Just returned from 5 days at US/IOA!!!!

[Disneyof3]

Well we just got back from our first trip to US/IOA. I went in with the "don't campare to WDW" attitude and just went with the flow. We arrived on the 9th and check in at RPR was very smooth and nice. They gave us the roll away for free for the 4 nights. The resort was very nice and clean and very tropical. I requested no higher then the 4th floor but ended up on the 7th in Tower 1 facing the hulk coaster but no problems. The room was very nice but not as big as POR. The room was clean and the kids liked watching the hulk ride every morning during it's pre run through. You can tell times are tough because they were giving at the Luau, buy 1 adult and get a kid free for dinner, we opted still not to take the deal. Housekeeping was very nice but we never saw them but the room was always clean when we returned and new towels were there. We ended up eating while on our trip at Nascar Grille, Bumma Gumps, Mythos and Finnigans and also at the poolside at RPR. The food overall was very good and the price is what I would have expected to pay in a tourism area, no cheaper then WDW. Bumma Gumps was a little overpriced but enjoyed the food anyway. "Jenny the boat made it through our whole entire trip even through customs and the plane". The pool at RPR was great and warm, the kids enjoyed themselves very much and Friday night was movie night and they loved swimming and watching Ant Bully!!!! Everyone again was very nice and friendly. The food at poolside was delicious and worth the automatic 18% tip added. The guys were great and everything was warm and large amounts. Now onto the parks. IOA: Our first park we went to: We rode everything there is except for DD. The decorations and appearance was very nice. We got completely soaked on Popeye river raft and couldn't stop laughing. We got to meet alot of the Marvel friends except for Iron Man We met Popeye and Olive, cat in the hat, grinch, Woody Woodpecker with a cowboy hat. Was very disappointed in Posiedon Fury, very boring and nothing exciting. Seuss land was very colourful and amazing. This land was my favourite. A 10 plus for this land. Will have to finish off later, washing on the go and the dryer just went off again

 

[Metro West]

Glad you had a good time and I'm looking forward to your next installment!

 

[Disneyof3]

Ok I'm back. Laundry is all done and put away and suitcases are finally aired out too and put away for another year

After leaving IOA we ate at Nascar Grille, (we are all nascar fans), typical restaurant nothing fancy or different. The next day we went to US, we rode everything except for MIB. The simulator rides were starting to get to my DH and oldest son but they continued on. I was very disappointed in the fair ground games section near Jaws. I guess I didn't expect them to be there!!! Jaws was disappointing because we didn't see him at all. We then headed to MIB. So we head to the lockers and we put in everything except 1 room key (mine) We head to the entrance and the guy says "I need all the keys"!! I said "WHAT" you are the first person in 2 days to ask for all 5 keys!! Why didn't you tell me that when you sent us to the lockers!!! He said, I'm doing my job, the others weren't!! I was to say the least very angry We went to the lockers to get the keys and it said we had to be issued another locker So we gave up, all of us and left. We then did the Simpson ride and only used 1 KEY CARD for the 5 of us!!!!!!! For lunch we ate at the pastry bisque across from Disaster and it was really good. We ate croissants with ham and cheese with potatoe salade and fruit. We then left US after doing everything except for Barney section and CG. We saw Homer and Marge, Lucy and CG and Scooby doo and Shaggy, Madagascar lion and penguin and Marilyn Monroe. The kids went swimming for the rest of the night at the resort and we ate at poolside. Amazing food and great waiters, They are all equipped with everything and definately worth the automatic 18% tip. The next day we did both US and IOA again but only the rides we liked best. So we did Jaws again x 2 and it was ohhhh so much better and we got wet. We did Mummy again and this time I went on it with my 7 year old and 9 year old daughter. We did disaster again and saw the Beetlejuice show. Now this was great and the tech stuff was excellent. We ate for lunch at Finningans and it was as good as everyone said it was. This meal so far besides Bomar is my favourite restaurant in Florida. My DH had the 5 shooters with the different beers in it and it was well worth it for him. Our waitress was excellent too. We finally got onto MIB this time with 1 card only and rode it 3 times in a row. We then headed to IOA and rode Popeye again and got soaked and then JP water ride too. We also did Seuss land again and Spiderman. Then all by myself I rode HULK!! It was amazing and loved it. We then headed to Bumma Gumps for dinner. We got in 20min. later and it was packed. This was our most expensive meal of the trip. I feel it wasn't worth the money but am glad we went and tried it. My youngest has the Jenny boat from the kids meal still. The last day we did both parks again, just the favourite rides, Mummy, Jaws, JN, and Shrek and MIB oh and the kids rode WW x5 all by themselves. We then headed to IOA for lunch at Mythos. Couldn't do any rides due to had to p/u rental vehicle at 3pm.The inside is amazing and the waitress was very good. The food was just OK considering during my DH second wrap we found a very long, curly blonde hair( we are all brunettes!!!) We told the waitress and she was horrified to say the least. The manager came over and said that this wasn't normal for this type of restaurant and took his meal and pop off the bill. We all had a bad taste in our mouths after that. We left and got the rented car and left US/IOA. Next installment in 20 minutes.

