Episode 66: You Can Only Choose One - Islands of Adventure

This week Krystle and Julie take You Can Only Pick One "across the street" to Universal Orlando's Islands of Adventure. Listen in as they pick one ride, one dining experience, one snack, and one attraction for each island within Islands of Adventure. From thrills in Jurassic Park to the magic of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Islands of Adventure has so much to offer! 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Welcome to Wanderlust and Wishes, the podcast where we explore the world one destination at a time. I'm Julie. And I'm Crystal. As travel agents with Fantastical Vacations, we are here to share our passion for travel and help you turn your wanderlust into reality. From hidden gems to bucket list adventures, join us as we dive into the sights, sounds, and stories of our favorite destinations. So grab your passport, pack your bags, and let's embark on this journey together. So let's get started.

UNKNOWN: 0:30

Bye.

SPEAKER_00: 0:33

Hi everybody, welcome to episode 66 of Wanderlust and Wishes. Today we're going to do a, you can only choose one episode, but we're going over to Universal Orlando and we're going to go through the Islands of Adventure side of the park. All right, just so you can kind of picture this and walk through the park with us. Islands of Adventure is kind of like a big circle with a big lagoon in the middle and there are eight different lands or islands. We're going to kind of follow this order and we're going to start with port of entry. And that's like the bottom of the clock. And then we're going clockwise. So after port of entry, you have Marvel Superhero Island, Toon Lagoon, Skull Island, Reign of Kong. We'll get to this, but that's a weird little section. Jurassic Park, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Hogsmeade, The Lost Continent, and then Seuss Landing. Port of entry is mostly just shopping and some food areas. So it's just like you're entry point. It's also going to have the park services that are there. So that's where you're going to find first aid, your lockers, ATM, stroller and wheelchair rentals, and lost and found. So that's all going to be in that section. That's right after you enter through the turnstiles or through the ticket area. And then just as a reminder, the way we kind of play this game is we each pick a ride, a food, a snack, and an attraction from Each land, just so you kind of have when you're in the park and need a last second, like it's something familiar in the back of your head. All right. Port of entry. As Julie said, there's no ride here. So I skipped ride, food and my snack. I'm going to Confisco Grill. Their starter menu. I couldn't pick just one. We're already. It's really good. They have loaded nachos, spinach and artichoke dip, summer avocado hummus, queso The burrilla, they all sound good and it probably just depends on what I'm feeling for the day. I didn't miss the trader wings and the chicken quesadilla. And then for a snack for their desserts, dark chocolate cheesecake, classic key lime pie, strawberry cheesecake, mocha chocolate pyramid. So I think this is a must stop. That all sounds so good. Yeah. So probably just, like I said, depending on my mood, what I'm feeling for the day, but I could easily go for any of those. And then for my attraction, I am shopping through the Islands of Adventure Trading Company because we all know Crystal Lake's merch store. I'm going to go to the Confisco Grill as well. But I was just saying to Crystal that Queso Barilla, my daughter Ella would be all over that. She loves Barilla tacos. That's like her favorite thing. And sometimes we have to go out of our way to find a Mexican restaurant that has them because she loves them so much. So she will definitely be all over that. And then I would get either the loaded nachos or they also have chicken lettuce wraps and those look really good too. And similar to Crystal, like there's so much on the menu that looks fantastic that I think it would just be my mood for the day. They do have a Starbucks in this area. So of course, I'm going to be going to Starbucks. I'm going to find that. If I haven't already gotten one as soon as I walk in before in CityWalk, if I haven't already gotten one there, that's where I'm going to find one. And then And again, this area has a lot of options for shopping. They have several different spots. They have Port Provisions, Islands of Adventure Trading Company, Ocean Trader Market, and then also Port of Entry Christmas Shop. I would probably go into the Christmas shop because I just don't know if I could help myself, even regardless of what time of year it is. I tend to find my way into a Christmas shop if there's one available. So now we're going to move into the Marvel's superhero island area. For the ride, I'm going to ride Incredible Hulk. This ride is so fun. It is definitely a thrill ride. At the very beginning, you literally go shooting out of this tunnel going like a gazillion miles an hour. And then for food, they have a superhero's dinner. And I think we talked about this before. It's by reservation only. And it's also dinner only. It's a dinner buffet And it's considered a character meal because you're able to meet characters, Captain America, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Storm, and Rogue. You have the opportunity to take pictures and be able to meet those characters, which is fun. And I've had several clients do this and they loved it. For a snack, there is a fruit stand in this area. It's very hard to find fruit or something that's not chips or salty or something that's not always the best for you. They have fruit cups, grapes, and