Tuesday, January 10, 2012

A New Experience at Islands of Adventure

My return to Orlando after 20 years came with new experiences as well as old memories. On my last visit in 1991 the Islands of Adventure was not yet the attraction it is today. In fact it didn't even exist. At the time the only attraction from Universal Orlando Resort which was open was Universal Studios.

It's amazing what can change over the course of 2 decades and my eyes were opened to new attractions which I had never before encountered. Universal Studios is still a prominent feature, but right next door you have the City Walk, an entertainment complex with an array of bars, clubs and restaurants, and the Islands of Adventure, a separate park from Universal Studios which still features popular movies as its theme.

As you approach the park's gates you will be greeted by a huge lighthouse standing sentinel. The story behind this is that it calls in travellers from all over who have built attractions reflecting the tales of their adventures, hence the name Islands of Adventure. This is anecdote is augmented as you reach the park's entrance and see an amalgamation of architecture and various styles of building, adding charm and imagination to your experience.

The first land you may encounter is the Dr. Suess' Landing where you can find a whole host of familiar characters from the books and movies. This area is more suitable for younger children however as the rides a fairly sedate, but entertaining nonetheless.

The most popular area of the park is, without a doubt, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and is the park's latest attraction. Hogsmeade is the imaginary location of Harry Potter's universe bought to life with startling attention to detail. For any fans of the books and movies, this truly is a dream come true as you walk through the entrance only to be greeted by the Hogwart's Express steaming and tooting away as if it had literally alighted at the station.

There are many shops to explore on your visit, including Honeyduke's and Zonko's, selling confectionary and joke supplies. Olivander's has also been bought to life, selling a range of magic wands and even exciting guests with its own show. There is even an owl post office, so you can send your postcards and letters back home.

For the thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies, the Dragon Challenge is a fantastic duel rollercoaster fashioned after the Hungarian Horntale and Chinese Fireball dragons from the books. The ride itself is quite intense with several loops and corkscrews, travelling at high speeds.

For people who aren't rollercoaster fans, The Forbidden Journey is a seamless ride simulator and makes you feel as if you are really flying through the hallways of Hogwarts, through the Forbidden Forest and finally speeding through a Quidditch game. You might just bump into a few characters as well.

Jurassic park is the next stop and once again the Islands of Adventure don't fail to impress on first impressions as you enter underneath a huge gate, recognisable from the movie. There isn't much in the way of thrill rides however, with the exception of the Jurassic Park River Adventure, taking you through the park to see various harmless dinosaurs, before veering off course after a mysterious accident. As you enter the restricted zone, there are signs of a velociraptor outbreak and evidence of a few attacks on the unfortunate workers. Coming face to face with a T-Rex is a terrifying experience, but just as you are coming to terms with the massive creature, you will drop down a rather steep slide and eventually soaked at the bottom. This ride was a lot of fun and caused uncontrollable laughter as the passengers look around to see their drenched friends.

We finally entered the Marvel Super Hero Island where a comic book geek's dreams come true. As you walk through the crowd, you might just bump into Captain America or Spiderman taking photo opportunities with the guests. There are some truly spectacular rides in this area of the park as well, the most noticeable one being The Incredible Hulk, a huge green rollercoaster which makes a deafening noise as it speeds passengers overhead.

This is by far one of the most popular rollercoasters in the park, with queues reaching up to two hours waiting time. Once you ride The Incredible Hulk you will soon realise why it is so popular. There is no chain lift to ascend the passengers, but instead a launcher, which shoots you out of a tunnel where you will immediately enter a twist followed by a loop and then a series of corkscrews. This ride is not for the timid!
Another spectacular ride is the Spiderman Experience. Considering this particular ride is almost over 10 years old, it is still way ahead of its time. Similar to Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, this is a motion simulator conveying the illusion of falling and climbing skyscrapers very effectively only this time in 3D. The result is seamless and is astounding.

Finally, we had time for one last ride and that was the vertical launcher, Dr. Doom. This particular ride isn't anything special and has various emulations in other theme parks, but I had never been on a vertical launcher before so I had to try it. I have to admit that I was more scared of this than any of the rollercoasters. You are shot straight up almost 100 ft. and get a very good view of Orlando! My only issue with this ride is that it did not last nearly long enough and I wanted a few more launches; a clear sign that I had shunned my fear for this type of ride.

The Islands of Adventure was an entirely new experience for me and had come into existence during my 20 year absence from Orlando. It is clear to see why this park was so popular, adopting many well-known cultural and entertaining themes. Although this park is available with the regular Universal Studios tickets, we were able to enter with our Orlando Flexticket, with which the Universal Orlando Resort attractions are included with admission.

This park appealed to all age groups with something for everyone and although you might need be a fan of the movies which have been bought to life in this park, the rides and atmosphere will surely excite and astound you. Perhaps I will visit in another 20 years and see what other changes have took place in my absence!

Sunday, January 8, 2012

Hawaii - Islands of Adventure

Famous for its surfing beaches, Mai Tai's & world famous shopping, Hawaii is a destination on top of many people's travel lists. Among the many reasons why so many people choose Hawaii, adventure touring is high up on my list. You can do almost everything here which range from parasailing to volcano safaris to surfing lessons on Waikiki beach. Below is my story of my Hawaii adventure.

Shark Diving is one of my favourite adventure activities and located on the North Shore of Oahu's island you can jump in the water with a large school of Galapagos sharks. These mid depth sharks follow the sounds of fishing boats in hope of a free feed and the sound of any boat within these waters will bring the predators to the surface. Underwater it is such a surreal experience watching these sharks coming within centimetres of the cage and from all directions. Depending on the day you can see around 20 of these sharks around the cage and the boat.

