keishashadow
Proud Redhead...yes, I have some bananas!
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2004
- Messages
- 32,436
Myself (certifiable WDW fanatic),
Husband (goes with the flow),
12 year old son (wants to be Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator)
Day 1:
Left our home at 5:30 a.m. to catch our flight from a cold, snowing, dreary Pittsburgh for (hopefully warm and sunny) Florida.
Very smooth transition through Pittsburgh International Airport, Security took very little time, didn't have to take off our shoes. The flight boarded and left early; had good seat, smooth trip; all was well.
Arrived at Orlando Internation Airport around 10:30 a.m., began the hike to claim luggage. On the way we passed the Security Check-in Line--seemed to meander for miles. We hoped it would be shorter when we processed back through it.
Found our baggage waiting area. We stood around for a half hour until personnel from the airline (AirTran) informed us two luggage carts overturned on the tarmac and it would be some time before they sorted out the luggage. About 20 minutes later the luggage appeared and we were on our way --- to wait in the Alamo rental car line. One hour, 15 minutes later we made it to the front of the line, claimed our reservation papers and made our way across the street to the rental garage.
Went up to level 2 in garage to find our "Full-Size" car that i had reserved 8 months prior. There were 3 cars in the appropriate section, nothing larger than a PT Cruiser? Since there was an angry mob behind us at this point, we grabbed the nearest Cruiser and proceeded to try and stuff our luggage into it. FYI, we got two bags in the trunk, sitting up and blocking the view out the back window and the rest went into the back seat. We did find a niche with a seatbeat to stow my son. Good thing my older two sons decided not to come, they would never have fit. When we complained to the customer service person on the way out of the garage, she indicated that we got one of the last vehicles that day and that we should consider ourselves lucky.
Anyway, on to the Hard Rock Hotel; little traffic arrived quickly. Upon checking in around 2:00 p.m., our reservation was not to be found. I was using an APH rate with an upgrade to a pool-view room. Good thing I brought the confirmation with me, of course the hotel was sold out. We and our luggage were shown to our room with a view of the parking lot. Complained and told they'd store our luggage and transport it to a pool-view room later.
We decided that it was a good time to go to the park, the walk took about 10 minutes. The front of the line perk is truly an amazing privledge. It certainly is worth every penny of staying at the on-site hotels. I actually felt guilty about walking past the long lines of people waiting to enjoy the fun.
We went to Studios the first day since I didn't want to get wet (it was only 70 that day). We were able to tackle quite a few rides that day:
Terminator - my vote for best attraction, but the pre-show got annoying after seeing it several times over the next 3 days.
Back to the Future
MIB
Jaws
Twister
Shrek
Jimmy Neutron
and the Mummy.
Where can I begin in describing the Mummy? It certainly was like nothing else I've ever experienced. I actually doubted whether I'd survive the ride in one piece. Going backwards was bad enough, but we seemed to go sideways at one point, and I thought we were going to shoot through the roof when we took off. This ride does play with your mind. I would never ride it again. If you like extreme thrills, it's probably your thing though.
We returned to the hotel on the motor launch, got assigned a room with a slight view of IOA and had dinner at The Kitchen. The food was average, quite like the food at the Hard Rock Cafes. We've eaten at several of them and have never been impressed.
Day 2:
It sure was nice to be able to not have to worry about getting up early to catch a bus to the park for early admission today. I could get used to this, don't think I ever just strolled into an amusement park and started riding.
Today is Valentines Day and my DH & my anniversary. We went back to Studios first, repeated the above rides plus ET, then went to IOA. The boys rode Spiderman, etc. and I shopped (liked the 10% APH discount on merchandise and food).
Worked our way over to Cat in the Hat (quite a strange ride), and the merry-go-round and one-fish-two-fish (quite entertaining). Started to get hungry, nothing open at 10:30 p.m. yet.
Decide to walk back to Posiden's Adventure, ate at the Enchanted Oak afterwards and talked to Merlin. The Sinbad show was a lot better than I thought it would be, was nice to sit and take a break.
Worked our way through the rollercoasters and Jurassic Park. Since it was in the 60's we decided to hold off on the water rides until tomorrow and went back to the hotel.
