Hello 40! Butterbeer, Beads and Birthdays! 3/11-3/14 - Completed!

[musika]

Hope you're having a wonderful time!

 

[1tripandIfell]

I should have named the trip Technical difficulties Between the rides, 2 hours lost Saturday between time zones and time change
and the fact that I should have taken a little more details down along the way. This trip report will have tons of pics and comments with a bunch of ishs included


I’d like to say I’m not ready to go home but my feet and anxiety say otherwise. I knew coming in there would be a LOT of people but wow!! We hit the parks this morning for early entry (although not as early as I’d have like ) by the time we left around 10:30 to come back and check out wait time were pretty much all higher than gas right now! RRR was 100 I didn’t even bother looking at IOA times but when we left there and took the train over around maybe 9:00 VC was around 75, Haggards was 170, FJ was up there too. There were still grooves of people filing in like crazy when we left.


We were able to hit a few rides this morning and the DH was happy to finally beat me in MIB.

 

[schumigirl]

Wow....it does sound incredibly busy!! That is some crazy wait times.

Hope your feet feel better soon once you get home and have a safe journey......look forward to reading about it and seeing your pictures.

 

[1tripandIfell]

Okay so hopefully now that we are back I can get into a little more of the good stuff!!

Friday 3/11/22
We arrived at the airport a little after 3:00 am…checked in and breeze through security. Our flight was supposed to take off at 5:00am and with the time change we were to arrive in Orlando at 5:55. We flew Southwest and they don’t have assigned seating so that can be a bit stressful if you are wanting to sit together. I also think it can make boarding lengthier. Once there were only single seats left people were told when coming on to sit in the first available because there was only single seats left. Of course people don’t listen and after walking to the end of the plane had to walk back up to the front to sit.


A little before 5:00 once everyone was boarded and seated they started paging a few people. I’m assuming these were people that hadn’t yet had their boarding passes scanned. We ended up sitting there waiting and waiting and Finally! Here they come. Now it probably wasn’t very long of a wait, at least not as long as it seemed while sitting there waiting to take off but you know excitement and all!!

Flight was quick and smooth both DH and I ordered mimosas.


since it was just the 2 of us and we didn’t have much luggage or anything so we just ordered a Lyft to Surfside which took all of 5 mins to get there and the cost after tip ran us about 35.00 dollars. A quick 20 min ride and we have arrived!!

Up next Surfside thoughts and pics

***Also wanted to disclaim that I am writing this on my cell phone so that I can easily add pictures so please excuse any grammar or typing errors!

 

[1tripandIfell]

3/11 Cont.
So by the time we got off of the plane and got our bags…then accounting for the time change it was around 8:20ish, order our Lyft and was picked up by 8:27…dropped off at 8:47 am. Of course I knew check in wasn’t until much later so I was hoping to just check in and drop off our luggage before heading to the parks!


We walked straight up to the desk with no wait and wouldn’t you know she had a room that was ready if we wanted it! So of course we jumped on it. It was tower 1 room 1731. Even though it was just me and the DH we had a room with 2 queens. I’m pretty sure that there aren’t any with just a King sized bed which was fine.


I was really glad because the room was the first one right off of the elevator. We had a great view of the pool and Sandbar the bar next to the pool. The room was very clean and nice. I will say we aren’t really hard to please and would definitely stay at this hotel again. The only 2 minor complaints I found were the room didn’t cool as much as I’d have liked (Not sure how hot it would have been if it we stayed during those summer months) and the bed wasn’t quit as comfortable to me. Of course as far as the bed goes I just found it stiff but everyone has different preferences so it probably works for some.

So we got in dropped our bags, freshened up and heading to the parks! We were on the bus by 9:18 to give you an idea of how quick it was for us to check in, get to our room, change and head back out and get on a bus.

I know a lot of us staying at these value hotels worry about the busy buses and wait times. I really have no complaints. I am not sure if it was the busy time or if it’s always like this but from what I can remember we only went to dockside twice. Once for pickup and once because the driver preferred to drop off there first then Surfside. In the mornings it looked like each hotel had their own bus picking up. Surfside was picked up and dropped off first except for the one time the driver who was filling in swapped it due to preference. I only remember 2 instances where I thought were is this dang bus! Both times it was dark, windy and cold!

