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  • Ten of Orlandos Wildest Rides

    Posted on December 11th, 2010 admin No comments

    Written by: Philip Cornish
    Authors Website

    Read more Articles by Philip Cornish 

    While you are taking your vacation in one of the many Disney villas, Florida villas, Orlando villas, Florida vacation rentals and villas near Disney that are available to rent, why not visit the theme parks and have a great time on the following wildest rides around.  We can guarantee some spectacular fun !!!

    Universal Islands of Adventure - The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man.  On this 3D simulation ride you are taken into the world of the comic book hero Spider Man.  The ride has quite a few twists and turns and a fantastic virtual 400 foot freefall experience. As Spider Man swings high above the city, riders will see, hear, and feel the action unfolding around them.

    Universal Islands of Adventure – The Incredible Hulk Roller Coaster – on this ride you loop the loop several times.  You need to be at least 54 inches tall to take this hair raising and thrilling ride.  After you have been on it you will see why you need to be able to fit into the seat and harness comfortably.  At take off, you are launched from 0 to 40 mph in two seconds flat. The Incredible Hulk ride has a total of seven inversions and two subterranean trenches during the 2 minute, 15-second ride.   This is one that our children just adore.

    Universal Islands of Adventure - Dueling Dragons – this is another ride (in fact there are two rides), where you have to be 54 inches tall to ride.  Dueling Dragons are the world’s first inverted, dueling roller-coasters. Locked in mortal combat (and coming as close as 18″ of each other) each dragon’s 2 minute and 25 second ride includes several inversions, including a zero-g roll, a Cobra roll, two corkscrews, and two vertical loops.  My wife went on Fire and then Ice immediately after and came off feeling rather sick.  The boys loved it and wanted to do it again.

    Walt Disney world Epcot - Mission Space – is definitely not for the faint hearted.  The ride was designed with help from NASA to simulate what astronauts experience during a launch and spaceflight. Riders can choose between the heavy-duty g-forces of the original Mission: Space or a slightly milder version of this ride.  You are very close to the screen and it can become quite claustrophobic.  To be truthful, I came off feeling quite ill.  However, once again our boys loved it.

    Disney’s Animal Kingdom - Expedition Everest – is a roller coaster that takes riders speeding towards the top of Mount Everest.  If the forward motion of the ride is not enough for you, it also goes backwards as well.  There are also a few surprises, including the fearsome Yeti, which lurks in the Himalayan mountain range.

    Disney’s Hollywood Studios - Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith – is for both roller coaster lovers and fans of Aerosmith.  This fantastic ride takes you from 0 to 60 mph with the force of a supersonic F-14.  There are high speed loops and turns as you travel along the Los Angeles freeway.  The entire ride is all synchronized to a specially recorded Aerosmith soundtrack.  Another ride we all love.

    Sea World – Kraken – is always ranked as one of the top ten rides by coaster enthusiasts.  You can see Kraken from all over Sea world as it is so large and high.  It is the tallest, fastest, and only floorless steel roller coaster in the whole of Orlando.

    Walt Disney world Epcot - Test Track.  In this ride you can see what it takes to be a crash test dummy.  You enter the car and then go through a series of exercises on the track where you test the brakes, swerve around hair pin bends, test the ABS (Antilock Braking System), and also experience extreme weather conditions from freezing cold to very, very hot, just like the desert.  Toward the end of the ride you career on to a 50 degree banked curves at around 60 miles an hour.

    Universal Studios - Men in Black Alien Attack – is based on the smash hit movies “Men in Black”.  The ride provides you with laser guns with which you hunt down deadly aliens through the streets of New York City. If you score enough points you can earn the title of “MIB agent”.  Even if you don’t, its great fun playing against friends and family.

    Universal Studios - Revenge of the Mummy – is an indoor rollercoaster that goes both backwards and forwards (mainly forwards).  This frightening ride is set and goes inside a very dark Mummy’s tomb.  There are fireballs, scarab beetles, and even an army of warrior mummies.  A really great ride and very, very fast so hold on to your hats – I lost mine once !!

  • Animal Kingdom with Toddlers

    Posted on July 30th, 2009 admin No comments

    Written by: Patty Bensur
    Authors Website

    Of the four Walt Disney World theme parks, Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom are best suited for small children.  There are several attractions which would not be recommended for the little ones, but the majority of Animal Kingdom can be enjoyed by all ages. 

    You’d be hard-pressed to find a small child who is not a big fan of going to the zoo.  Animal Kingdom is like no other animal park your child has ever seen and amidst the animal exhibits are the wonderful attractions characteristic only of Disney. 

    Animal Kingdom is the smallest of the Disney parks and allows families with small children ample time to cover  the park at a toddler’s pace.  Your children will enjoy seeing some unusual animals that they may have never seen before like Komodo dragons, anteaters, and the Flying Fox (the largest bat in the world with a wing-span of 6 feet)!

    The attractions that you will need to avoid with your small children are Kali River Rapids, Expedition Everest, Dinosaur, It’s Tough to be a Bug and Primevil Whirl.

    The rest of the park is totally suitable for all ages including Kilimanjaro Safaris which is a pleasant ride in an open-air safari jeep across the “African Savannah” where riders can view giraffes, zebras, lions and more in their natural habitat.

    Your small children will enjoy the Wildlife Express Train or a ride on the TriceraTop Spin which is similar to Dumbo in Magic Kingdom (and always a family favorite) as well as playing in the Boneyard which is a play maze built around dinosaur fossils but don’t miss the fabulous performances.  Our favorite is The Festival of the Lion King.  The colorful costumes, incredible imagery including giant floats with all your favorite Lion King characters, stilt walkers, acrobats, trapeze artists, and talented singers rival the Broadway performance of The Lion King we saw a few years back in New York City!  

    Finding Nemo – the Musical is not to be missed by little Nemo fans!  This colorful live performance with actors and puppetry is a shortened  re-telling of the movie only with original music numbers added in.

    Flights of Wonder is an interesting program but may not be interesting enough for young children.  And if your children have a fear of birds, then this may a good one to avoid as some of the birds will be flying over the audience.