me, DH, DD-10 months, DD-3. RPH hotel-room 3604 - tower 3, 6th floor, 3 rooms down from the elevator, views of IOA & pool. Arrived 5/18 p.m. IOA-5/19. USF/IOA-5/20. Late check-out at 2. Left parks at 7:00 p.m. 5/20.
5/18 - we arrived later than expected due to a delayed flight (around 8 p.m.), but still decided to eat dinner at Jake's then went to bed. Jake's was fine for a casual meal. I had fish & chips - 3 huge pieces of fish in a thick batter w/ a pile of fries.
5/19 - we ran a little late getting to IOA due to the late night on 5/18 but got there around 9:05. Unfortunately, there was a problem w/ old tickets. The machines weren't accepting them so all those people had to go into the guest services line, get new tickets, then back into the main entrance lines where there were several school groups entering. we didn't use our old tix that day but we had to get our IOA one-day tickets from guest services b/c that's the arrangement that we made before our trip. We waited in both lines for a total of 30 min.-not entering until 9:50! I was disappointed to waste that hour of my 3 yr old's "awake" time. anyway, we focused on attractions for our 3 yr. old - play areas, Seuss Landing, Flying Unicorns, Fountain. Ate at Mythos for lunch (great but I wouldn't recommend the wood-fired pizza since I've had better) then went back to RPR for a swim & nap. We returned to IOA around 5 to do P. Flyers, Me ship the olive, spiderman, etc. then ate at Nascar Cafe - the nachos were terrible (they used that jar cheese-ugh!) but it otherwise was fine. We had a great waiter which can make all the difference. We had wanted to go to Margaritaville but even w/ FOTL, the hostess said 1 hr. 45 min. wait & that she couldn't promise how much less it would be w/ FOTL. A disappointment~~ I asked this at 7 on a thurs. night. Of course, the parks had just got out so it probably wasn't a great time to eat on Citywalk. Although, there was no wait at Nascar (maybe for a reason).
5/20 - We arrived earlier this time. No problem w/ the old tix since we used them to enter USF. Park was open early. My husband & I took turns & went on Mummy w/ no wait at 8:50 a.m. followed by Shrek & all of the kid zone area. We ate counter-service (La Bamba or something like that) - just OK, nothing special. We went back to the hotel, changed & went into the pool. I checked out & sent our stuff downstairs. We returned to happy hour at Finnegan's at USF after the pool & stayed there while the kids napped in their strollers. We snacked there for a light dinner. Sat in the stationary seats in Jimmy Neutron (too close in the front row esp. for us parents who just enjoyed a happy hour). We then wrapped things up at IOA by revisiting Spiderman & Seuss Landing.
Hotel stay was excellent - loved everything about it & would stay there again. I heard some hallway traffic at night since we were near the elevators but I was so tired that it didn't effect me. We ended up w/ 2 welcome baskets-not sure why. Water & fruit plus wine & nuts - great.
FOTL wasn't really necessary for our purposes since we focused on the play areas where there are no lines & also b/c we went in May in the a.m. & before closing on weekdays, etc. I would recommend on-site for the convenience of leaving the parks during the day w/ young children & FOTL is an added bonus.
Baby swap was confusing - unfortunately, a lot depends on the people working there & a lot of them seem to be new employees. Ex. Spiderman has a baby swap room w/ a TV - nice for kids. the person at the entrance on 1 day said to take the strollers through the line & that we'll be directed. It felt odd to have the strollers in the crowded express line. It was crowded b/c Spiderman broke down while we waited. We finally get to the boarding area - that employee says to go to the side - never said to go down a hallway, etc which is what i was supposed to do but didn't know that at the time. As my husband was riding, I started to make a bottle & had things on the floor, etc., the guy says - oh, you have to move right away, you're in an exit & will get trampolled. OK - i now have 2 strollers to move & sure enough, people were trying to get by. anyway, he did help me by moving 1 of the strollers to the baby swap room. The kicker that night is that Spiderman broke again when it was my turn to go on. SO, we return the next night for my ride & the employee at the entrance says - no strollers in line, you have to park them. I questioned it & she asked another person. He led us through the stroller parking area (away from the lines) & up a separate hallway (i think it was the exit) to the baby swap area w/ our strollers. So as you can see, a lot depends on who's working there.
For those of you w/ a toddler, it's hard to say which park was better if you had to pick one. There are more rides at IOA than USF. There are shows at USF & none at IOA. The play areas were about the same - IOA maybe has a little more. I felt that we needed 2 days b/c of the nap & swim break w/ the parks closing at 7 & w/ the heat being around 90.
