Marathon Weekend 2019

[SarahDisney]

SAFD: I'll see you at Universal on Tuesday! I'm there tuesday/Wednesday... assuming I book my hotel and buy my tickets. And book my flights. I still have so much to do for this trip...

I haven't been since pre-Diagon Alley, so I dont really have any tips.

 

[roxymama]

I've been to universal once but it was so long ago that I toured the nickelodeon studios while Clarissa explains it all was taping.
I'd love to go see the Potter stuff one day maybe when my kiddo is a tad older if she gets into it.
So far Disney has kept us in their bubble.

 

[flav]

I stayed 4 nights at the Loews Royal Pacific in summer 2017. If you can stay one night there and do two days at UO, that is what I recommend since the hotel stay provides Express Pass and is a walkable distance to the parks. One or two days is plenty if you concentrate on HP world and a few other attractions. DH is prone to motion sickness so a lot of the 4D rides were off limits but he made it through the HP ones ok. Buy the wand there, it is part of the fun. Other things we enjoyed were Butterbeer, the Simpson’s donut, lunch at Mythos and diner at the Island in our hotel (Gru and Homer came to say hi).

 

[lahobbs4]

I've been to universal once but it was so long ago that I toured the nickelodeon studios while Clarissa explains it all was taping.
I'd love to go see the Potter stuff one day maybe when my kiddo is a tad older if she gets into it.
So far Disney has kept us in their bubble.

Also the last time I was there! We are a tiny bit obsessed with HP at our house (I remember standing in line at Hastings at midnight when the newest book would come out) but we haven't made it to Universal with them. I want them all to be tall enough (and brave enough) for the larger rides. But these answers are really helpful! Hoping to be there in 2 years or so.

 

[ZellyB]

I really love Universal and we've done it a few times, but not going to this year.

 

[baxter24]

Sunday question: Not going to Universal this trip but it is a lot of fun. The Harry Potter sections are amazing. Drink all the butterbeer!!!

 

[run.minnie.miles]

So, who has been to Universal? Who is going around marathon weekend? What random tips, tricks, or advice do you have for this first timer?

I would have never ventured to Universal before Harry Potter, but we absolutely loved it when we went a few years ago. We are big HP fans and are planning on spending a day hopping the Harry Potter parks in January.

I've only been 1x, so I'm not sure I have any earth shattering tips aside from getting there early and get the park hopper. We did get a wand and found the little interactions to be fun. There are free lockers outside of the 2 major rides to put bags, which was really, really nice.

 

[AFwifelife]

Now that W&D is done, I can start thinking about all the details for Marathon weekend! For storybook dining, is everyone dressing up? Wearing the race shirt? Should we all make matching shirts??

 

[a-mad]

SAFD:

DW and I will be at Universal on Wednesday and Thursday after WDW marathon weekend (so the 16th and 17th I think). We're staying at Cabana Bay and really looking forward to it. Our last visit was in 2013, so Diagon Alley was under construction. Islands of Adventure is the best non-Disney park I've ever been to. I liked Universal Studios just fine, but I thought IoA was much better. Now with the addition of Diagon Alley (Escape from Gringotts!!) and a few other attractions (including Transformers) and new areas like Springfield (Simpsons), I'm thinking we'll like the Studios park a bit better than we did in our last visit.

We loved Hogsmeade when we went before, and looking forward to visiting again, as well as taking the train between parks, etc. I will say that I typically do not get motion sick on rides, but I got a bit queasy on Forbidden Journey. The queue and technical aspects of the ride are quite spectacular, I just think it was how the ride vehicle matched up with the film. Disney does incredibly well in this department (in my opinion...) but sometimes Universal misses the mark.

I don't have many tips, but here's a few that might be helpful:

• not sure where you're staying, but back in 2013 we stayed in an off-property hotel that was still a "good neighbor" with Universal, and allowed us early entry into WWoHP. It was totally worth it. We literally walked on to Forbidden Journey, had a short wait for the wand experience, and were able to take pictures of the kids, etc. with practically no crowds in the background (this was in early February, so hopefully mid-January will be similar)
• Of the butter beer varieties we loved frozen the best!
• We really liked lunch at the 3 Broomsticks - typical British Pub fare, but good food and amazing atmosphere (I think Diagon Alley has an equivalent restaurant)
• There are quite a few other rides in both parks that I would be sure and check out. If you're big coaster fans than Hulk (IoA) and Rip, Ride and Rockit (US) are both great coasters. Jurassic Park is a fun, themed ride (and has one amazing animatronic at the climax). Revenge of the Mummy is pretty cool. The best ride in both parks, in my opinion, is Spider-man. It is right up there with Disney's best attractions for me. An incredible combination of 3-D screen-based scenes with real props and special effects - and you're moving through a ginormous show building. Hard to believe it opened nearly 20 years ago (!) and for me is nearly unmatched as far as technical brilliance on a ride. Now I haven't ridden FoP yet, so I'm sure my opinion will change (and I'm sure the attractions in Galaxy's Edge will blow us all away...) but Spider-man is a truly great ride!

