MurrayViking
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Nov 11, 2011
- Messages
- 2
French Quarter stay 11/23-11/26 with 2 teen girls. Arrived 1:00 pm, was able to check in in early. First stay at FQ, previous stays Wilderness. Clean, quiet, river facing Bldg 6 room. No complaints. Pool great. Food court disappointing. Hit or miss with service. Sometimes good and quick other times painfully slow. Tables need to be cleaned more frequently.
Hit up Magic Kingdom Wednesday 3 pm. Space Mt 50 minute waits throughout evening. Rode it 2x, once with fastpass. Haunted Mansion down for technical problems from 4 pm - 7pm. Checked back one last time at 7pm, just opened, 20 min wait. Dumbo 35 min wait. Hit everything we wanted, crowds heavy but not overwhelming.
UIOA on Thanksgiving day. Bought 1 park basic pass, took a $30 cab ride over. Teens wanted to see Harry Potter. Tip: Get there 1 hour before park opening to have any chance of riding Forbidden Journey. We were at gates by 8:15 am, Park scheduled to open at 9 am, they opened gates to public at 8:30,wasn't expecting that, glad we were there early, with everyone running to FJ ride. Universal resort guests were able to enter at 8. On FJ after 20 min line wait. By time we exited FJ, line wait was 120 min and stayed that way rest of day. The Universal express passes for sale DO NOT cover FJ ride. Incredible ride. Teens loved it. I had a bit of clausterphobia due to upper body restraints they put you in. I also felt motion sick first part of ride, had to close my eyes. So ride pretty much wasted on me. But if you like intense rides, this one is for you. Hard to describe. You are sitting, upper body restrained, legs dangling. Go into an IMAX type area, lots of motion, throwing you around, jerking, hurtling etc. Teens did Dragon Challenge, said it was ok. Hogsmeade village is very well done. Lots of photos ops. Teens each bought at wand at $30. Crazy. Went back to FJ and did castle only tour. Highly recommend. We took 45 minutes just stopping, photo taking, watching holograms. No time to do this when you are in line, even with 120 min wait times they were constantly yelling to keep moving, when people stopped to take photos, employees told people behind them in line to just go around them. Glad we went, but won't go back.
HS day after Thanksgiving. Get there early. 9 am opening. Let people through gates at 8:40, but only up to Sorcerer Hat. Didn't let people over to Toy Story mania until exactly 9 am. Everyone runs to Toy Story. People grabbing fast passes first thing. We lined up, on ride within 20 min. When we exited fast pass return times were for 1-2 pm. By 10:30 am fast passes were gone for the day. 150 min wait times rest of day. Crazy. Good ride, but really 150!! no way. It's like Buzz Light year ride with 3d holograms. Fun, but I have my limits for wait times. Did Rock n roller coaster 3x. 1x standby 50 min wait at 10 am, 1x fast pass at 11:30 am, 1x single rider line at 8:40 after Fantasmic show. 6:30 Fantasmic was standing room only. We went to 8 show. Lined up at 7:15, center section seats, no problem. Only 3/4 full for the 8 show. Tower of Terror 2x. Wait times ran 20 min - 50 min throughout day.
Last day pool day. Had a great trip. As you know, planning is key. Saw so many sad kids because Toy Story was too long a wait, kids turned away from rock n roller coaster because not tall enough. Make an itinerary, know what you want to do, get up early, if you get cranky, stop and go back to hotel for pool or nap.
Hit up Magic Kingdom Wednesday 3 pm. Space Mt 50 minute waits throughout evening. Rode it 2x, once with fastpass. Haunted Mansion down for technical problems from 4 pm - 7pm. Checked back one last time at 7pm, just opened, 20 min wait. Dumbo 35 min wait. Hit everything we wanted, crowds heavy but not overwhelming.
UIOA on Thanksgiving day. Bought 1 park basic pass, took a $30 cab ride over. Teens wanted to see Harry Potter. Tip: Get there 1 hour before park opening to have any chance of riding Forbidden Journey. We were at gates by 8:15 am, Park scheduled to open at 9 am, they opened gates to public at 8:30,wasn't expecting that, glad we were there early, with everyone running to FJ ride. Universal resort guests were able to enter at 8. On FJ after 20 min line wait. By time we exited FJ, line wait was 120 min and stayed that way rest of day. The Universal express passes for sale DO NOT cover FJ ride. Incredible ride. Teens loved it. I had a bit of clausterphobia due to upper body restraints they put you in. I also felt motion sick first part of ride, had to close my eyes. So ride pretty much wasted on me. But if you like intense rides, this one is for you. Hard to describe. You are sitting, upper body restrained, legs dangling. Go into an IMAX type area, lots of motion, throwing you around, jerking, hurtling etc. Teens did Dragon Challenge, said it was ok. Hogsmeade village is very well done. Lots of photos ops. Teens each bought at wand at $30. Crazy. Went back to FJ and did castle only tour. Highly recommend. We took 45 minutes just stopping, photo taking, watching holograms. No time to do this when you are in line, even with 120 min wait times they were constantly yelling to keep moving, when people stopped to take photos, employees told people behind them in line to just go around them. Glad we went, but won't go back.
HS day after Thanksgiving. Get there early. 9 am opening. Let people through gates at 8:40, but only up to Sorcerer Hat. Didn't let people over to Toy Story mania until exactly 9 am. Everyone runs to Toy Story. People grabbing fast passes first thing. We lined up, on ride within 20 min. When we exited fast pass return times were for 1-2 pm. By 10:30 am fast passes were gone for the day. 150 min wait times rest of day. Crazy. Good ride, but really 150!! no way. It's like Buzz Light year ride with 3d holograms. Fun, but I have my limits for wait times. Did Rock n roller coaster 3x. 1x standby 50 min wait at 10 am, 1x fast pass at 11:30 am, 1x single rider line at 8:40 after Fantasmic show. 6:30 Fantasmic was standing room only. We went to 8 show. Lined up at 7:15, center section seats, no problem. Only 3/4 full for the 8 show. Tower of Terror 2x. Wait times ran 20 min - 50 min throughout day.
Last day pool day. Had a great trip. As you know, planning is key. Saw so many sad kids because Toy Story was too long a wait, kids turned away from rock n roller coaster because not tall enough. Make an itinerary, know what you want to do, get up early, if you get cranky, stop and go back to hotel for pool or nap.
