ALL ABOARD our June 2011 T/R! Autotrain, heat & lines oh MY! (12/05/11 Update)

[kittylady1972]

If our kids had fallen asleep like that, they would have woken up at aout 9 or 10 at night and wanted to party while we all wanted to get ready for bed. Glad your little guy stayed asleep.

BELIEVE ME this was our fear as well. Whenever our kids take a nap now, it only means they will be up LATER at night most of the time. Clearly the boy was TIRED! Now I will say that because of that information, later in the trip we will force our kids to take a nap just so we can keep them up later. You'll have to stay tuned to see how that works out though!

 

[kittylady1972]

DAY FOUR: Universal here we come!
Ok, so we are now on day three of vacation...our first official day with the whole gang! Our plan is to see all that we can see and do of Universal's Islands of Adventure Park...with first priority being the Harry Potter World area!

I can't remember if we all met for breakfast this morning or not...but we may have had a quick meal at the Contempo Cafe or maybe we didn't and just met in the lobby!

We were driving two cars to Universal so we packed up and headed out. We had dressed in light clothing and also brought change of clothes and shoes for everybody so we could get soaked on the water rides there and not be uncomfortable. So of course, I'm in charge of the bag of stuff!

I already had the plan in place once we arrived at the gates of USIOA. I would be heading directly left to the all day lockers and securing our stuff in there. The rest of the family would be making a beeline for Harry Potter's World and we'd meet up there.

So gates opened and I was through, got my locker, headed out to find the gang. I think I caught up with them just beyond Suessland which wasn't horrible.

We were happy to be able to enter the area right away...but what would we do first?

 

[teachermommy78]

Ooooh!!! I'm so excited to hear about Harry potter!!! Yay!

 

[Maleficent's Dad]

On board for this ride....

Love the pics of the Auto Train. Thanks for the info about it. We've always contemplated taking it, but we don't want to lose the day (flying is quicker...). Crazy story about your tickets at the MK!!!
I'm having fun reading thus far.

 

[heaven2dc]

Oh I'm so jealous....I can't wait until we get to see the Harry Potter attraction if we ever go!! can't wait for more pics

 

[mom2munchkins]

I've wanted to try the autotrain. I think we may do it on our next trip. DS has a horrible time with his ears when we fly. Poor kid's ears won't pop and he's in pain. Cries the whole flight.

 

[Becc1]

Can't wait to hear all about your day at IOA. ODS and I are big Harry Potter fans and can't wait to get over there!

 

[kittylady1972]

DAY FOUR: Universal here we come (continued)!

So we walked into the world of Harry Potter and it was very cool! We had no idea where to begin...there was no real plan here other than to do as much as possible! The first ride we came upon was Dragon Challenge. There was pretty much NO wait here! Well DH and I rode this ride when it was Dueling Dragons back in August 2003 and during that trip we rode it a LOT. So we figured we'd just let the rest of the group ride and we'd stay with the too-short kiddos since none of them could ride anyway.

Dreaming of a day when they are big enough:

We then wandered over and got a picture with this guy:

But mostly we just waited around here:

It probably didn't take them too long to ride, though it seemed like it I guess. When they returned, we decided to hit something else. Now I remembered reading that Olivander's Wand Shop was something not to be missed. We had walked by it while the rest were on the ride and saw a line and thought (mistakenly) that it just hadn't opened up yet. We didn't realize it was a LINE...and a SLOW one at that. However it was something I thought we should see...and so we got in line for it.

This was the longest wait of the day...for us at least. I think we must have waited at LEAST 30 minutes or so...maybe a little longer. When we finally got into the show there was a thought process that surely ONE of our FOUR kids would have a good shot of being picked for the wand choosing ceremony.

Um...wrong:

Now in all fairness, I completely understood this choice. After all, these books were written for young adults, and who better to be chosen than somebody who probably had read the books. The show here...was VERY VERY short and really not worth it IMHO for the wait. I took a LOT of flack for this for the rest of the day, especially from my DH. So my advice? If you can get there and there is little to NO wait...see it. If not, skip it! I think they let about 30 people in at a time for what is about a 5 minute show.

Now the kids were impatient...they hadn't been on any RIDES yet and they were ready...well at least mine were ready. My nephew? Different story. I may have mentioned this, but my DN is just 6 months younger than my own oldest kid, but is a totally scaredy cat when it comes to most rides, at least anything more than a carousel. We've done trips with him to Hershey Park and King's Dominion and it's just ugly. He gets in a line for something he doesn't want to ride, panics...and sometimes vomits. So yes, fun times!

