Just back from a 3-week trip: May 16-June 7

[rosiejo]

This has to be a first... we've been back home for less than 48 hours and I'm starting on a trip report...

Those of you who have read my previous reports will know that I slaved for months sharing the minute details from our 21 day Fairy Tale Wedding trip... and how my attempt at our November 06 trip fell flat on its face - so this time things are going to be different! Gone are the minute by minute details, and in their place the important information about the highs and lows and the new things we did on this trip - so please give me a second chance and stick with me on this one

First things first... the whys, whos and the wheres:

As part of our wedding package in 2005 Disney kindly bestowed upon myself and DH a 10 day magic your way pass... which we didn't need that trip as we had bought tickets in advance. So in November 2006 we returned to the world for our first anniversary - and upgraded said "free" tickets to two annual passes. This year we managed to persuade our bosses to let us out to play for a full three weeks to revisit the Mouse once more - and by my fuzzy math ensure that we got so much use out of those APs that Disney were once again paying us to visit!

So we book flights and car hire and rent ourselves a 4-bed villa with private pool in the Cumbrian Lakes subdivision 4 miles south of the 192 (535 junction) on Poinciana Boulevard.

What's that I hear you say? Why 4 bedrooms when there are only two of us? Good question - we got a great rate and the pictures looked beautiful so we signed up (worked out cheaper than 21 nights in a mod anyway!)

Of course you aren't the only people to ask that question - as we are tucking into Christmas dinner with my parents DH waxes lyrical about the villa - and suddenly our trip for two is a trip for four!

After much negotiation we agree that DM and DF will fly out to join us for 9 days in the middle of our trip - so that we can still have some time to ourselves.

So on May 16th - less than six months since we returned home from our last trip - we find ourselves back on an airplane winging our way to 3 weeks of fun in the Florida sunshine!

{Coming in future episodes: the best miniature golf courses, what it's like to kiss a dolphin, a trip to the water ski-ing capital of the world, gator hunting, new places to eat offsite, and doing Disney non-commando!}

 

[jen_uk]

Great start, looking forward to reading some more.

 

[mark&sue]

waiting for the next instalment


susan

 

[Minniespal]

Excellent start ~ looking forward to reading more

 

[KKCannon]

"Por favor, mantenganse alejado de las puertas"

I just love hearing that on the monorail. Eagerly awaiting rest of TR.

 

[irongirlof12]

looking forward to your trippie

 

[natalielongstaff]

great start

 

[rosiejo]

Ohh cool - I have some readers Here's the next installment...



{Warning - this section of my report includes some negative thoughts about USF and IOA - if you are a big fan proceed with caution...}


A few of my friends are talking about taking a trip over to the dark side... sorry USF and IOA so I thought I'd kick off with my thoughts on these parks...

When we travelled to Florida when I was a kid USF was a must-do; Back to the Future, Jaws and Earthquake rated high on the list - although my personal favour was Murder She Wrote - altogether now "No, absolutely not!"

{Ahem! Does anyone else remmeber this attraction or is it just me... maybe I dreamt it...}

I also have fond memories of the Psycho house and being scared to death in the 3D film of The Birds...

But alas this is no trip down memory lane... 18 months ago we dragged our extended family - including 3 newbies - to USF and IOA... and were very dissapointed, the atmosphere at USF is... well there isn't one! It's like a ghost town, I half expected to see tumbleweed rolling down the street. And although the theming at IOA is much much better (they must have headhunted some Disney people to make that park) the rides are mostly of the thrill variety... well they were in November when they seem to close most of the tame stuff... We were so dissapointed that in our November 06 trip we didn't even bother buying a ticket to the park!

But back to this trip, it's May so everything should be open and heck we have 21 days to fill, so we splash out on an annual power pass (not planning on visiting that often but it worked out the same price as a 2 day park hopper!) when I say splash out I think it was $160 - for both of us - with our exchange rate, that's cheap enough to give it a second chance.

