My bags are packed ***Report Complete***

[Darcy03231]

Day # 3 - Walt Disney World - 4 parks, 1 day

Today was the WDW day. I had one day park hoppers and was determined to fit in as much as we could. The kids wanted to start at DHS (although I still refer to it as MGM). I got them up around 7 am (with them doing lots of grumbling) as I was determined to be there for rope drop. I wasn't able to do Toy Story Mania when I took my niece there last fall and I was determined to get fast passes for it this time!

We arrived at the parking lot at 8:40 am and got right into the park. There was already a bit of a crowd waiting. As soon as they opened the kids went for the Rockin' Rollercoaster while I went for Toy Story Mania fastpasses. The lines for the fast passes weren't long at all and within about 5 minutes I had our passes with a return time of 10:30. I went over to meet the kids and took a few pictures along the way:

I didn't have long to wait and we had our picture taken outside as soon as they were done.

It was then off to the Tower of Terror! This is one of my favorite rides at WDW. I missed being able to do it last fall as my niece got partway through the preshow and got scared.

As soon as we got off we got right back in line to do it again! Then the kids told me they did it first and then went on RNR. I have to say the crowds were very light in that section of the park that morning. We walked on TOT both times. After TOT the kids did RNR again (10 min wait) and it was time to do TOY STORY MANIA!! What a great attraction. I just loved it and wished we'd had time to do it again .... but there were other things to see/do.

We then hopped on a bus over to Animal Kingdom. As we were walking in we saw these characters and I insisted the kids get their pictures with them. Doesn't DS look thrilled?

Off we went to do Dinosaur! Another one of our family favorites. Wait time wasn't bad. The sign said 15 minutes, but it was more like 10. From there we went to Expedition Everest. The sign for the line said 30 minutes but it didn't feel that long, more like 15-20. Now, I am a self proclaimed ride chicken. I don't do roller coasters and can't do anything that spins too much or goes upside down (inner ear issues). I had several people tell me that if I could do Mummy, I could do Expedition Everest. Well fellow ride chickens, take it from me, they are not alike!!!! At all!!! I had some misgivings while in line but I did do it and can say NEVER AGAIN! About the only thing it didn't do was go upside down. If you can't take corkscrews, don't do this ride. I wish I could scan the picture in somehow (yes, the kids made me buy it). The look of sheer terror on my face really amuses them. I think they were getting even for the character pictures. After that it was time for something tame so we did Its a Bugs Life. By this time we were all getting hungry and decided on the Rain Forest Cafe. If you've never been to one its really neat, but a bit pricey. We all got the burger/fries and a drink. With tip the bill came to $60.

After Animal Kingdom we headed back to DHS and did Star Tours, the Backlot Tour and then some shows. First up was Lights, Motors, Action! We hadn't seen it before and I thought it was pretty good. DS really liked it alot!

We were then off to see Beauty & the Beast - one of DD's favorites. Its a really great show if you've never seen it. I'm always amazed at how they've condensed it into a half hour show and still manage to keep the storyline.

After the show we were off to Epcot. This time I collected the car and drove over to the MK parking lot as that's where we planned to end the day. We hopped on the monorail and in record time were at Epcot. Once there we did Test Track (another family favorite) and Soarin' (first time the kids rode this - and they loved it). Sorry, no pictures here. We were in a bit of a rush as we still had to get to MK. After Epcot we got back on the monorail so we could take the ferry to MK. The kids just wanted to take the monorail over, but I love coming across the lagoon and seeing the castle!

I have to say that Magic Kingdom is one of my favorite places. Something about coming through the archway onto Main Street and seeing the castle just makes me happy!

First thing we did was Pirates of the Carribean, another family favorite. By this time we were all getting hungry and decided to have dinner in Frontierland. We usually eat there and I can never remember the name of the place - Pecos Bill's maybe. DD and I had the chicken wrap which was very good and DS had, can you guess???? A burger and fries! After dinner we headed over to the Haunted Mansion and rode that and then I made them go on Its a Small World with me. I have to ride that whenever we're in the Magic Kingdom. By this time it was time for Wishes! Here are some shots of the castle at night and the fireworks:

That was the end of our magical day. I will say that the crowds were very light in all the parks while we were there which is why we were able to get so much done. The longest line we waited in was about half an hour for Soarin'. I still can't believe we got to all four parks in one day. We were exhausted - but it was fun!

