pre-teens and teenagers but would not be as great for younger children. We left our toddler at home and were glad we did. Suess Landing would have been nice but once you get through with that, there would not have been too much for him to enjoy. We also felt that the Cat in the Hat ride was a little rough - we weren't expecting it to spin quite so hard. Both of us were thrown up against the bar on one of the first spins. If we had our little one, he really could have hurt himself.

We enjoyed Grinchmas and all of the Whoville decorations. The Grinch was great as well as watching the kids playing and sledding in the snow.

As far as the thrill rides, we enjoyed both Hulk and Dueling Dragons coasters. I am a ride chicken but I went on them anyway and made my husband sit in the middle on both of them. He rode the front of Dueling Dragons Ice by himself which he thought was the ultimate fun. We also really like the Jurassic Park ride - great drop at the end. My husband rode Dr. Doom and said it was pretty weak (especially in comparison to MGM's TOT). Our biggest let down of the day was Spiderman. Before everyone freaks out, it was good but everyone on this board have been talking it up so much that we were expecting a little more. I think it would have helped if there was a storyline for this ride - all of the events seemed kind of random. Like I said, it is a good ride - just not what everyone had talked it up to be.

We both felt cheated that we could not ride the Pteradon Flyers without a kid! We wanted to borrow someone's child because it looked like a lot of fun. I personally would have never ridden it as a child - the parent does not even sit with the child - they sit behind them and it is really high off of the ground. We were sad that we missed out and felt discriminated against for being an adult!

We had lunch at Margaritaville in City Walk and it was pretty good (not a "must-do" though). The atmosphere is good if you like Buffett.

All in all we had a nice day at the park. We will probably go back but it won't be for several years when we have older kids (or we get another getaway without them)!

 

[nhrenee]

I'm glad you had a fun trip! Good for you going on the coasters! Hulk is so smooth!

Don't be sad you missed the flyers, you really didn't miss anything. I rode it with my 7 year old and the actual "ride" time is like 30 seconds! Even she said "it's over already?!" lol. We waited 15 min for this, defenitely a max wait time for me!

I've ridden Spiderman, I'd guess, 20 times. And I love it every time! My dh says it's fun but only rides it once a trip.

 

[ProfesserBaxter]

Originally posted by mickeyfanz
We both felt that this park is great if you have pre-teens and teenagers but would not be as great for younger children....I think it would have helped if there was a storyline for this ride - all of the events seemed kind of random.

Not to be mean or all but how much more of a story line on spiderman do you actually need? I have to say there is a lot for young kids to do at IOA you got seuss, camp jurassic, me ship, and the discovery center, street shows with cartoon characters,
so actually there is alot kids enjoy also quite a bit of them enjoy poseidon and sinbad alot. Tower of Terror rocks but Dr. Doom is totally different. If you go on DD thinkingits the same as tot you will be dissappointed.

Like I said I'm not trying to knock you down but I just had to put my imput on it.

My 2 cents I can have more fun in one day at Universal than 5 days at disney

 

[Earl]

I'm kinda with the Baxterman on the Spiderman comment. In order to get the storyline on any attraction, you need to look and listen throughout the queue and preshow. It sounds like you missed it all on the way in. Of course, that's a disadvantage to using the Express system, you bypass much of that material for the sake of wait time.

Cat hasn't been a problem. I guess that it may have caught you off guard. It's a very popular ride with kids.

 

[nhrenee]

Remember guys, she said she had a toddler (think age 3 and under!). I think her comments were pretty apporopriate.

 

[Earl]

I read it as it was a let down to her and her husband because it didn't have a storyline, that the actions were random. I don't think she meant from the perspective of her little one. I wouldn't expect a three year old to understand the story on Spiderman.

 

[mickeyfanz]

Maybe the problem with Spiderman was that we had no wait (not from the Express system - there was just no line at all) and we breezed right through whatever set-up plotline that was in the queue! We may have understood the plot more had there been a longer wait. My husband enjoyed all of the villian characters (he knew all of their names) but I didn't so that also hurt my enjoyment of it. Sorry, I wasn't a big Marvel comic junkie growing up. Once again, I thought it was a good ride - I was just expecting a little bit more due to all of the psych-up I got from this forum.

