I LOVED USF and IOA

[Kevs mom]

We just returned tonight from a wonderful trip to Orlando - It was our first "non-disney" trip and I have to admit I had my reservations not knowing what to expect from the Universal parks. We purchased the 5 day for the price of 2 tickets (what a great deal that was ) we ended up doing two days at each park and were able to ride everything (except Dueling Dragons which was down for refurbishing ) and to see all of the shows we wanted to. My kids, DS 11, DD 8, and DS 5 LOVED the parks, USO was their favorite of the two and it was soooo nice because we were able to ride EVERYTHING there as a family, my youngest was able to do it all for a change and he was thrilled!!!! Couldn't get enough of MIB II (my husband beat us all 6 times but we'll get him next trip!) And at IOA "Spiderman" was incredible, we rode that quite a few times as well. We enjoyed "Citywalk" as well, very exciting atmosphere, we had dinner one night at "Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville" and had a great time, the kids got to go on stage and play tamborine for the muscial guest that night. We are hooked now so it will be hard to choose what to do on our next trip there!

 

[Planogirl]

Thanks for the report. My 10 year old and I will be going for the first time in March and we're both getting really excited!

How was the food at Margaritaville? Did you eat anywhere good in the parks? Did you see any superhero characters? My son is excited about maybe seeing some of them.

 

[JennSaint]

Glad to hear you enjoyed Universal & IOA. We are visiting those two parks for the first time in two weeks. My question is did you make any dinner reservations in advance? We plan on eating at Margaritiville too and would like to know if you just went without a reservation and how long did you wait? Thanks!

 

[gschmerl]

Planogirl,
We've only been to IOA in the summer, but during that time they have a "Super Hero" parade. Check the schedule when you get there. Your son will love it.

 

[Robinrs]

Welcome back, Kev's Mom! Glad you had a great trip!

Where did you stay?

 

[Kevs mom]

Thanks Robinrs, it really was a great trip, we stayed at "Orange Lake" and loved it! Can I also just say you can't beat January for crowds (or should I say lack of crowds?!) We pretty much just walked right on everything, it was a very "relaxing" trip considering every other time of the year we have visited Orlando are always "peak" times.

JennSaint, we did not make reservations for Margaritaville, we just left USF at 6:00 right when they were closing and walked over and got a seat right away, it was so nice out that we ate on their outside deck, the food was good - the kids ate off of the children's menu and my husband and I split peel-and-eat shrimp and quesadillas.

Planogirl, we did see superheroes, of course "Spiderman" was the biggest hit with my boys. There was also the "Green Goblin", "Wolverine", and "Doctor Doom", there were a couple of others that I didn't really know who they were. They would all come riding down the street a couple of times a day and get out for photos and autographs. As far as eating in the parks go we only ate lunch there two days and we just had counter service - at USF we ate at "Captain Quint's Seafood" which was alright and at IOA we ate at "Wimpy's Burgers" which was Ok too, you know it was the typical $6.50 hamburger and fries.

Hope you all have fun on your trips!

 

[Robinrs]

That the resort you got on SkyAuction, right? Don't forget to post a review on the Orlando Hotels and Attractions Board because there's always interest in the selections on SkyAuction.

Again, welcome back!