Mainebound
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2002
- Messages
- 1,699
Hi all,
I'm not one for the large report, but just wanted to write in -- mid-trip!-- what a wonderful two days we had at IOA and USF Tuesday and today. At IOA we did Spidey, still my fave, and Storm Force, then headed over to Seuss Landing where we spent a lot of time, as we have two little boys, ages 3 and 5. DH and I did Poseidon, not so great IMHO, then we had lunch at Mythos, which is terrific. Then on to Jurassic Park, where DH did the River Adventure (sorry, the name escapes me!) which he said was great while DS5 did the climbing wall. The boys played in the playground area with nets for a long time (and again I was amazed that people wait 45 minutes to ride the FLyers which is like a 20 second ride!), and then it was on to Dudley and Popeye, with Me Ship for DS3. After wringing ourselves out, once more on Spidey and Storm Force and then home. Kids got pics with Captain America, Spidy, and Storm. Captain America was not fat this year which was good. He was so tall and muscle bound, in fact, that I thought my mother was going to try to pick him up right then and there, much to our total embarassment. Low crowds, although we bought Express Plus for $15 a person. They were worth it for the peace of mind, but Phantom is right -- if they are that cheap you do not need them. We drove to IOA for the first time, having stayed at the Hard Rock last year. This time we are staying in a pool home in Kissimee -- which is GREAT -- and driving wasn't bad at all. About 20 minutes to the lot, another 10-15 minutes walk to the park. A great great day.
Today at the Studios was even better. We slept in and showed up at 9:45. Again we bought the EXpress Plusses and we used them a lot more today. We found that the employees do not check off the rides on the back of the card, so in effect it is like FOTL. That is, technically, you are only supposed to use them one time per ride, but we used them more than once. I am sure if it is very crowded they are more careful to mark the passes. First we did Shrek and then Jimmy Neutron, then pics with Shrek. DH and I did Terminator which was very neat, especially the last 2 minutes. Then on to Toon Lagoon for E.T., Barney show, Animal Planet Live, and Curious George play area.
We had lunch there at a takeout called Animal Crackers which had really good chicken salad sandwiches. DS3 was much more reluctant to pose with characters this year, for some strange reason. Maybe he now thinks it is weird that grown men and women prance around in costumes, which it kind of is...
Then I did Back to the Future which was great except for my sitting in the back right where the view was obstructed by the doors fo the DElorean. Not a great design IMHO. Then DH and I did MIB. I single-handedly caused our side to lose, I am sure, with my paltry 50,000 points. Then DH did Jaws and then we got Starbucks and headed over to the Game Lab at Nick Studios, which my boys love. Then again on Jimmy and then to cap it off -- MUMMY.
How was it? Well, I am not in traction which is shocking considering the force and speed and turns of that ride. Someone had said it was like Space Mountain -- NOT. It was too short, thus I can be seen closing my eyes in the group photo, only to find it over before I opened them. I did have them open the first half of the ride. Totally amazing. Alone worth the price of admission.
In case you are wondering if we left our boys on the side of the road while we did these rides, I assure you they were with their very capable Grandma! She is another reason we purchased the Express Pluses -- we cannot run back and forth to get regular expresses because she walks pretty slowly. We need to circle the park in one direction and these passes ensured we could get on rides when we got to them, so they were worth it.
Then dinner at Hard Rock cafe where I had a Bahama Mama to take the last vestiges of Mummy terror away and we all had a decent meal in a very fun atmo.
We just love the Universal parks. They are so much more spacious, relaxing, new, and cool than the Disney parks. We had been to MK Tuesday (a day recommended by Unofficial Guide, Tour Guide Mike and everyone else as a good day to go) and while I LOVE MK, it was a madhouse. Besides, you don't get to hear Coldplay when you stroll around Disney parks! We had thought our great love for Universal last year was due to it being our first time, and due to staying on site, but now I know it is the parks, not just the onsite hotel perks. We would love to stay onsite again but we will always go to Universal whether we are onsite or not, when we visit Orlando.
We may even return this week to use another day of our 5 day bonus passes. I've really got to see the last half of Mummy, after all... LOL!