Like I said, my toddler (almost 2) wasn't with us so he had no comments on any of the rides! Even with the attractions that ProfessorBaxter mentioned, I still think somewhere like MK is a better choice for little ones. Besides Suess Landing, most of the other cartoon characters are old classics - how many of your little kids know who Beetle Bailey is?!! So while we enjoyed them, I don't think my little one would have lit up like he would have been to other characters. If they had Barney or something similar at IOA, I may have felt differently.

We enjoyed IOA very much - I just think I will wait to take my little one until he is at least 7 or 8 so that he can maximize his enjoyment too.

 

[anne60]

The first time you ride it, especially without the pre-show, it all goes too fast to get the story. This is actually a plus in my book... I rode it six times in a row and was still noticing things that I had not seen before. I agree that a 7 or 8 year old will get more out of IOA...I think the same can be said of every park. My daughter went to Disney for the first time at age 7, and we thought that was perfect...she could enjoy it all! Of course, I was 39 and I had a heck of a time as well!!!!

 

[WebmasterBarry]

I remember when I first rode Spiderman. It was during the preview days and the queue was 0 minutes. I had to avoid a spilled milkshake in the queue.

When I rode it, I had to pick my jaw off the floor. It was quite amazing!

 

[Molokai Gram]

I think a small one may enjoy US better than IOA, but I do not agree that WDW is better for small ones than US/IOA. My grandkids and most kids I know know the Seuss characters more than the Disney ones. Most of the Disney characters are from movies. We read Dr. Seuss books to our kids, grandkids and they read them themselves when they started to read. This reinforces the characters for them. Unless you have the videos or shop at the Disney store, all the princesses, Toy Story, 100 Dalmations, and even the Mouse and gang are not currently well known UNLESS the parent keeps pushing the characters or buys products with the character on it. (My grandchildren who were born after Beauty and the Beast, were terrified by the Beast and had no idea who he was. ) Most little kids know Barney from the TV show (and he is at US) and Seuss from the books, but the mouse is not really part of their life, unless the adult makes it so.

Little ones also don't seem to enjoy rides as much as adults do, but they seem to love play areas and probably would prefer to stay in the play area all day (but the adult is thinking I paid $$$ for the park not just the play area). WDW has few play areas and they are not as interesting as those in IOA (the Seuss one is fabulous) and in the Kid Zone at US. We always have to drag the kids away from these areas. So from a child's point of view, IOA can be a terrific play area, albeit expnsive.

Actually, the best theme park for little ones IMHO is actually not in Florida. Knottsberry Farm in California has Camp Snoopy just for little ones and it has rides made for them (like semi trucks they drive and airplanes they fly); petting zoo; and play areas. Adults cannot even ride many of these rides.

 

[WebmasterBarry]

I have a hard time coming out of some of these play areas. I could hang out in Curious George all day and get people wet!

 

[thefoyboy]

Barry,

Is this an invitation for us to have water wars there the first week or Mardi Gras? I'm up for it as anything over 70 degrees is a heat wave to me...

 

[WebmasterBarry]

Is this a squirt-off in Camp Jurassic?

 

[thefoyboy]

My finger is already itching on the trigger...

By the way, does Wet & Wild have that new giant, drop out of the bowl, water slide? I heard they did but was not sure.

 

[Notatourist]

Molokai dear-

If you can ever swing it, GO TO USJ! The Snoopy area there alone is worth the price of admission.

 

[nhrenee]

What is USJ?

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

universal studios japan

 

[ProfesserBaxter]

Two questions answered the ride i and wildis called The Storm and of course usj is univesal studios japa by the way they are doing very well in park attendace.

 

[Molokai Gram]

Aloha Notatourist!
We are hoping to go to Japan next year to see both the Universal and mouse parks. Keep your fingers crossed! Hope you will be meeting with us in February. Do you have any pictures of USJ?
Donna

 

[ProfesserBaxter]

USJ has the same layout and looks just about the same as USF but for a few changes no kong and no quake and they got wild west area and hey also got JPRA.