Universal Resort 2016 - Day 2, Islands Of Adventure

We headed into Islands of Adventure (the main park) after lunch and though it was crowded, the park felt much more spread out. The little alcoves and streets of Harry Potter can get quite congested. 

We were so excited to get into the Jurassic Park section of the park and go on the Jurassic Park ride...

Except we found out the ride was closed for the entire week. 

Due to refurbishment.

Major bummer.

Again - had no idea!!!! 

We tried to get on the "Pteranodon Flyers" kiddie ride after that. But again, no express pass was accepted for it (most rides do accept it, only like 4 or 5 don't). It was almost an hour wait. Not worth it. So, we left Jurassic Park a bit frustrated. We planned to try to revisit the flyer ride the next day because Bri really wanted to go on it.

We moved on to the Toon Lagoon part of the park...

I knew there were a lot of water rides in this section. I really, really, really didn't want to get wet though (luckily it had warmed up)...

Bri saw this 3 story drop on the Dudley Do-Right Ripsaw Falls ride and had to go on it. Doug said he really didn't want to do it. So, I took one for the team...

I really didn't like that drop. And I especially didn't like getting soaked after that drop. Bri of course loved every second of it.

This wasn't our car, but this is how it looks going down...

Bri and I went immediately to the people dryers to try to dry off when we were done...

After getting (semi) dry, we decided not to get on any more water rides and continued through the cartoon section...

I actually loved looking at all the nostalgic cartoons and comic strips - Blondie, Cathy, Bullwinkle. It brought me back to my childhood. But, I did think about how it must be totally lost on the kids and young people. Briana had no idea who any of these characters were. I have to wonder if they will ever do a revamp of it in the future.

The next section ~ Marvel...

With the disappointment of Jurassic Park and the jolt of the Dudley Do-Right Ride, I wasn't necessarily having a love affair with Islands Of Adventure thus far.

Luckily, the Spiderman ride was next. And that was pretty cool...

Then we came across Doctor Doom's Fear Fall. Bri wanted to do this soooo badly. I did not. Since I had done the water ride with B, Doug (though quite hesitant) decided to do this one with her...

 Bri LOVED it. Doug actually really enjoyed it. He said once you get past the first drop, it isn't bad at all. I didn't believe him so I still didn't get on. ;) Doug went on with Bri twice!

Here is Doctor Doom himself...

 The Incredible Hulk Coaster is currently closed through the summer. I was not upset about that one bit. If you are a huge roller coaster buff, you would have been disappointed this one was closed...

  After lots of excitement, we took things down a notch in Seuss Landing...

Very cool carousel...

I have to say, it really is the "Islands of Adventure" because even the kid ride "The Cat In The Hat" spun us around in circles...

Bri enjoyed the "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish ride. I love that she still enjoys these "kid" type rides...

You can get a little wet on this ride too. Bri liked that I was getting a bit wet...

We left Suess Landing and headed into the Lost Continent section of the park...

We went into the "Poseidon's Fury" attraction (it's a show)...

It was a bit underwhelming for us and a little corny (you can tell it is a pretty dated). We had to wait in line a while for the show to start which was a bit of a bummer. But, it was nice to slow things down and get out of the bright sun for a few minutes.

After seeing the show, we realized we had gone through the entire park. It was mid-afternoon by that point and we had been there since 7:30. It was time to head back to the hotel.

We did see all the construction for the new King Kong section of the park. It looks super cool. I am bummed we were there too early to see it. Another reason to return to Universal (in a few years) I guess!

 We spent the rest of the afternoon/evening chilling at the hotel because we had another very busy day ahead of us.