Happy birthday to the greatest theme park in the world

Got there in 2001 and was a blast then. Only other visit in 2012 but still loved Harry Potter even if the roller coasters a bit rougher for me. Still, a great game changer for the theme park wars and deserves its accolades.

I think it's interesting to see how this park has evolved over its first 25 years, which is probably more than any park at that point in its history. Most parks simply expand, but IOA has had to reimagine itself because of its inability to grow in size (something that UC has appeared to address in the design for Epic Universe). To think that the park's 3 original "big" roller coasters have been either completely renovated (Hulk with a full track replacement) or replaced (Dueling Dragons/Dragon Challenge replaced with Hagrids and Velocicoater) is mind-blowing, and yet IOA has so much more room to reinvent itself with plenty of underutilized space within its boundary. The hope would be that UC continues to allow the park to evolve and lose sight of what has made IOA so great, and that includes coming up with solid plans for their Marvel licensing that has kept that section of the park stuck in 2000.

Let's hear it for the water rides! While all parks promise you won't just get wet but soaked, IOA delivers every time......and JP River Adventure, sitting on the front row, still gives me the greatest thrill of any attraction when it hits the water.

Also the rock music blazing out in MSH Island on my way to the best soft serve kiosk is also a highlight.

Fantastic park catering for all ages.

Just wait until Epic Universe opens 2 miles away next year... THAT will probably win best park next year haha.

Still hoping that Zelda comes to IOA. Disney Sea just opened its fantastic Fantasy Springs so it will be interesting to see which park wins next year.

@Daniel Galvan - Fantasy Spring does look amazing and each individual ride looks fantastic but I think they are all too similar to be in the same area. They needed something with a bit of a punch to make it a perfect land. Overall I think Disney Sea probably beats out IOA but not enough people have been there so the voting is always very IOA heavy. Epic though will take the crown away from Disney Sea and rightfully so by the looks of it!

I love IOA, still in my top 5 favorite parks in the world and easily the best in Orlando. Hagrid/Velocicoaster was a hell of a 1-2 punch to add to a park that already had brilliant rides like Spider-Man, Forbidden Journey, River Adventure, and Hulk.

Really hope Zelda comes in to wipe out what's left of Lost Continent, which is a complete dead zone taking up tons of valuable real estate in a park that, like Russell mentioned, has no room to expand. I do have DisneySea slightly ahead of IOA based on my visit last year, and Fantasy Springs will likely propel it up into the very elite with Disneyland and Europa Park, but Zelda would be a big boost for IOA to help it keep up.

I'm not sure that I'd call Islands of Adventure the best theme park in the world, but it is definitely a contender for the title and probably my favorite in the US. That said, despite my love of the park it's got quite a bit of underutilized space, so hopefully we'll be seeing something new there shortly after Epic Universe opens.

Lost Continent is empty. Toon Lagoon theater is empty. Am I correct that the last new attraction (VelociCoaster) opened in three years ago and it was a rollercoaster. The debut of which followed the Hagrid's thing that was a rollercoaster?

Such a fantastic experience in themed entertainment.

Am I correct that the last new attraction at Magic Kingdom (Tron) was a rollercoaster. The debut of which followed the Snow White thing (opened 9 years prior) that was a rollercoaster?

At least IOA has gotten new attractions over the past 5-7 years. DAK hasn't seen a new attraction (aside from Rivers of Light, which was cancelled after 2 years and the stupid kite show that was laughed out of existence) since 2017 (7 full years).