As the name suggests, the park was truly an adventure! Everything about it was amazing. Hogsmeade…read morelooked incredible, and the castle felt so magical , it honestly felt like walking straight into the movie. The attention to detail throughout the park was impressive and made the whole experience unforgettable. The only downside was that a few rides were closed the day we visited, and the castle light show was unfortunately canceled. Even with that, there was still so much to enjoy. The park had plenty of places to eat, and the freestyle drink machines were conveniently located all around the park, except in the Harry Potter area. Overall, it was an amazing experience and definitely worth visiting for any Harry Potter fan!

Entering IoA into the Port of Entry may be one of my favorite parts of visiting this park. The old…read moreworld mystical soundtrack that welcomes you and the shops with different moving and talking elements really invite you into the adventure with a feeling of excitement. If you like thrills, this park is for you. Why? Velocicoaster, Hagrid's Motorbike Adventure, and the Hulk will have all coaster-head smiling. But what about low-key story-based rides for people more on my page of wanting a chiller experience? Seuss landing is adorable (could maybe use a bit of a refresh - the hole land reminds me of the books - fun, nostalgic, meaningful, but a little worn and sticky). And the water rides? Take them away and I will riot! They are currently demolishing The Lost Continent, including Mystic Fountain, which is sort of sad. But I am so excited to see what's next!

Fun Spot America is a long-established business here in Orlando, Florida that can appeal to both…read morethe tourists and those of us fortunate enough to call Orlando home. It is nostalgic coming here and a great place to bring kids. Think like an old-school carnival or fair that is here year-round and you are just scratching at the surface. I would definitely recommend here. Go check it out and indulge the inner child within you.

I had a couple hours in the afternoon to use up between hotel check out and the conclusion of my…read morehusband's conference, so I took my kids to Fun Spot. I had heard from locals that it's a great local option over the big theme parks. Fun Spot was pretty great, for what it was. Free parking, free admission if you don't plan on riding rides, also a discounted adult pass if you only are going on rides with your kid who is too young to ride alone. The whole place was small, maybe the area of a handful of city blocks. And on the Sunday afternoon when we went, the place was quiet enough that we never waited more than a few minutes to get onto a ride. As we were only there for a couple hours, the cashier recommended the 4 ride pass for my kids, and the companion pass for me. But if one were to spend more hours there, buying the day pass online for $59.95 is quite a bargain. Not all rides were open, but the "big" rides that most kids want (the roller coasters and the go carts) were open. My daughter, who is not a big roller coaster fan, had a harder time finding kiddie rides that she actually wanted to go on, and she watched the go carts and didn't even want to try those with me driving. However, the place was small enough that I felt fine leaving my 10 year old son to go on rides by himself while I went on the Ferris wheel or the merry go round with my 8 year old. There are a bunch of food options available throughout the park. They were definitely more affordable than Disney prices! Most of the places offered souvenir cups with discounted refills, but there were also water stations set up throughout with free cups. I'd definitely come back if I had a few hours to burn and the kids didn't want to go swimming. Hopefully at some point, my daughter will change her mind about roller coasters, though!

I'm so happy we've gotten to experience Universal. It was a different pace than Disney, in a good…read moreway, now that my kids are older teen and adult ages. We had a beautiful day to visit and smiled throughout the day. Some of our best moments were walking through the various city streets and seeing musical performances and dancing. The walkways were wide and we were never on top of other guests. Most rides had reasonable wait times and/or offered single rider options. The locker areas for cramped, but I appreciated how many of the wait queues were indoors, keeping us cooler and away from the rain. The Harry Potter sections were amazing, just amazing. I couldn't have imagined how it would have felt being in the middle of the space. Restaurants, both sit down and quick service, were scattered throughout the park. I loved that we didn't have to worry plan in advance to get a spot at either. My only downside to Universal Studios is that some of the themes felt outdated or just aren't favorite characters of mine. At least this helped to decrease the temptation of spending money on apparel or merchandise.