a selection of whole fruits there. So I'm going to kind of find my way over there just to have a little bit of a snack that's not so terrible for you. And then for the attraction, there's not necessarily, this isn't necessarily an attraction attraction, but they do have a lot of characters that walk around in this area. For example, when we were there with my family, I think my sister and Ella and my niece and nephew, they were on a ride and that we just chose not to get on. And my parents were standing there with us and the Green Goblin was walking around and I got a picture with the Green Goblin. There's lots of different Marvel characters that are walking around. I think my picks for Marvel area are pretty similar. My ride is the Incredible Hulk coaster food Cafe Four. I didn't do the superhero version. I would pick the fettuccine Alfredo with chicken combo service served with a garlic knot and a side Caesar salad. And I was surprised that all you can get all that for less than$20. Sometimes like people are like theme park food is so expensive, but I felt like that was a large offering. So they also have a bunch of really yummy things on the dessert menu, like s'mores cookie and a strawberry cheesecake. So look at that menu. And then for my snack, I would go to the superhero cotton candy stand for cotton candy. Like what's a theme park without cotton candy. Right. And then my attraction, similar characters. So there are so many allies and enemies all over. So just keep your eyes open. You never know who you're going to see. Next, let's move over to Toon Lagoon for my ride. I picked the Dudley Do-Right Ripsaw Falls. This is a water ride. And one day I will get Julie on it with me. Nope. And then for food, I'm going to go to Blondie's and do the Dagwood It's their famous Dagwood sandwich combo. It's fresh baked onion and poppy seed bread piled high with baked ham, turkey, roast beef, American and Swiss cheese, topped with lettuce, tomatoes served with chips. So that sounded really good. A snack. I thought this was a, this was interesting. We're going to go to Wimpy's and they have Dole Whip pineapple sorbet. It's called Dole Whip. So go do some market research and see if it compares to down the street. Yeah. If it's Sorbet, it's probably not going to be quite the same. Actually, I do think that I would want to go over there just to check it out and see if it's similar. Yeah, but they're using the Dole Whip name, so who knows? Maybe they have to call it Sorbet so they don't get in trouble. Maybe. For my attraction, I'm going to go to the me ship, The Olive. It's three decks of interactive fun, and then you can even spray passengers of Popeyes and Blitos barges from the top level. So just let the kids run wild and spray some people in the process. For my ride, I said none. This is a very water heavy. It's two water rides. And Crystal's going to have to like spike my butterbeer to get me on a water ride. Don't tempt me. I will. Because I did ride Popeyes and I don't think I've ever been more thoroughly soaked. Like you may as well have just thrown me in a swimming pool. That's how wet we were when we got off that ride. So I have no desire to ride either one of the rides in this area. How However, it is fun to watch people that are on the ride because there's a bridge and you can watch, you can sit there on the bridge and basically watch people get completely doused and watch their reactions. It's pretty funny. It's funny when you're not the one that's getting completely drenched. For food, this area has several quick service restaurants, but they don't have the greatest reputation for food. This area in general is just not one where people are going to go. to get food most of the time. But if I had to choose, I would go to Wimpy's for a cheeseburger. And then for my snack, I would go to Kathy's Ice Cream to get a sundae. I love just a regular, good old-fashioned sundae. And then for the attraction, it's very, very colorful in this area because it's, you know, it's like the, it's Toon Lagoon. It's like, you know, they have comic strips and just tons of color that pop. So it's a good spot for photo ops My mom took a picture with Betty Boop here, so there's also some characters in this area. And again, like I mentioned, another thing that you can do is just basically watch people get completely drenched on Popeyes. You can also watch as the ride is coming down on Dudleys as well. The next area that you kind of go through is Skull Island, but it is literally like you blink and you're through that section. It's very, very small. It just has the Skull Island Reign of Kong as the ride. And then it does have a food stand, but really there's not a whole lot here. If you are going to get something to eat there, I've heard good things. I have not actually eaten at this food stand, but I've heard good things about the pizza skulls and the Kong dog. It's basically a pretzel wrapped hot dog that you can get at the mess tent, which is the food stand. So we're just going to kind of scurry through this section. And skip over to Jurassic Park. So for Jurassic Park, the Velocicoaster is amazing. It's very, very much a thrill ride. And it's very, very fast. But it's also very smooth. So I think if you have someone that is a little worried about it from a thrill ride perspective, it's very smooth. You don't get knocked around. But you do kind of feel like the skin on your face is going to peel off. Like my hair tie almost came out. Might lose a hair tie. Might lose your shoes if they're not secure. And then for food, the Thunder Falls Terrace, they have a chicken and ribs combo. It's rotisserie chicken and mango barbecue glazed ribs with roasted corn and potatoes. And