Skip to content
UNIVERSAL ORLANDO · ORLANDO, FLORIDA

Islands of Adventure

“the adventure begins at the lighthouse”

Eight islands around one lagoon — a lighthouse lights the way from a Seussian curl of streets to Hogwarts' spires, past a green launch coaster and a pair of very tall wooden gates.

The Pharos Lighthouse
Icon · Port of Entry

✦ the pharos lighthouse still sweeps its beam every night — follow it in

THE ANIMATED COLLECTION · 16 PIECES

queue-times

Seuss Landing

3
The Cat in the Hat
Dark ride
Thing One and Thing Two, witnessed from a couch.
Caro-Seuss-el
Spinner
A carousel of creatures who never existed.
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
Spinner
Follow the song or get squirted. Those are the rules.

Hogsmeade

3
Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
Dark ride
Flight over Hogwarts by enchanted bench.
Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure
Coaster
Seven launches on a flying motorbike, sidecar optional.
Flight of the Hippogriff
Coaster
Bow first. Then ride.

Jurassic Park

2
Jurassic World VelociCoaster
Coaster
A 155-ft top hat, an 80° drop, and raptors at eye level.
Jurassic Park River Adventure
Log flume
Through the gates, past the raptors, down 85 feet.

Skull Island

1
Skull Island: Reign of Kong
Dark ride
A truck, a wall, and everything on the wrong side of it.

Toon Lagoon

2
Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges
Raft ride
The wettest raft ride in Florida, by design.
Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls
Log flume
A log flume through a sawmill, mountie included.

Marvel Super Hero Island

4
The Incredible Hulk Coaster
Coaster
Gamma-launch uphill, then everything goes green.
The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man
Dark ride
The 3D dark ride every other 3D dark ride copies.
Doctor Doom's Fearfall
Drop tower
Doom shoots you up 150 feet. For science.
Storm Force Accelatron
Spinner
Teacups, but make it mutant.
opened
May 28, 1999
islands
Eight, one lagoon
the icon
The Pharos Lighthouse
my headliners
VelociCoaster · Hagrid's · Hulk

The 1999 park that still out-themes parks built last year: every island is a hard cut — Seussian curves to Hogsmeade snow to Jurassic jungle — and the lagoon stitches it all together.

VelociCoaster and Hagrid's are the best one-two coaster punch in Florida. Do Hagrid's at open or at dusk; do Velo twice, once up front and once in the back row for the top hat.

Every piece above is hand-drawn and animated — the lighthouse beam sweeps, the motorbike laps the forest, Spidey swings his web, and the log never stops dropping through the gates.

← all parks → why I chase coasters