We've heard that staying on site gets you front of line access to the rides - but hey we don't want to splash out that much cash and it's only a 20 minute drive from our villa so we'll just drive thank you very much.

The going rate for parking is $10 - but of course universal charges $11

The first park we hit was USF. We arrived at about 9.15 and headed over to Men in Black - now we both LOVE this attraction - but it makes DH sick - and this trip the motion sickness is getting to him on tame attractions - so we walk on, and after one go he's green! Over to Jaws to cool down... annoyingly this is one of the attractions they close in the low season so it's good to do it again.

From here we head to Shrek - and there's a line - 30 minute wait perhaps? Of course people come here first so it's bound to fill up... and we would usually get a "fastpass" {what on earth is it called here??} but of course they are no longer available unless you shell out more cash so into the line we go... it's hot and stuffy - they're saving energy by not switching on the fans just yet... I start to grumble... which isn't a good sign! Luckily the attraction makes up for the wait! It's got to be one of the best 3D - sorry 4D - attractions around. Besides Terminator of course - which we "ride" next - the good thing about this attraction is that the show time is posted - so you wonder in a couple of minutes before and there is no wait.

By now we're hungry so we eat our packed lunch - food here is expensive and not that great.

We head over to the animal actors show - which is cute - and ride ET - there's a line again but I think this is still worth a little wait.

It's early afternoon and we've had enough... there are still rides to do but the waits are all at least 30 minutes... and we just refuse to stand in them.

We are big TGM fans and since we discovered him we don't wait in lines for more than 15-20 minutes at Disney - so maybe we've been spoiled - but I take offence at Universal charging for the fastpass privilege... it's almost like they make the queue areas so uncomfortable that you think what the heck and buy a fastpass... but not us... we leave. I think the only thing we bought all day was an over priced soda!



The next day we head to IOA - shelling out another 11 bucks and arriving at park gates about 9.15. We head straight to Spiderman. The wait time says 10 minutes so we head inside. Once in the line we notice that there are no ride attendants... as the cars pull up a family look around and then go and sit in the front row of a car... and we follow and sit in the row behind... but no one follows us - so the doors shut on a half empty car and we pull off... When we exit the ride a few minutes later the wait time is posted as 40 minutes???!!! It's a ploy it has to be... save money on ride attendants which in turn makes the queues massive, which in turn makes people pay for fastpasses... it's a huge money making conspiracy!

From here we walk around the park - through toontown into jurrasic park then onto the Lost Continent... yup we haven't ridden anything... we don't like thrill coasters, or massive log flumes... or kids rides...

In the LC we decide to check out the attraction about the gods {ride title slips my mind} it's a walking tour and is much better than I remembered - I actually enjoyed it...

From here we go through Cat in the Hat land and that's it... we've circumnavigated the park in about 2 hours and seen 2 attractions!

Now we knew this would be the case so we're not too put out - there are only two reasons for coming here today - spidey and the Bilge Rat Barges! Knowing full well that we are going to get drowned we head over to Hulk and get two lockers (free for 60 minutes) figuring that should give us enough time to walk there and back and ride at least once, twice if we're lucky.

{As an aside - the MIB lockers are free for 90 minutes... why are Hulk's only for 60 mins? As far as I understand you are not allowed loose articles on this ride - so unless you have non riders you must use a locker - and I've seen wait times much longer than 60 mins... so why should you have to pay to use a facility you are forced to use?? Also more interestingly, if you've locked you loose items - ie wallet - in a locker and you get back late how on earth do you pay to get your stuff out?? Answers on a postcard please }

Anyway back to the original topic... that was a tip - you can get your stuff soaked on the barges - or you can pay to use the lockers next to the ride - or you can use the Hulk lockers and get an hour free

It takes us about 6 minutes to high tail over to the barges - and the wait time says 10 minutes - great! We can ride at least twice - so we get in line - and we walk - and walk - and walk - the longest queue ever - then we hit the line - and we wait and wait and wait - about 20 minutes! Geez can't they count?? Or at least tell the truth on the wait signs! I can hear them whispering to me "buy a fastpass, buy a fastpass"... it's like a subliminal message being sent by that continuous video loop about how to do up your seat belt that we are forced to watch 64 times...

