i went to IOA & US last Tues. 1/22 & we had a great time - me, my husband & our daughters, ages 3 & 5. I have some quick advice.
after years in orlando's theme parks, i still haven't learned my lesson....read the show times/park brochure upon entering the park! i'm off to the races running to rides only to get there & find out that they're not open yet & sure enough it's listed in the brochure that you can get at the turnstiles. w/ small kids, i want to do kid-related attractions in the morning. it was somewhat frustrating to leave IOA at 10 (we did P. Flyers & the whole Seuss area in 1 hr) to get to US to start the Kid Zone area but only to find out that it wasn't open until 11. Also, i would have stayed at IOA to do Flying Unicorns but that wasn't open yet. Last time, i think it opened at 11 so i didn't want to wait that long. i do wish that everything would just open at 9 a.m. but i guess w/ the low crowds, you can't have it all. we LOVE jan. for it's low crowds & comfortable temps so we'll deal w/ the different opening times. i'm just letting you know to read the park brochure w/ the show times. something i need to start doing.
also, for express plus passes: don't buy them right away. I hit the panic button & bought them right away that day thinking it would be a nice treat for my family. well, we couldn't use them AT ALL as a family. there were little or no lines for the attractions that we all go on - jimmy neutron, shrek, etc. the one time that i used ONE of our 4 passes was for myself to go on Mummy mid-day but really i think that i could have used the single rider line & probably wouldn't have had big wait at all.
-jen
after years in orlando's theme parks, i still haven't learned my lesson....read the show times/park brochure upon entering the park! i'm off to the races running to rides only to get there & find out that they're not open yet & sure enough it's listed in the brochure that you can get at the turnstiles. w/ small kids, i want to do kid-related attractions in the morning. it was somewhat frustrating to leave IOA at 10 (we did P. Flyers & the whole Seuss area in 1 hr) to get to US to start the Kid Zone area but only to find out that it wasn't open until 11. Also, i would have stayed at IOA to do Flying Unicorns but that wasn't open yet. Last time, i think it opened at 11 so i didn't want to wait that long. i do wish that everything would just open at 9 a.m. but i guess w/ the low crowds, you can't have it all. we LOVE jan. for it's low crowds & comfortable temps so we'll deal w/ the different opening times. i'm just letting you know to read the park brochure w/ the show times. something i need to start doing.
also, for express plus passes: don't buy them right away. I hit the panic button & bought them right away that day thinking it would be a nice treat for my family. well, we couldn't use them AT ALL as a family. there were little or no lines for the attractions that we all go on - jimmy neutron, shrek, etc. the one time that i used ONE of our 4 passes was for myself to go on Mummy mid-day but really i think that i could have used the single rider line & probably wouldn't have had big wait at all.
-jen
