Disney World at Halloween Pictorial Part Five: Islands of Adventure

Going to Disney World almost four months pregnant has its challenges, as was brutally apparent on our trip to Universal's Islands of Adventure. I was so excited to finally experience The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

We ate at Three Broomsticks. I was a little disappointed to see that the menu was much more limited than the one I'd seen advertised online (a more current one is here) and the service was pretty abhorrent. "You can tell this isn't Disney," someone in our party remarked. But it was good food. I enjoyed the shepherd's pie with a "pumpkin juice."  Moments later, however, I found myself retching in the bathroom pictured to the left, above, which happened to have piped in Moaning Myrtle. Borderline hyperemesis in 90 degree heat is bad enough at a theme park, but the Moaning Myrtle was the nail in the coffin.

I really enjoyed this store window. You can't tell from the pic, but they sold white chocolate "sugar skulls"--really, really cute ones. I wanted to take one with me so badly, but I knew they wouldn't survive the 90 degree afternoon in my backpack and wasn't about to trek back here after a full day at the park. Next time, perhaps.

I am incredibly jealous that Justin got to ride the cutting-age Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, which he declared to be the coolest ride he'd ever seen, apologizing emphatically for having enjoyed such an incredible thing without me. When I asked my companions what that meant, it seems the ride was beyond description...from what I gather it's some kind of cross between a roller coaster and a badass cinematic 360 degree dark ride. I suppose I will find out in December!

This is Suess Landing. As we were in the company of two two-year-olds, we spent an awful lot of time here.

Arthur particularly enjoyed this ride, the High in the Sky Trolley Train Ride.

This was one of the few prego-approved rides I got to enjoy. It's kind of the Dumbo-style ride, but you control the up and down movement and there are large fish that spit on you.






Twin roller coasters. I've ridden these both before and they are truly badass.

See more of our Disney Halloween trip:

Part one: Flight and check-in
Part two: Hollywood Studios
Part three: Magic Kingdom
Part four: EPCOT
Part six: Animal Kingdom