Florida fun Part 4 - Universal Islands Of Adventure

Hello lovelies! Bit of a later post today as I've been busy taking pictures for just 1 of 3 outfit posts I have planned over the next week or so. I've also been taking advantage of the free listing fees on eBay for today only, as we often (especially me) have bits and bobs we don't want anymore. If you'd like to check any of the items out here's a link but please do excuse the cringey name and random things on there, it's a shared account between the three of us!

Anyway, now that sneaky plug is done and dusted it's time for the fourth installment of my Florida updates and it's Islands of Adventure which was without a doubt my second favourite after Magic Kingdom. Harry Potter was outstanding, the ride in the castle was the best ride I've ever been on and the scenery around every section was ultimate picture worthy.

I like how these two pictures made sense together, the adventure began and you entered a magnificent place with delightful sights and lovely colours. Palms trees always make everything look 100% prettier!

It was quite surprising seeing a Christmas gift shop on site seeing as it was only July and I know the superstition is it's bad luck to notice anything Christmassy before Winter time but I couldn't resist admiring the gorgeous detail; my favourite being the giant red bows.

The hulk coaster was another one I certainly got my kicks out of. It started and was over so quickly it was THAT fast. You started off clonking slowly up a steep track and then without your acknowledgement you sped off, I swear my life flashed before my eyes. This part was the 'superhero' part so as we were enjoying another desired waffle cone ice cream (Ben and Jerry's may I add, mmm) these superheroes came flying down on their vehicles making everyone come to a stop and move to the side of the road to admire them. Random happenings like this regularly occured in each theme park we visited.

Our new friend, Spiderman!

The top two pictures are just us admiring the views and the well thought out buildings once again but the bottom two pictures is a short story on how we decided to go on the Popeye river rapids water ride and got even more drenched than we did on the one at Animal Kingdom! Even so that this time we had to go in a people dryer, despite then going on the Jurassic Park ride and getting more wet (but this time we made the sensible idea of wearing ponchos). Fun times I'll always remember!  

For some reason I like this picture. It was one of those casual snaps as we took a break due to our erratic ached feet and I have no idea what they were looking at, but yeah, I like it :)

It was time for the daily afternoon storm so we took shelter in the nearest Betty Boop gift shop, which explains the first picture, but how stylish is it? I thought it was so Moulin Rouge/chic esque. I'm sure you'll be able to guess by the second picture that after that we headed off to Jurassic Park which like the others felt just as if you were in the movie with the dinosaur heads placed everywhere and the nature surroundings. The production of the Jurassic Park ride was classic, how they made machinery which looked like real-life dinosaurs rise from water, I will never know.

This was Dr Seuss land and the top picture was the Toon Lagoon log flume which unfortunately we never got the chance to go on as it was a very popular ride and the queue time overlapped our taxi pick up time!

This was just one of many of the cute, inspirational quotes around the Dr Seuss area.

Now onto The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. As you can see, the castle was stunning and was the main attraction but inside was even better, it was just a shame they didn't allow you to take pictures and I didn't think of sneaking my phone in plus the quality would have been poor as it was dark in there. Basically, as you queued it took you on a tour of the outside and then off you went inside the castle gates to listen to Hermione, Harry and Ron (oh and Dumbledore) tell you what was going to kick off. You sat on a claw-type seat and it didn't actually move much, just jerked around but as it was a simulation it felt like you were flying through Hogwarts with Harry and friends on a broomstick. You passed the familiar locations such as the classrooms, Dumbledore's office etc and then as you left the 3D type screen, you saw the actual stone castle with creatures coming out at all ends. It really was a one of a kind ride experience. 

Don't you just hate it when someone's head gets in the way of a perfectly focused photo?

Hogwarts and Hogsmeade were split into separate parts so after you'd had a whale of a time at Hogwarts, you could stroll onto Hogsmeade to visit the shops and the 'snowy' streets. Now I don't know if it was my imagination, whether they were acting out or whether they were actually British but I noticed every single member of staff had a (sometimes quite badly attempted) English accent and it really amused me but it made the whole concept even more unique and matching to what the iconic tale of Harry Potter is.

The Hogwarts Express train driver was also and I quote 'British' and he was a bit of a comic. We asked for a photo near the train, he walked off and I had to shout 'no with you!' so he came back and put his thumbs in the air...

Even as you travelled up to the rides, hidden traits like the Harry Potter car could be found!

Hope you enjoyed another long post and I do aplogise for my ramblings, thank you in advance if you are reading them. I must admit, it's nice to reminisce on the treasured times by blogging about them. Has anyone else ever been to Islands of Adventure so I can share how amazing it is with you? 

Stayed tuned for part 5 which will be the second to last main park, Hollywood Studios.

Lots of love...

P.S. I hope everyone doing A Levels got the grades they wanted today, well done to you if you did!