Rank the Islands of Adventure "Islands"

BryceM

BryceM

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I'm sure this has been done before, but I absolutely love Islands of Adventure and I want to see how everyone ranks the themed "islands". You can base it off of the attractions within the island, the overall theming, etc.

Here's how I would rank them:

1. Port of Entry - Honestly one of the best theme park entrances ever creating. The music, the sights, the sounds... It all evokes such a wonderful sense of enchantment and adventure. I love the way the music transitions from the turnstile area, to the "main street" area, and then to the area in front of the lagoon where you choose to go either right or left.

2. The Lost Continent - Even though the attractions here are lackluster, the theming is some of the best I've ever seen. Poseidon's Fury and Mythos are so beautifully detailed and designed... And I just love Mythos. Then the Arabian area is just beautiful, especially at night. I have some nostalgia for the fountain, as I used to be obsessed with it when I was younger. I do miss the old Lost Continent.

3. The Wizarding World - You guys know how awesome WWoHP is. I don't think I need to say much more.

4. Jurassic Park - Again, the theming here is top notch. When you pass under the arch and when John William's score comes over you. It's just epic. The rest of the land is just gorgeous, Camp Jurassic is amazing, and River Adventure is an awesome attraction (but with some poor outdoor animatronics). I love the Discovery Center as well.

5. Seuss Landing - This land is right up there with the previous four. Once again, the theming is just outstanding and I adore The Cat in the Hat. I explore Seuss Landing for hours and still probably miss tons of tiny details. Absolutely superb theming.

6. Marvel Super Hero Island - I don't have as much love for this one as I do the previous five, but I still do really like it. I feel like the land can be a little too "loud" at times, with the loud music, the loud rides and the colorful buildings. Still, I love the direction they went with creating a comic book city. Spider-Man is just mind blowing and I love The Hulk. I also love the theming of Doom Alley. Very ominous.

7. Toon Lagoon - My least favorite "island". It's very fun for pictures, but I feel like its a bit... Vapid. Comic Strip Lane just feels like a mini strip mall, with tons and tons of little stores. The transition area between Toon Lagoon and Marvel Super Hero Island is VERY weak. I do love Popeye, and the themed "mini land" around it; Sweet Haven. Very well done! Dudley does feel rushed, but I do still like it a lot. It has such as an amazing facade!

Basically, the first five are neck in neck, with MSHI a little farther behind them, and then Toon Lagoon behind MSHI (in terms of how much I like them).
 
Turtle

Turtle

Well-Known Member
1. Wizarding World of Harry Potter
2. Seuss Landing
3. Port of Entry
4. Marvel Superhero Island
5. Jurassic Park
6. Lost Continent
7. Toon Lagoon
 
Hobnail Boot

Hobnail Boot

Well-Known Member
1. Jurassic Park- One of my all-time favorite movies. I hate that they are moving a bunch of midway games here.

2. Toon Lagoon- I'm a sucker for water rides. And I love getting a Dagwood.

3. Wizarding World- I'm not a big HP fan, but it's hard to deny how awesome this land is.

4. Marvel Super Hero Island- I hate the cardboard look of the land, but it reminds me of those Fox Kids Marvel cartoons in the 90's. Plus Hulk and Spider-Man are awesome.

5. Port of Entry- Amazing themeing, but I don't spend much time here.

6. Seuss Landing- I ride Cat in the Hat and that's about it. The land is fun to walk around though.

7. Lost Continent- Would be much higher but I miss the Enchanted Oak and the Dueling Dragons entrance.
 
BryceM

BryceM

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Disney Dawg Fan said:
1. Jurassic Park- One of my all-time favorite movies. I hate that they are moving a bunch of midway games here.

2. Toon Lagoon- I'm a sucker for water rides. And I love getting a Dagwood.

3. Wizarding World- I'm not a big HP fan, but it's hard to deny how awesome this land is.

4. Marvel Super Hero Island- I hate the cardboard look of the land, but it reminds me of those Fox Kids Marvel cartoons in the 90's. Plus Hulk and Spider-Man are awesome.

5. Port of Entry- Amazing themeing, but I don't spend much time here.

6. Seuss Landing- I ride Cat in the Hat and that's about it. The land is fun to walk around though.

7. Lost Continent- Would be much higher but I miss the Enchanted Oak and the Dueling Dragons entrance.
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Hahaha, I agree about Marvel Super Hero Island. It feels very 90s, but that's kind of what I really like about it! It really lights up at night too.