Somehow on a March weekday my sister and I got to get on most major rides at Islands of Adventure…read moreand then took the train over to Universal Studios Florida and got on just about every major ride here, too, except for the Fast and Furious dark ride and I think I picked well by skipping that as it doesn't seem to be too popular. (I haven't seen a single one of those movies either!) I'm much more a fan of roller coasters than motion simulators so I like Islands of Adventure a good deal more than USF. I also like the theming more, apart from the Springfield area and Diagon Alley. The whole studio backlot/cityscape isn't as interesting to me. It's still a pleasant looking park though. The layout seems more confusing than IOA which is really straightforward and simple. Maybe part of it is this was my maiden voyage to USF while I'd been to IOA once before but there's just more nooks and crannies here. I've done reviews for most of the major rides and Diagon Alley. Simpsons and Transformers are elite, E.T. is a wonderful blast of nostalgia and weirdness we must protect at all costs, Escape from Gringotts is way overrated even if the queue theming and preshow is superb, I got no love for Jimmy Fallon or his stupid ride, the indoor Mummy coaster is surprisingly good still leaves this park's coaster lineup lagging way behind its neighbors, Men in Black is okay but not worth waiting in a long line for and the Minions shooter game was a quick diversion I never even bothered to do a review for. I'm just seeing we missed another Minions ride, a motion simulator. It was such a whirlwind of queues with almost no wait I guess it was easy to miss one. The Blues Brothers musical revue was an absolute blast with an awesome setting. And the Mardi Gras parade wrapped itself around the city streets around the diner where my sister and I ate dinner with us looking out the window and had parade to spare both before and after our meal! It went on for over half an hour. Universal didn't chintz out on that at all. Cast members, floats and flying beads aplenty. There were more shows, too, with stuff like behind the scenes on how Hollywood does makeup, stuff like that. We skipped these but stuff like this is why I wish I'd gotten my parents to this park before they passed. They'd have loved stuff like that, the Blues Brothers and the Hogwarts express. They seemed to like Islands of Adventure okay but I think they'd have liked this park considerably more. The theming, too, I think they'd have enjoyed more. This park closed a couple hours early on the weekday we visited, booked by some high rollers for a private event so we ended our day where we started at Islands of Adventure. And though I like that park more, with a Fast and Furious coaster on the way to USF I think I'd be more eager to return here and ride that and spend more time exploring and soaking in the vibes at this park.

Old school (pre Disney) Marvel comics, ride, and stores in Islands of Adventure in Orlando…read more Lots of comic book themed colors and designs here, good for those who are historic comic fans and the meet & greets here looked like fun if busy lines. The Hulk coaster, Fearfall wasn't on when we were there, and the Spiderman 4D experience. End of the day could've used some cleaning, someone had thrown up or really lost a meal on the ground, no one out there cleaning it up...

Marvel Super Hero Island is located at Universal's Islands of Adventure. It's off to the left side…read moreas soon as you enter the theme park. This area opened in 1999 and is themed from the comic books! All of the buildings in the area have the comic book style architecture and has features themed from iconic Marvel Characters. I really liked how the buildings have special chrome illusion paint. Depending on where you view the building or at a different angle, with specific lighting, it changes how the buildings look! It's pretty cool. There are variety of theme park rides in Marvel Super Hero Island. The Incredible Hulk Coaster: This is a super fast ride! It goes from 0 to 40 mph in just two seconds! The ride can reach up to 67 mph though and has a variety of inversions! The Amazing Spider-Man: This is a 3D dark ride. It's a slow ride though! It combines motion simulation and special effects to immerse you in the ride! You'll get to see Spider Man and a few villains from the series! Doctor Doom Fearfall: This ride is a drop ride. You'll be launched up to close to 200 feet in the air! I try to avoid this ride though. Drop rides are a little scary for me! Storm Force Accelatron: It's a spinning ride. It's based on the X-Men series. You're helping storm defeat Magneto! There are a lot of Meet and Greets in this area! Last time I was here, I saw Wolverine and Captain America! You can also see other superheroes like Spider-man or even villains such as Doctor Doom or the Green Goblin! If you're looking for dining options there is the Captain America Diner, and some other quick service options like Aunt Anne's! There are some stores you can shop in for Marvel merchandise which offers collectible, toys, apparel and so much more! My mom and I spent a few hours at Marvel Super Hero Island. It has a lot of attractions and stores!

Overall, I think this is a great place to check out if you are in Orlando…read more We came here because we have Legoland gold passes which means we get free admission to sea life, Madame Tussaud's, and the Orlando Eye. All three of these together took up about two hours and then we were able to go to Cafe tu tu tango to get a bite to eat. This was a great half day experience while we were visiting Orlando. There was a parking garage and parking was super easy. By that time we left around 8:30 PM there were so many cars, but when we first got there at about 5 PM there were tons of spots. They do have parking spots you can pay for in the lower levels so it seems like if you're willing to pay there will always be parking. If you want free parking, you need to go earlier because this seems to be popular for nightlife. I always appreciate when there's so many attractions together that you can walk to. This place has quite a few restaurants, some shops and the attractions all in a contained area. It was very clean and when we came, there was a huge police presence, because apparently a couple weeks before there was hundreds of teenagers that descended to the area and fought. So the place was doing a really good job making sure that everything was safe. This is a place for both families and non-families alike.

Another "go big or go home" Orlando destination spot for tourists, complete with its own eye (The…read moreWheel). The entertainment complex has a variety of restaurants ranging in price , including my beloved Shake Shack. There are shops, an aquarium, was museum, arcades, live music, illusion museum, and several other places on the twenty acre complex I'm not sure about parking other than knowing it's free. I usually walk over from my hotel when in town for conferences. It's something to do in evening after sitting all day listening to speakers.

Hearing about it or seeing pictures is one thing, but being there in the middle of the buildings…read moreand shops is spectacular. This is a section you can spend only a little of your time in or it might be where you spend the bulk of your time. That likely depends on how many of the shops and restaurants you want to visit in the area. You may also be fans of the magical wands and making things move in the windows. I really enjoyed seeing the pages of the book come alive as well as several visitors, dressed in robes and other Harry Potter themed clothing. This is a fantastic spot for picture taking as well. It does get quite crowded in certain areas so hold onto your patience and enjoy the experience.