 

[Pumpkin1172]

I know a lot of us staying at these value hotels worry about the busy buses and wait times. I really have no complaints. I am not sure if it was the busy time or if it’s always like this but from what I can remember we only went to dockside twice. Once for pickup and once because the driver preferred to drop off there first then Surfside. In the mornings it looked like each hotel had their own bus picking up. Surfside was picked up and dropped off first except for the one time the driver who was filling in swapped it due to preference. I only remember 2 instances where I thought were is this dang bus! Both times it was dark, windy and cold!

Great trip report so far!!!!

It's good to know about the buses. We stayed off-site recently (Best Western right beside Surfside and Dockside) and we constantly seen buses around the area. It seemed like they were constantly in the area dropping off and picking up. I/We have been talking with our (young adult) kids and if it's all of us - which would be 5 - I am thinking we will need a family suite of some sort...and I don't think our budget could do a premier hotel. So I appreciate the information about the buses.

 

[1tripandIfell]

***I also wanted to add that I had read prior to our trip about the easy access to the Walgreens. This was such a great tip and it was extremly easy to get there, it is literally acorss the street.

When walking out the main lobby you will look to your left and see the arm that lifts and lets you into the parking lot/garage. Right next to that along the fence is a gate that you can go through and you are facing the Walgreens. We just went straight to the light that was right there waited for the walk sign and we were there. You will need your room key to open the gate coming back in.

We were able to grab a few bottles of water and snacks for our room and it was very quick and easy.

 

[wdwrule]

***I also wanted to add that I had read prior to our trip about the easy access to the Walgreens. This was such a great tip and it was extremly easy to get there, it is literally acorss the street.

When walking out the main lobby you will look to your left and see the arm that lifts and lets you into the parking lot/garage. Right next to that along the fence is a gate that you can go through and you are facing the Walgreens. We just went straight to the light that was right there waited for the walk sign and we were there. You will need your room key to open the gate coming back in.

We were able to grab a few bottles of water and snacks for our room and it was very quick and easy.

This is good to know thanks!! We also loved endless summer when we stayed there (we were at Dockside). We still couldn’t believe the value of cost for a 2 bedroom suite. One of the things I loved the most were those huge windows! The bus stop was never busy even at park close. So glad you had a great time! Love reading along!

 

[1tripandIfell]

This is good to know thanks!! We also loved endless summer when we stayed there (we were at Dockside). We still couldn’t believe the value of cost for a 2 bedroom suite. One of the things I loved the most were those huge windows! The bus stop was never busy even at park close. So glad you had a great time! Love reading along!

Yes, I agree it’s a great value for that price point esp if you are like us and don’t plan on spending much time in the room.

 

[wdwrule]

Yes, I agree it’s a great value for that price point esp if you are like us and don’t plan on spending much time in the room.

Yes this is exactly us too. We are go, go, go

 

[musika]

Loving your report so far!

Okay so hopefully now that we are back I can get into a little more of the good stuff!!

Friday 3/11/22
We arrived at the airport a little after 3:00 am…checked in and breeze through security. Our flight was supposed to take off at 5:00am and with the time change we were to arrive in Orlando at 5:55. We flew Southwest and they don’t have assigned seating so that can be a bit stressful if you are wanting to sit together. I also think it can make boarding lengthier. Once there were only single seats left people were told when coming on to sit in the first available because there was only single seats left. Of course people don’t listen and after walking to the end of the plane had to walk back up to the front to sit.


A little before 5:00 once everyone was boarded and seated they started paging a few people. I’m assuming these were people that hadn’t yet had their boarding passes scanned. We ended up sitting there waiting and waiting and Finally! Here they come. Now it probably wasn’t very long of a wait, at least not as long as it seemed while sitting there waiting to take off but you know excitement and all!!

Just a comment on the people being paged as a former airline employee. Often these are "cons" - employees on standby waiting for their name to be called if there's a seat available! There has been many a plane I have waited for in just this manner, getting on right before the door closes.

 

[1tripandIfell]

Loving your report so far!