But yes, I do also miss the old Lost Continent. Dueling Dragons was much better than Dragon Challenge and the Enchanted Oak Tavern was great. Those two dragons though... Awesome.
 
Hobnail Boot

Hobnail Boot

Well-Known Member
BryceM said:
Hahaha, I agree about Marvel Super Hero Island. It feels very 90s, but that's kind of what I really like about it! It really lights up at night too.

But yes, I do also miss the old Lost Continent. Dueling Dragons was much better than Dragon Challenge and the Enchanted Oak Tavern was great. Those two dragons though... Awesome.
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Oh yeah, it's definitely a love/hate thing with MSHI. I can almost hear the Fox Kids theme walking through there. Brings back good memories.

The whole Pyrock vs. Blizzrock (I think that was their names) at the entrance was really cool. I took many pictures of that over the years. Now the entrance is... underwhelming.
 
BryceM

BryceM

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Disney Dawg Fan said:
Oh yeah, it's definitely a love/hate thing with MSHI. I can almost hear the Fox Kids theme walking through there. Brings back good memories.

The whole Pyrock vs. Blizzrock (I think that was their names) at the entrance was really cool. I took many pictures of that over the years. Now the entrance is... underwhelming.
Click to expand...
Don't forget how much better the queue was.

Sigh.
 
TalkingHead

TalkingHead

Well-Known Member
Ranking the Islands based solely on their atmosphere and design:

1. Potter -- the walk from the Lost Continent entrance through Hogsmeade to the reveal of Hogwarts is the most impressive bit of theme park design I've ever witnessed.

2. Seuss -- imaginative, colorful, and true to the source material.

3. Marvel -- I'm not a comics fan, but the design of the land makes sense. Especially like the look of this area from across the lagoon.

4. Lost Continent -- the Poseidon and Mythos facades are still very imposing.

5. Port of Entry -- very detailed, but the land doesn't really build to anything. There's no Cinderella Castle at the end of the land to entice you. Instead, when you get to the end of Port of Entry, you're greeted by the lagoon...but mostly I notice a wide swath of cement with tacky souvenir kiosks and signs advertising the dining plan and attraction wait times. I'd love if there was a "weenie" (I hate that term, thanks Walt) at that point -- even the lighthouse, which is a natural monument, would be more interesting there instead of at the front gates.

6. Toon Lagoon -- some clever sight gags, but perhaps a little too similar to the animated look of Marvel. I do like the area around Popeye, which makes this Island superior to...

7. Jurassic Park -- never understood the love for the design of this Island. The design is essentially "lush, tropical atmosphere" which in this case means lots of Central Florida plants that you can find elsewhere around Universal, Disney, and the rest of the greater Orlando area. I wish they'd used more exotic plant life, stuff only found in botanical gardens. There's really very little of visual interest as you walk through the land, too. No dramatic vistas, just the final drop of the boat ride. The nearby rock climb wall doesn't warm my feelings for this Island, either.

If I ranked the Islands by their attractions, they'd be in a different order.
 
Animaniac93-98

Animaniac93-98

Well-Known Member
Disney Dawg Fan said:
but it reminds me of those Fox Kids Marvel cartoons in the 90's.
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Probably because they play clips from those shows in the attraction queues. It was the mainstream point of reference for Marvel at the time. If they had built it now we would have gotten a very different land IMO.

Just based on my enjoyment of them:

1. Harry Potter
2. Marvel
3. Jurassic Park
4. Seuss Landing
5. Port of Entry
6. Lost Continent (haven't seen either show yet to be honest)
7. Toon Lagoon
 
BryceM

BryceM

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
To me, The Incredible Hulk, Jurassic Park Discovery Center and Hogwarts (and possibly Mythos) all serve as "weenies". Each are bold and visually enticing (and one is quite loud) and it makes me want to explore each part of the park.

The lighthouse is quite the weenie in itself, though it draws people in who aren't already in the park. At night, the lighthouse is even much more of a weenie.

(I wish I didn't have to say weenie so much, haha)
 
afar28

afar28

Well-Known Member
1. Wizarding World of Harry Potter- I'm a huge Harry Potter fan, so this one is a no brainer for me
2. Port of Entry- beautiful entrance, with really good music
3. Marvel super hero island- love the rides, and enjoy the theming.
4. Jurassic Park- love the ride, and has great theming.
5. Seuss Landing- beautiful, colorful, theming. The cat in the hat is a great dark ride also
6. Toon Lagoon- I really like it, but it's worse compared to the others. I love Popeyes and Dudley's water rides, and would hate to see it go.
7. Lost continent- never seen any of the shows so I can't really judge this one
 
disney fan 13

disney fan 13

Well-Known Member
In terms of theme/atomosphere...

