Universal Orlando

I am what I yam and that's all that I am. -Popeye





Spring break is eagerly anticipated by many people in northeastern Indiana. Some of those folks will gleefully travel to sunny destinations such as Florida at some phase in their lives. One of my favorite places to visit in the Orlando area is the two-park Universal Studios attraction.





Islands of Adventure (bigger rides) is separated by a long walkway from Universal Studios (more movie stuff). This 'City Walk' is laid out with lots of shopping, restaurants and entertainment at night. Unless you have transportation in, be ready for long lines for parking and crowds at times - this is a theme park. There are moving walkways from parking to the theme park entrance.





Be ready to decide if you are buying a two park or one park ticket. Unless you have more than one day, you won't be able to see and do everything in both parks. Personally, I like these parks better than the Disney franchise. It's all worth seeing, and I think it's worth it to come back even several days. Early in the morning is best to find the shortest lines to your favorite rides.

I'm just going to list some of my favorite things at these parks, starting from Island of Adventure port of entry and then walking clockwise around-

Seuss Landing - I love Dr. Seuss and all his colorful characters. I like to walk through here and just take my own photos. The overhead trolley ride here is fun, and so is some simple do-it-yourself stuff, and the carousel.

The Lost Continent -I like the Sindbad the sailor show, and I adore the pearl jewelry sold here. The Pearl Factory has a booth; it's my favorite jewelry store in the park. There are so many gift stores and stands everywhere, it's too much, but this place is unique with its 'open the oyster' display and gorgeous finished pieces. Their stuff comes with quality guarantees.

Dueling Dragons is on the way to Jurassic Park - the dragons are identical roller coasters that almost have a head-on collision. Your feet are suspended in this ride, so flip-flops or sandals are a bad idea. I really like the Pteranadon ride in this area - it's quieter and kite-like.

Next along the path are a couple of river raft rides, and a big open tree house-like playground in the back of the park. If it's hot out, try the river rides. If it's cold, just let the younger kids climb all through this tree land - they'll have a ball on their own and won't get soaking wet.

Then there's Toon Lagoon, featuring all kinds of comic book characters, many of them from the really old days. It's neat to see them there, large and posted, since my kids never were able to see them in the Sunday paper, that was so long ago. I like to just walk through here with a camera and take all kinds of shots with the big captions, photo boards and staged visual ops.

Then there's the Spider-Man 3-D ride, a free-fall, and the big Incredible Hulk Coaster, at the exit or the entrance of the park, depending on the way you chose to pass through. The Hulk is fast and scary, circles you upside-down like a corkscrew and steals your lose change and sunglasses if you forgot about them.

There's so much to talk about, I'm going to save the second theme park for the next blog. Take your own water, sunscreen, a hat, walking shoes, layered clothing, and some kind of personal device such as an mp3-player, gaming system, book, texting phone, or Kindle, etc. for the lines. See you next time.