But finally we're on the ride... with 5 excitable teenage girls, and a family of 4 with two very wary young boys (about 7?) I think they had just done the log flume and were wary of drops...

Now if you have never done this ride before you may think it similar to Kali River Rapids... you would be WRONG! It is longer wilder and WETTER... we rode Kali five times in a row the week before and weren't "wet" until the 5th time - on this ride you are soaked to the bone by the half way point!

If your kids don't like water or loud noises don't make them ride - the screams coming from our boat were enough to push one of the young boys over the edge - even when his dad told him we were only screaming because we were girls which is true - but hey when you have gallons of cold water dumped on your head what do you expect??

We would love to have ridden again but we only had enough time to hit the bathrooms and wring our clothes out before rushing back to the locker to rescue our bags.

From here we headed to a quiet spot under the Hulk ride next to the river to eat our packed lunch and dry out in the sun - before heading home.

The barges are our favourite ride here - beats Kali hands down and it's not often I say that about a Disney v Universal comparison. We actually went back a week or so later armed with nothing but our park tickets - wearing swim suits under our clothes - just to ride the barges over and over until the line got too big... unfortunately the weather didn't agree and it was a cool day - so after one drowning we couldn't face riding again! We did however brave the log flume... OMG - that's exhilarating... and I think we got just as wet on there too! It was highly amusing walking through the park towards the exit at about 11 am as most people were still entering, looking like we'd fallen in the lake

To sum it all up...

There are some great rides at both of these parks - and if you like thrill rides or have young kids then there is even more to see and do - but DH and I were so annoyed by the inefficiency of the ride loading - leading to long waits that it took the shine off. And the lack of atmosphere at USF is ridiculous - yes it's "themed" around a film studio but it just looks dull... apart from the attractions there isn't really anything to do - you can't just have a nice stroll around enjoying the sights and soaking up the atmosphere.

I know this all sounds really negative - but that's how we felt - and we said we wouldn't come back again... until of course we heard the Harry Potter announcement on the news... so maybe just once more in 2010 to check that out...

Hmm I sense some flames coming... maybe if you have some hints and tips on how I can learn to re-love these parks you could let me know. And if you do have young kids - tweenies or teens - as my friends do - then perhaps you could say whether you think they should take the time to visit.

My next report will be much more positive I promise

{Stay Tuned}

 

[jockey]

Really enjoying your reports! I know what you mean about USF, I am not a big fan either. We went in 2003 for the first time and I was not impressed!

 

[lisaj]

loving the report so far, hurry back.

 

[Minniespal]

Excellent ~ You can't beat Disney IMO but I also love US/IOA as well.

 

[spencem]

Loving the report.

On the subject of lockers it annoys me also that the sets by the water rides charge when the others are free. I think they attempt to justify this by saying they make you leave loose articles for the trill rides, while you choose to keep stuff dry on the water rides.

As a note though the free period increases with the queue time for the ride they are near, so if the wait is 90 minutes then the free period will be 120.

 

[Lizzy Lemon]

Interested in your comments about US. Not doing it this trip but planned on it next time, haven't done any homework on it yet but your inside info is enlightening!

 

[rosiejo]

Loving the report.

On the subject of lockers it annoys me also that the sets by the water rides charge when the others are free. I think they attempt to justify this by saying they make you leave loose articles for the trill rides, while you choose to keep stuff dry on the water rides.

As a note though the free period increases with the queue time for the ride they are near, so if the wait is 90 minutes then the free period will be 120.

I completely agree about the "choosing" to keep your stuff dry... I think all of the parks - including Disney - should have free lockers near the wet rides...