We have now approached Flight of the Hippogriff with a 25 minute wait time. The kids are all ready to go...and we get in the line and turn around to find....nobody else but us? They are outside of the entrance to the line, trying to convince my DN to ride this one, with my SIL both encouraging and threatening him. FINALLY he gets in the line as does my SIL and MIL. However this wait is nothing but torture for him as he cries and works himself into a frenzy about it.

Have I mentioned, this is only DAY ONE for all of us TOGETHER on this long trip??

We get up to the ride and we all get on and I think he rides with my MIL. He seems to enjoy it and at the end he seems okay...but does not want to do it again. Ok then!

Next up, the last of the BIG rides here, the big KAHUNA...it's the Forbidden Journey. The wait time is about 50 or 60 minutes, but we know we must ride. We ALL have to get in line, even though both my DN and my DS6 are not tall enough for this one. DN frets for most of this line as well, even though we continue to tell him he's not riding.

Photos in line and around the castle:

Excuse me random strangers while I snap shots of the LINES!

My boys (and a random stranger) about to enter the castle...the theming inside of here was VERY cool!

Wish I had taken more photos inside, but I was too busy just looking around for the most part. We got up to the loading area and split off as some of us (read ME, MIL and SIL) went to wait in the waiting room with the too-small kiddos. They had Harry Potter the movie on in the waiting room there. So my DH, DS11, DD8, FIL and BIL all rode first.

They came off clearly happy about it...but also I would later learn they vowed NOT to tell me about one part of the ride! So we switched and it was time for the rest of us to ride. My SIL was screaming through most of the ride, and MIL was busy laughing at her and I was just enjoying the scenery...most of it at least.

The part they didn't tell me about...there were spiders. Ok, I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE (did I mention HATE?) spiders. I hated the movie when they were in it and I wasn't thrilled with the ride but it's okay...it's not like it was the whole ride. Just a quick part of it and I got over it. My DH and kids had a good laugh when we returned though...asking me about how I liked that part. HA. HA.

Now we were done all the main rides of Harry Potter World and we were STARVING. I had been promising the kids Butterbeer all morning and it was now time to deliver!

I knew I wanted to try Three Broomsticks for lunch so that's where we all headed. They told us they could not seat our party of 10 easily unless we went outside. They said there were fans...but let me tell you it was still pretty hot out there. I think I would have preferred a seat inside!

The meals were okay, nothing exceptional. I got a turkey leg (I love those) and split it with DD8. I got the frozen Butterbeer and each kid got a Butterbeer too, but I definitely agree the frozen had the edge. Of course, when it's 90+ degrees outside and sticky, I'm sure it would anyway!

Having completed the World of Harry Potter it was now time to hit the rest of the park!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Too bad about Ollivander's, I agree, it is something you have to hit when the park first opens to avoid the long line otherwise it is not worth it.

 

[kittylady1972]

DAY FOUR: More Universal IOA
Having completed Harry Potter's World, it was now time to do more riding. Since we had to pass through Seussland (or whatever it's called) we figured we'd do some of the rides there since DN would be okay with most of these. DH was BORED out of his mind and wanted to do the big rides, but he was shot down. So here we go:

DH and DS6 on One Fish, Two Fish:

The Caro-Suess-el of course (DN could not wait for this one):

I think we hit most of the rides here pretty quickly and grabbed a quick drink here as well. At one point I took DD all the way back to the locker at the front of the park. See the shoes she was wearing for the park were the ones that had a heel that just allowed her to ride Forbidden Journey...but they were uncomfortable for her for the rest of the park. Having accomplished the one ride she wanted to ride, we went back and got her flip flops from our locker and then met everybody back in Suess land.

The order of this next "fun" even escapes me completely. I recall at one point mentioning that I REALLY wanted to make sure we rode Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls...and I KNEW we'd all get soaked. It was hot and everybody seemed on board with this...well almost everybody. You-know-who was not happy with getting in line for this one of course, but thankfully it was a pretty quick ride. After all, what kid doesn't LOVE to get wet right?

Hey...I found one.

We climbed into our raft, all 10 of us ready to go...and panic was written all over DN's face...but the rest of us were ready! Oh the fun we had...the kids were laughing, the adults were taking most of the water and we could not help but try to enjoy ourselves...despite the HYSTERICAL CRYING going on in our boat from the youngest member of the group! At one point the ride was stopped waiting for the next drop, and my SIL and BIL are telling DN "see...it's almost over...we are almost done"...only we were NOT and the next drop was a good one! I actually didn't get too soaked and really DN wasn't too bad either but many others of our group, especially BIL got quite wet.