Even though our heart will always be with Disney, we still enjoy what Universal has to offer. Have fun!

 

[ywgckp]

Any fellow Dopey runners just finish the W&D challenge?

I’m trying to figure out how many days to take off now. I’m coming in with a fairly good base (this was my third half marathon this year), but my legs feel a bit stiff today as I ran at race pace yesterday. Maybe go back tomorrow for a slow recovery run before I return to the frozen north?

 

[AFwifelife]

Any fellow Dopey runners just finish the W&D challenge?

I’m trying to figure out how many days to take off now. I’m coming in with a fairly good base (this was my third half marathon this year), but my legs feel a bit stiff today as I ran at race pace yesterday. Maybe go back tomorrow for a slow recovery run before I return to the frozen north?

I just did the half yesterday but Billy has me doing easy miles all this week starting with 5 miles today.

 

[Smilelea]

Of the butter beer varieties we loved frozen the best!

Yes!!!!

 

[rteetz]

Any fellow Dopey runners just finish the W&D challenge?

I’m trying to figure out how many days to take off now. I’m coming in with a fairly good base (this was my third half marathon this year), but my legs feel a bit stiff today as I ran at race pace yesterday. Maybe go back tomorrow for a slow recovery run before I return to the frozen north?

Yep! I did all three wine and dine races.

 

[ZellyB]

Yep! I did all three wine and dine races.

And is a trip report coming?

 

[Bree]

We just let our Universal AP expire. I loved the HP sections, but couldn’t care less about the rest of the parks. I’m not a screen ride type person though. I don’t know the ages of your kids, but if they are young watch a YouTube video of Fast n Furious. We went on when it first opened and I didn’t preview the ride. Had I known what it was like I would not have brought my 12yo daughter on it. The content was a bit mature. I’m far from a prude, but I was kind of shocked.

 

[Bree]

Any fellow Dopey runners just finish the W&D challenge?

I’m trying to figure out how many days to take off now. I’m coming in with a fairly good base (this was my third half marathon this year), but my legs feel a bit stiff today as I ran at race pace yesterday. Maybe go back tomorrow for a slow recovery run before I return to the frozen north?

I ran the half, but as a semi-training run. Semi because I finished 8 minutes faster than i was supposed to, but I also stopped for 9 Photos . I have today off, 9 miles with speed work Tuesday, easy runs Wed-Sat then a 10K race on Sunday.

 

[tidefan]

I would have never ventured to Universal before Harry Potter, but we absolutely loved it when we went a few years ago. We are big HP fans and are planning on spending a day hopping the Harry Potter parks in January.

I've only been 1x, so I'm not sure I have any earth shattering tips aside from getting there early and get the park hopper. We did get a wand and found the little interactions to be fun. There are free lockers outside of the 2 major rides to put bags, which was really, really nice.

Hey @run.minnie.miles , how was your 13.1 yesterday?

 

[run.minnie.miles]

Hey @run.minnie.miles , how was your 13.1 yesterday?

Actually really good! I ran it on Saturday and didn't have a race close, so just did it by myself. I ran the entire thing in the rain and felt so hard-core!

How did yours go??

 

[tidefan]

Actually really good! I ran it on Saturday and didn't have a race close, so just did it by myself. I ran the entire thing in the rain and felt so hard-core!

How did yours go??

Funny thing was, because I had to go to Tennessee this weekend (my wife's best friend of 30 years was throwing a surprise 50th wedding anniversary for her parents, so we had to go up there), I didn't get to run until yesterday afternoon/evening. Yep, as soon as we got back to Tuscaloosa, the rain started. So, I ran all 13.1 miles in 55 degree weather under a steady rain... Fun...

I just did the run throughout a few neighborhoods near us, essentially breaking it down into a 5-mile and 2 4-mile loops. The nice thing about that was, after the first loop, I went by the house, so I did a quick shirt, sock, and shoe change. I ended up completely soaked, but glad I did it. That being said, I REALLY hope that it doesn't rain on race day...

 

[rteetz]

And is a trip report coming?

Of course but I need to get home first