it also comes with a milkshake. Holy moly. Yeah, please. Sounds so yummy. I don't think I realized it came with a milkshake. Yeah. I was like, dang. Yummo. And then for my snack, I would get a Dove ice cream bar. They have a little snack cart that's called the Food Chain. And then for the attraction, I was kind of on the fence with this one because I do think that the raptor encounter is really fun, but I'm also like a super duper sciencey nerd person. And they have a discovery center there that some of it is based on Jurassic Park. So they have a little bit of that mixed in, but it also has some real science behind it. And I just love stuff like that. So I was kind of bouncing back and forth between the two. For my ride, I'm also picking Velocicoaster. I feel like this is like one of the top, if not the top ride in between the two parks. I haven't been to Epic yet. So yeah, can't quite say for Epic yet, but for the other two. For my food, I'm also going to Thunder Falls Terrace. I'm going to get the chicken and roasted pernil platter. It's a rotisserie chicken and roasted pork shoulder served with roasted corn And then for my attraction, I'm also going to do the raptor encounter. It's not always the same raptor meeting and I have seen the cutest interactions. So if you have a dinosaur loving person in your party, that is a can't miss thing to do. Now let's head over to the Wazine world of Harry Potter. This is the Hogsmeade side. My ride. I am picking Hagrid's Magical Creature Motorbike Adventure. Also one of my most favorite rides in Universal. For my food, I am going to the Three Broomsticks. And they had a couple things on their menu that were calling out to me. They had a shepherd's pie, ground beef, lamb, and vegetables crowned with potatoes served with roasted root vegetables and sauteed broccoli. They had fish and chips, rotisserie smoked chicken salad, mixed greens, Roma tomatoes, cucumbers, farro, dried cranberries, corn, costwell cheese, rotisserie smoked chicken, and mustard aloe dressing. So any of those sounded good to me. And I know they're like very good sized portions. For my snack, I'm going to find some sort of butterbeer. This will just depend on what time of year. Probably frozen because it's always hot in Orlando, but maybe the hot if it was like frigid cold winter day and then for my attraction I almost picked all landers to do like the whole wand ceremony but I settled on the Hogwarts Express you do need a park to park ticket to ride this but it's just it's such a neat experience and it's a good little break and it's a great way to hop to the other side and it's half ride half attraction so those are always my favorite and kind of like half transportation because it does take you to the other park, you know? Yeah. Save your little feet. If you were going to do Ollivanders, I would make you read all of the series first. You would be so mad if you knew which ones I had read and in which order. Oh, I already know. You've already told me. I'm like, you get your Harry Potter card taken away. You need to read all of them. And I would need to quiz you before you could go to Ollivander's because you're not allowed to experience it without understanding the importance of having the wand choose you. It's very important. For me, definitely Hagrid's is going to be my ride. This would actually, if I had to pick one ride, period, this would be my ride. As much as I love Velocicoaster, it's fantastic. I still would pick Hagrid's, hands down, every time. For food, I would also go to the Three Broomsticks, and that would be the rotisserie chicken salad. Yum. Just a reminder to you that you can do breakfast here as well. A lot of the stuff that they have is very traditionally English. So just make sure that you take a look at the menu first before you go in there. My snack would be frozen butterbeer. I'm very much like an iced coffee person regardless of how cold it is outside. So probably regardless of the weather, I would probably always choose frozen butterbeer. Never say never, but for the most part, I think I would. And then for the attraction, I would want to do whatever the projection show is at that time of year It rotates throughout the year. They have several different shows, Hogwarts Always, Dark Arts at Hogwarts Castle, and The Magic of Christmas at Hogwarts Castle. I would love to see any of those. So depending on when I'm there, I would want to watch that at the end of the day. Okay, so we're walking, we're walking. The next area we're going to be in is the Lost Continent. There are no rides in this area. I don't think that it gets as much love as some of the other areas, because it doesn't have rides, but they do have some good stuff here. They have the Mythos restaurant. It is sit down. I would get the beef loin medallions. It is served with Yukon mashed potatoes. I freaking love Yukon potatoes. They're like my favorite kind. I don't know if anybody else has a favorite kind of potato, but that's my favorite kind of potato. So anytime I see Yukon mashed potatoes, that's what I want. I make mashed potatoes. I use those kind. For a snack, I would get popcorn from the Treasure a Poseidon snack cart. They also have slushies. And I know with absolute certainty that we've gotten slushies there before. If you guys have been listening for a while, you know that my daughters, they have to get one at some point during the day. It's just a thing. And then the attraction, they have this little fountain that's located near Sinbad Theater. It's called the Mystic Fountain. And it's similar to Turtle Talk in that there's a cast member that's watching real time and they're talking. to guests and interacting with guests. So they tell jokes and