I'm glad to hear the free period increases when the ride is busy... I did wonder how anyone could stoop that low to make a $




Nice to have y'all along for the ride... I need to think which topic to cover in the next "episode" and I'll be onto it

 

[Chilly]

We went over our locker time limit at The Mummy ride (my fav ride) and had put all our money in the locker so we just got an attendent to open it for us, we didn't pay any extra money and loads of people were doing it.

I like US and IOA and will be returning this holiday but they don't compare to Disney.

 

[rosiejo]

Wow - nothing like real life to bring you back to earth with a bump after a lovely holiday - sorry I've been neglecting you all!

I thought I would kick off this segment with a "before the trip" review with some top tips for beating the queues...

This year we got an absolute bargain with Virgin flying direct from Gatwick to Orlando - the only downside being we had to get there for the flight - which means a 3 hour train journey and an overnight stay.

We stayed in the Moat House Gatwick - getting a good deal on the room through Octopus Travel. The hotel is about 4 minutes on the bus from the South Terminal - and costs £2.50 per person each way. Now you might be asking why I am so anally retentive that I say 4 minutes - and not round it up to 5 - but you will soon see why

We took advantage of Virgin's twilight check in service - which is a must - we arrived at the airport at about 6pm and there were only 4 families in the queue - so we checked in, got our seats reserved, got rid of the cases and headed up to Pizza Express for some dinner.

We had been advised to arrive at the airport 3 hours before our flight the following morning due to long queues at security I remember when we used to check in 3 hours before the flight - I'd hate to think what time the morning check in people would have to arrive!

So this is where the 4 minutes bus ride comes into play... we decided to catch the 7.45 bus - to ensure we'd be at the airport for 8am (they run every 15 minutes). So the bus arrives - and we pay another £5 and the bus drives off in the opposite direction to the airport! So 10 minutes later we arrive at the Thistle hotel, where there is an endless line of people waiting to board with piles of cases... which takes another 10 minutes... and then we drive off again and 10 minutes later we wave at our hotel through the window, before travelling the 4 minutes to the airport! The moral of this story?? Get a taxi! It would probably have cost the same and would have saved us 30 minutes going the scenic route!

So we arrive at the airport finally, and smile smugly at the people standing in the check in line - and get to security where our jaws drop at the length of the queue... despite the numerous signs around the airport about confiscated liquids people still seem to be putting full bottles of shampoo in their hand luggage and therefore causing a hold up! So we walk to the end of the queue - as a member of airport staff closes it off! "Sorry love we're full" he says - "you'll have to go to the overflow upstairs"... so we locate the staircase and follow the diversion signs to the overflow security... and there's no one there and we walk straight through!!! Hooray we say - now we're actually glad we went the scenic route on the bus as it's going to save us a miserable time standing in that security line! We let my parents in on this little secret when they followed us out a week later so they went straight to the overflow which was indeed open... but we should probably keep it between us readers here as if too many people find out it won't work anymore right - so ssshhhh! Oohh I feel like TGM!

So now I'll fast forward through the waiting in the lounge (beware the seats in the departure lounge I accidentally sat on the "arm" that separates a few of the seats and had a lovely black bruise as a souvenir! ouch!) and the flight (on time but v bumpy) to arriving in immigration - where I have another TGM-style top secret tip... when you enter immigration locate the crew and nationals lines on the right hand side of the room - and get in line for the international booth directly to the left of them. Obviously there are far less crew and nationals than internationals so once they are all through they feed you into those booths, so you have 6 booths serving your line instead of the usual 2!

And there you have it - hope those tips help a few people out... now I'm off to consider my next instalment...

 

[irongirlof12]

thanks for the info about Gatwick lets keep it on the low!

 

[wils]

Enjoying your thoughts so far

 

[florida sun]

Enjoying your reports

 

[arieljasmine]

Thanks for sharing your reports so far, I am really enjoying them. I love USF and like IOA, but I agree that it is wrong to charge for fastpasses. I adore the barges at IOA too! Way better than Kali.

Laur's