-Potter
-Port of Entry
-Lost Continent
-Jurassic Park
-Suess Landing
-Marvel
-Toon

In terms of rides...
-Potter
-Marvel
-Jurrastic ( could move up depending on the expansion)
-Toon
-Suess
-Lost Continent
-Port of entry
 
NemoRocks78

NemoRocks78

Seized
This is soooo difficult. They're all great for different reasons - theming, rides, etc. So, my faves in general:

- Wizarding World
- Marvel Super Hero Island
- Jurassic Park
- Seuss Landing
- Port of Entry
- The Lost Continent
- Toon Lagoon
 
M

mahnamahna101

Well-Known Member
Here goes nothing!

1. Wizarding World of Harry Potter - 9.5/10: because I adhere to Walt Disney's idea that you can always plus an area but this is one that barely needs anything. Butterbeer is the only drink I make sure to buy EVERY single time I've been to Islands in the last 3 years. Forbidden Journey is what a spectacular dark ride should be, Dragon Challenge is still a blast even without the dueling, and Flight of the Hippogriff was definitely plussed with the Buckbeak AA and the Hagrid's Hut theming! Three Broomsticks and the stores look great while Hogwarts Castle is a sight to behold

All it needs is a recreation of the Great Hall and a Whomping Willow flat ride for the kiddies and I'd say it's about perfect

2. Marvel Superhero Island - 9/10: Spider-Man is my favorite dark ride so obviously that has some part to do with the ranking, plus I adore the first 20 seconds of the Hulk. The M&Gs are spectacular. Storm Force is a great tea cups ride I had fond memories on as a kid but Doom is an eye-sore and pales in comparison to Tower of Terror and some of the facades look card-board. If they fixed those two things, I'd be perfectly fine with it - a solid island and I would like to see TDO attempt to do better :D

3. Port of Entry - 9/10: A solid introduction to Islands of Adventure! It tells the whole backstory and provides shops and restaurants without any sense of true synergy. Really, if the Island Skipper Tours were brought back and maybe a Streetmosphere show was performed in the central hub a couple times a day, Port of Entry would be flawless. It needs some sort of attraction before I can rank it a 10.

4. Seuss Landing - 8/10: As a Seuss fanatic, I love the attention to detail and the bright colors of the whole area - Cat in the Hat compares well to the Fantasyland dark rides of old, Caro-Seuss-El and 1F2FRFBF both provide great kinetic energy so there's always something going on and Circus McGurkus looks perfect.

But... Seuss Trolley is a major disappointment - it should function like the PeopleMover in Tomorrowland, provide a tour of Seuss Landing rather than a bland 3 minute trolley ride above the streets of Seuss. If I Ran the Zoo could be plussed as could the shell of the unbuilt Noisarium by Cat.

Most importantly, Seuss Landing is missing a true-blue E-ticket that adults will want to ride - because flat rides don't cut it with them. If I were Universal, I'd annex NBA City's space into Seuss so they can build the Grinch coaster and a Lorax dark ride. They need to flesh out the empty spaces so it'll catch up to Fantasyland's attraction count.

Sneetch Beach would be PERFECT for a flat ride or two, maybe even a walkthrough attraction too. Comcast is hopefully noticing its prime location on the lagoon and developing plans for its development as we speak.

5. Toon Lagoon - 7.5/10: Popeye and Dudley are insanely fun water rides - my two favorite I've ever been on. The cartoon gags give it a folksy, old-style charm to it and it definitely provides a variety of theme for this park. However, even as a huge fan I recognize that Dudley is lacking in the theme department. Comcast needs to add all of the elements that were cut when the budget for IOA ran low in 1999. Popeye could use some plussing as always but it's the greatest river rapids ride in America - I stand by that statement.

