On Monday we opted to visit US and both my husband and myself loved, loved the theming of this park. We loved MGM theming with the backdrops of San Francisco and US was on the same lines but with much more detail.
My 9 year old wanted to start the day with Rip Ride Roller Coaster and my husband again opted to take him on. I need to warm myself up before attempting these bigger rides. Boy I am getting old! Honestly I didn't think that we would see them anytime soon so I was looking for something for myself and my 7 year old to do (I have come to the conclusion that my younger son is not a roller coaster fan by this point) but to my amazement the line is only 5 mins and it is 9:30am so we just waited. They were off in about 15 mins which I was very pleased with. They would have been off sooner but they had to take a cart off the tracks while they were in line. My husband thought it was very good. The only part that was daunting was the climb up the hill.
All 4 of us them went on Shrek. It was a 4D movie with moving seats. The kids thought it was ok. Boy, their standards have went up here. At home when we do amusement parks these attractions are one of their favorites. I thought it was very well done.
Next we went on Twister. I have to say that this could have been so much more. I am glad we did it but it is a one time attraction in my opinion. My husband was very annoyed that he was pushed under a pipe that was leaking (not dripping but a constant stream of water) down his back.
We put our bag in the lockers provided and we rode the Mummy two times in a row. This was easily my youngest son's favorite ride. It is a roller coaster in the dark. He also loved all the theming of this one as well.
We were able to catch the Blues Brothers show at that point. We sat on some steps of a building down the street to get a better view and out of the crowd at street level. It was slightly shaded and we had an excellent view. The show was quite good. I tried to get the kids into it but they were on excitement overload so we left before it was finished.
I had plans for each days meals but due to the fact that we had the Express Passes we moved through the parks very quickly so we were not in the areas that I thought we would be for lunch. So most of the reservations that I made were forgotten.
On that day we ate at Richers Burgers. My 9 year old and my husband had the regular cheeseburger and fries and they were $7.79 each. I had the slightly healthier option; a grilled chicken burger and fries which was $7.99. My youngest is a very poor eater and we had to force him to have something so we ordered him a chocolate shake at $2.99. At least he got some calcium. The milk shake came more in the form of soft ice cream. But he loved it. We also purchased 2 refills for our cups. The total bill was $29.97. We all enjoyed this meal.
Next we moved to Disaster. It was nothing like I expected. Basically they show you how they film a movie. The kids thought is was very interesting. Then onto Jaws which we all enjoyed. Simple principle but entertaining.
Men in Black was our next stop. It is a ride where you are challenged to shoot aliens and rack up points in doing so. I was astonished that I was able to beat my entire family. Me, against my "gamer" family. Who knew! I scored 114,500. Not bad for a first attempt. I thought that we would be going on this over and over again but the kids never asked to do it again.
We did Simpsons and the kids loved it. It is a simulated roller coaster. I thought it was neat how they load this ride. We entered a small room and watched a clip of the Simpsons to explain what the plot of the ride was and then the doors opened and you sat in a car that sits 8, 4 in each seat. We sat in the back and due to the fact we are on the tall side our heads hit the top of the seat. Next time the front seat it is! Then I think the car rose and ceiling moved open and a huge screen appeared. It was very well done even though I am not a Simpsons fan. My husband did experience some mild motion sickness with this ride, so beware.
We made our way to the Horror Makeup Show and were there early so enjoyed the displays. While we were waiting, I was surprised some kids ran out screaming so I guess you would have know what your kids are able to handle. I have some pictures of the displays so I will post them so you can judge for yourself. They show was very good. More funny than creepy.
Very hot so we did Jimmy Neutron before we left the park. Another simulator ride. I thought it was cute but no one else in my party commented on it so I guess it was just ok in their opinion.
At 3pm we were back at our room. It was not cleaned yet so we decided to get our suits on and relax by the pool. My husband poured a beer in a mug and packed a couple of extras in our bag and headed down. We saw others doing the same thing. The kids did the waterslide a few times but must have been spoiled by the Express Pass so didn't want to wait in line. It felt great to relax and read for a while.
By 5pm we were getting hungry so got cleaned up and headed for Margarittaville in City Walk. We missed our reservation and it was now closed for a private party so we headed over to NBA.
