Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
smartphones, DNA, the persistence of vision, the way rock music moves you, and
how we're all connected. For example, in a funny tribute to contemporary communic-
ations, the blue guys interact with a giant “GiPad” (
Gi
- stands for “ginormous”). In
2012, Universal and Blue Man Group poured upward of $5 million into new music,
staging, and high-resolution special effects, as well as a new interactive finale for the
1-hour, 45-minute production.
Tickets start at $60 for adults and $30 for children ages 3-9 and can be purchased
online or at the Universal box office; tickets purchased at the box office cost $10
more. Combo tickets for one or both parks including the Blue Man Group show start
at $186 for adults and $151 for kids; a combo deal featuring a meal at one of the
CityWalk restaurants and a ticket to the show starts at $74.50.
UNIVERSAL'S ISLANDS
of
ADVENTURE
WHENIOAOPENEDIN
1999,itprovidedUniversalwithenoughcriticalmasstoactually
compete with Disney. Doubly interesting is that the second Universal park is pretty
much just for fun—in other words, a direct competitor to Disney's Magic Kingdom,
the most-visited theme park in the world.
And though Universal played second fiddle to Disney for many years, times have
changed: Universal's Islands of Adventure is a state-of-the-art park competing with
a Disney park that is more than 35 years old and did not add a new super-headliner
attraction for many years until the Fantasyland expansion begun in 2010 launched in
phases, from 2012 to 2014.
Incidentally, 2010 marked IOA's coming-out party. In one of the greatest seismic
shifts in theme park history, Universal secured the rights to build a Harry Pot-
ter-themed area within the park. Harry P. is possibly the only fictional character ex-
tant capable of trumping Mickey Mouse, and Universal has gone all-out, under J. K.
Rowling's watchful and exacting eye, to create a setting and attractions designed to
be the envy of the industry.
Disney and Universal officially downplay their fierce competition, pointing out
that any new theme park or attraction makes Central Florida a more marketable des-