Anyway we were off the ride (not soon enough for DN) and we knew we'd dry soon enough. We were ready for the next ride.

We checked out some rides but the lines were just crazy. Somehow we stumbled upon this one, one that DH and I did not ride before because it REQUIRED that you have a little person to ride it. Amazingly, DN was totally up for this one! Well DS11 decided he would skip this one, so I stayed with him and DH and FIL took the other two kids and my SIL took DN to get in line for this one.

DH and DS7 flying high:

They were in line for a good 60 or 70 minutes for this very short ride and the rest of us were baking in the sun and trying to dry off. I think SIL had already changed DN into some dry clothes that she had with her so it was just the rest of us.

When we all got back together we were trying to decide on our next ride. The rest of the group decided any more water rides were OUT and I guess there wasn't much else for them. DD8 really wanted to ride Jurrssic Park River Adventure and it didn't look like people were getting as drenched on that one as Dudley Do-Right's ride. I checked the line and it showed I think 50 minutes or so. DH stayed behind with the boys, the rest of the family headed out of the park and back to the hotel, and I got in line with DD for Jurassic:

Believe it or not, we waited less than 20 minutes despite that 50-60 minute wait time so were soon on the boat:

She LOVED this one and we really did not get wet at all...maybe a little bit.

When we got off the ride, I was trying to text DH to find out where he was, but my phone was dying so I was making the texts brief. We somehow got our signals crossed. He made mention of taking the boys to ride Spiderman and I told him we were getting off our ride...and then he responded that they were in line...and I somehow thought maybe they had gotten in line for Jurassic.

So DD and I waited a few boats...and did not see them. Eventually I realized that they were in line for Spiderman, and I told him we were heading there. We got there soon, the boys had loved Spiderman (they had been through once already) so we all got in line and rode it again together!

After that, it was time to start heading back as we had dinner plans for the evening we were hoping to catch!

 

[kittylady1972]

Too bad about Ollivander's, I agree, it is something you have to hit when the park first opens to avoid the long line otherwise it is not worth it.

Yes I am STILL hearing about that today. Seems I'll never live it down but I told them we were there for the WHOLE HP EXPERIENCE so we had to see as much as we could!

 

[kittylady1972]

DAY FIVE: Return to Universal
Today was our day to split up once again. SIL, BIL and DN were heading to a Disney park for the day since they had only purchase a 1-day pass for Universal's IOA park. The rest of us (MIL, FIL and our family of five) were heading to Universal Studios to introduce the in-laws to that park!

We arrived pretty close to the park opening. Our first ride was the Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket. DD8 did not bring her "big shoes" on this trip, so she was not tall enough to ride. We had to child swap here which worked out fine. The in-laws agreed to stay with the two little kids while DH, DS11 and I went on the ride. I ended up being paired with another single rider and was in the front of the ride!

However I got a little too chatty with this other rider, also a first timer, so I did not get a chance to select my own music. The ride picked the song for me but it worked out well. LOVED this ride as did DH and DS11. We got off the ride and swapped so MIL and FIL could ride.

They both chose the song "I Will Survive"...too funny! They also loved it and afterwards we all checked our our ride videos which were GREAT! Too bad they wanted something like $30 EACH for the video clips...way too much but I would have loved to have them!

Now it was time to explore the rest of the park. The kids wanted to do Shrek and Jimmy Neutron, but we promised we'd hit those rides before we left the park. I can't remember the exact order, but we did ride MIB TWICE and then Simpsons (also twice I think) as well as Jaws. Then I think it was lunchtime. MIL and I were both in the mood for salads. We stumbled upon the Lobardi's menu and they had a great selection...so we headed there.

Food was very good here...but you can read my dining review here for more about that!

There were of course some photos along the way:

We were also able to ride The Mummy with not too much of a wait...but again DD8 had a meltdown because she wasn't big enough for that in her flat shoes!

We weren't sure if it was a good idea, but we decided to chance it with Twister! Kids hate storms so we didn't know how this would go. The six year old (who is the most afraid of storms) LOVED it...and kept telling me how all the stuff was done (they used fans for the wind mom, if we see a cow flying it means we need to hide because a storm is coming). Too many lines from him that were so funny! We also checked out Disaster! as well and they were fine with that too.

Our last rides of the park were Shrek and Jimmy Neutron. Those went well and then we were done. I would have liked to check out some shows but that didn't happen. Instead we decided to take a quick walk back over to IOA:

The intention here was to ride Spiderman since MIL and FIL hadn't done that. We did that one and the boys also rode the Hulk coaster, with MIL and I spending time in the arcade with the kids while they were off doing that.

