Blogging From Orlando - Day 7

Five parks in five days. Is that some kind of record?

WEDNESDAY

Universal's Islands of Adventure

• Today is my and Laura's 15th Wedding Anniversary. Yay us :) More on the festivities later
  
  
• Today was hot hot hot. Except when we were freezing cold. More on that later, too.
  
  
• IOA is a unique park, in my experience, in that theming here is everywhere. Even overshadowing the rides themselves, there's atmosphere all over. The five "islands" in IOA are Marvel Superhero Island, Toon Lagoon (lots of classic comic strip and animated cartoon characters), Jurassic Park, Lost Continent (a combination of Arthurian Ye Olde English, Arabian, Greek and Roman mythology), and (Dr.) Suess Landing. You are completely immersed in the back stories of each area - Marvel Superhero Island is a complete comic book NYC with Daily Bugle, Lost Continent is full of myth and mystery, etc. Visually it's about the most interesting park I've visited.
  
  
• One of the rides in Toon Lagoon was Popeye's Bilge-Rat Barge, a spinning raft ride through a raging river. I believe that was the wettest I've ever gotten on a ride - we were soaked to the bone, and never completely dried off till the day was over. Some of the rides we rode had extensive queue areas, and they were air conditioned. Which normally is a welcome relief on a scorching hot day. Well, when you're soaking wet, it causes you to freeze solid. Brrr...
  
  
• We met my college roommate Gary at Margaritaville after the day was over and had a great anniversary dinner with a great friend.
  

The week is drawing to a close. Tomorrow I return to Universal Studios Florida for a day of secret filming with Gary and his brother Phillip as they produce their next big motion picture extravaganza.