Rested, and went to eat at Margarittaville. I AM NOT A PARROT HEAD, despite the funny balloon hat the man on stilts placed upon each of us. The food was so-so, service was terrible, basically what I expected-still had a good time.
We dropped our very insulted son off at the hotel day care ($10 hour), and returned to explore CityWalk. We sampled the volcanic debris, i.e. margarittas at Buffets; then moved on to Bob Marley's. It was fun, enjoyed the reagee band---didn't enjoy the many kids wandering around the dance floor and bar up to 11:00 p.m. In my opinion, this is VERY uncool. When the dinner hour is over, get the little ones home to bed so the grown-ups can have fun. I know several clubs have a "21" age requirement, obviously not this one.
Enjoyed our romantic evening and boat ride back to the hotel and the sad looks from our son who thought we'd never come and get him.
Day 3:
Temperature expected to be almost 80 today, we're ready to get wet. Went to IOA, re-did the attractions we enjoyed the second day. At lunch we ate at Mythos. It was a wonderful meal, the waiter was professional and friendly and the food was the best we experienced at Universal.
On to Jurassic Park River Ride! Thanks to FOTL, no wait time; we sat in the back row and got to watch all the baseball caps go flying off into the water. Amazes me that nobody ever thinks "their" hat will fall off. I bet they scoop hundreds out of the water in a week.
On to Ripsaw Falls - it was a blast. The drop is really is as steep as it looks and fast, quite a rush. We got soaked despite the ponchos, thought it was outstanding. The Popeye water ride was also excellent, much longer and more engaging than the one at WDW AK. Soggily, went to the hotel and enjoyed the pool, hot tub and waterslide until late into the evening.
Day 4:
Last day at Universal and HRH, but on to WDW today.
Found a Cinnabon's at CityWalk, fortified we went to IOA and rode (spelling) Pterodon Flyers. Of course, they manfunctioned but our total wait time was only 30 minutes. We finished up with Studios, finally got into Nick Studios (no FOTL here), rather disappointed - might want to skip this if your kids are older.
Ate at the Monsters Cafe, cute theme, scary food.
Sorry to leave, had a wonderful time, hope to be back soon with FOTL (best amusement park idea ever!).
Rest of trip will be posted on WDW trip reports-thanks.
Husband (goes with the flow),
12 year old son (wants to be Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator)
Day 1:
Left our home at 5:30 a.m. to catch our flight from a cold, snowing, dreary Pittsburgh for (hopefully warm and sunny) Florida.
Very smooth transition through Pittsburgh International Airport, Security took very little time, didn't have to take off our shoes. The flight boarded and left early; had good seat, smooth trip; all was well.
Arrived at Orlando Internation Airport around 10:30 a.m., began the hike to claim luggage. On the way we passed the Security Check-in Line--seemed to meander for miles. We hoped it would be shorter when we processed back through it.
Found our baggage waiting area. We stood around for a half hour until personnel from the airline (AirTran) informed us two luggage carts overturned on the tarmac and it would be some time before they sorted out the luggage. About 20 minutes later the luggage appeared and we were on our way --- to wait in the Alamo rental car line. One hour, 15 minutes later we made it to the front of the line, claimed our reservation papers and made our way across the street to the rental garage.
Went up to level 2 in garage to find our "Full-Size" car that i had reserved 8 months prior. There were 3 cars in the appropriate section, nothing larger than a PT Cruiser? Since there was an angry mob behind us at this point, we grabbed the nearest Cruiser and proceeded to try and stuff our luggage into it. FYI, we got two bags in the trunk, sitting up and blocking the view out the back window and the rest went into the back seat. We did find a niche with a seatbeat to stow my son. Good thing my older two sons decided not to come, they would never have fit. When we complained to the customer service person on the way out of the garage, she indicated that we got one of the last vehicles that day and that we should consider ourselves lucky.
Anyway, on to the Hard Rock Hotel; little traffic arrived quickly. Upon checking in around 2:00 p.m., our reservation was not to be found. I was using an APH rate with an upgrade to a pool-view room. Good thing I brought the confirmation with me, of course the hotel was sold out. We and our luggage were shown to our room with a view of the parking lot. Complained and told they'd store our luggage and transport it to a pool-view room later.