Having accomplished those, there wasn't much else to do or see and it was hot so time to head back to our hotel!

No, we used a car and not this mode of transportation:

I can't recall our dinner that evening. I think we just ate leftovers in the room. I believe later that night we may have all hit the Top of the World Lounge for cocktails and to view Wishes!

 

[Maleficent's Dad]

We did US and IOA last year for the first time (Harry Potter was the main draw). How were the lines there? We stayed at one of their hotels so got in early for HP and had front of the line access with room keys, so I'm wondering how it was for you. We have a friend going in two weeks and making a day trip over there.

Can't wait to read more about BLT.

 

[kittylady1972]

We did US and IOA last year for the first time (Harry Potter was the main draw). How were the lines there? We stayed at one of their hotels so got in early for HP and had front of the line access with room keys, so I'm wondering how it was for you. We have a friend going in two weeks and making a day trip over there.

Can't wait to read more about BLT.

The lines were pretty long for most of the day. We skipped quite a few rides because wait times were 60 minutes or more. Of course we later learned those wait times can be VERY inaccurate! We spent three days total at the two parks which was enough time for us to hit most of the big rides...and we did a few rides (like MIB and Simpsons) more than once. Also we hit Universal Studios on a Saturday and really managed to ride just about every big ride there in more than enough time...even with waiting in a few lines. We did not see any shows though.

 

[princessbrulee]

Stumbled across your trip report, and thought i'd say

The view from your room is amazing! I have dreams of staying in a room with a view of the MK. One day!

WWOHP looks and sounds so cool. I can't wait to take my girls there, but I'm waiting for my youngest to be just a bit older so they can partake in almost everything. As well as handle the long waits!

 

[kittylady1972]

Wow, I still need to get back to this update beginning with Day Six but you know how life just gets so BUSY! Since my last update, we went on a small amusement park vacation. We spent two days at King's Dominion Amusement Park in VA, one day at Carowinds Amusement park in NC, and then a few nights hanging out with my parents who live in NC. Our return home was delayed a bit when my car broke down when we stopped for gas in NC just short of the NC/VA border and we ended up staying in a hotel for another night while it was fixed. It ended up just being a battery...long story there regarding why we didn't figure this out earlier! :sad2 : I also broke my cell phone on vacation when it dropped during bag inspection at Carowinds...so I just got that replaced. Since we've been home, we had another weekend where all 3 kids PLUS my husband were sick, and I've also been playing tennis. School started for my kids on Tuesday...and we had an EARTHQUAKE here that same day! Yesterday I spent the better part of my morning shuffling my daughter to another doctor appointment, this time a pediatric opthamologist to rule out any eye issues causing her migraines and I ended up getting LOST on the medical campus and was almost an hour late for the appointment! To top it all off, last night SOCCER practice started for two my my little ones, so that was another hour and a half of my life. I feel like I'm just treading water and speaking of that, now there of course is talk of the HURRICANE that COULD strike us this weekend or at the very least bring a lot of fun weather our way!

The good news is that means I just might get some time on the computer this weekend to update. Plus my DH goes out of town on Sunday morning for a week, so that leaves me with evenings to myself all week next week where I can also be HERE and updating!

So with any luck, expect me to get much further along in this report NEXT WEEK!!

 

[kittylady1972]

Life Update here!

Sorry still busy but I really WILL get back to finishing this trip report soon. Just today I was thinking about some of the fun stuff we did on the trip...and lately I've been looking to make a return trip soon. Today I was thinking about the day we spent at a park, then lounging by the pool, then we left the pool packed up the family and headed over to Animal Kingdom park to ride ONLY one ride...Expedition Everest! Yes we rode it three times in a row, then returned back to our hotel to get ready for dinner. Talk about spontaneous!

So the weekend after the first week of school we had a hurricane roll through Maryland. It knocked out power in a lot of the county where I live and closed schools for my kids for almost the entire WEEK afterwards! My middle school child went back to school on Thursday, my elementary kids went back on Friday. During that time, my husband and my in-laws flew out to Las Vegas so my back up childcare options were not available. We were lucky to not have lost power at least! Still it made for an interesting week.

Then last week...heavy heavy rains and FLOODING over all areas of the state. This time, not so much our county but my hometown county an hour south of here took a big hit and it closed the schools there for 2 days due to flooding and roads and bridges washing away!

Seriously crazy Maryland weather. Thankfully this week the weather has improved...but it's still crazy busy. Tonight is my elementary kids' school Open House and I'm the 1st Vice President of the PTO so I need to be there...but my DH has a meeting after work and won't be attending. Tomorrow I'm playing a tennis match that was made up from last week.