Just a comment on the people being paged as a former airline employee. Often these are "cons" - employees on standby waiting for their name to be called if there's a seat available! There has been many a plane I have waited for in just this manner, getting on right before the door closes.

Thanks for that...That makes sense.

 

[1tripandIfell]

3/11 Cont.

So after much waiting and anticipation (2 weeks worth at least) we made it to the parks!!! We were literally standing at the from of IOA at 9:37 am! The weather for the weekend was supposed to be perfect on Friday, rain on Saturday around lunch/early afternoon, and clear the rest of our trip just cooler. So I wanted to save US for the day that called for rain since I read that was better due to all of the indoor rides. Because of the rain expected on Saturday I also bumped our Mythos lunch from Fri. To Sat to give us something to do while waiting out the rain and not wasting a lot of time during the perfect weather. My plan was hit as much as we could on Friday at IOA, do the same on Saturday at US, and Sunday/Monday morning hit whatever we may have missed or wanted to do again.


So I don’t remember if I mentioned this at the beginning of my trip report but my DH does not do the 4 big coasters. But for me…First up…Hulk! The last time we were here back in 2016 it was getting refurbished. Was able to jump right on and was riding in about 20 mins!! Score!

Next I figured we’d hit up Spider-Man. Something I knew both of us would ride. Even though DH was a real champ about it I still felt guilty leaving him for long periods of time just waiting on me. Alright. Get in line and it’s moving slooooowwwwwllllllyyyyyyy but moving. After awhile, say an hour of waiting I’m thinking dang this is a long wait. So I pull up the handy dandy app curious what the wait time said…Closed!!! so we have been standing in a line that hasn’t moved in 20 mins. So we are like great what’s the move now? Get out of line and cut our losses? So I’m looking around debating, next min or so the girl in front of us pulls it up…delayed. Technical difficulties. Okay. So we are getting closer! All said and done I think we waited almost 2 hours. So while in line we are like you know what it’s warm…next line we will have a drink to at least sip on while waiting!

So it’s around 11-11:30 by this time and DH said he wanted to go into the little cafe 4 to get a beer and maybe a bite to eat since we hadn’t eaten anything but the snacks on the plane. I could have sworn I had got a picture of this but I guess I’m mistaken. He ended up getting the pizza and I got the Caesar salad. Which each got a beer. I thought he was going to have a heart attack when it was 40.00. he said Sam’s has the same huge slices of piece for 1.50! It was good though and enough to hold us over. Now we had beers in hand and were ready to get on with it!

leaving the Cafe we saw the Goblin was out so of course we had to grab a picture. I’d already warned DH that I planned to do all the things and get all the pics!


We took our time going through toon town. I don’t know why but I really just love this little area!!


Neither one of us had ever ridden King Kong since it opened just after our 2016 trip so even though the wait was pretty long we figured can’t be any worse than waiting 2 hours for Spider-Man! we both really loved it!!

 

[1tripandIfell]

After King Kong I wanted to hit up Harry Potter. Now don’t ask me why I didn’t strategize and plan out better the whole rollercoaster thing! The 3 rides I had never ridden that were a big deal to me…Velocicoaster, King Kong and Hagrid’s. Also I am not new to visiting these parks and know how crazy peak times can be. We literally out of my multiple trips here and Disney have always traveled during our Mardi Gras which is when most kids are on spring break give or take a week. So I should have been checking wait times like a maniac but I guess at this point I wasn’t thinking because I figured hey you still have 2 1/2 days AND are staying on property so…what could go wrong!
Anywho we stopped and grabbed another drink in the Jurassic Park area. I was super excited to see the frozen margarita! I was good but I did find it sweeter than a normal margarita. I was okay with it though I usually like a sweeter drink. So we get into Harry Potter and did Forbidden Journey and even though my DH thought I was crazy Flight of Hippogriff. I think this is such a fun little ride.
We joked about us having to find a junior coaster DH would actually ride!

