I-fer? What in the World is an I-fer? Universal/Legoland/Sea World Feb 2015 Updated 5/26x3! The End!

[rteetz]

I've always wanted to go to TPC as well. I've looked a their stuff online and on Facebook and some of it catches my attention but they usually make you call for pricing. Surprised you found a lot of things broken there.

That is the casting building for WDW. I haven't eaten at planet Hollywood since 2012 but am excited to see how it changes once disney springs is done and it gets its new name the observatory. That's cools that Jim got the kids menu to color. It sucks that you couldn't enjoy it more because of your foot. I do love your pirates vinylmations.

Your room looks nice, I have never been to sea world so am excited to hear about that.

 

[missjackiemcg]

Bummer about your foot especially on your Disney Bubble day!! TPC being flea markety is such a disappointment! I was also picturing like a giant Disney antique store!!

Too bad you weren't able to wander over to the Titanic Experience. We went in 2011 and really enjoyed it! I am a nerd about Titanic history, so we had to check it out. Walking through the scenes, especially out on the evening boat deck where it is frigid and they separate the men and women was SO heartwrenching. They actually did pull our families apart and have us stand away from each other like we wouldn't see each other again. Cue the tears!! Definitely a worthwhile experience if you stay outside Disney again

 

[KatMark]

I'm too far behind, to comment on everything, but great updates. I'm sorry your foot was bothering. Glad you got to do the air air show (we really enjoyed ours). I'm happy you got to DTD.

 

[Pluto0809]

I've always wanted to go to TPC as well. I've looked a their stuff online and on Facebook and some of it catches my attention but they usually make you call for pricing. Surprised you found a lot of things broken there.

That is the casting building for WDW. I haven't eaten at planet Hollywood since 2012 but am excited to see how it changes once disney springs is done and it gets its new name the observatory. That's cools that Jim got the kids menu to color. It sucks that you couldn't enjoy it more because of your foot. I do love your pirates vinylmations.

Your room looks nice, I have never been to sea world so am excited to hear about that.

I was so disappointed with TPC. I had been looking forward to going there for a really long time and it was just so junky.

I did know that Planet Hollywood is going to undergo some renovations. It was really neat inside, I hope they don't change it too much.

Well, we've got a whole day of Legoland first so it will be a while yet before we get to Sea World.

Bummer about your foot especially on your Disney Bubble day!! TPC being flea markety is such a disappointment! I was also picturing like a giant Disney antique store!!

Too bad you weren't able to wander over to the Titanic Experience. We went in 2011 and really enjoyed it! I am a nerd about Titanic history, so we had to check it out. Walking through the scenes, especially out on the evening boat deck where it is frigid and they separate the men and women was SO heartwrenching. They actually did pull our families apart and have us stand away from each other like we wouldn't see each other again. Cue the tears!! Definitely a worthwhile experience if you stay outside Disney again

I was not happy that my foot was giving me trouble!

TPC was very disappointing! I so wanted to buy a lot of stuff and there just wasn't anything worth bringing home.

I was bummed that we missed out on the Titanic Experience too but there was just no way I was doing any more walking that night.

I'm too far behind, to comment on everything, but great updates. I'm sorry your foot was bothering. Glad you got to do the air air show (we really enjoyed ours). I'm happy you got to DTD.

Hi Kathy, thanks for catching up I know you have been busy. We really enjoyed the airboat tour and I was very happy to have a little Disney time even if it was just DTD.

 

[Pluto0809]

Everything is Awesome Part 1

Sunday we headed towards Tampa so that Jim could experience Legoland. My foot was still in bad shape but I was determined to carry on because this was Jim’s day and I wasn’t going to spoil it for him. I was pretty sure at this point that at a minimum I had a stress fracture in my foot. I’m not going to talk about it anymore unless it really affected the moment but I pretty much hobbled my way through the whole day.

The park didn’t open till 10 am but we had about an hour drive so we ended up leaving about 8:30 am.

