The shape of the day
Islands of Adventure is, for anyone over about 44 inches, the best park in Orlando. Velocicoaster and Hagrid's are two of the finest roller coasters in the world, Spider-Man remains a masterpiece two decades on, and Hogsmeade is beautiful.
It's also the park with the least forgiving crowd dynamics, because of one ride.
Rope drop — and this one really matters
Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure. Go there and nothing else.
It routinely hits two to three hours by mid-morning and stays there all day. It has never been included on Express Pass. It breaks down regularly, which pushes the wait higher still. There is no strategy other than being there when the park opens, or queueing for a very long time.
Be at the gate an hour before official open. Walk — briskly — through Port of Entry, turn left, and keep going.
Then Velocicoaster immediately after. Those two, in that order, and the rest of the day is comfortable.
Express Pass
Worth more here than at Universal Studios, because the waits are worse — but with the significant caveat that Hagrid's isn't on it. If you're buying Express for this park, you still need to rope drop Hagrid's.
Single rider is available on Velocicoaster, Hulk and Spider-Man, and on Velocicoaster in particular it's a superb deal — often 15 minutes against a 90-minute standby.
The water rides
Three rides here will soak you, and not in a light-mist way:
- Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges — you will be wet through. All of you. Completely.
- Jurassic Park River Adventure — the drop at the end does it.
- Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls — somewhere between the two.
Do them in the hottest part of the afternoon, which is exactly when you'll want to. Bring spare socks — wet trainers for the remaining six hours is genuinely miserable. Lockers by each ride take phones.
When it storms
Mixed. Hogsmeade and Marvel have decent indoor capacity — Forbidden Journey, Spider-Man and Hagrid's queue are all sheltered — but Toon Lagoon and Jurassic Park are wide open. The list below is generated from the catalogue.
The pragmatic move at Islands of Adventure in a downpour is to do the water rides. You're getting wet either way.
Food
- Three Broomsticks (Hogsmeade) — the same standard as the Leaky Cauldron; the Great Feast platter is good value for a family. No reservations, so go at 11 or 3.
- Mythos — regularly voted the best theme park restaurant in the world, which is a lower bar than it sounds, but it is genuinely good and rarely fully booked.
- Thunder Falls Terrace (Jurassic Park) — quiet, air-conditioned, proper barbecue chicken and ribs.
Heights
This is the park where height limits bite hardest — Velocicoaster, Hulk and Doctor Doom all sit at the upper end. The exact current requirements are listed below, in inches and centimetres. Check them before you promise anyone anything.
The consolation is Seuss Landing, which is entirely aimed at small children and is charming, and the Camp Jurassic play area, which will absorb an hour for free.