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Universal's Polynesian-themed water park with a 200-foot drop slide.
11Rank
Universal Islands of Adventure
Score8.0
🇺🇸United StatesTheme parkNorth America (USA)
Orlando, Florida, United States
Florida's strongest thrill line-up, home to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
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Best for
Best for Thrill SeekersOpened
1999
Size
101 acres (41 ha)
Rides
22 attractions
Avg. visit
8 hours
Ticket range
$119–$199 USD
Universal Islands of Adventure overview
Universal Islands of Adventure at a glance
Florida's strongest thrill line-up, home to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
Universal's Islands of Adventure is the thrill-forward half of the Orlando resort and a fixture near the top of enthusiast rankings. The Wizarding World of Harry Potter — Hogsmeade set the modern standard for immersive land design, and Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, VelociCoaster and The Incredible Hulk Coaster give it a coaster roster few parks can match.
Themed islands are compact and highly walkable; peak-season crowds and ticket prices are the main drawbacks.
Our editor's recommendation
Yes, if you already have a reason to be in the region. It ranks #11 of the 50 parks we score, at 8.0/10 with 22 rides and attractions and a typical visit of about 8 hours. Tickets run $119–$199 a day. The strongest reasons to go are its big-ticket thrill rides. The honest catch: tickets are expensive for what you get, and queues average around 26 minutes. Best time to visit: September to early November.
Universal Islands of Adventure highlights
Rides & attractions at Universal Islands of Adventure
These are the top attractions at Universal Islands of Adventure — 9 rides and experiences hand-picked and verified by our editorial team, including 3 signature rides you shouldn't miss. Use the filter bar below to narrow the line-up by rider height, zone, category or thrill level.
- SIGNATURE
- SIGNATURE
Jurassic World VelociCoaster
EXTREME132 cm min- 113 km/h
- 47 m
- 1433 m
- 4
- 2021
Single rider lineSkip-the-line eligible - SIGNATURE
The Incredible Hulk Coaster
EXTREME137 cm min- 2m 15s
- 107 km/h
- 33.5 m
- 990 m
- 7
- 1999
Single rider lineSkip-the-line eligible 
122 cm min- 2010
IndoorSingle rider lineSkip-the-line eligible
102 cm min- 1999
IndoorSingle rider lineSkip-the-line eligible
Plan your visit to Universal Islands of Adventure
- Operating hours
- Typically 9am-7pm, later on peak days and during Halloween Horror Nights season
- Operating calendar
- Hours vary daily and are published on the official Universal Orlando park hours calendar.
- Seasonal closures
- Open year-round
- Queue-skip pass
- Universal Express Pass, priced from roughly $80 to $300 per person per day depending on date and tier. From about $90 USD.
- How long to stay
- Full day
- Multi-day tickets
- Multi-day and multi-park tickets covering Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios Florida and Epic Universe; the Hogwarts Express requires a park-to-park ticket.
- Season pass
- Annual or season pass from about $449 USD.
Universal Islands of Adventure map
Official park mapUniversal Islands of Adventure events & shows
Grinchmas
Seasonal Seuss Landing celebration with the Grinchmas Who-liday Spectacular stage show.
Universal Islands of Adventure reviews & ratings
Amusement Park Ranker overall score
8.0
An aggregate of 3 public review platforms, each normalized to a 0–10 scale and weighted by review volume.
Universal Islands of Adventure wait times
- Typical day
26
- Crowd & wait score
5.6
Universal Islands of Adventure records & achievements
Golden Ticket Award for Best Steel Coaster (VelociCoaster)
2022Jurassic World VelociCoaster was voted the world's best steel roller coaster in Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Awards.
Golden Ticket Award for Best Theme Park
2017Islands of Adventure has repeatedly won Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Award for Best Theme Park, first taking the title in 2017.
Attractions near Universal Islands of Adventure
SeaWorld Orlando
Marine park and aquarium with rescue and rehabilitation programmes.
Central Florida Zoo
Sanford zoo with 500 animals and an aerial adventure course.
Universal Islands of Adventure is part of our index of theme parks ranked worldwide. Planning a shorter shortlist? The top 20 amusement parks in the world narrows the field to the essential stops.