 

[1tripandIfell]

At this point it was about 3:30 and we started to hit a wall. We had been up since 1:00am (our time) and I didn’t want to really over so it the first day since I knew we had a lot more walking to do over the next few days! So we decided to take our time and make our way back up towards the from of the park. I want to say I had checked Hagrid’s once or twice and it was just not up or had said delayed. This would happen often over the next few days. So we started wandering around. Ended up by backwater and got the BEST spicy margarita I swear! I think it had to do with the little bit of sweet. Now I’m a little confused on this point of the day…again up since 1:00 am! I think we were just wondering at this point and DH was happy because they had his beer in backwater and not draft! So after we grabbed a drink I wanted to go find the entrance to the coaster! So I dropped DH off at the watering hole with my bags and stuff and was on a mission!! Actually only waited about an hour to get up on the loading dock for Velcoicoaster! Literally I’m next in line next car comes up to empty and the lap bar doesn’t release!!! So they emptied it and let that one and the next set go through so I’m starting to really get nervous…I really did not want to have to leave after waiting an hour! All was right after the 2 empty cars ran and we were finally loaded up!! yay! See I had told DH I was going to jump in the single rider line so I would most likely be less than the hour long wait for regular line. Of course the single rider line was not open so I jumped in the regular line without telling DH

Now a little side note…not one time that I went up to one of the coasters to get in the single rider line was it open. Not once. At Hagrid’s I was told that it filled up so quickly they would have to close it periodically. I know groups use it to get on faster and get more done…even DH and I did it a few times while here but it did suck when I wanted to try and get through as quick as possible to keep DH from waiting

Anywhooo


OMG!!! Can I just say that coaster is the best!!! I really really loved it! And when waiting in line we were out where it goes over the water and hearing the cheers and screams and seeing it fly by just made the anticipation all that much higher!!

 

[1tripandIfell]

So by this time it was probably around 6:00 pm. I didn’t make reservations for this night so we figured we walk out to Citywalk and see where we could get in. We checked Margaritaville but the wait was really long so we decided to try Cowfish. They told us that we could go up and sit at the bar if we were okay with eating there which was perfect! It was just us two so didn’t both us.
DH ordered a Bluemoon and I ordered the Rising Sun marg. We also ordered some fried pickles.

I ordered the Chicken Bacon Avocado with grilled veggie’s and I’m not 100% but I want to say DH ordered the big squeal. We both really enjoyed our meal but can I tell you at this point we were crashing and crashing hard!!

once we were done with our meal we hopped on the bus and headed back to get some much needed sleep. Since I knew the next day would be a long one with the concert and our dinner plans not until 10:30 I figured we would skip early entry and sleep a bit. Day one was in the books a it was a great one!!! Up next? Lee Brice!

 

[1tripandIfell]

Saturday 3/12…On todays menu…rain and Lee freaking Brice! We love him and we’re super pumped about him. Because Friday was such a long day and I knew there would be rain we decided to sleep in a bit and take our time getting to the parks. We really didn’t sleep in very much though and after grabbing starbys was walking through city park about 9:00. Which was fine by me!! The excitement always gets me and I’m always up and ready to go!! Because of the weather that was moving through and we knew the temps would be dropping we renting a locker to throw my backpack in with sweaters and extra ponchos.



on todays agenda was US and of course up first? Minions!! I just love this ride especially if they are holding a dance party afterwards!!


After our dance break we hit up Jimmy Fallon. Neither one of us had done this ride before and we both really enjoyed it! A little side note. I really (really) wanted to hit Rip ride rocket today but atlas damn weather! So I checked over the course of the day even though I knew because of the weather and rain it wasn’t ever open. After Jimmy we tried to make it to transformers but the bottom literally fell out! It was okay though because we were prepared and had our handy dandy ponchos!! I had ordered a pack of 5 from amazon prior to leaving so we were set. We did hope into a little store to try and wait it out but it was pouring. So we made a mad dash for transformers. It was about 10:30ish about this time and we had Reservations at Mythos for 11:30 so I knew we needed to start making our way over after and planned on taking the train.


We arrived a few minutes prior to our reservation time and after using the restroom we were seated. So no wait time at all. We were seated by 11:20. It was timed out great to sit inside enjoy a meal and watch the rain. I ordered the potion of the gods and DH ordered a Bluemoon to drink and I ordered the Balsamic grilled chicken burger and DH ordered the bone in pork chop. Meal was really good! We both enjoyed it.

