First trip this weekend - please help!

[4forMe]

Hi,

We are Disney fanatics but are thrilled to be going to US/IoA for the first time this upcoming weekend. My kids are ages 10-14 and love thrill rides! We are staying onsite to take advantage of the express pass. I do have a couple of questions:

1) What are the top/can't miss attractions at US and IoA?

2) What attractions are bad for people with motion sickness? Would it help to wear one of those motion sickness patches the night before? My son got very sick after riding the refurbished Star Tours at Disney last year (had never happened to him before) so I was wondering if there was anything we could do to help with this issue?

3) My DH has a bad back and usually avoids rollercoasters. Which attractions have a lot of jarring that he should also avoid?

4) I don't understand how the front of the line works for the restaurant area at Citywalk. We will be able to be seated at say, Margaritaville, on a Sat. at 7 p.m. with our front of the line pass or should we make a reservation to be on the safe side?

Thanks for any advice! I can't wait to be there in 2 days!!!

 

[damo]

Hi,

We are Disney fanatics but are thrilled to be going to US/IoA for the first time this upcoming weekend. My kids are ages 10-14 and love thrill rides! We are staying onsite to take advantage of the express pass. I do have a couple of questions:

1) What are the top/can't miss attractions at US and IoA?

2) What attractions are bad for people with motion sickness? Would it help to wear one of those motion sickness patches the night before? My son got very sick after riding the refurbished Star Tours at Disney last year (had never happened to him before) so I was wondering if there was anything we could do to help with this issue?

3) My DH has a bad back and usually avoids rollercoasters. Which attractions have a lot of jarring that he should also avoid?

4) I don't understand how the front of the line works for the restaurant area at Citywalk. We will be able to be seated at say, Margaritaville, on a Sat. at 7 p.m. with our front of the line pass or should we make a reservation to be on the safe side?

Thanks for any advice! I can't wait to be there in 2 days!!!

1. Different people have different favorites. I'd try to just do as much as you can. You should be able to ride everything.

2. I suggest taking some bonine or less drowsy dramamine because quite a few of the rides can be nausea inducing.

3. I'd say to avoid the Hulk and Rip Ride Rockit. They can both be pretty jarring coasters. Many of the rides jostle you around quite a bit. Someone in the family might want to ride them first to determine their suitability.

4. Your room key will give you preferred seating but you can make reservations at www.opentable.com for most sit down restaurants.

 

[KorbensMomma]

1) I love all the water rides, but you get VERY VERY wet.

2) tell your son if he starts to feel bad on the simulator rides to keep his eyes open, but look at your feet. If I close my eyes I get worse, so if I end up on a ride that lakes me queasy (Simpsons, Dispicable Me ...) I look away from the screen. On FJ I close my eyes on the quidicth scene cause the screen is really big.

Not all the City Walk restaurants honor the on site preference, I know Bubba Gump does not, that was a long long line in late January. I have never used Open table but it might be a good idea.

 

[GoofyWithGlasses]

1) I love all the water rides, but you get VERY VERY wet.

Jurassic Park isn't too bad, and Dudley Do Right is pretty mild too, but if you don't want to get soaked to the bone, then Popeye and Bluto's might not be a good idea. At one point the ride just drops buckets of water on you... We were soaked wearing ponchos (the only ride we ever wear them on, too!).

The Hulk is just painful, and I can't remember the others being too bad for jarring

Spider-man is amazing, but is like star tours with more movement, so I agree with the above posters: maybe have someone run ahead and try them out before your son rides? Hope this helps

 

[Metro West]

4) I don't understand how the front of the line works for the restaurant area at Citywalk. We will be able to be seated at say, Margaritaville, on a Sat. at 7 p.m. with our front of the line pass or should we make a reservation to be on the safe side?

Having an Express Plus Pass has nothing to do with restaurants. If you are staying onsite you would get "priority seating" which usually means next available but if you aren't staying onsite, reservations are the next best thing.

 

[Karpkg]

Hi,

We are Disney fanatics but are thrilled to be going to US/IoA for the first time this upcoming weekend. My kids are ages 10-14 and love thrill rides! We are staying onsite to take advantage of the express pass. I do have a couple of questions:

1) What are the top/can't miss attractions at US and IoA?

