How A Trip Goes From Relaxing To Lets Do Everything? 2 Week Pic Report From Mar '11

[skidisney]

Thanks I Love Disney 123. The trip was great, esp. the 2nd week when there was less rain. Brittany, my girlfriend, really appreciated your comment as she is reading along but too chicken to actually post a comment despite me begging her too . Hope you enjoy the rest of the TR.

 

[rndmr2]

Great TR! I Love the POR! We stayed there last year in a mansion King Bed Room too. I have stayed there before in alligator Bayou but I really didn't like that room that much.

I Love that chicken at the Coral Reef!!

 

[skidisney]

So we woke up on Day 7 at 7:45 AM and looked out the window and it was raining even harder than when we went to sleep the night before. We decided to brave it anyway to try and get a ride in on Harry Potter over at Islands Of Adventure (IOA.) We arrived at Universal after a dreadful drive through flooding and really bad accidents that caused really bad traffic. We got to the parking garage at about 8:45 AM (15 minutes before park opening,) and we were directed to park in Jaws 212 which was about as far away from the entrance as possible. It does not pay to up early and there for park opening apparently. It was also at this point that I realized that Parking Managers came to work in the morning and just randomly picked a lot to park first. It was different every time. And it wasn't just Universal, Disney was guilty of this too. Just my little rant, let me know if you have run into the same thing.

Let's get started on this rainy day:

Did I mention it was raining? I am sure I did.

Random shot of CityWalk

And we make it to the IOA entrance

The Port of Entry of IOA

It was pouring and everyone is heading in one direction

The (Wet) Adventure Begins

Next: A Visit To Hogsmeade

 

[skidisney]

So let's get started with the pics of Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Once again, I would like to apologize for the blurry pictures but it was pouring down rain all morning.

The theming is really amazing, even for someone who knows very little about Harry Potter.

And Hogwart's

And let's go through some of the queue of Forbidden Journey

For what it's worth, the ride is fantastic. Unlike anything I have ever ridden in any amusement or theme park. It is simply awesome and I wish that I had gotten the chance to ride it again. But the weather and crowds really prevented us from that.

As we exit, we are really unable to navigate more than 100 feet at a time without being completely drenched.

Next: A Run Over To The Lost Continent

 

[skidisney]

So we left Harry Potter to do some more exploring. We could only get about as far as Poseidon's Fury and Brittany had never been through it before. I didn't let her know anything about it either. This made her grumpy.

I have seen this attraction multiple times and in all the different ways they have presented it (when IOA opened it was a totally different attraction,) and while this is not the best one, it is still really cool to me how they pull off all the special effects. I see something new every time.

After that we were getting worn out from being wet. So we went back into Wizarding World for another look

And to try a:

In our opinion, which counts for nothing, it was just ok. Very sweet.

The outside of Three Broomsticks

And Honeyduke's

And a look as we were crossing the bridge leaving towards Jurassic Park

And a look out over the rest of the park towards Marvel Super Hero Island.

Next: Alert - Due to inclement weather, all outdoor attractions have been closed for the forseeable future.

 

[wdwgirl03]

Oh yikes, I can't imagine being at Universal (well, atleast WWOHP) when it's raining. My sisters and I went in August and there's really not a lot of indoor space in the Wizarding World. As we were leaving the park there was a sudden downpour (though that was more like a typical FL summer shower that lasted all of 5 minutes) and wondered what we would've done if we were still there. haha

I do agree about Forbidden Journey. It is unlike any ride out there. Amazing. And one of my sisters got the frozen butterbeer instead of the regular. We all agreed it wasn't as sweet as the regular one.

 

[Goofy442]

I don't think we would have ventured out in to that rain. Great pictures!

 

[ntikos]

Really enjoying the Trip Report. Good Job!

 

[skidisney]

Now if you read what's next in the last post, you saw what we heard. "Due to inclement weather, all outdoor attractions are no longer running." That's right, really not a whole lot to do in IOA thats not outdoors. Coasters are out. So are the water rides (not that we needed to get any more wet .) So we headed toward Spider-Man. Walked through Jurassic Park (camera didn't come out .) Headed through Toon Lagoon and an empty Dudley.

Nice new paint job on this ride though.

No water, no boats

To Marvel Super Hero Island

We rode Spider-Man and then made the decision to leave. We had been to IOA before and had checked off Harry Potter. Feet were wet, weather was miserable and Brittany was grumpy . We headed back to the hotel and then made another horrible mistake.

