Need help, info with parades etc........

[rbuzzotta]

We will be at US/IOA this coming weekend. My oldest DD is in a Naitonal Cheerleading competition at Toon Lagoon. She competes on both Sat. and Sun. (1 Pm and 3 PM).

DH will have my other 2 DD's (5,7) over at US and will plan to come over to Toon Lagoon for DD's competition. How much time will he need to get over there???

also, what time do the parades begin and end? We want to see the concert (Brian McKnight) on Saturday. Is that before or after the parade, and where are these all held?

Any info you could send my way will be helpful!!

thanks

 

[No11's Mom]

Since the girls are young, I would suggest leaving US 20-30 minutes early to get over to the cheerleading competition. That should give them plenty of time to plenty of time to get their hands stamped when leaving US, get through the gates at IOA, get to Toon Lagoon and find good seats, without having to rush too much.

Good luck to your daughter's team.

 

[rbuzzotta]

Thanks Donna.

Another question????

If you rent strollers (DD#2 has back problems and can't walk for long periods of time) at US can you just take them with you to IOA or do you have to return them and then get another one at your next park???? I would imagine so, so they should include another 10 minutes or so for that!

 

[nhrenee]

The last time we used a stroller (3-4 years ago) you could take the stroller from park to park. It was very convenient.

 

[rangebob]

Lately they havn't been allowing the strollers out of the park. If you bring the receipt with you to the other park they will give you one there.

 

[Figment22]

Rosemary,

We just returned from USF/IOA after spending Fri., Sat. & Sun.
there. Although we're veterans of the parks, we had never
been there during the Mardi Gras celebration. It was FANTASTIC!
The Mardi Gras parade starts at 8:00 p.m. on Fri. & Sat. night.
The Saturday night concert starts at 8:30 p.m. If the Brian
McKnight concert is a priority for you, make sure you get a parade
spot close to the stage area because the concert starts before
the parade finishes making its way through the park. We were
camped out across from Mel's Diner for the parade; when it
finished passing our area, it was about 8:40. By the time we
got over to the stage to see Live, they were already into their
set. If you're at the tail end of the parade, you'll miss some of
the concert. (I wish I had known this in advance.)

By the way, your younger DD's would enjoy the mini parade
(Universal's Mardicade) which is held at 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m.
This has the characters parading around on small floats (nothing
like the enormous floats from the nighttime parade) with Mardi
Gras music playing but most enjoyable for my 2 DS's, LOTS
of beads get thrown by the characters. It's much less crowded
than the big evening parade and the kids can actually follow the
characters around the parade route a bit. (My two followed them
for the whole route!) They literally got HUNDREDS of strands of beads from this mini-parade. The beads aren't as nice
as the ones that get thrown at the nighttime parade but the kids
couldn't care less. For them, it was quantity, not quality! After
they went to this parade on Friday afternoon, they actually made
us leave IOA on Saturday to head over to USF so they could get
more beads! It's more geared to younger kids in the afternoon,
some of the revelers at the evening parade can get kind of rough
when they're reaching to get beads!

Have a great time and the best of luck to your daughter in the
cheerleading competition.

 

[JessicaR]

Excellent information Figment22! We were there the weekend before last. We had to leave on the second night (saturday) because the crowd was too rough for my young boys. Friday evening was much better. Maybe because the headliner concert draws a larger crowd.

If your looking for beads, we stood across the street from Twister and caught it from the beginning and again when it returned. The kids caught lots of beads.

Whatever you do, make sure you catch the parade! It was really much more than I expected! Have fun

 

[rbuzzotta]

Wow!! Thank you so much for the advice. My DH would be VERY upset if someone pounced on one of his little princesses during the Mardi Gras parade. Hopefully we can catch the kiddie one on Friday as my DD competes on Sat. and Sun and it will be around the time as the parade!!

I really don't care to see the concert but DD does!! Where is the concert held and what is the best place to stand for the parade to do both??? Thanks again.............

 

[kpgclark]

Is the mini parade held on Thursday too? We'll be there Thurs. and Fri. of this week and are trying to decide what day to do which park and I don't want my kids to miss the mini parade.

 

[Figment22]

kpgclark: As far as I know, the afternoon Mardicade is held only
on Friday and Saturday as it coincides with the Fri/Sat. MardiGras
activities.

Rosemary: If you're familiar with the USF layout, the concert stage is in the area of the old Boneyard, between the soon-to-be
Jimmy Neutron ride (formerly Hanna-Barbera) and Twister. The
parade begins by coming out of the street on the side of Twister
right near the stage area. A good place to camp out for the
parade to be able to head straight for the concert would be
in front of Monsters Cafe. You'd be right at the beginning of the
parade route and right across the street from the concert area or as JessicaR mentioned right across the street from Twister, which
would also have you set up for the concert. This area gets
VERY crowded during the parade and you'd need to stake
a claim to a spot early on.

Enjoy the great festivities!

 

[lejaf]

FYI We were there last week and had no problem bringing the stroller from one park to the other.