Up next: Day #4 - Back to Universal Studios.

 

[jcc0621]

Wow I'm impressed.

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Wow...you have amazing stamina! I can't imagine 4 Parks in one day, especially coming from offsite, without EMH!

Loving the Trippie

This seems like a really fun time for everyone!

Maria

 

[Darcy03231]

Wow...you have amazing stamina! I can't imagine 4 Parks in one day, especially coming from offsite, without EMH!

Loving the Trippie

This seems like a really fun time for everyone!

Maria

It really wasn't bad. The parks were open from 9 am to 9 pm and we really spent very little time in AK, Epcot and MK. Most of our day was in DHS. Luckily, the crowds were really light. There is no way we could have done everything we did if it has been crowded.

 

[EPRV We love Disney]

You are my new hero. 4 parks in one day!! I'm impressed with your planning skills!!

Loving your report!

 

[Darcy03231]

Day #4 - Back to Universal Studios

I can't believe its Day #4 already. Time is just flying by. As usual I was up well before the kids and headed down to the pool. To me the best part of the day at the pool is the early morning hours and the late afternoon (fair skinned, redhead with freckles here). The kids finally got up after their exhausting day at WDW and we headed over to Universal Studios. Today we decided to start at MIB and work our way back.

I love this game and I kicked both kids butts everytime we played! To be fair though, Brittany kicked mine in Toy Story Mania the day before. We then headed over to Simpsons. I'm not a big fan of simulator rides (I get motion sick pretty easily) and I can honestly say this is another ride I don't think I'll ever do again. I kept my eyes closed through almost all of it. David loved it! Brittany didn't feel sick but isn't a big fan of the Simpsons and she didn't want to do it again. From here we headed over and saw the Animal Actors show, then did ET and decided it was time for lunch. We went to Mel's Drive In (another family favorite). David and I had chicken fingers and Brittany had the chicken salad. Total for lunch was $30.

Since it was right there we did the Horror Make Up Show again. We've seen this show numerous times and this was definitely one of the funniest we've ever seen. The "volunteer" made the show! I'm not going to say any more because I don't want to ruin anything for anyone that hasn't seen it. We then went to Terminator (just to get it in - not a huge fan of this one) and then went to Jimmy Neutron, Shrek and Twister.

We then had a quick ride on the Mummy and were just in time to see the Beetlejuice Graveyard Review!

After that the kids headed back to the pool and I walked around and took some more pictures:

I headed back to the resort to collect the kids to go out to dinner. Tonight we decided to venture off property and go to BB Kings House of Blues. I had a $25 certificate from restaurant.com and it looked interesting. It was very easy to get to from the resort - they give great directions. We really liked this place. Yes, it was loud with the band playing, but we're used to that (my ex-husband is a musician and played/plays in a rock band). I had the Delta Fried Shrimp, Brittany had the ribs and David had, drum roll please --- the cheesburger and fries. Food was good and there was plenty of it. Our waitress was amazing. I swear she could read minds. It seemed as though we would think of something we needed and she would be on her way to bring it to the table. Our total for dinner was a bit over $50 and the coupon brought it to $25. They did add the 18% gratuity to the bill and I left an extra $5. Our waitress definitely deserved it. We stayed for a bit to listen to the music and ended up leaving around 10 pm. I would definitely go there again when in the area. When we got back to the hotel Brittany and I decided to walk around City Walk for a bit. David decided to stay in the room and watch the basketball playoffs. The Celtics were playing and he's a diehard fan.

Here are some pictures I took of CityWalk at night:

Up next: Day #5 - Back to Islands of Adventure!

 

[macraven]

loving your report!

 

[ATAfamily]

You are the theme park goddess

Four parks in one day is truly impressive

I am really really enjoying reading your trippie and will be so sad when it comes to an end.

 

[mercydisney]

I 'm so glad I found your trip report. Burgers and fries. At least he has 4 out of the 5 food groups in his diet (tomatoes are considred a fruit).