 

[Disneyof3]

So the overall summery of the trip:

We did US/IOA over WDW this year because of the economy and the price. We went in again with the "don't compare to WDW" attitude and just went with the flow. We loved the resort and the pool and we like US/IOA. We found from the 5 of us, that we all perferred WDW over US/IOA besides my oldest son. We just found that there wasn't enough to do at each park. We all found out that simulator rides and 3D movies just aren't going to cut it. We could of done both parks in 1 day. We were never rushed but after each ride we kinda looked at each other and said "NOW WHAT"!!! Usually the kids would be fighting over which ride to do next. This trip was definately a budget trip and we all are thankful for it. I'am glad we went and tried it for ourselves and got to experience it. Would we go again???? Most likely not.. Thank you everyone who helped us on this trip, the restaurants were fantastic and definately staying onsite helped a bit. The crowd level was definately at a low when we were at the parks. Now onto planning the next trip...... Las Vegas and a Nascar race and then onto Kennedy Space Center and Seaworld March 2010..... Thanks again

 

[arielsleepingbeauty]

Thanks for your trip report. We have never been to US/IOA, but since we got the free Superbowl pass, my sister and her kids and my mom want to go. My children and I are all about WDW. We go every year and it is a huge deal to us. My mom is paying for us to go to WDW for 9 days and now she said that they want to use the free pass and do US/IOA. We would be staying another day or two. She would be paying for my kids so it is a free trip for me so i shoudn't complain. We would actually be doing them after our Dsiney Trip. I am realy trying to go in with an open mind. Since you have been to both do you think it will be a downer if we go after WDW?
Thanks

 

[tink too]

Glad you had a good vacation.

 

[macraven]

Were you able to take in the horror make up show, T2 and animal planet?

I always try to hit all of them.

Glad you had a relaxing trip and enjoyed the hotel.
Amityville has the set up around Jaws as it is in the movie.
Some like it, some don't.

I always find I never have enough time at universal.

 

[Darcy03231]

Thanks for your trip report. We have never been to US/IOA, but since we got the free Superbowl pass, my sister and her kids and my mom want to go. My children and I are all about WDW. We go every year and it is a huge deal to us. My mom is paying for us to go to WDW for 9 days and now she said that they want to use the free pass and do US/IOA. We would be staying another day or two. She would be paying for my kids so it is a free trip for me so i shoudn't complain. We would actually be doing them after our Dsiney Trip. I am realy trying to go in with an open mind. Since you have been to both do you think it will be a downer if we go after WDW?
Thanks

I've done both and I really don't think it will be a downer at all to go to US/IOA after WDW. In fact, since we've been to US/IOA my kids won't go back to WDW. They think its "lame" compared to US/IOA (I have teens). If you're staying on-site you'll get the unlimited express pass (kinda of like a unlimited fastpass) which is great!

 

[Disneyof3]

Thanks for your trip report. We have never been to US/IOA, but since we got the free Superbowl pass, my sister and her kids and my mom want to go. My children and I are all about WDW. We go every year and it is a huge deal to us. My mom is paying for us to go to WDW for 9 days and now she said that they want to use the free pass and do US/IOA. We would be staying another day or two. She would be paying for my kids so it is a free trip for me so i shoudn't complain. We would actually be doing them after our Dsiney Trip. I am realy trying to go in with an open mind. Since you have been to both do you think it will be a downer if we go after WDW?
Thanks

No, don't get me wrong the kids had a good time, we just perfer WDW over US/IOA. We found for our family there is lots more to do at WDW then at US/IOA. The parks are open later and we get the water park pass included. Remember this was a budget trip, so if we had the money we would of opted WDW over US/IOA.

 

[Disneyof3]

Were you able to take in the horror make up show, T2 and animal planet?

I always try to hit all of them.

Glad you had a relaxing trip and enjoyed the hotel.
Amityville has the set up around Jaws as it is in the movie.
Some like it, some don't.