We got back on the “I-Fer” and I finally got to see the Mickey power lines. I had seen pictures before but never in person before.



We also saw a ton of orange groves along the way.



This store looked interesting.



We did not hit any traffic at all and it wasn’t too long before we spotted this sign.



Since we were pretty early, we got a decent parking spot close to the front which was a relief to me.



We passed the half-finished Lego hotel on the way to the gates. I think it opens later this year.



Jim was very excited.







At about 9:45 am, Emmett from the Lego Movie came out to open the park.



After a short opening ceremony where they pulled a boy out of the audience to “turn on” the park, we were let in to the Lego Movie song, “Everything is Awesome”. This song is extremely catchy and it had taken me months after seeing the movie to get it out of my head. Being at Legoland brought it all back and I’m still singing it to this day. Here’s a link to it on You Tube, proceed with caution.

Don’t blame me if you are singing it for weeks to come, I tried to warn you!

Quite a lot of the stuff in the parks was made of Lego’s and Jim had to pose with every one of them.



This next guy spit water at unsuspecting people passing by him.



Of course the very first place that Jim headed was here:









They even had a small Disney section in the store. Can’t even get away from Frozen at Legoland!



The only thing he bought at that time were some mini figures for trading. Most of the employees at Legoland had mini figures to trade but Jim never did end up trading. Kind of like pin trading at Disney, the employees didn’t have a lot of good stuff. He was actually a little disappointed in the selection at the Big Store but I reminded him that there were several more stores throughout the park.

We continued on into the park.





The Lego Factory which was some kind of walk-through tour, was closed while we were there.



Jim wanted to ride the carousel but I suggested we do it on the way out so that we could get to the coasters before it got crowded.



We headed through Duplo Valley which was all kiddy rides.



Continued in Next Post

 

[Pluto0809]

Everything is Awesome Part 2



We should have stopped in Lego Kingdoms and rode the Dragon Coaster but I wanted to get to the wooden coaster, Coastersaurus, first because it was supposed to be the most popular ride in the park. We never did make it back to ride the Dragon that day.







This was a play area for kids. Really almost all the rides at Legoland were for kids, some even had a max height or age limit which made Jim sad.



We passed through into the Land of Adventure, you can see Coastersaurus in the background.



Jim decided to be a goof. You can see the Lost Kingdom Adventure in this picture. This was a shooting ride like Buzz Lightyear. We didn’t ride it at that moment but kept heading towards the coaster.



Another kiddy ride in that area.



This one looked very cute but once again, you couldn’t ride without a kid.





We made it to Coastersaurus which was a walk on. As a matter of fact, every ride was a walk on all day. I’ve never seen a park so empty in my life.











Jim picked the front car and we got on board. The only thing I didn’t like about Legoland is that they have no lockers for bags and you aren’t allowed to keep them with you on the ride. We had to put them in little cubby holes on the platform. It made me a little nervous but our bags were fine.

We ended up riding the coaster twice because there was no one waiting to board when we got back to the station the first time. We could have actually gone a third time and some people did but we chose to move on. The coaster was very mild and we both enjoyed it.

We backtracked and rode the Lost Kingdom Adventure where once again Jim whooped me. Buzz Lightyear is the only game I can beat him at and that’s only because I know where all the high targets are.

A few more pictures of the Safari Trek as we walked back by.





Our next coaster was Project X in the Lego Technic section. It was similar to the wild mouse coasters you see in a lot of parks.





It was about this point that Jim declared that this was his kind of park because all the rides were mild in nature.





He was also happy that he “measured up”. And yes that sign says 15 minutes but it was still a walk on.



Up Next: We Get Quite a Workout

 

[rteetz]

Legoland looks like fun but it also looks very dead. That's defintely not something you would see at disney walkons everywhere. Can't wait to hear more.

 

[Chicago Mo]

Sorry the store was a bust! Bummer... I also heard a lot of great things!