I'm not a Potterhead though I did used to be a pothead and once binged all 8 movies over a couple…read moreweeks in 2014 through the haze of the ganja. And Diagon Alley is light on attractions. Its sole ride, Escape from Gringotts I gave two stars as I found it very lackluster compared to the two Potter themed thrill rides over at Islands of Adventure. But the theming in this section of the park is absolutely phenomenal and highly immersive enough to make this an easy 4 stars. The Knight Bus was fun enough for both my sister and I to get pictures by it with its friendly steward and his appropriate accent. I missed the low key entrance on our first go round. As I said I watched the movies in a cloud of smoke and didn't realize it was this secret fandom entrance/exit but the throngs passing through tipped us off. The greater density with everything packed so tightly together and its separation from the other themed areas of Universal Studios Florida makes this Potter themed area more impressive than its counterpart over at Islands of Adventure- even without a magnificent castle. The alleys, the shops, the hand painted signage, the dragon perched high shooting out that massive flame... I can only imagine how hard this hits if you're a Potter fanatic. And though Escape from Gringotts was pretty weak sauce in my estimation the queue and the theming before the ride experience was top notch. They really broke the bank on this, as with the great train ride in. Maybe if I ever go back I'll watch a Potter movie or two sober.

We definitely felt dropped into a Mario Bros / Super Nintendo game or movie. The space, while…read moresmall, is colorful and contain the elements you'd expect to see - Yoshi, boxes to hit for sounds and points, mushrooms, Bowser, etc. Even the gift shops are fun with their apparel and character accessories. (Did a Yoshi hat come home with us? Yes, yes it did.) This space will not be appreciated by everyone - not because we don't love Mario Bros but because it is small and full of people in every corner. It offers a few attractions and it is a huge commitment to stand in line for a short thrill. We did ride Bowser's ride. It allowed for single riders. It delays regularly though - in our case a cart had to be removed and replaced on the track. It involves a lot of technology the way the game is designed. Our family of 4 did not understand the game at all and how we even gathered points. Thankfully we didn't stand in line as long and wouldn't recommend anyone else does. Sadly the other rides were not part of our day due to the lengthy wait times and in the case of Donkey Kong, so backed up that the single rider line was closed. We witnessed a lot of happy kids running around and tapping question marked boxes. Even for my older teen / adult children they stood in the space and smiled while they took it in. It was the first place they wanted to see upon our arrival.

Colorful, full of life and BUSY! This location is a Nintendo fan's dream, but be aware that…read moreeveryone wants to visit. There are interactive areas, 3 rides, 1 hidden attraction, lots of food and character experiences and tons of photo-ops. Shoutout to the amazing Team Members with the characters, they have some serious crowd control jobs and offer great moments with Mario, Luigi, Peach and Yoshi. I do miss Donkey Kong and TOAD and I hope they return soon.

Out of both Minion attractions, this one was the better one. My mom is a fan of The Minions, so we…read morewanted to try both out. This was pretty cute, but I didn't feel it was worth the wait. Especially since there were lots of screaming little ones. If it's 30 minutes or less of a wait, I would definitely recommend trying it.

This is a cute ride if there's no wait. I hadn't ridden this in years. It no longer has the 3D…read moreglasses, but the ride experience was not negatively effected. It's a great ride for entire families. I would not recommend if the wait is over 20 minutes unless you're only here one day and have small kids that can't ride much.

Shoutout to the businesses still celebrating kids doing good in school We stopped by due to…read morerecieving an Orange County Public Schools student voucher and honestly had such a good time! My AB students were SO excited to use their reward and felt super proud of themselves the entire visit. Sadly the jump area had already closed down, BUT the staff handled everything so kindly and made sure my other child still got to enjoy. One child did go-kart round and my other child got 2 hours of arcade time. That alone turned what was disappointment into a really fun family outing. The employees were patient, friendly, and genuinely nice the whole time -- which matters so much when you're out with kids. There's honestly a ton to do, the atmosphere was fun, and my kiddos are already asking when we're going back Definitely will be back again!

Dezerland Park Orlando is a cool kinda auto museum action/video mall. Ther is of course the auto…read moremuseum l, but there is bowling, an arcade, bumper cars, go carts and trampoline place. There are also shops, bars and some food as well. Nothing special, but a food time if you are a car geek or if you have kids. Everything is individual priced. Oh, they also have Lazer tag. Life hack for the drinkers out there. O07 museum bar has happy hour from 2- 4 daily. It is to the right when you walk in either door. They have $5 specialty drinks during happy hour and they are really good.

You never know how fat or funny looking you are until you look at your on-ride photo. I'll leave it…read moreat that.

This is another classic dark ride from the park. It starts off as a fun river raft type ride and…read morethen has a pretty sick drop at the end. This is one of the rides I used to scare the crap out of me when I was a kid . It was all fun and games until the drop at the end ! This is a pretty good thrill, seeking ride though !