We decided that it was a good time to go to the park, the walk took about 10 minutes. The front of the line perk is truly an amazing privledge. It certainly is worth every penny of staying at the on-site hotels. I actually felt guilty about walking past the long lines of people waiting to enjoy the fun.
We went to Studios the first day since I didn't want to get wet (it was only 70 that day). We were able to tackle quite a few rides that day:
Terminator - my vote for best attraction, but the pre-show got annoying after seeing it several times over the next 3 days.
Back to the Future
MIB
Jaws
Twister
Shrek
Jimmy Neutron
and the Mummy.
Where can I begin in describing the Mummy? It certainly was like nothing else I've ever experienced. I actually doubted whether I'd survive the ride in one piece. Going backwards was bad enough, but we seemed to go sideways at one point, and I thought we were going to shoot through the roof when we took off. This ride does play with your mind. I would never ride it again. If you like extreme thrills, it's probably your thing though.
We returned to the hotel on the motor launch, got assigned a room with a slight view of IOA and had dinner at The Kitchen. The food was average, quite like the food at the Hard Rock Cafes. We've eaten at several of them and have never been impressed.
Day 2:
It sure was nice to be able to not have to worry about getting up early to catch a bus to the park for early admission today. I could get used to this, don't think I ever just strolled into an amusement park and started riding.
Today is Valentines Day and my DH & my anniversary. We went back to Studios first, repeated the above rides plus ET, then went to IOA. The boys rode Spiderman, etc. and I shopped (liked the 10% APH discount on merchandise and food).
Worked our way over to Cat in the Hat (quite a strange ride), and the merry-go-round and one-fish-two-fish (quite entertaining). Started to get hungry, nothing open at 10:30 p.m. yet.
Decide to walk back to Posiden's Adventure, ate at the Enchanted Oak afterwards and talked to Merlin. The Sinbad show was a lot better than I thought it would be, was nice to sit and take a break.
Worked our way through the rollercoasters and Jurassic Park. Since it was in the 60's we decided to hold off on the water rides until tomorrow and went back to the hotel.
Rested, and went to eat at Margarittaville. I AM NOT A PARROT HEAD, despite the funny balloon hat the man on stilts placed upon each of us. The food was so-so, service was terrible, basically what I expected-still had a good time.
We dropped our very insulted son off at the hotel day care ($10 hour), and returned to explore CityWalk. We sampled the volcanic debris, i.e. margarittas at Buffets; then moved on to Bob Marley's. It was fun, enjoyed the reagee band---didn't enjoy the many kids wandering around the dance floor and bar up to 11:00 p.m. In my opinion, this is VERY uncool. When the dinner hour is over, get the little ones home to bed so the grown-ups can have fun. I know several clubs have a "21" age requirement, obviously not this one.
Enjoyed our romantic evening and boat ride back to the hotel and the sad looks from our son who thought we'd never come and get him.
Day 3:
Temperature expected to be almost 80 today, we're ready to get wet. Went to IOA, re-did the attractions we enjoyed the second day. At lunch we ate at Mythos. It was a wonderful meal, the waiter was professional and friendly and the food was the best we experienced at Universal.
On to Jurassic Park River Ride! Thanks to FOTL, no wait time; we sat in the back row and got to watch all the baseball caps go flying off into the water. Amazes me that nobody ever thinks "their" hat will fall off. I bet they scoop hundreds out of the water in a week.
On to Ripsaw Falls - it was a blast. The drop is really is as steep as it looks and fast, quite a rush. We got soaked despite the ponchos, thought it was outstanding. The Popeye water ride was also excellent, much longer and more engaging than the one at WDW AK. Soggily, went to the hotel and enjoyed the pool, hot tub and waterslide until late into the evening.
Day 4:
Last day at Universal and HRH, but on to WDW today.
Found a Cinnabon's at CityWalk, fortified we went to IOA and rode (spelling) Pterodon Flyers. Of course, they manfunctioned but our total wait time was only 30 minutes. We finished up with Studios, finally got into Nick Studios (no FOTL here), rather disappointed - might want to skip this if your kids are older.
Ate at the Monsters Cafe, cute theme, scary food.
Sorry to leave, had a wonderful time, hope to be back soon with FOTL (best amusement park idea ever!).
Rest of trip will be posted on WDW trip reports-thanks.