just in general are just interacting. And depending on how you respond or if you answer a question correctly or not correctly, you may get splashed by the fountain. That's so fun. Which is funny. Yeah. So also no ride. And then for my restaurant, I also picked Mythos Restaurant. I'm going to get the fork, knife and spoon grilled cheese, a unique presentation, a classic three cheese sandwich set in a vine ripe tomato soup with crispy pork belly and garnished with house made chips. I've been to Universal a number of times, but I never feel like I go like deeper than surface level with the food. So this episode was really good for me to like, like I never would have thought that they had this grilled cheese there. Yeah. It sounds delicious. Snack. I'm going to go to Doc Segru's Desert Kebab House and get the beef kebab combo brushed with tremolia marinade served on pita bread with a sauce, caramelized onions and crumbled feta and choice of chips. And then for my attraction, I'm also going to go see the mystic fountain and see what he has to say and then last but not least is seuss landing i'm gonna do the high in the sky seuss trolley train ride i think people mover i think that the people mover just kind of a slow moving high in the sky ride and then for my food i'm gonna go to circus mcgurkis cafe stupendous guys the words go go look up seuss landing and just read everything that is available there for sure yes I'm gonna get the chicken and waffle ham breaded crispy tenders fresh waffle drizzled with hot honey and served with curly fries for my snack I'm going to go to moose juice goose juice and I've got to try the cinnamon churro with chocolate sauce or the frozen orange moose juice and my thought with the cinnamon churro is I need to do market research again so of course I have a whole list of things that I next time I go and then my attraction oh the stories you'll hear this is a daily show featuring your favorite Dr. Seuss characters like the cat in the hat with thing one and thing two Sam I am of green eggs and ham the Grinch and then the Lorax and they all dance to musical tellings of Dr. Seuss's best love stories so it's a nice little relaxing get off your feet show for a minute for me I'm going to ride the Carousel this is just a carousel, but it has Dr. Seuss characters, and it's super cute. I've ridden this with the girls, so that's where I would go. For food, I would also go to Circus McGurkis Cafe Stupendous, but I would get the chicken Caesar salad. I think they have a lot of good things on their menu. It's just not gluten-free friendly, so I would go with the chicken Caesar salad. And then snack, they have Snooker's and Snooker's sweet candy cookers, and they have all kinds of canned and things in there. So I would probably get like lots of different things, but I picked the caramel apple. It's one of those shops where you can get bags of candy and you can pick different things. So that's definitely a spot that my girls love going into places like that and loading up and getting like ridiculous amounts of candy. So we would definitely stop there. And then last but not least, the attraction, just like with Crystal, stopping and listening to the reading of of Dr. Seuss books. They have a cast member that's there reading alongside the characters. It's really fun to just sit there and listen. And to be honest, the talent of the cast member that can actually read it with all of the tongue twisters that are in Dr. Seuss books is amazing. I'm sure they practice a lot. They have to, but they do a great job. So basically, once you get through Seuss Landing, you get back to the point where where you can either continue going and you can go back into the Marvel area or you can go into the Port of Entry and you can leave out through the front of Islands of Adventure and go back into CityWalk. So we're done with our circular tour of the park. I agree with Crystal. The more that I visit and the more that I see the things that are available at Universal, the more I appreciate what's there. I think both of us are both very Disney people, but Universal is continuing to grow on me, especially with Epic Universe there. I want to go whenever I visit in October and would love to give, obviously, a report on that. Islands of Adventure is definitely, of the parks that are available that I've been to, it's my favorite of the two. And sadly, I think Islands of Adventure is the most underrated because when people talk about Universal, they automatically think of studios and everything that's over there. So it is fun to like I think I like the side petter too. Yeah. I mean, it has Hagrid's, it has the Hulk, and it has Velocicoaster. That right there, that's where I want to be is on that side for sure. I hope you have really enjoyed our perusal of Islands of Adventure and our pick one. We would love to hear your thoughts and we would love to hear what you would pick in the Islands of Adventure park. If you want to go experience Islands of Adventures yourself, reach out. We'd love to help you. As always, our services are free to you. If you love any of our episodes, please, please, please go leave us a rating and review or share one of your most favorite episodes with a friend. We got to get the word out about our little tiny podcast over here. So yeah, a little baby podcast. We wanted to grow up. Thank you so much for listening, everybody. We hope you have a wonderful week. Bye. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Wonderlust and Wishes. If you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review on your favorite podcast platform. And remember, the world is full of wonders waiting to be explored. Until next time, happy travels. Bye for now.