We couldn't decide on what we wanted to order so we shared the 5 on 5 appetizer between myself, my husband and my older son. It was served with chicken wings, quesadias (spelling?), crab rolls and 2 other appetizer but I can't remember. My youngest son had pasta. We had two ice teas and 2 chocolate milks and the bill was $41.59 plus tip. I have to say, I was not impressed with our meal but it probably was again because we never ordered the right thing off the menu. I also thought the theming of the restaurant to be ok but we are not huge basketball fan either.
The kids were still raring to go, so we headed back to IOA. There was a Christmas store just as you enter the park that we went into. It is a tradition the every Christmas Eve we give the kids an ordiment of commemorating a special event or a family trip of the year. We planned on purchasing a ordiment from US for the kids. The kids showed interest in a couple but we decided that I would go back toward the end of the trip to buy them. I was disappointed when I returned later in the week and both were sold out. Just a word of advise if you see something that in that store pick it up at that time. In speaking with an employee in the store, some ordiments have sold out in an afternoon. They will put the date on your ordiment for $3 and dates for free.
We rode Spiderman again and after some persuading from the kids they talked us into riding some of the water rides. We road the Dudley Do-Right Ripsaw Falls and were soaked so we decide to ride Jurassic Park River Adventure while we were already wet. We loved that one. Another favorite! We felt that we were right in Jurassic Park. You enter the ride and go through the doors and the theme music is playing. It was dusk at that time and it was a great time to experience this ride. We have watched these movies so many times I knew it would be a hit for our family. We rode it two times and I didn't think that we got to wet (we rode it later in the trip and got soaked so it must have been the fact that we were already wet that we thought it was not to bad) We would have did the Barge ride at that point, but I forgot about that one or I would have got all of the water rides done that night.
It was getting close to closing but we were still in good shape so we decided to head over to WWOHP to see if we could do FJ again. It was dark at this time and the area was even more stunning at night. My camera batteries were getting low so my flash wasn't working right so most of my pictures never worked out. Boo Hoo. Again another 30 mins wait for FJ.
We entered and while we were in the greenhouse area the ride broke down. We stayed in line because I have read that it usually is only down for a few minutes. It was down for quite a while but the line still moved. It took more than a hour to get through the line. It was past 10 pm and still the shops were opened. No one was in them and it would have been great to explore but we were tired so we just headed by boat back to the room.
My 9 year old wanted to start the day with Rip Ride Roller Coaster and my husband again opted to take him on. I need to warm myself up before attempting these bigger rides. Boy I am getting old! Honestly I didn't think that we would see them anytime soon so I was looking for something for myself and my 7 year old to do (I have come to the conclusion that my younger son is not a roller coaster fan by this point) but to my amazement the line is only 5 mins and it is 9:30am so we just waited. They were off in about 15 mins which I was very pleased with. They would have been off sooner but they had to take a cart off the tracks while they were in line. My husband thought it was very good. The only part that was daunting was the climb up the hill.
All 4 of us them went on Shrek. It was a 4D movie with moving seats. The kids thought it was ok. Boy, their standards have went up here. At home when we do amusement parks these attractions are one of their favorites. I thought it was very well done.
Next we went on Twister. I have to say that this could have been so much more. I am glad we did it but it is a one time attraction in my opinion. My husband was very annoyed that he was pushed under a pipe that was leaking (not dripping but a constant stream of water) down his back.
We put our bag in the lockers provided and we rode the Mummy two times in a row. This was easily my youngest son's favorite ride. It is a roller coaster in the dark. He also loved all the theming of this one as well.
We were able to catch the Blues Brothers show at that point. We sat on some steps of a building down the street to get a better view and out of the crowd at street level. It was slightly shaded and we had an excellent view. The show was quite good. I tried to get the kids into it but they were on excitement overload so we left before it was finished.
I had plans for each days meals but due to the fact that we had the Express Passes we moved through the parks very quickly so we were not in the areas that I thought we would be for lunch. So most of the reservations that I made were forgotten.
On that day we ate at Richers Burgers. My 9 year old and my husband had the regular cheeseburger and fries and they were $7.79 each. I had the slightly healthier option; a grilled chicken burger and fries which was $7.99. My youngest is a very poor eater and we had to force him to have something so we ordered him a chocolate shake at $2.99. At least he got some calcium. The milk shake came more in the form of soft ice cream. But he loved it. We also purchased 2 refills for our cups. The total bill was $29.97. We all enjoyed this meal.