2) What attractions are bad for people with motion sickness? Would it help to wear one of those motion sickness patches the night before? My son got very sick after riding the refurbished Star Tours at Disney last year (had never happened to him before) so I was wondering if there was anything we could do to help with this issue?

3) My DH has a bad back and usually avoids rollercoasters. Which attractions have a lot of jarring that he should also avoid?

4) I don't understand how the front of the line works for the restaurant area at Citywalk. We will be able to be seated at say, Margaritaville, on a Sat. at 7 p.m. with our front of the line pass or should we make a reservation to be on the safe side?

Thanks for any advice! I can't wait to be there in 2 days!!!

I would suggest letting an hour or two go by past a large meal before getting on the major motion rides; that's what really helped me. Storm Accelerator(think tea cups)I can't do; the Simpson's ride is too much like Star Tours so I have to make sure I don't have food in my tummy for that one; Spiderman I can handle because the ride moves to different locations, not all in one sitting like Star Tours or the Simpsons.

What you will really notice is the rides are more technologically advanced than Disney's. Forbidden Journey is similar to Sum of All Thrills. And, the onsite unlimited express pass hands down runs rings around Disney's Fast Pass. Ex. regular line wait, 90 min. I got my card scanned, then was on the Spiderman ride in 6 minutes. Then went back and did it again. Same people hadn't moved. If I did it a third time it would just be plain mean if the people in line saw us again.

Definitely take advantage of doing Forbidden Journey before the park opens to the public. Even when we got there at 8:30 and the line was already a 40 minute wait it's still good. When 9:00 opened up the line went up to 2 hrs wait IMMEDIATELY.

If your sons still fit the height limit (I don't remember, but not too short or too tall) and have an adult with each of them, hit Pteradon Flyers soon after Harry Potter world. Think Soarin'...but outdoors. Wheeee!!!!

The kids love Men In Black (similar to Buzz and TSM), I like the Mummy ride(RocknRoller Coaster but doesn't go upside down)...heck with the express pass you can go at your leisure to any ride you want so try as much as you can!

 

[RMulieri]

1) I love all the water rides, but you get VERY VERY wet.

2) tell your son if he starts to feel bad on the simulator rides to keep his eyes open, but look at your feet. If I close my eyes I get worse, so if I end up on a ride that lakes me queasy (Simpsons, Dispicable Me ...) I look away from the screen. On FJ I close my eyes on the quidicth scene cause the screen is really big.

Not all the City Walk restaurants honor the on site preference, I know Bubba Gump does not, that was a long long line in late January. I have never used Open table but it might be a good idea.

Not only does Bubba Gump not honor the priority seating, they do not take ressies on opentable or at all.

 

[Bluer101]

Not only does Bubba Gump not honor the priority seating, they do not take ressies on opentable or at all.

Also Margaritaville gave us a hard time this past April. They would not take priority seating unless the wait is over 1 hour. I had a fight with them and after them not helping we went somewhere else.

We went to Hard Rock and they had over an hour wait and told the staff at the front what happened. They laughed and said they have heard that a lot lately. We then only waited about 15-20 minutes.

I really hope Universal can crack down on this and make more if a policy.

 

[agavegirl1]

Keep your eyes open for technical rehearsals (soft openings) on Transformers. Reports are that they are opening it in the evenings. Your Express Pass will not work for this so just keep an eye out. It is similar to Spiderman with slightly better effects. A very cool ride. (provided it is identical to the one in California).

 

[schumigirl]

Also Margaritaville gave us a hard time this past April. They would not take priority seating unless the wait is over 1 hour. I had a fight with them and after them not helping we went somewhere else.

We went to Hard Rock and they had over an hour wait and told the staff at the front what happened. They laughed and said they have heard that a lot lately. We then only waited about 15-20 minutes.

I really hope Universal can crack down on this and make more if a policy.

Oh that`s not good!!

Margaritaville is one of usual haunts and last July we only waited less than 20 mins with using the priority seating.

But if they`re being funny about it we would go somewhere else too.