Looking for help - US/IoA: first timers: which tickets, tour plans, size Qs, SeaWorld

[LeahJ]

Background:

We've done Disney twice. I'm comfortable with my tour plans (love Tour Guide Mike). I've read my books cover to cover.

But somehow this time, I'm stymied.

This trip will be different; the family wants to go to SW, US, and IoA. And, Discovery Cove. I'm not giving up my WDW time.

So our agenda currently includes 4 1/2 Disney days, 1 Discovery Cove, 1 1/2 Sea World, and 2 US/IoA.

Cast: Me (42), DH42, DD13, DD11

DC ticket includes 14 days of SW.

Haven't bought tix for US/IoA yet.

Girls don't yet realize that we've not planned for a water park day. I guess I'm figuring that if we get bored at some point with the plan or need a break we can do a water park.

We all like roller coasters though we're not huge thrill seekers. (Only DD13 wants to try Tower of Terror.) So, we'll probably ride all or almost all rides. We still had fun on Small World when we were there 3 years ago. The girls aren't surly about little kid rides.

The Questions:

1. Tickets - Trying to decide between 2 day/2 park or 2 day/1 park. Advice??


2. Touring US/IOA

I've never had a big pull to go to Universal. So, we're pretty much doing this because the fam wants to -- which is probably the reason it's harder for me to plan this stage of the trip. I'm not that into it, so i can't figure out what we'll really want to do.

I have Unofficial Guide, Frommer's and Econoguide.

Would you follow this plan or modify it?

the plan - US:

a. Arrive early
b. Rip Ride Rocket
c. Mummy
d. Simpsons
e. ET
f. MIB
g. Jaws
h. Disaster
i. Twister
j. Shrek
k. see shows

IOA:

a. Arrive early
b. WWoHP (we're not HP fans but would probably enjoy the rides. i'm guessing we won't need to see the wand show.)
c. Hulk
d. SpiderMan
e. Fearfall
f. Bilge-rat Barges
g. Ripsaw Falls
h. Dueling Dragons
i. Poseidon's Fury
j. Jurassic Park
k. Sinbad show
l. Cat in the Hat

Have I missed anything important?


3. What are your favorite rides at US/IoA?

What would you guess we would want to do more than once?


4. I've recently joined a gym and lost some size. But I'm still not the smallest chick in the ride line ;-)

I have been to the page someone posted from AllEars about Universal and size restrictions.

So, very specifically, I would like to know if anyone else has had problems fitting into seats who is near my size. I'm a size 14/16 now, 210. Chest 47, Belly 47, Waist 42, Hips 48. I saw some people post who were somewhat bigger in lbs but maybe not that much bigger in inches.

Just want to prepare myself if I'm gonna be called over to try out the seats.

Any experiences you've had would be helpful to know. Thanks!


5. Sea World - We've got scheduled 1 1/2 days at SW. I'm not sure if we're going to want all that time or not.

I think we'll care more about interactive things like rides and feeding dolphins than the shows.

Advice on Sea World?

Thanks so much for any input you have on these questions!

 

[Mom2PrincessK]

We just got back yesterday from a packed 6-day trip of US/IOA and SW/Aquatica. We didn't do Discovery Cove - but it looks awesome! This was our first Orlando trip with no Disney (except for two dinners that I got to squeeze in at Ohana's and CG)..I didn't think I could do it but we had a great time.

Girls don't yet realize that we've not planned for a water park day. I guess I'm figuring that if we get bored at some point with the plan or need a break we can do a water park.
If you do one, I HIGHLY recommend Aquatica next to SW! It was great - although it did get very crowded - we were there on a Friday from 9-2 and had a great time..however at 2pm the lines were getting really long - not sure if that is because it was Fri or is an everyday thing.

The Questions:

1. Tickets - Trying to decide between 2 day/2 park or 2 day/1 park. Advice?? We liked the flexibility of being able to jump over, but we did one day at US, one day at IOA and then one day where we started at US and jumped to IOA. If there is a big difference in pricing, you could do each park in a day


2. Touring US/IOA


Would you follow this plan or modify it?

the plan - US:

a. Arrive early
b. Rip Ride Rocket Definitely ride first - this line stays long all day
c. Mummy
d. SimpsonsThis is on the opposite side of the park from Mummy, but it does get crowded so probably a good idea to get it done early
e. ET This is one you could probably skip unless you have time left, but if you do it, I would do MIB first as the lines get long for that as well. I would probably leave it for last if there is time to hit it.
f. MIB
g. Jaws
h. Disaster
i. Twister
j. Shrek
k. see showsIf you have time, I would include T2 -we really enjoyed it. The Horror Makeup Show was good - we didn't do Beetlejuice just because we couldn't fit it in time-wise.