 

[1tripandIfell]

3/12 Cont.
So after lunch we hit up Forbidden journey then took the train back over to US. Then decided to ride Gringott’s. (Sp?)

then wanted to head back over and do MIB and the simpsons ride.
We did hit up a few photo ops. Now, in line for MIB it’s was breezy but endurable. Once we got to the simpsons. Hell had frozen over! it was windy and COLD!! So we decided to go ahead and head back to change before the concert since we were going to dinner right after. We also wanted to make our quick walk to Walgreens to grab some bottles of water for the room.

 

[1tripandIfell]

Once done freshening up and changing we walked down to check out the little sandbar on property. It seems like it was really cool and had good drinks to order. I went with a marg and DH got a rum punch maybe? We sat for a bit then headed back to the parks. We were there for 4:00. Now I had read on here if you want really good seats that you may want to line up about 6:30 for the concert. You can not see the concert from where you are if you are up close to the stage. You could do both if you are okay with standing further back. You’d def want to keep an eye on the crowd because like lining up for any parade or show at a theme park you shift one centimeter and someone will squeeze in! We walked around a bit and other than RRR which wasn’t running we had done everything so we just kind of took in the sites and such then headed over to stake a spot around 6:00ish. Even though it was a little chilly the day was gorgeous so we grabbed drinks and went to just chill.

ended up getting great spots and met some really cool people around us. The concert was amazing!! He put on such a great show. One thing we did not think through when standing there having a few drinks is that once the show started you could not move! Going to the bathroom and getting back up to the front was near impossible. I had made reservations at Bigfire for tonight at 10:00 or 10:30. I’m not positive because I recall adjusting the time because I didn’t want to be rushed. We ended up leaving the concert about 10:00. He was still playing but at this point even in warmer clothes it was freezing!! (At least to us southerners )

By 10:30 we both had our meals and it was amazing!!! He ordered the ribeye with Mac and cheese and a beer and I ordered the filet with asparagus and a mixed drink that was yummy but I can not recall what it was. I love steak and that…was a great one!!

Up next…40!!!

 

[1tripandIfell]

3/13…This is it!! It’s my birthday!!

Now I’m not going to lie, with the hour lost flying in then the time change Saturday night…It was soooooo hard waking up this morning. Even with the excitement of it being my birthday and all. Now the low the night before was about 48 and dropping with lots of wind. The low waking up about 6:00 was 41! We tried really hard to get there for rope drop and we did manage to make it to the park for around 7:30. At this point in my trip there were still only 2 rides I hadn’t ridden. Hagrid’s and RipRideRocket. My main goal was to really try to ride Hagrid’s since I had never ridden it before. Of course for some reason in this weather Hagrid’s was not yet open due to weather but VelociCoaster was so VC it is! This really is such a great coaster! Even in 40 degree weather Thankfully I had my coffee to help keep my hands warm at least part of the time.

after that I noticed King Kong only had a 15 min wait so I was like hey why not! I knew it was something DH enjoyed. Walked up to right before the loading dock then stop. And we wait and wait…then the dreaded I’m sorry we are currently experiencing blah blah blah. it was an extended delay and we ended up leaving.
So I figured at this point since it was still a little early to hit up HP


Another thing I really wanted to do was to see Blue and hang with them. I think this is such a cute little meet and greet.


I got to meet one of the babies. I think it was Tango. After meeting the baby and walking over to HP we hit up FJ again then took the train to US to check out that area a little more. I think I misspoke prior and said we had ridden Gringotts but this is the morning we ended up riding. Saturday we planned on it but when we walked around to get in line DH was over lines at this point and had wanted to come back at another time.

Afterwards we walked around and explored. Then walked over and did MIB again and went check out ET as we hadn’t ridden it yet this trip.


We did a little more walking around and I think this is the day we also did Bourne, Fast and the Furious (that was down quite often I found) and Transformers again. Of course while in like they had technical difficulties again. This was twice today before lunch. But I get it, it is bound to happen with the way these rides run constantly. Still a bummer when lines are so long. We stuck it out and the wait still wasn’t bad though.