Still a ton of construction walls.

from what i rad on Easywdw most of the walls are down! yay!
I don't like the brick walls of the store fronts.. very boring..

Don’t blame me if you are singing it for weeks to come, I tried to warn you!

as soon as i read the title i was singing it in my head.. then you post the link to the song.. Thanks... thankfully i did NOT click on the link...

Legoland looks really cute.. but like you said more for the wee ones. I did see pictures of the rooms.. very busy!!

Very happy Jim finally gets to a park he is in love with! LOL!!!

I hope you had your foot looked at?!?

 

[missangelalexis]

Sorry TPC was so disappointing But your afternoon at DTD sounds fun! I'm glad your meal was yummy. Sorry to hear your foot was still pretty bad though. It's true though, Mom's always find a way to make you feel better! I love the Pluto costume for Duffy!

Jim definitely looks happy to be at Legoland! I've never seen the movie but I've had the song stuck in my head many times!!

 

[KatMark]

It's funny; I was reading someone else's TR who was at Legoland, and they had quite the wait for several of the rides. Jim sure seems to be enjoyng himself.

 

[Pluto0809]

Legoland looks like fun but it also looks very dead. That's defintely not something you would see at disney walkons everywhere. Can't wait to hear more.

The park was so dead that day. I was really surprised because I have read other TRs where there were huge lines. I think it was the time of year.

Sorry the store was a bust! Bummer... I also heard a lot of great things!

from what i rad on Easywdw most of the walls are down! yay!
I don't like the brick walls of the store fronts.. very boring..

as soon as i read the title i was singing it in my head.. then you post the link to the song.. Thanks... thankfully i did NOT click on the link...

Legoland looks really cute.. but like you said more for the wee ones. I did see pictures of the rooms.. very busy!!

Very happy Jim finally gets to a park he is in love with! LOL!!!

I hope you had your foot looked at?!?

I was so disappointed in Theme Park Connection. They post such great stuff on Facebook and they did have a few nice pieces but the majority was junk.

Yay for no construction walls! I can't wait to see the finished product.

That song is pretty catchy, isn't it?

Jim really did have a blast at Legoland despite it being mostly for kids. I will say that I enjoyed myself as well.

Yes, I did go to the doctor when I got home.

Sorry TPC was so disappointing But your afternoon at DTD sounds fun! I'm glad your meal was yummy. Sorry to hear your foot was still pretty bad though. It's true though, Mom's always find a way to make you feel better! I love the Pluto costume for Duffy!

Jim definitely looks happy to be at Legoland! I've never seen the movie but I've had the song stuck in my head many times!!

TPC was definitely a bust but at least now I know. Despite my hurting foot, it was really nice to spend some time back in the Disney bubble.

That song is quite addicting!

It's funny; I was reading someone else's TR who was at Legoland, and they had quite the wait for several of the rides. Jim sure seems to be enjoyng himself.

I've read other TRs too where the lines were really long so I was very surprised it was so empty all day. Must have been the time of year we were there.

 

[Pluto0809]

We Get Quite a Workout Part 1

We continued on through the Lego Technic area.



We checked out the Aquazone Wave Racers but did not ride because we didn’t want to get wet.





Then we got in line to ride the Technicycle.





We waited only long enough for the ride in front of us to finish. This ride is similar to Dumbo but instead of a lever to make you go up and down, you have to work at it. The harder you pedal, the higher you go. Jim had no problem at all staying all the way up. I could not get the hang of it though, my feet keep slipping off the pedals and I continually bounced up and down the whole ride. Jim thought this was hilarious.

We moved onto Lego City where there is a Boating School and a Driving School that are just for kids.





Since we couldn’t ride either of those, we headed towards the Rescue Academy instead.







This was another workout for us. You have to pump a handle to make the vehicles move. Once you get to the end, you have to get out and either put out a fire or capture a criminal. We were in a police vehicle so Jim had to pump water while I aimed it to hit the criminal. Then we had to turn around and pump our way back to the start. It was fun but Jim and I were thoroughly stomped by the other two families we were competing against. I do think between this ride and the Technicycle we got quite a workout that morning.