I always find I never have enough time at universal.

We did T2 and horror make up show but not Animal planet. I honestly can say that is the only thing we didn't do beside of course Barney. We also even did Curious George!!!

 

[Pink Flamingo]

Great post. Thanks for sharing your experience. Looking forward to our trip in June.

 

[damo]

Thanks for sharing. Just to let you know, the attendants are supposed to look at everyone's key card so you just were lucky. I don't think we've ever been on a ride where just one of us flashed our key but since our kids are older, I guess they don't take any chances.

There is more to do at Disney. We found that once the kids got older they just weren't interested in many of the rides and that's when we made the switch. We still do a Disney park every now and then but find that there isn't a lot in each park that we want to do and the prices are too high to add on top of a Universal trip. That's one reason why we love Disneyland. It is all right there in two parks and the prices are great. It is just further to get there from Ontario.

 

[fanoforlando]

were you able to go on Jurrasic park? or the flying pteranodons?


i agree with the above poster T2 was awsome!!! It felt so real.

Also Twister is nice too, and i ddnt see anything about Shrek 4-D?

 

[avic77]

How old r your kids?

 

[rpbert1]

With still having younger kids, probably Disney holds more appeal for them, My DD turned 11 and decided after being at Universal that Disney was not for her, always ask her if she would like to go for a day but never takes up the offer.
Never been able to use the FOTL with just 1 pass, everyone is supposed to produce their key, like Damo said you where lucky.
DD is going to DLP with here school this year, so know she will not want to go to Disney this year either, although will give her the option.

 

[ky07]

With still having younger kids, probably Disney holds more appeal for them, My DD turned 11 and decided after being at Universal that Disney was not for her, always ask her if she would like to go for a day but never takes up the offer.
Never been able to use the FOTL with just 1 pass, everyone is supposed to produce their key, like Damo said you where lucky.
DD is going to DLP with here school this year, so know she will not want to go to Disney this year either, although will give her the option.

I gave DW the option of doing epcot 1 day this year since I love epcot just for test track but no dice she has no interest

 

[donaldduck352]

Our kids outgrew DW around the age of 13.From then on it was US for them or nothing in Orlando.I myself always have and will love Epcot.But we always feel we get our moneys worth at US.
We love Royal Pacific.They alwys go beyond thier duty to make you commffy..
It sounds overall you enjoyed you enjoyed your visit!!!
Waite till HP comes,then IOA will be in everyones conversation!!

 

[rpbert1]

I gave DW the option of doing epcot 1 day this year since I love epcot just for test track but no dice she has no interest

You should have kept her of the Coasters Lawerence,

 

[cbsnyber1]

I've always felt that if you could combine the major Disney attractions into one park, and not have them spread out among four, that you'd have a super-park that would have no competition. Imagine, Big Thunder, Space Mountain, Tower of Terror, Test Track, Rock n Roller coaster, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Jungle Cruise, Soarin', Pirates, etc., etc., in one (or, ala Universal, two) location(s) - wow! Add a FOTL type system, you'd have paradise.

The reality is - that's the biggest advantage US and IOA have - more attractions in a compact area. Combined with FOTL, that's hard to beat.

Our last trip (way back in 2001) was to both Disney and Universal, and I came away far more impressed with US/IOA, because of the technical savvy of the attractions, the theming (which Disney does very well), and the overall excitement generated by the attractions (my favorite: Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls - I laughed all the way through it, so much fun. BIG fan of the cartoons). We also took in HHN, before it became the gigantic event it now is - Disney had the Not so Scary Halloween Party? Nothing to compare there! I say that not to denigrate it, just to point out two different approaches to the same season.

In the end, it is what you prefer. I do like both Disney and Universal, but if forced to choose, I'll head to US/IOA. We have six nights booked there in December, and we'll take one day to go to the Magic Kingdom, which is as "compact" a park as Disney has. I'll have a good time at both.

 

[Darcy03231]

There is more to do at Disney. We found that once the kids got older they just weren't interested in many of the rides and that's when we made the switch. We still do a Disney park every now and then but find that there isn't a lot in each park that we want to do and the prices are too high to add on top of a Universal trip. That's one reason why we love Disneyland. It is all right there in two parks and the prices are great. It is just further to get there from Ontario.

This is my kids. I asked them if they wanted to go back to WDW and they're just not interested anymore. They named off about 5 rides they'd "maybe like to do" and that was it. I can't see paying $75-$150/pp for a 1 to 2 day admission at WDW when I can pay $100 for 7 days unlimited in parks they love.