Next we moved to Disaster. It was nothing like I expected. Basically they show you how they film a movie. The kids thought is was very interesting. Then onto Jaws which we all enjoyed. Simple principle but entertaining.
Men in Black was our next stop. It is a ride where you are challenged to shoot aliens and rack up points in doing so. I was astonished that I was able to beat my entire family. Me, against my "gamer" family. Who knew! I scored 114,500. Not bad for a first attempt. I thought that we would be going on this over and over again but the kids never asked to do it again.
We did Simpsons and the kids loved it. It is a simulated roller coaster. I thought it was neat how they load this ride. We entered a small room and watched a clip of the Simpsons to explain what the plot of the ride was and then the doors opened and you sat in a car that sits 8, 4 in each seat. We sat in the back and due to the fact we are on the tall side our heads hit the top of the seat. Next time the front seat it is! Then I think the car rose and ceiling moved open and a huge screen appeared. It was very well done even though I am not a Simpsons fan. My husband did experience some mild motion sickness with this ride, so beware.
We made our way to the Horror Makeup Show and were there early so enjoyed the displays. While we were waiting, I was surprised some kids ran out screaming so I guess you would have know what your kids are able to handle. I have some pictures of the displays so I will post them so you can judge for yourself. They show was very good. More funny than creepy.
Very hot so we did Jimmy Neutron before we left the park. Another simulator ride. I thought it was cute but no one else in my party commented on it so I guess it was just ok in their opinion.
At 3pm we were back at our room. It was not cleaned yet so we decided to get our suits on and relax by the pool. My husband poured a beer in a mug and packed a couple of extras in our bag and headed down. We saw others doing the same thing. The kids did the waterslide a few times but must have been spoiled by the Express Pass so didn't want to wait in line. It felt great to relax and read for a while.
By 5pm we were getting hungry so got cleaned up and headed for Margarittaville in City Walk. We missed our reservation and it was now closed for a private party so we headed over to NBA.
We couldn't decide on what we wanted to order so we shared the 5 on 5 appetizer between myself, my husband and my older son. It was served with chicken wings, quesadias (spelling?), crab rolls and 2 other appetizer but I can't remember. My youngest son had pasta. We had two ice teas and 2 chocolate milks and the bill was $41.59 plus tip. I have to say, I was not impressed with our meal but it probably was again because we never ordered the right thing off the menu. I also thought the theming of the restaurant to be ok but we are not huge basketball fan either.
The kids were still raring to go, so we headed back to IOA. There was a Christmas store just as you enter the park that we went into. It is a tradition the every Christmas Eve we give the kids an ordiment of commemorating a special event or a family trip of the year. We planned on purchasing a ordiment from US for the kids. The kids showed interest in a couple but we decided that I would go back toward the end of the trip to buy them. I was disappointed when I returned later in the week and both were sold out. Just a word of advise if you see something that in that store pick it up at that time. In speaking with an employee in the store, some ordiments have sold out in an afternoon. They will put the date on your ordiment for $3 and dates for free.
We rode Spiderman again and after some persuading from the kids they talked us into riding some of the water rides. We road the Dudley Do-Right Ripsaw Falls and were soaked so we decide to ride Jurassic Park River Adventure while we were already wet. We loved that one. Another favorite! We felt that we were right in Jurassic Park. You enter the ride and go through the doors and the theme music is playing. It was dusk at that time and it was a great time to experience this ride. We have watched these movies so many times I knew it would be a hit for our family. We rode it two times and I didn't think that we got to wet (we rode it later in the trip and got soaked so it must have been the fact that we were already wet that we thought it was not to bad) We would have did the Barge ride at that point, but I forgot about that one or I would have got all of the water rides done that night.
It was getting close to closing but we were still in good shape so we decided to head over to WWOHP to see if we could do FJ again. It was dark at this time and the area was even more stunning at night. My camera batteries were getting low so my flash wasn't working right so most of my pictures never worked out. Boo Hoo. Again another 30 mins wait for FJ.
We entered and while we were in the greenhouse area the ride broke down. We stayed in line because I have read that it usually is only down for a few minutes. It was down for quite a while but the line still moved. It took more than a hour to get through the line. It was past 10 pm and still the shops were opened. No one was in them and it would have been great to explore but we were tired so we just headed by boat back to the room.
I also heard they closed the short cut near the Sues area.