Jim really wanted to do the Driving School.



But since he was too big, he had to settle for this.





The Driving School had a store so we headed there next.





We actually both found something to buy. Jim got this Cargo Truck set.



And I found this Legoland magnet which is now on my file cabinet at work. I rarely find stuff with my name on it so I just had to get it.



We had the stuff sent to the front of the park for later pickup and headed back out. They had a full sized Ford Explorer made entirely of Legos out front.





Continued in Next Post

 

[Pluto0809]

We Get Quite a Workout Part 2

Next we headed up the hill to the Flying School which is a coaster that dangles below the track. It’s once again pretty mild and does not have any loops.



That was the only picture I took of the coaster. This was another one that we could have ridden more than once because there was no one waiting to ride.

We left Lego City and headed into the Imagination Zone. Can you believe how empty the park still was?







Everyone needs a soccer playing giraffe in their lives.



I’m not sure what I was trying to do here, shoot up Einstein’s nose?



This area was mostly hands on stuff. The first building was Build and Test where you could make you own race car then race it against others.







There was also a place to play Lego Video games and build Lego robots. Jim wasn’t too interested in this area and we were getting hungry, so we moved on pretty quickly. First though, Jim had to be crazy again.





I have no idea what he was trying to do in the first picture. And in the second one I have no idea why they had a chainsaw wielding rabbit, guess it makes as much sense as a soccer playing giraffe. Jim decided to have his head cut off in the photo. I think this was the second time he “died” this trip.



There were basically two places to sit down and eat at Legoland and both were back at the front of the park. Legoland is a big oval with the Flying School coaster being the furthest from the entrance. We decided to head straight back to the front at this point to get some food.

Legoland used to be Cypress Gardens and there are still a lot of beautiful areas in the park like this waterfall.



I wanted to eat at the Pizza & Pasta Buffet but Jim shot that idea down. For some reason I was really craving pizza this trip but never did get any cause Jim didn’t want it. Instead we ended up at the Market Restaurant which is cafeteria style. Jim got a salad and a side of strawberries.



I got rotisserie chicken. It came with the choice of two sides but there were only three options for the sides, roasted potatoes, fried rice or veggies. I’m not a fan of the veggies or rice so Jim took the veggies and put them on his salad. I’m not sure why I didn’t think to just ask for double potatoes.



The chicken was pretty good, definitely better than the chicken I had at Universal. And for dessert I got this yummy cookies and cream cupcake.



After lunch we decided to head towards Miniland USA to explore all the models. As we left, I took a picture of the Island in the Sky. We did plan on riding it but never made it there. We did some browsing in the stores along the way.





Jim decided after that heavy lunch he needed a nap.



Once again I have no idea what he’s doing in this next picture.



Up Next: Miniland USA

 

[missangelalexis]

Wow that really does sound like a workout!

Yay for finding a magnet with your name, very cute!

The car made out of legos looks awesome.

Mmmm that cupcake looks really yummy!

 

[MEK]

I am really loving the pictures from Legoland. I am looking for an excuse to go as an adult, but apparently I don't need one. lol. The place looks super cool and I am surprised at just how lacking the crowds are.

What an absolutely gorgeous day. I don't think you could have picked a better day to visit.

You are very nice for passing up on your pizza craving. I will say that the cupcake you had looks amazing.

Great updates!

 

[rteetz]

That area of legoland could be called exercise island.

That explorer made out of Legos is really cool I wonder how many Legos are in that thing.

Theme parks have a thing with cupcakes it seems but it does look good.

 

[Chicago Mo]

I think the Einstein picture is awesome and shows the bottom of the lego's!
the lego's they build are simply AMAZING! unreal what they can make!

I have no idea what he was trying to do in the first picture. And in the second one I have no idea why they had a chainsaw wielding rabbit, guess it makes as much sense as a soccer playing giraffe. Jim decided to have his head cut off in the photo. I think this was the second time he “died” this trip.