The worst area in IOA though is the Toon Lagoon Theater/carnival games/Spidey overflow queue area. It looks terrible!! If you tore down the theater, took out the huge staircase, removed the carny games... you could fit a mid-level show, a family dark ride, maybe a flat ride all into this unused space. After seeing what happened with that junky area of World Expo (the Springfield expansion), I trust Comcast will fix this eyesore of a section soon

6. Jurassic Park - 6.5/10: This takes up 22 acres of space in the park... and there's only ONE ride adults can ride without bringing a munckin with them?!! That's terrible - and that one ride happens to only be popular for 6 months of the year (March-September). The Discovery Center looks terrific on the outside but is like a dated Epcot display from 1992 that no one bothered to fix. It makes me sad the dark ride concept was added into the rumored 2015 expansion!!! It would have been perfect for what the Discovery Center's for.

Triceratops Encounter's space and the plot behind Thunder Falls are EMPTY... someone build a nice, big attraction for each! I hope the family Amber mine coaster comes to fruitation along with maybe a brand-new Helicoptours concept. I'd even say a show of some sort involving raptors or an expansion of Camp Jurassic to include a kiddie ride and some new areas would also be great. A refurb for JPRA is much-overdue too!!

The theming is so great yet the attractions so underwhelming, I hope the expansion improves this under-utilized section of the park

7. Lost Continent - 5.5/10: With the pitch-perfect theming, Mystic Fountain and Mythos, this would rank a 1/10 due to the two mediocre attractions (Sinbad & Poseidon). All this area needs is a E-ticket to draw people in - now that Potter took pretty much the big ticket attractions, this area looks incredibly bland. People just walk through it these days - I'm hoping Comcast gives this area some much-needed love after Potter 2.0, the JP expansion, Kong, KidZone redo, etc... this area was actually my 2nd favorite before Potter, not anymore though :(
 
BryceM

BryceM

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Pre-Potter Lost Continent was probably my favorite themed land in all of Orlando. Sadly, that changed. The theming is still extremely impressive.

I totally agree about the dead zone between Toon Lagoon and Marvel Super Hero Island, but like you said, I'm sure Comcast will change this soon, especially after seeing what they did with the dead zone near The Simpsons Ride.
 
luv

luv

Well-Known Member
BryceM said:
Pre-Potter Lost Continent was probably my favorite themed land in all of Orlando.
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Possibly mine, as well. I still love that area.

Jurassic Park - it's pretty and I like to walk down to the water and look around
Seuss - so cute, carousel is like art and it has the train ride, which I love (but wish was longer)
Lost Continent - very exotic-feeling
Entry - ditto above
Marvel - like I'm in the comics! :) Plus, Spider-Man.
Harry Potter - it's amazing, but not my favorite place to hang.
Cartoons - Unlike many, I love this area, but something had to come last
 
Horizonsfan

Horizonsfan

Well-Known Member
This is based on the lands as they are today. I have a strong feeling in a few years this list will be completely different based on what's been shared on OU & here.

1. Wizarding World - The land that proved others could make a Disney-caliber land with a fraction of a Disney budget. True escapism.
2. Port of Entry - Much like The Oasis at DAK, it perfectly sets the mood of mystery and adventure for the park. Detail-filled and intriguing. Only thing keeping it from being #1 is the lack of attractions or exhibits. It's a very beautiful mall at the end of the day.
3. Seuss Landing - Incredibly faithful to the source material. It just needs one or two more dark rides to feel complete for me, hopefully the dark ride in development gets approved.
4. Jurassic Park - Again a great recreation. Unfortunately they really fail to give you the escapism of WWHP & SL because of the glaring HPFJ show building & the soon-to-open midway games. Also like Seuss Landing, it's in need of one to two more family attractions which are obviously in the pipeline.
5. Lost Continent - So much potential with this area, I hope it doesn't disappear. Unfortunately the attractions here are pretty terrible, especially Poseidon's Fury.
6. Marvel Super Hero Island - While Spiderman's actual ride is fun, the queue for the attraction is lackluster. The attractions surrounding Spiderman are even more disappointing, far too close to Six Flags for my liking. Much of the land just seems bare-bones. I understand the decisions behind the look, it still doesn't work for me. There's a little part of me that would like to see this land given a new IP overlay.
7. Toon Lagoon - Without a doubt the one land that has to go ASAP. Great ride systems/layouts in Dudley and Popeye (even though I wish they would tone down the wetness a bit) with pathetic theming and scenes. Like Bryce said in the OP, the main street feels like a thinly styled strip mall. The final nail in the coffin is how irrelevant the IP is, especially for a relatively young park.

Edit: Just realized HTF has the exact same list. Nice ranking!:D
 
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