IOA:

a. Arrive early
b. WWoHP (we're not HP fans but would probably enjoy the rides. i'm guessing we won't need to see the wand show.) If you are not on site to do the early entry, I would do this later in the evening (unless the crowds die down before you come - didn't see when you were going). If you go there at 9am you are behind all the on-site guests and there could be a wait just to get into WWoHP area...you'll have the same ride waits in the evening but no wait for the area. They were recommending after 3pm on the news while we were there. I would do FJ as single rider if the line is long. And get a frozen butter beer! [COLOR]
c. Hulk I would do Marvel Island rides first
d. SpiderMan
e. Fearfall
f. Bilge-rat Barges Will get soaked
g. Ripsaw Falls Will get wet
h. Dueling Dragons This is in the HP area, you will want to do that when you are in that area. Also, the FH coaster in WWoHP is small but it was fun and not much of a line.
i. Poseidon's FuryPF and Sinbad are on the same area
j. Jurassic Park I would do this after the Toon Lagoon area as you may get wet on this as well.
k. Sinbad show only certain times so you'll have to coordinate
l. Cat in the Hat We skipped Seuss Landing this time DD8 didn't want to do them

Have I missed anything important? The only thing I didn't see is T2 noted above. To do all that you list, you will pretty much have to be there from open to close if you go during a busy time - if off-peak it wouldn't be difficult... we did a third day because we left around 2pm each day and only went one evening - we aren't all day park goers. I have to have a break. If you run short on time, I would skip the Lost Continent attractions if I had to pick one "land" to miss.


3. What are your favorite rides at US/IoA?

What would you guess we would want to do more than once? Hulk, Dr Doom and Spiderman are all really good and we usually do those twice - but the lines get long so do them early. The Toon Lagoon is fun but you get soaked - on your IOA day make sure you wear water-friendly clothes and shoes. We liked WWoHP, but aren't huge HP fans and once was enough for us. If you were big fans I can see wanting to spend a lot of time there and the theming is really good. In US, our favs are HRRR, the Mummy and Simpsons.


5. Sea World - We've got scheduled 1 1/2 days at SW. I'm not sure if we're going to want all that time or not.

I think we'll care more about interactive things like rides and feeding dolphins than the shows.

Advice on Sea World? We spent 2 days at SW (not full days -first day was 10-4 and then 9-2 + 6-9 and we did it all. We loved SW - probably best out of US/IOA/SW. We bought the Quick Que/Fast Passes and really needed them. If you go during a busy time you may want to consider if you want to ride the coasters multiple times. The lines for Manta stayed 60-75 minutes - Kraken's line was long too. We LOVED Kraken and rode it several times. We thought the best show was the night time Sea Lion & Otter show - it was a spoof of the other shows (which we also saw) and it was really cute. Our favorite thing besides the coasters was feeding the dolphins...but if you are doing DC you probably will have already had all your dolphin fun If you want to feed the dolphins get there 15-20 minutes prior to the feeding time or you may not get in. We also enjoyed feeding and petting the sting-rays and sealions. DD8 loved the penguin encounter and DS15 enjoyed the shark encounter. We missed the fireworks at 9:30...we were just too tired. Do the coasters early/first if you don't get the express passes and save the others....we needed both days to get everything in...but we usually do something relaxing for dinner so we never stay open-close.

You didn't ask for dinner suggestions, but we LOVED Emeril's Tchoup Chop at the RPR.

Have fun!

Thanks so much for any input you have on these questions!

 

[LeahJ]

thanks so much!!

i'll revise the touring plan accordingly and repost for your thoughts, if you don't mind.

 

[ZYanksRule]

I just got back from 3 days at US/IOA and 1 day at Seaworld.

2 days is definitely doable at US/IOA

I thought Seaworld was a bit overpriced -- it was OK, but at 80 bucks for the day, it just seemed a bit overpriced to me. That being said, everything there is fun. I just didn't think there's enough there for the price.

I'm not a roller coaster guy, and I was there from 11-4:30, I saw every show except the dolphin show, and did Journey to Atlantis. Didn't do the two roller coasters, but you can see I did quite a bit in really half a day. The park is open, during the summer, 9am-10pm, so there's plenty of time to get everything in one day there.

As for IOA, do Popeye, Ripsaw, and Jurassic Park together unless you want to walk around in wet clothes all day. Popeye gets you soaked to the bone, not an inch of your body is dry, and Ripsaw really isn't too much dryer. JP isn't as wet, but you should pair Toon Lagoon and JP together -- they're right next to each other anyways.

Not sure when you're going, if it's at a peak time, it might be worth an Express pass (maybe even a VIP express pass), both of which are available on the Universal website. Quite frankly, I found the VIP pass to be a better value than the regular Express. VIP gave you FOTL access to almost every ride as many times as you wanted, while regular Express allows you only one FOTL trip per ride, per day. You might want to do Popeye a couple times in a row, you'll be able to basically walk right onto that ride as often as you like. Using the VIP pass, the longest line I had in my 3 days there was 10-15 minutes.

Also make a point to visit the Mystic Fountain right in front of the Sinbad ride, near the entrance to Harry Potter land. It's a fountain that talks to, and shoots water at, kids. Your kids ages are pretty much the ages the fountain talks to the most, and it's tremendous fun for kids and adults.

I would definitely buy the 2-park/2 day tickets. The flexibility is really great. For example, if it thunders they close the outdoor rides. Almost everything at IOA is outdoors, while almost everything at US is indoors. If you were caught at IOA in a storm, there's nothing for you to do except stand around in a store. At US, at least you have almost everything indoors you can still do.