You. Are. KILLING. ME! Dying laughing here!!!!

Jim shot that idea down.

This is his trip now isn't it?!?! HA HA HA HA HA..
I think a trip to Disney will put him back in place!

ya know.. In November!??!

 

[Pluto0809]

Wow that really does sound like a workout!

Yay for finding a magnet with your name, very cute!

The car made out of legos looks awesome.

Mmmm that cupcake looks really yummy!

It definitely was a workout!

I was very happy to find that magnet and it's proudly displayed on my file cabinet at work.
The cupcake was very good. Maybe not quite Disney standard but almost!

I am really loving the pictures from Legoland. I am looking for an excuse to go as an adult, but apparently I don't need one. lol. The place looks super cool and I am surprised at just how lacking the crowds are.

What an absolutely gorgeous day. I don't think you could have picked a better day to visit.

You are very nice for passing up on your pizza craving. I will say that the cupcake you had looks amazing.

Great updates!

You should go at least once, even if just for Miniland which I will be posting next. Plus part of Cypress Gardens is still there as you'll see later on. No idea why it was so empty that day but maybe it was the time of year. The water park was also closed so maybe that was part of it.

The cupcake was very good but I sure did want pizza for some reason.

That area of legoland could be called exercise island.

That explorer made out of Legos is really cool I wonder how many Legos are in that thing.

Theme parks have a thing with cupcakes it seems but it does look good.

Yes, they should change the name because we got a good workout that morning.

No idea how many legos but it was definitely a lot.

The cupcake was very good and since they are my favorite, I tend to seek them out.

I think the Einstein picture is awesome and shows the bottom of the lego's!
the lego's they build are simply AMAZING! unreal what they can make!

You. Are. KILLING. ME! Dying laughing here!!!!

This is his trip now isn't it?!?! HA HA HA HA HA..
I think a trip to Disney will put him back in place!

ya know.. In November!??!

Thanks, I do think I was trying to show a close up of the Legos in that picture but I didn't realize how big Einstein's nose would look!

Jim can be a bit of a ham at times if you haven't noticed.

Well this day in particular was for him but he shot down pizza several other times this trip.

I don't think I could ever get Jim to Disney in November. November and December are his busiest time at work. Now me on the other hand, I definitely want to make it back for the Christmas stuff again, I just don't think it can be this year.

 

[Pluto0809]

Miniland USA Part 1

Hi Folks! This will be the last update for at least a week. My Mom and brother are flying in tomorrow night for a visit so I will be off the DIS till after they leave next Sunday. At least this next one is a huge update!

Miniland is the section of the park where they have Lego models of different cities and other areas. This area was absolutely fascinating and we spent quite a bit of time walking around. I took an obscene amount of pictures in this area so if you stumbled in here in the middle of my posting frenzy, hold off on replying till I update the title of the TR with today’s date. It’s going to take me four posts to get through all of them!

First up was Daytona International Speedway. And yes, the cars did race around the track.







Kennedy Space Center.













The next section was various cities in Florida.













There were little signs around the area letting you know what the buildings were and every once in a while I remembered to take a picture.









I didn’t get a good picture of it but there were actually little figures diving around this sunken ship.



I’m pretty sure there was more to the Florida stuff and we came back to it. But for the moment, we moved onto the Pirate section.





Oh wait, it looks like I was going back and forth because here’s a fort in St. Augustine.







Continued in Next Post

 

[Pluto0809]

Miniland USA Part 2



Whoops, back to the Pirates again.







I think that was the last of the Pirates, back to Florida!



















We really walked in circles in this area, I think that was all of Florida but I could be wrong. Next we came upon Washington, DC.











Vegas and DC were side by side so it looks like I went back and forth again.













They even had a mini President Obama and the first family. The second daughter is hiding behind one of the pillars, you can just see a bit of pink.



Continued in Next Post