"What do we do?"

"Why don't we check out DisneyQuest?"

"On a rain day when everyone is thinking the same thing?"

"Sure, I know it'll probably be bad, but hey, we should be able to see something."



Horrendous, everyone and their mother and their grandmother and their great-grandmother was in there. It was packed, hundreds of screaming kids and miserable parents just worn out by the weather.

Here is the obligatory shot of DisneyQuest.

Don't know why we took a picture of that. I think it's the only thing we tried.

We needed a break. We are pretty hardcore in our touring (I think.) But even we were pretty beaten up . So we headed back to Port Orleans.

Next: We Aren't Done Though, And This Time We Are Going Out Guns Blazing

 

[skidisney]

So I mentioned that we were going out with our guns blazing. What were our guns?

Our umbrellas of course

Was I ready? Oh yeah.

Notice the puddle of water near the soda machine behind me .

So we were leaving for the Magic Kingdom. We had that Fastpass to use from our evac on Splash earlier that week. Didn't know what we would use it on yet but we would figure it out when we got there. We left our room at 5:20 PM and I wanted to take the busses to see what the bus system was like from POR and I hate parking at the TTC. Seems like a long way to go about things. We must have just missed the bus because we waited for 20 minutes for the MK bus. And we got to MK at about 6 PM.

It was raining on Main Street too. So now we know it wasn't just Harry Potter who was singled out .

Roy and Minnie were still happy in the rain

And the castle was still standing

The Emporium

Don't mean to be repetitive, but it was damp.

Casey's Corner

The Crystal Palace

And we headed into:

And we jumped onto everyone's favorite:

Should I even bother checking the radar?

And now some random shots from the Peoplemover!!!

Next: Our Trip Around Tomorrowland Continued

 

[skidisney]

So when we last left off, we were still on the Peoplemover. So let's continue our tour, shall we.

Some funky Tomorrowland trees

And the Speedway traffic is backed up due to the weather

And into:

The upside-down space men

Apparently there was no traffic after all

If there was any consolation, crowds were pretty light

And finally back to Rockettower Plaza Station.

I hope you enjoyed your trip around Tomorrowland. Now please watch your step.

Next up was Buzz Lightyear. No need for Fastpass here. It was a walk-on.

What did Brittany score?

This was a fortunate series of events as I had just shown her where the 100,000 point target was, when the ride stopped and let her blast away at it. Hey, Galactic Hero nonetheless, right?

Didn't ride the Carousel Of Progress this time but we noticed that they had changed over the sign to 2011, so we took a picture like we do every year.

So we used the Fastpass on Space Mountain. Fun as always. Still a little rough, though we noticed on our many rides this trip that the front of the train is much less whip like than the back.

Then we moved on through Fantasyland

Not eating here on this trip

And a look down Main Street

One last look at the castle on the way out

The Firehouse

And we were outta there. On our way to Epcot for another ADR.

Next: Over To Epcot For A Surprising ADR

 

[skidisney]

So we jump on the monorail at the TTC to go to Epcot for our dinner ADR. When we arrive the rain is still falling, but not enough to deter us from our ultimate goal.

And we make our way over to Japan

Two restaurants, one building as it turns out in Japan. I mean, I knew that there was both Tokyo Dining and Teppan Edo there, I just was never sure of the layout of the Japan pavilion.

As it turns out, Tokyo Dining is in the front overlooking the Lagoon and Teppan Edo is in the back.

Ah, the menu

And our grill and dining area.

Of course some refreshment

Britt was enjoying her custom made chop sticks

Our chef was a really funny guy. He was great. Here he is striking a pose while delivering the sauces.

And with a little knife work that was so fast, our camera was not fast enough

The famous tower of onions

To the smoking tower of onions

A little seasoning

The noodles were good

As was the rice

I had the steak, of course. Everyone enjoyed the sauces, especially the white sauce on the end which the chef called "the yummy yummy sauce."

Britt had the chicken

Overall, a great meal. I am not the biggest fan at sitting at large tables with other groups but whether its Teppan Edo or Biergarten (experienced on a previous trip,) it always seems to work out well. By the end of the meal, we figured out that when the group at our table was talking about "work," they were actually cast members and we were able to have some great conversation about it. We really wish we had engaged them in conversation earlier. One note about Teppan Edo, no Tables In Wonderland here. I was informed that TIW was taken right next door at Tokyo Dining though. Odd, but ok.

