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This park is so much better than all of the Disney parks. The rides are better, it is cleaner, the themes are cooler. It is all cartoons and movies and has an awesome Dr. Seuss world. I alway recommend people who go to Orlando should try IOA over Disney.

My 9 year old loves Spider-Man, so Islands of Adventure was a definite must on our last trip to Orlando. The whole family had a great time!

OH,that hurts. As a big Disney fan my family has allways chose disney over IOA. Even though we still go to both once you go to Disney on holidays and celebrations like Christmas and 50th anniversy it is just the total package. If your there I will see you at Christmas.

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Originally posted by mod_ben:
This park is so much better than all of the Disney parks. The rides are better, it is cleaner, the themes are cooler. It is all cartoons and movies and has an awesome Dr. Seuss world. I alway recommend people who go to Orlando should try IOA over Disney.

Never been to IOA, been to WDW several times over the last twenty years. I can't imagine IOA being all that much cleaner since I've never seen anything in WDW that qualified as dirt or litter. If the themes are "cooler," it's just that you're not a Disney person. That's cool, that's why they have horse races. My kids love Disney and Epcot, my favorite is MGM. The kids tripped over actually being in the Muppet theatre (or as close as we could get in real life!)

We're planning a trip to IOA for 2010 to see the Harry Potter island.

We went to universal this May having been to Disney 4 times in the past. There is so much more to do at Disney it doesnt even compare. Plus the service and cleanliness are far superior at D. We did universal and IOA in 2 days and my kids were asking to go back to D. especially MGM

We've been to all of them... and LOOOVE them all for what they are. We love Disney, we buy passes so that we almost always have tickets in case good airfare comes up for a weekend getaway. I've gone with my kids and I've gone without (they are now 21 and 16).

Both parks are clean and pleasant in that manner.

Disney celebrates the kid in all of us. It's a trip back to a nicer time, the grounds are beautiful, they continue to make us laugh or gasp in awe. We have our list of favorites that are not to be missed on a trip. (If you haven't been in Spaceship Earth since the remodel, GO, the surprise at the end was hysterical).

Universal and IOA appeal to a different aspect and are slightly more "adult" in nature. They good-naturedly make jokes about "the ratt" etc. in their shows. Universal appeals to those of us that love the older movies, Jaws, the Blues Brothers etc. It took me many years to get there, not seeing the appeal over Disney. Now I just do it all!

IOA definitely appealed to my teenaged boys. They love the Hulk coaster (Disney doesn't have coasters that compare to the other parks, but as we explain to people that have said "they don't like RIDES so they don't go to Disney," Disney doesn't have RIDES, they have attractions to entertain you. Sometimes they go fast or have a little drop, but they are all about the entertainment from the time you get in line!) The Spiderman ride IS amazing. We go for Halloween Horror Nights almost every year and with 6 or so haunted attractions and shows, it's a great time.

And after all these years, I finally made it to Seaworld and I have to throw that one in there now too. We kept putting it off and I LOVED it... loved feeding the stingrays, seals / sea lions, and feeding / petting the dolphins... for prices as low as $4-$6 for each feeding tray. It's a nice relaxing day of seeing shows and the grounds are beautiful. Worth a visit if you have an extra day in your trip.

Universal's rides are much more intense. Not a good experience for myself @ 50 years old and a wimpy female. I won't be doing that again. But, my husband and children, ages 8 and 18 loved the rides. Both Disneyworld and Universal are extremely clean. I find that Disney just caters to it's vistors a little bit more. You feel a little more special there. I felt Universal was much less crowded and that I liked. But so glad we finished up our week in Disney, we all just like it better.