Marvel Superhero Island

Marvel Superhero Island (MSI) is a great little nook in Islands of Adventures, but it seems overcrowded. Something tells me that the builders tried to fit most of the Marvel Universe on two streets in New York. And where are the Avengers and Xavier mansions?

A cool, random thing about MSI is that there are characters everywhere! This fact hit me immediately upon entering, and I took tons of pictures/tons of pictures were taken of me. (They will be on Facebook soon) For example, when you walk in, there's a small replica of the Baxter Building, disguised as a cafe. I got a picture with the Fantastic Four sign and "driving" the Fantasticar (an obvious publicity tie-in to the 2007 possible blockbuster Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer).

Walking down Stan Lee Boulevard (winning), I bumped into the Green Goblin. How many times in your life have you walked down a street named after a famous comic book creator and ran into an uber-famous comic book villain. Actually, in a former life, I have walked down Bob Kane Court and met the Joker and Catwoman (not Halle Berry). Being the knowledgeable comics fan that I am, I asked Gobby if he was Norman or Harry Osborn. OK, so what self-respecting supervillain would give away his secret identity to some random ginger kid. But he was totally in-character and in a sneering voice, answered, " I'm the Green Goblin." I got a picture and partially redeemed myself by telling him to "Go kick Spider-Man's butt for me" ironically before getting on Spider-Man's ride.

Speaking of Spidey, the first and sadly the last ride I went on at Islands of Adventure, was the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man. The pre-ride area goes through the back rooms of the Daily Bugle. There, you see that J. Jonah Jameson (JJJ) has files on every person or thing in the Marvel Universe, and that Aunt May and Mary Jane have left voicemails for Peter Parker (who is the webmaster for the Daily Bugle like in the Ultimate Spider-Man comics). This ride is the personification of awesome.

You're strapped into special "Scoop" cars by some random guy that reminds me of The Man in Black in X-Men: First Class, given 3D glasses, and told "not screw this up" by JJJ. Immediately, Spider-Man pops into your sight and tells you things are dangerous. You see the Statue of Liberty down and Hobgoblin and Dr. Octopus cackling away. Electro is definitely the scariest baddie, and his electric generator "spins" your car around. Scream (a Venom/Spider-Woman hybrid) looks really good in 3D, and Hydroman gets you wet but not soaking. Hobgoblin and Doc Ock stretch the limits of the 3D projector and do some great fire effects, but the best part of the ride is when you drop to your impending doom...

After going on this stunning motion simulator ride, I rode Dr. Doom's Fearfall alone. The pre-ride loading zone is nothing to write home about, but you pass Fogwell's Gym and Murdoch and Nelson's Law Offices on the way (obvious Daredevil references). I actually had literal fear before riding because a wasp was buzzing on my harness but thankfully moved on to another rider. Dr. Doom starts out with a bang after a ton of build-up and features a 300 ft. drop, but then it transforms into a Tower of Terror ripoff. Great view though.

While exiting through Kingpin's Arcade (no X-Men vs. Street Fighter or Marvel vs. Capcom in sight), I saw several X-Men characters. I ran up to Rogue, started chatting and realized there was an actual line for her. Embarrassed, I walked over to the Incredible Hulk coaster which is probably the best ride in MSI. The pre-ride area is big and green, like the Hulk. The coaster itself starts out slow and then boom! 0-40 in two seconds is no lie. This is a wonderfully engineered steel coaster that belongs at Six Flags or Cedar Point. I really felt like I was Wolverine holding on for dear life while battling Hulk and Wendigo in Canada (Incredible Hulk 181). The ride dips, turns, and goes upside down several times. I've never been a huge fan of Hulk's comics, but I'm definitely a huge fan of his ride.

So, I finally got in with the X-Men. Rogue looked like she was 50 and didn't have a Southern accent, but Storm was great. She giggled when I asked her if she was going to bring the mohawk back and really carried herself regally. Wolverine had the longest line and shortest attention span, but what do you expect. I got to touch his adamantium claws and call him "bub." But Cyclops was the best. He made me repent of all my Cyclops jokes that I sometimes use on straight-laced people. It also made me feel sorry that Toad beat him in X-Men, he was stuffed in a fridge in X2, and was killed off in X-Men: The Last Stand. He thought my red-tinted sunglasses were cool, and we had a nice " bro chat" about Jean Grey and shared a hug. My picture with him will be my profile pic on Facebook.

It's not every day that you meet four X-Men. However, in MSI, there was some definite anti-mutant bias. Storm gets stuck with a tea cup ride lamer than Disney's with an implausible story to match. The epicness of MSI meant that I spent some $$$ at the "Comics Shop." Having recently read Civil War on Marvel Digital Comics, I picked up the first graphic novel of the "Death of Captain America" arc. I also bought a Loki action figure from the Thor movie because he's my favorite Marvel villain.

"I'm the best at what I do, and what I do isn't very nice."- Wolverine