Total with tip including 2 beers, chicken and steak was $79.87. No the most cost effective place in the World, but a great meal.

Next: Taking Our Time On The Way Out Of Epcot

 

[skidisney]

After our dinner at Teppan Edo, we exited at about 9:45 PM and took our time in Epcot with no people around and enjoyed the quiet time in the park. Here are some of the pictures we took after dinner.

Italy

An empty Germany

The bridge was lifting up to let the fireworks barges through.

China

And back into Future World

A brief bus ride back to Port Orleans for out final night there

We were definately sad to see this go, what a beautiful resort

Good night Port Orleans. Onto something new in the morning.

Next: One last look at Port Orleans

 

[skidisney]

A sad, sad morning was in store. We really loved Port Orleans and in wrapping up our resort review, we will stay here again, it was worth the money and we would recommend it to anyone who is thinking about a stay there.

Here are a few more pictures of the room for you Port Orleans lovers

The shower

And over to Fulton's General Store to pick up some last minute Port Orleans keepsakes

And a few more outside shots

So long Port Orleans!!!

Next: Another Morning At The Movies

 

[skidisney]

We left Riverside at about 10:45 and headed over to Hollywood Studios where we had much unfinished business. We had been in the World for a week and hadn't ridden Tower or Rock'n Roller Coaster yet. Unbelieveable.

When we got there, we were directed to the back of the parking lot in film (look at that blue sky, didn't recognize it)

And we headed in on a bright sunny day.

There's our target

Thank goodness we had this one checked off our list already, if we hadn't, people would have started lining up by now.

And we got our prize

Hey lookie

People were out and enjoying a dry day

And back up Hollywood Blvd. we went

Look who was up near the hat

And we decided that before our lunch ADR, we would catch the 12:00 showing of:

Well, maybe that wasn't clear. It was:

This show is a give or take for us. Not on our must-do list but it is a fun show to experience if you have the time.

The judges table with no judges

And now with judges, magic

Our Ryan Seacrest, I am sure he loves being referred to as that

The contestants were really fun and as always, the guy with the worst voice won . That's what you get for letting us vote, right?

Next: Lunch With Aliens

 

[skidisney]

Where did we head for lunch?

An old phone right inside the door, but don't try to get the phone book

The theme is that you are entering a soundstage, so the walk in is behind the set and the dining room is actually on set

A view of the screen from our car

A look to the back of the restaurant

Any empty car next to us

We each had an Oreo Shake which was really good ($4.69 each)

Let's have lunch

Brittany had the Smoked St. Louis-style Ribs - Basted with barbecue sauce served with cole slaw and a choice of cucumber salad or baked beans $21.99

And me, well I had the Smoked Turkey Sandwich - smoked turkey, crispy bacon, lettuce, tomato with avocado mayonnaise on multigrain bread served with cucumber salad $12.99

We see who the thrifty one was

The picture the server took of us in the car, it was a little dark and she was a little shaky

One last look at the restaurant on the way out

The TIW discount was $8.87.

Total for the two of us after discount and with tax and tip was $45.78.

We enjoyed the restaurant and theme. Service was adequate but nothing stellar. The food is nothing to write home about, seemed pretty counter service actually, but you can't beat the theming. It is really fun and worth a try.

Next: A Walk Back Into The Sunset

 

[skidisney]

We left the Sci-Fi Dine In and headed back down Sunset Blvd. Scooted past Starring Rolls, we will see you real soon!

Now remember, we have FP's for Tower, but we were still saving those. Our mission was this

Our next stop was another new attraction for Brittany

The empty set

Let's get to the action

Does he look like Harrison Ford?

And the seas part

Kaboomey!!! Gonna need one of these :

This guy needed a nap

Here comes the aeroplane

Good Indy

Bad Indy

These are bad guys

Hey, more fire!!! And spoiler alert, Indy does not die.

Still a fun show.

Can anyone tell me where this cool little sign is located?

That's a cool little detail for all you dentistry fans.

Next: Time for a new parade, but first?

 

[of the seas]

Cool pictures! You should try the peanut butter dessert thingy at the Sci-Fi. So yummy!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Woo hoo, look at that blue sky!! We were at DHS that day too and it was such a welcome change from the rain. I agree, people were definitely out enjoying the nice weather.

I think we were at the 12:00 Idol show too, haha!

 

[RedRed]

Wonderful trip review