So one of these days I will surely get back to finishing my trip report from June as I sit here and ponder my next vacation. I'm debating going back in October for our anniversary, as late as that plan might be but since I've missed so much work time this month due to the other stuff...I think I may have to wait.

New plan right now is to head back in early March of 2012 and celebrate my 40th birthday in my most favorite vacation place! We'd have to do it without the kids, which makes me a little bit sad. However I think DH and I are going to make it an adults-only trip by doing several tours that the kids can't do anyway. I have FOUR tours that I want to plan for out trip: Keys to the Kingdom, Segway Around the World, AK Backstage Safari and maybe the Surfing Lesson at Typhoon Lagoon! We'd squeeze in park time around those tours but I think it would just make for a very interesting trip and a great birthday trip!

Now I just need to wait for them to release some AP rates for that timeframe. I've looked at the current free dining packages and while they sound great I think we'd do just as well, if not better, by getting an AP room rate, buying a pass for my DH and then using TIW discount for our food.

So I PROMISE to get another real update here soon!

 

[kittylady1972]

DAY 6: Happy Father's Day...back in the Disney parks!
So it's Sunday and Father's Day...and what better place to spend it than back in the Disney parks!

Our day began with breakfast at Chef Mickey's...a tradition because we have to buy the photo each time. I'll be honest, I'm really starting to hate spending so much money in Disney for food. This breakfast was no exception...I think I made only one trip to the buffet table, which was a good thing but what I spent for that food really make me feel blah.

We got some great photos with the characters, of course, The problem was we were split up a bit, so I was at a table with my SIL and nephew and my DD and then the boys were at another table.

See what I mean:

But I did get some shots:

Enjoying herself of course:

Goofy!

My kids plus my nephew:

With the head cheese:

Boys and Donald:

Girl talking:

My kids and Minnie:

After breakfast, we headed over to the Magic Kingdom via monorail. The front of the park was so packed as they were letting people through the gates but had to wait for the show to open the park.

Crowds!

Love that my camera has the 12X zoom...looking at this later I can see so much more than I actually saw from my ground view:

We got in and made a beeline for Fantasyland. We had lost part of our group in the crowd, but told them to meet us at DUMBO!

Dumbo was already a 30 minute wait but we waited about 25 minutes. It wasn't too bad...but we did discover one important thing. There were 3 adults and four kids riding Dumbo. Two kids wanted to ride together. So DH and I got on the ride with our youngest and my SIL ended up with my oldest son. The two middle kids, my DD8 and DN6 wanted to ride together. We all got into our Dumbos and then a CM came over and asked our two little ones to switch Dumbos. The two little ones were allowed to ride together, but the CM required that one of the supervising adults be in the Dumbo right behind them. Not a problem, no big deal for us. Soon we were off!

Goofy face for my DS with his daddy:

Love this one of my oldest with his Aunt:

My nephew and my daughter in the Dumbo in front of us:

After the ride was over, the CM who had asked us to switch Dumbos came out and handed us all free Fastpasses for being kind enough to switch. Not a problem at all but we would gladly take them. That's when he realized there were more to our party (the other adults waiting for us outside the ride) and he walked us over and got us additional fastpasses so we had enough for our whole party. So kind of him!

Next stop was Peter Pan so we could get it over with early. Again my DN6 was afraid of that one. Since he tolerated it okay, we decided to do an easy one for him (but not so much for us adults) and rode It's a Small World.

A shot DH took of our two kids being goofy on the boat ride:

Then it was another easy one...the Carousel:

You can see my oldest is thrilled:

We spotted Mary outside of the Carousel, so my DD wanted a photo with her. I think this was one of the very few photos of characters we got in the parks for our ENTIRE trip!

After that, we decided to use our Fastpasses for Winnie the Pooh.

Once the easy rides were out of the way in Fantasyland, we were ready for Space Mountain! Along the way, we found PUSH and stopped to watch and interact with him for a bit. Soo great...so let's get photos with the trash can, shall we:

Even though DN6 was big enough, he had no interest in riding Space Mountain so we child swapped once there. He still had to wait in the line, but we had a 25 minute wait at least. It eased his mind a bit when we got to plays some of the games in the queue though.

Afterwards we headed to the TTA Peoplemover.

Then we had to do the Carousel of Progress, walked back and rode Mad Tea Party.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

How fun that you saw Push! He is one funny trash can!

 

[kittylady1972]

How fun that you saw Push! He is one funny trash can!

This was our second time catching him in action in all of our trips...LOVE him!