A GREAT TRIP - any questions?
5/18 - we arrived later than expected due to a delayed flight (around 8 p.m.), but still decided to eat dinner at Jake's then went to bed. Jake's was fine for a casual meal. I had fish & chips - 3 huge pieces of fish in a thick batter w/ a pile of fries.
5/19 - we ran a little late getting to IOA due to the late night on 5/18 but got there around 9:05. Unfortunately, there was a problem w/ old tickets. The machines weren't accepting them so all those people had to go into the guest services line, get new tickets, then back into the main entrance lines where there were several school groups entering. we didn't use our old tix that day but we had to get our IOA one-day tickets from guest services b/c that's the arrangement that we made before our trip. We waited in both lines for a total of 30 min.-not entering until 9:50! I was disappointed to waste that hour of my 3 yr old's "awake" time. anyway, we focused on attractions for our 3 yr. old - play areas, Seuss Landing, Flying Unicorns, Fountain. Ate at Mythos for lunch (great but I wouldn't recommend the wood-fired pizza since I've had better) then went back to RPR for a swim & nap. We returned to IOA around 5 to do P. Flyers, Me ship the olive, spiderman, etc. then ate at Nascar Cafe - the nachos were terrible (they used that jar cheese-ugh!) but it otherwise was fine. We had a great waiter which can make all the difference. We had wanted to go to Margaritaville but even w/ FOTL, the hostess said 1 hr. 45 min. wait & that she couldn't promise how much less it would be w/ FOTL. A disappointment~~ I asked this at 7 on a thurs. night. Of course, the parks had just got out so it probably wasn't a great time to eat on Citywalk. Although, there was no wait at Nascar (maybe for a reason).
5/20 - We arrived earlier this time. No problem w/ the old tix since we used them to enter USF. Park was open early. My husband & I took turns & went on Mummy w/ no wait at 8:50 a.m. followed by Shrek & all of the kid zone area. We ate counter-service (La Bamba or something like that) - just OK, nothing special. We went back to the hotel, changed & went into the pool. I checked out & sent our stuff downstairs. We returned to happy hour at Finnegan's at USF after the pool & stayed there while the kids napped in their strollers. We snacked there for a light dinner. Sat in the stationary seats in Jimmy Neutron (too close in the front row esp. for us parents who just enjoyed a happy hour). We then wrapped things up at IOA by revisiting Spiderman & Seuss Landing.
Hotel stay was excellent - loved everything about it & would stay there again. I heard some hallway traffic at night since we were near the elevators but I was so tired that it didn't effect me. We ended up w/ 2 welcome baskets-not sure why. Water & fruit plus wine & nuts - great.
FOTL wasn't really necessary for our purposes since we focused on the play areas where there are no lines & also b/c we went in May in the a.m. & before closing on weekdays, etc. I would recommend on-site for the convenience of leaving the parks during the day w/ young children & FOTL is an added bonus.
Baby swap was confusing - unfortunately, a lot depends on the people working there & a lot of them seem to be new employees. Ex. Spiderman has a baby swap room w/ a TV - nice for kids. the person at the entrance on 1 day said to take the strollers through the line & that we'll be directed. It felt odd to have the strollers in the crowded express line. It was crowded b/c Spiderman broke down while we waited. We finally get to the boarding area - that employee says to go to the side - never said to go down a hallway, etc which is what i was supposed to do but didn't know that at the time. As my husband was riding, I started to make a bottle & had things on the floor, etc., the guy says - oh, you have to move right away, you're in an exit & will get trampolled. OK - i now have 2 strollers to move & sure enough, people were trying to get by. anyway, he did help me by moving 1 of the strollers to the baby swap room. The kicker that night is that Spiderman broke again when it was my turn to go on. SO, we return the next night for my ride & the employee at the entrance says - no strollers in line, you have to park them. I questioned it & she asked another person. He led us through the stroller parking area (away from the lines) & up a separate hallway (i think it was the exit) to the baby swap area w/ our strollers. So as you can see, a lot depends on who's working there.
For those of you w/ a toddler, it's hard to say which park was better if you had to pick one. There are more rides at IOA than USF. There are shows at USF & none at IOA. The play areas were about the same - IOA maybe has a little more. I felt that we needed 2 days b/c of the nap & swim break w/ the parks closing at 7 & w/ the heat being around 90.
A GREAT TRIP - any questions?
I'm glad you had a great trip. Welcome back and thank you for writing and sharing it all with us! 