Hawaii's marine life doesn't stop at just sharks, dolphin swims are very popular whether you are swimming with a wild pod of dolphins or taking a visit to Honolulu's Sea Life Park. At this marine park the dolphin swim includes a kiss and cuddle from the dolphins which makes for great photos but you also get to have a play around with them too. Getting a dorsal tow from two of the dolphins and being pushed across the surface of the water are just some of the activities that you can do with these beautiful creatures. Of all the tours in Hawaii that you can do this one is what will make all your friends and family envious. Within the park there are other species of marine life such as penguins, sea lions, sea turtles, stings rays and other tropical reef fish. In the reef tank you can put on something like a space helmet and actually walk through the aquarium and hand feed the friendly Eagle Ray. The sea trek is probably the most unique adventure activity I have ever experienced.

If you are after unique tours and experiences then another activity to consider is the Atlantis Submarine. Submerging down to 104ft below the water's surface to ship and plane wrecks is a wondrous experience. Among the wrecks many reef fish such as Butterfly Fish, Amberjack's, Porcupine Puffer-fish as well as Sea Turtles, reef sharks and if you're lucky you may see humpback whales in season. At 104ft below the reefs looks other worldly among the wrecks but on the contrary the wrecks provide shelter so this delicate eco system can thrive.

Hawaii is a place of unlimited adventure, excitement and fun for the whole family. The activities here are no like no other place on Earth so don't miss out on booking some sort of adventure tour. Here I have just given you some ideas of adventure tours but there are many others such as Whale Watching, Kualoa Ranch, Pearl Harbour, Kayaking tours, Snorkelling and many more.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Explore Wet N Wild and Islands of Adventure

Wet n wild is considered as the number one water park where the entire family can experience the whole day with fun and excitement. This water park boosts your summer vacation in Orlando. Some of the Orlando's quality water rides are available here. In order to soak up the visitors can enjoy the Wave Pool, Arcade, Volleyball, or take a relaxing journey into Florida's past on the all-new Lazy River. The cool waters of the wet n wild beach is tempting to all those who come here to have a cool summer vacation along their family and friends. Have fun with its signature thrill rides whole through out the day. This particular water park of Orlando had attained the honor from Amusement Business Magazine. Buy Wet N Wild Tickets and get ready to explore its wild water rides and water slides.

To mention its rides are namely Wild One, The Surf Lagoon, March 5, Disco H2O, and The Surge. Every ride has its distinctive feature and differs from one another. But all these world class rides are famous for creating thrilling excitement among the riders.

Islands of adventure is made up of five islands which have different thematic areas like Marvel Super Hero Island, Jurassic Park, Toon Lagoon, The Lost Continent, and Seuss Landing. After acquiring Islands Of Adventure Tickets make the entry through the port of entry where the Lighthouse is taken as landmark of the area. The Marvel characters come to life in Marvel Super Hero Island. In Jurassic Park you will find the exciting things that relates to Dinosaurs and its remains in the discovery center. Toon Lagoon is a water park with various water rides for kids and adults as well. The Lost Continent is where the mythical Greek characters can be experienced in reality. Seuss Landing offers the comic book characters of Dr Seuss. In such a way the theme parks of Florida can be explored one by one.

There are various websites relating to travel which include Florida Theme Park Tickets and its discount offers from time to time. However, there is no shortage of websites regarding Florida attractions.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Adventure Travel Destination Marketing

There are various websites which offer great opportunities in traveling. Each and every person in this world loves to go for a holiday. It is very important to choose the right kind of place as your holiday destination. Before choosing your destination it is always very important to discuss it with your family.

When you log on to the internet and look for the travel companies you will get lots of websites. Adventure holiday marketing has become quite popular these days. Adventure travel destination.com is one of the websites which provides you proper information about the adventure travel suppliers.

This website has lots of things like information about the car rental companies which are local, various adventure activities, information about different kinds of hotels and resorts. There are lots of tourism suppliers present all over the world. These suppliers can access the marketing pages of this website directly.

They will find lots of opportunities for them in these kinds of websites. Other than the suppliers the travelers also get various benefits from the website. So whether you are interested in adventure destination marketing or in an adventure holiday you can look forward to this website.

As a traveler you can check out the website for the various specials as well as deals offered. There are lots of travelers who like to go for an adventure travel once in a year. There are certain travelers who prefer to deal directly with local hotel owners as well as tourism operators.

They want to deal directly with them because by doing this they get special rates and offers on the holiday package. Other than this, there are many more privileges that are offered by the hotel owners and operators.

When you enter into this website you will different kinds of information as well as blogs written on this topic. You will also mingle with lots of other travelers who can share their experiences as well as reviews.

This website also has a page which is called the vacation special and this page offers you with the list of travel experts. These experts can also offer you with the knowledge about the special offers and packages. Other than this, you also have the destination guide pages.

This page offers you with the opinions of the travel experts. Adventure travel destinations.com is the website which has become quite popular these days. This website is actually a part of the AXES marketing network for tourism.

If you choose the local hotel owners and contact directly with them then you can enjoy the local activities much better. You can contact with the local hotel owners and operators for destination marketing with the help of this website. There are lots of adventure travel destinations in this world.

You will get information about all these destinations from this marketing website. Online booking options are also available in this website. Other than this, there are lots of other facilities that are available with adventure marketing. So get the best deal now.