Sometimes I visit theme parks with no ride or reason in mind. Recently, I made a loop of Islands of Adventure , a place I’ve been hundreds of times since 1999, and it was a mix of sentimentality and discovery.

Strolling through the park’s Port of Entry, I notice five pieces of colorful glass embedded into the walkway. I imagine they’ve always been there — why would Universal add them later, after all — but I don’t remember them. Are they symbolic, like for the five original lands of IOA?

Or are they just pretty and scene setters? The designs of Central Florida parks are so layered that you can literally walk right past/over them.

It reminded me of another Port of Entry discovery in the early COVID-19 pandemic days. It was so quiet, and that enabled me to first hear the prerecorded jai

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