Mini weekend trip - aug 15-17 day 1

[flbeachbum]

Family....

DH 34 - thrilled to see life outside of Disney
Myself...32 as of today=)
DS 10 - second trip to IOA,US
DD 7 1st trip
DD 5 1st trip

This is our second trip to IOA and US...we went in May and stayed on Property at RPR..jst DH, myself and DS.

This weekend we surprised the kids - we picked them up from school Friday afternoon and drove up to Orlando. The kids didn't believe us when we said where we going...even though we told them to look in back of van and they could see the suitcase. The girls were so excited though, this would be their first time.

We wanted to stay a little bit cheaper this mini trip. DH, ds and myself all have the 2 park power passes...so we only had to buy the girls their 2 park pass once we got their at night.

I booked a hotel off the web...since we are a family of 5 I wanted to get us a larger room. I found the Comfort Suites off Tukey Lake Rd For about $70 night.

We arrive in orlando around 6pm..I knew the parks closed at 8, so we thought we would go there first , but tickets and see what ride/s we could get on. Parking was free after 6pm. We got the tixs then everyone wanted to go on the HUlk except the 5yo..they rode twice while we went on Storm Force. Crowds were not so bad..30min wait for Hulk. Then we went to Cat in Hat...girls liked it, torture for 10yo! haha

Dh had a change of mind and said he rather spend the extra $ for fast pass and see if we could get one night in at RPR for Sat night so we stopped in but they were booked solid..told family we would make the most of whatever we could get on the next day and just be happy that we are even here.

Spoiled by RPR, Comfort Suites just didn't cut it for us..tub leaked, Had tol hold handle down forever till it flushed, mirror was all pealing...but for the price we took what we got.

WE knew to get to parks early, especially without fast pass. So, we parked and made it to IOA but 8:20...they let everyone in clsoe to 8:30! We headed straight to Spiderman. I LOVE this ride ..warned 5yo what would happen(she is a very timid girl)..put Dh, Ds and 7yoDD in front,5yo and self in second row. My 7yo was scared, took off glasses(and she loves the hulk and dueling dragons) and 5yo shaking away. DARN! lol..guess we won't do that one again. Then the 3 stooges went to HUlk twice while dd and I went back on storm..we rode it 3 x's in a row without having to get off. No one there.
We then thought, lets do the wet rides cause most wait til it gets hotter...so we went to the rapid ride..everyone loved that. Got soaked , no line, so we asked if we could stay on again..yep!
Then hurried over to Ripsaw falls..all ok with that too, no wait.
Headed towards Jurassic Park...to the Pterandon Flyers. Now I heard that adults can't ride unless with kids,etc...but they let everyone on..we saw 2 adults by themselves jsut get on. All kids happy with this one, about a 15 min wait.
Then off to The River ride...again, warned 5yo about the dinosaur at end...little scared but did ok...oh, no wait for that either!
Then to Dueling Dragons, this time we did baby swap..the wait was 5mins=) Then it was mine turn to go on with two older kids! Rode back seat on Ice...great!
TIme for the Unicorn, no wait..rode twice! Amazing...only 11:30 and we rode most of park! GET THERE EARLY...haven't had to get one fast pass!!
We skip the Psoideons Fury...KNEW girls would be to scared.
TIme for lunch...ate at, Circus Mcgirkus(sp?)..the big tent in Dr. Suess land. COST - $43.00 , that is not buying one kids meal..I sahrd my meal with 7y0 and also skipping one drink..we split 4 drinks.
Oooh, after that we saw the Grinch...Cat in Hat and Thing 1 and thing 2.
Then rode cat in hat...20min wait, the merry-go-round 0 min wait, One Fish 2 fish..longest wait of day 35mins. It's now 1pm..did entire park but sinbad, dr fear, and psoiedons fury.
Everyone cranky , so we go back to hotel for swim. Then eat dinner out of Park...then head to Universal right around 6pm...went on jaws...10min wait...then JImmy Neutron...that was a 45 min wait..girls scared of Jaws, of course..seems crying was the theme of the day=) 5yo was now leary of Jimmy but once she got in the door , she loved the ride! No spongebob or Jimmy after ride..must be to late.
Calling it a day, back to hotel ....happy with all we did for day!

 

[SpideyHulk24]

You lucked out without the front of the line or express pass. Glad to hear you did all you wanted!!!!

 

[Minniespal]

Wonderful reviews ~ Thanx for sharing!!!!!

 

[goodstarr]

flbeachbum, just curious. How did you find the lines this time compared to when you went in May? When in May did you go? Am planning to go next May and am doing Thursday, Friday and Saturday and I'm worried about the crowds on the weekend.

 

[flbeachbum]

Hi~

Our last visit we stayed May 1-4 and went on a fri,sat and sun. We did stay on property so we had the FOTL pass. I would say that the crowds were more in August than early May. Spring break was over, school was still in , it was a nice time. If you are staying off property , I would just make sure to arrive early at the parks.
BTW, where in jersey fo you live? I used to live there up until 9years ago..south jersey=)
Hope that info helps... we are planning to go back around same time..maybe last week of april/first week of may.

 

[CtryCome2Twn]

THANK YOU!! I have been waiting for someone to post an off-site trip report. We are going in November and staying off-site at a home we are renting. Your information was great. I like to hear that the park rides can be done without FOTL.

Thanks again.