just back from 14 days 3 at ioa/us and rest at wdw

[dzneprincess]

any questions??

 

[robvia]

Trip Report?

Lines at IOA, how we're they?

You had a hotel key right?
If so then your wait times we're short and you had alot of fun.

But what did the wait clocks above most of the rides say?

I always like to hear crowd reports and how long the wait times were for the rides.

Thanks.

 

[dzneprincess]

Wait times were atrocious.....i was very fed up with Express system, because EVERY single attraction would run out of express tickets by noon. We just had to wait in line. because of this we missed most of the studios, as we had been there before and I couldn't justify 45-75 min waits. The longest we waited was 75 min for MIB, and Spiderman, again because all Express passes were gone. Hulk wasnt to bad of a wait, I think 30 mins we waited for that. AT US we did Hanna Barberra, Earth Quake, MIB and BTTF. We got lucky on BTTF as it was pouring down rain, and most people had left or were camped out somewhere, so we walked right on. In fact that day it rained all day, we finally gave up and went back to the hotel. We only spent about 3 hours there. We spent most of our time at IOA since we had never been there before. WE did Spiderman twice, Hulk once (would loved more but too long wait) JP 3 times, Triceratops Encounter, my DD rode PTeranodon FLyers once (40 min wait!!! Every time we were near it)we saw poseidons fury once, and did Cat in hat 2wce, car o suessel once and basically thats all. The waits were really bad.........

 

[MIB999999]

dzneprincess saw the increased popularity of the whole universal complex. either take advantage of early entry on the days it is available or be there in line at the turnstyles when the park opens. If they are already passing thru the park gates when you arrive at the parking garage you are to late....
get in early and concentrate on the things you really want to ride. the farther away from the port of entry at IOA the longer it will take for the lines to start forming. so it is ride till you drop on dueling dragons if you make a beeline to the ride the second you pass thru the gate. On a good day you can get in 5 front row rides on dragons between 9:00 and 10:00.
always go to dragons thru suess land, it is a shorter walk.
by 11:00 the Hulk, Spiderman, ripsaw falls will be at 45 to 70 minute wait.
i know you are on vacation but to ride what you want to your satisfaction you have to be on a mission as well.

 

[nhrenee]

Welcome back!

Which off site hotel did you stay at and how was it? Also where did you eat? (In park or off park). I always like to hear how people's dining experiences were.

TIA

 

[SherryfromOK]

If all the express passes are out by noon, what is the best way to take advantage of it? We will have 3 given to us a day, but if you can only do one at a time, would we even be able to do 3? Or do I have this mixed up? What is your suggestion?

 

[dzneprincess]

nhrenee.....we really didn't eat any any sit down restaurants in the parks....we ate at the superhero cafe once, and the rest was counter service. We drove to the parks, so we would usually only eat lunch at the park, then eat somewhere after the parks. We did eat something that we really LOVED!!!!! on the last night too!! We have been craving it so bad LOL. On the way ouy, right when you come to the port of entry from superhero island, there is a funnel cake and icecream shop. WE are from GA so we love funnel cakes, so I decided to get one. Looking at the menu I saw they had a northern lights funnel cake, covered with powder sugar, ice cream, whip cream and strawberries!!!!!!! I didnt think to much of it at first, bc my DH had gotten one at the studios and it just had straberry preserves on it. It wasnt that great, so I just got one for my DH. BIG mistake!!! IT had fresh strawberries and the BEST whip cream on it!!!! um-um- im drooling about it now!!!!!!! (wipes the saliva from the keyboard) ANYONE MUST try one of these!!!!!!!


OOPS sorry SherryfromOK gotta a little excited there LOL My best advice to you, unless you are a on site hotel guest, would be to get there before they open, be at the gates when they open!! WE did not do this, because we live close enough to go back, if I so desired and well we are just plain LAZY The other thing I didnt like about the express system, was the placement of the kiosks...sometimes they are not near the entrance to that ride. IE hanna barbera (sp?) and hitchcock are all the way at the end of that street. Which is not really far, but I have just gottne spolied by Disney's fast pass system I guess, and the first day this was throwing me off inkbounc

Also I forget to mention that we did ride DD!! 3 times! I rode fire twice and ICe once, I liked Fire much better. My DD rode in the front row of ICe and therefore he liked that ride much better. One thing about DD that I noticed and actually all the rides. The posted wait time is actually not correct. Every single ride that had a wait over 30 mins, was actually a longer wait that what was posted. IE spiderman had a posted time of 45 mins when we got in line, but we actually waited about an hour. MIB had posted time of 60 min, since it was beginning ot rain we didnt mind, but we actually ended up waiting for 75 mins. ANd the worst one was DD!! We got so happy caause the posted time was 15 mins!!! We almost had heartattacks LOL we got in line, but actaully waited about 30. Moral of story, add 15 mins to the posted time kids LOL OR pay $200 a night to stay on property.

 

[gschmerl]

If you go to DD when the park first opens (go to the right--everyone else is going left), you can ride the front rows of fire and ice over and over before anyone else even gets there. It's wonderful!!