Can't wait to read the rest of yout trip report1

 

[Metro West]

loving your report!

 

[Darcy03231]

Day #5 – Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios

Since it was our last full day in the parks Brittany and I decided we were getting up early and doing the water rides again. David had no interest in getting up early and didn’t feel like getting wet so he decided to sleep in. We got to the park shortly after opening and went right to Jurassic Park. We really like this ride and did it again as soon as we got off.

Then it was off to Dudley Do Right and Popeye. We were soaked! We decided to Popeye a second time and it was just us and an Asian couple in the raft with us. They sat directly across from us and it was obvious they’d never been on the ride before. They took one look at us, dripping wet, and I think the girl got a bit nervous. She had a hooded sweatshirt on and pulled the hood up over her hair. Yeah, right, like that was going to save her! First turn and down and she was soaked!! Her SO was laughing at her and wouldn’t you know, next turn and down and a wall of water rushed over him. The look on his face was priceless! I don’t think any seat in that raft is safe. We decided to go back to the hotel for dry clothes and to collect David. This was one of the things we loved about staying on-site. It was really easy to go back and forth.

We got changed, got David and headed back. Both kids wanted to ride Dueling Dragons so they headed there. I walked through Suess’ Landing and got some pictures.

After Dueling Dragons we got David to go back on Jurassic Park with us and then headed over to Spiderman. The kids then wanted to do Hulk before we had lunch.

Lunch today was at Bubba Gumps. The kids were dying to try it. We sat in a booth next to the window overlooking CityWalk. I decided on the shrimp po’ boy sandwich, Brittany had the coconut shrimp and David had, you guessed it, a cheeseburger and fries. Food and service here were excellent. While we were waiting for the check Brittany had a blonde moment (my apologies to the blondes out there). For a smart kid she has them every now and then. She was seated next to the window and said “Wow, the windows here are really clean” and put her hand up to it and out the window ---- the windows were open! She’d sat there all through the meal and never realized it. David and I just looked at each other and rolled our eyes. Lunch with tip was $65.

We were then off to Universal Studios. First up was our favorite show, the Horror Make Up Show. We then did Shrek, Mummy, Disaster and Men in Black. On the way out we ran into Marilyn and Brittany had her picture taken with her.

By this time we were ready for some pool time and headed out.

For dinner that evening we went to Jack’s at the Rosen Hotel. While its pretty fancy, we went in shorts and nice shirts and no one said anything. I guess they’re used to tourists. Kids decided on escargot for an appetizer and we all had the filet mignon for dinner. I was full but both kids managed to put away dessert. Food and service were both excellent. I had a $25 certificate from www.restaurant.com. Bill with tip, after the certificate was $135.

When we got back to the hotel David wanted to stay in and watch the basketball playoffs. Brittany and I walked over to CityWalk to walk around for a bit and walk our dinner off. We went back to the room and had to start packing as the next day was the last day.



Next up: Final rides and thoughts.

 

[Darcy03231]

Day #6 - Departure Day

Since this was our last day and we had to be at the airport by 10:30 a.m. we got up early and finished up our packing and then headed for breakfast at The Kitchen (right in the Hard Rock Hotel). It was excellent! We all had the eggs, bacon, homefries and toast. DD and I had coffee and DS had a coke. Total with tip was $55.

We then headed off to US for one last ride on The Mummy. From there we went to IOA as the kids wanted to get a last ride in on Hulk. We then did Spiderman and it was time to go We headed back to the hotel, got our bags, checked out and headed to the airport. No one wanted to go home. Our flight back was uneventful and we arrived in Boston right on time.

Final thoughts:

We had a wonderful trip. Couldn't have asked for better weather while we were there. Sunny and in the 80's every day without any rain.

But what really made this trip was the ease of staying on-site. I doubt I'll ever go back to US/IOA and stay off-site, unless we do another trip like we did two years ago (9 of us for 16 days). Even then, I'll most likely plan to stay on-site for part of it. Getting back and forth from the hotel to the parks was so easy and the unlimited Express access was great. Even though the crowds were light to moderate we saved so much time by not having to wait for anything.

If you can swing the tickets for Blue Man Group - GO! It was a great show and I'm really glad we did it.