I'm not one for the large report, but just wanted to write in -- mid-trip!-- what a wonderful two days we had at IOA and USF Tuesday and today. At IOA we did Spidey, still my fave, and Storm Force, then headed over to Seuss Landing where we spent a lot of time, as we have two little boys, ages 3 and 5. DH and I did Poseidon, not so great IMHO, then we had lunch at Mythos, which is terrific. Then on to Jurassic Park, where DH did the River Adventure (sorry, the name escapes me!) which he said was great while DS5 did the climbing wall. The boys played in the playground area with nets for a long time (and again I was amazed that people wait 45 minutes to ride the FLyers which is like a 20 second ride!), and then it was on to Dudley and Popeye, with Me Ship for DS3. After wringing ourselves out, once more on Spidey and Storm Force and then home. Kids got pics with Captain America, Spidy, and Storm. Captain America was not fat this year which was good. He was so tall and muscle bound, in fact, that I thought my mother was going to try to pick him up right then and there, much to our total embarassment. Low crowds, although we bought Express Plus for $15 a person. They were worth it for the peace of mind, but Phantom is right -- if they are that cheap you do not need them. We drove to IOA for the first time, having stayed at the Hard Rock last year. This time we are staying in a pool home in Kissimee -- which is GREAT -- and driving wasn't bad at all. About 20 minutes to the lot, another 10-15 minutes walk to the park. A great great day.
Today at the Studios was even better. We slept in and showed up at 9:45. Again we bought the EXpress Plusses and we used them a lot more today. We found that the employees do not check off the rides on the back of the card, so in effect it is like FOTL. That is, technically, you are only supposed to use them one time per ride, but we used them more than once. I am sure if it is very crowded they are more careful to mark the passes. First we did Shrek and then Jimmy Neutron, then pics with Shrek. DH and I did Terminator which was very neat, especially the last 2 minutes. Then on to Toon Lagoon for E.T., Barney show, Animal Planet Live, and Curious George play area.
We had lunch there at a takeout called Animal Crackers which had really good chicken salad sandwiches. DS3 was much more reluctant to pose with characters this year, for some strange reason. Maybe he now thinks it is weird that grown men and women prance around in costumes, which it kind of is...
Then I did Back to the Future which was great except for my sitting in the back right where the view was obstructed by the doors fo the DElorean. Not a great design IMHO. Then DH and I did MIB. I single-handedly caused our side to lose, I am sure, with my paltry 50,000 points. Then DH did Jaws and then we got Starbucks and headed over to the Game Lab at Nick Studios, which my boys love. Then again on Jimmy and then to cap it off -- MUMMY.
How was it? Well, I am not in traction which is shocking considering the force and speed and turns of that ride. Someone had said it was like Space Mountain -- NOT. It was too short, thus I can be seen closing my eyes in the group photo, only to find it over before I opened them. I did have them open the first half of the ride. Totally amazing. Alone worth the price of admission.
In case you are wondering if we left our boys on the side of the road while we did these rides, I assure you they were with their very capable Grandma! She is another reason we purchased the Express Pluses -- we cannot run back and forth to get regular expresses because she walks pretty slowly. We need to circle the park in one direction and these passes ensured we could get on rides when we got to them, so they were worth it.
Then dinner at Hard Rock cafe where I had a Bahama Mama to take the last vestiges of Mummy terror away and we all had a decent meal in a very fun atmo.
We just love the Universal parks. They are so much more spacious, relaxing, new, and cool than the Disney parks. We had been to MK Tuesday (a day recommended by Unofficial Guide, Tour Guide Mike and everyone else as a good day to go) and while I LOVE MK, it was a madhouse. Besides, you don't get to hear Coldplay when you stroll around Disney parks! We had thought our great love for Universal last year was due to it being our first time, and due to staying on site, but now I know it is the parks, not just the onsite hotel perks. We would love to stay onsite again but we will always go to Universal whether we are onsite or not, when we visit Orlando.
We may even return this week to use another day of our 5 day bonus passes. I've really got to see the last half of Mummy, after all... LOL!