5 nights/6 days just wasn't enough time. I really would have liked another day or two. I really feel like we didn't explore our resort (or the others) enough. Unfortunately, I put this trip together quickly and at the last minute and since it was a school vacation week for us airfare was at a premium unless you flew off days/times. The other thing was we did spend a day a WDW and Sunday and Friday were only partial days, so we really only had three full days at US/IOA. Next time I will plan at least a week.

I didn't really count costs while we were there. We did what we wanted to and ate where we wanted to. Most of our meals were table service as we wanted to try a lot of the restaurants in CityWalk (although in David's case I don't know why - all he ate were cheeseburgers and fries). We did eat breakfast in our room each day, but for us its a personal preference, not so much to save money (although it does). No one is a big breakfast eater and I just find its easier and faster to eat in the room. Our totals for the week were:

5 nights at the Hard Rock $900
2 US/IOA 7 day tickets $200 (we had a free one from the Superbowl)
Airfare $600
Car rental $118
Parking at Hotel $80
Gas $10
Parking at WDW $12
Blue Man tickets $180
Food $613
Drinks/snacks $ 27
Lanyards $15
Photos $42
Groceries/Paper products $70
Tips (other than food) $20
Souvenirs $290

Total $3,177

avg = $175/pp per day. We didn't buy the WDW tickets. We pet sat our neighbor's dog for week while they were away. They know I really like WDW and they have a family member/friend who is a cast member. They got one day park hoppers from him for the three of us and gave them to us as a thank you gift.

By comparison I took my niece to WDW last fall for her first trip. We were there for 6 nights/7 days, stayed at the All Star Movies and had the dining plan. While we were there we did Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and she did the castle package at BBB. Total cost for the two of us, including everything, was about $2,500.00. Avg = $180/pp per day.

So, for us, I've found we spend about the same amount of money in both parks, although the hotel at US/IOA was far superior to the value resort at WDW. I also really liked being able to walk into a restaurant when I wanted and where I wanted and not having to plan my day around my dining reservations. By doing both parks in the same week it really highlighted how much more relaxed the pace is when staying on-site at US/IOA over being at WDW. With WDW there is so much to see and do you feel (at least I do) that you have to go, go, go to get it all in. With US/IOA I don't feel that frantic need to rush - maybe its just me. When I came home from WDW last fall I really needed the weekend before going back to work (we came home on a Friday on that trip too). This time I felt really relaxed when I came home - like I had a vacation.

I love both parks and I don't think one should compare them to each other. Apples and oranges folks. Both are wonderful for different reasons. If you have never been, try it - you may find you really like it.

In closing, here are some more pictures - forgive me if some of them are repeats - I've lost track:

 

[Worfiedoodles]

Fantastic TR! Thank you so much for sharing! I really appreciate all the details, and the costs you included. It's very helpful!

Maria

 

[jbh1993]

Thanks so much for taking the time to post your trip .You made me feel like I was right there. The photos were wonderful Thanks again!

 

[Metro West]

Thanks for sharing the pictures and report!

 

[nhrenee]

That was an awesome trip report. Loved all the pictures. Glad everyone had a great timeS!

 

[Paratrooper]

WOW! You really fit a lot into the time you were there. We will be there (Me and DD) Cynthia 13, for 7 days and 6 nights.

Thanks for all the great details. I'm just wondering what the weather will be like in August when we are there? We may spend a lot of time on the water rides!

 

[Darcy03231]

WOW! You really fit a lot into the time you were there. We will be there (Me and DD) Cynthia 13, for 7 days and 6 nights.

Thanks for all the great details. I'm just wondering what the weather will be like in August when we are there? We may spend a lot of time on the water rides!

Hot and humid!! We spent two weeks in the Orlando area in August 2007. What we found worked best for us was to get up early and get to the parks. We left around 1 pm and headed back to our villa and the pool. We'd then go back at night (around 5 pm).

 

[Paratrooper]

We kinda figured to do that. Head to the parks in the morning and either do the indoor rides or the water rides in the afternoon or just hang by the pool.

Doesn't Universal close at 6 or 7?

 

[re121258]

Loved the report. DH and I are heading back with our teenagers come June, so I really enjoyed the read. Thanks.