News Round Up 2017

[skier_pete]

We are traditionally NOT park hoppers...only really on the occasion where we have APs. We even take breaks during the day but go back to the same park. However, we have APs for our next 4 trips, so we will be doing some amount of hopping. Even when we have them we don't hop every day. there was one other trip we paid for hoppers, and even when I tried to plan so we would hop as much as possible, we ended up hopping I think 3 out of 8 days, maybe 4.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I've only been to Universal once about 5 yrs ago and it was just meh compared to Disney World imo. As of now I have no interest to go back Bc I personally don't care about Harry Potter. But once Nintendo land comes to Orlando I will be going to Universal for one day to see the land. I think it's going to be a game changer for Universal if done right. Hopefully not every ride is a simulator or screen based.

Totally understand your opinion on USO. But I will say HP is NOT only what USO is about. There are people who do only go to USO for HP period and that's all they have an interest in but that is not how my husband and I are nor how my sister and I were (since HP wasn't even there when I went with her). Last time I went with my husband only Hogsmeade was there. Now as far as screen and simulator and bigger thrill rides that do loops, etc that to me would be limiting no matter what the theming was which is why I yearn for more variety. There's still enough for me to do though and I enjoy the ambience of the whole resort park. Even when we have little ones we will still do USO but our touring strategy will change at that point.

 

[umichigan10]

Me and my family park hop every trip. Given we go in July/august usually, we head back in the early afternoon and typically go to a different park in the evening. We have it down to a pretty good science

 

[rteetz]

Me and my family park hop every trip. Given we go in July/august usually, we head back in the early afternoon and typically go to a different park in the evening. We have it down to a pretty good science

I absolutely love park hopping now with the express bus. That made hopping so easy in January.

 

[saskdw]

We have never been without park hoppers. All our trips we've had 10 day tickets with hoppers. We don't hopp every day, but for the minimal extra cost I don't want to not have the option.

I'm really looking forward to the express bus too, if they still have it next time we go.

 

[MissGina5]

I absolutely love park hopping now with the express bus. That made hopping so easy in January.

I am normally big on hopping! But since we have enough days and one unplanned day we are really trying to like not rush around and stress ourselves. I am really excited to try one park option

 

[skier_pete]

Actually, if I had to predict, I would say the typical frequent visitor prefers hopping. I think the more often you go, the more likely you want to do exactly what you want when you want.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Actually, if I had to predict, I would say the typical frequent visitor prefers hopping. I think the more often you go, the more likely you want to do exactly what you want when you want.

I agree with that thoughtprocess. The flexibilty is a big reason why I like hoppers. Now I don't have children and I do know my touring strategy will adjust when children are there but we may still purchase hoppers. I think the way Disney currently has it priced out (length of stay vs per day) is a big draw. Park hopping is basically one of the very few upcharges I don't balk at. The freedom to go to another park that same day is great even when considering transportation times.

 

[saskdw]

Actually, if I had to predict, I would say the typical frequent visitor prefers hopping. I think the more often you go, the more likely you want to do exactly what you want when you want.

That's exactly it. If my mood changes and I feel like changing parks I want to have that option. Plus we might want to spend the day at MK, but eat dinner at EPCOT.

 

[circus4u]

So a few weeks ago, LOL asked for an un-biased - average joe opinion of Avatarland/Pandora. While I am mostly a stalker who reads the boards when i can't take any more of work, I feel I meet the bill. We just returned from 8 days at the world. We haven't been there for 2 years, but have hit CA in between (we split time between the 2 coasts).
Anyway - I was there with the family, and my kids were very vocal with their assessment of AK. My DS who is 15 and saw Avatar in the theaters when it came out and loved the 3-D more than the movie itself but rewatched it recently and my 11 year old DD who thinks James Cameron needs to learn how to tell a story in less than 2 hours. It took her 4 days to sit through Avatar. Anyway, we all thought the land was beautiful. We were a bit disappointed as from the advertising we thought the lighting would be more interactive at night. They found one display that was interactive, but mostly it was just blacklight and pretty flowers light up. The boat ride was nice but just a one and done ride - they would never wait more than 15 minutes to ride it. The banshee ride was awesome. We had 2 fp's for it and loved it (i was a bit nauseous after the first ride but did better on the second). They said they would definitely wait in line for an hour for the ride (but not 3hrs - the standard standby time while we were there). That said, they still don't feel AK is a full day park (unless you stand in line for 3 hours for the banshee). The rides and exhibits just don't have the draw to do them over and over again. We did do the safari 2 times in one day, and they could ride Kali all day long if the line wasn't so stifling hot to stand in. They walked around and looked at the animals - but it was hot so they were just sleeping - so in general they thought that was a bit boring. They are too old to do the kidcot type activity that AK has. The assessment was Pandora was a great addition to AK, but it still needs more.

NOTE: I know others on the board LOVE AK - no disrespect to them, but for a return family who doesn't spend much time in restaurants, we couldn't find enough to do - also the light show the night we planned to watch was canceled for technical difficulties - so that brought everyone down too.

I agree 100% with everything you said. My wife and I both thought the interactive thing was over-rated. My wife is still talking about the banshee ride and that is not the type of experience that usually gets her excited. Had fast passes for two days and she would have ridden it a third time if we had another FP for it.

As an item of interest, I noticed that the 3D glasses they used seemed different than others and wonder if they are using some new technology there. I am even a bit more curious since I was wearing my GoPro on a chest harness and "accidentally" left it turned on in 4K mode during the ride. Figured being a 3D movie, it wouldn't be viewable. Boy, was I wrong after watching the video today. The only place I can tell it was filmed in 3D with a double image is the dark scene with the "jelly fish" floating in the air. Everything else looks like a regular 2D film although the actual film is definitely 3D.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I would like to see a Yoshi carousel.

YES! But only if the Yoshis all make the Yoshi noise constantly and hum the Yoshi theme song from the Yoshi game. Those poor team members who'd have to run that ride hahaha.

Like calling them Tangled and Frozen rather than Rapunzel and The Snow Queen. At least Moana got her movie named after her.

Hahaha Tangled, Frozen and Waves.

 

[rteetz]

YES! But only if the Yoshis all make the Yoshi noise constantly and hum the Yoshi theme song from the Yoshi game. Those poor team members who'd have to run that ride hahaha.



Hahaha Tangled, Frozen and Waves.

It would've had to been more like Seas or something water. It wasn't the waves so much in Moana.

 

[Moliphino]

It would've had to been more like Seas or something water. It wasn't the waves so much in Moana.

To keep with the adjective theme: Wet. I can see why that wouldn't work so well.

 

[rteetz]

News

Meet Despicable Me 3 characters at Universal

http://www.orlandoparksnews.com/2017/06/meet-new-despicable-me-3-characters-at.html

 

[osully]

Booking is down right now. I would not be surprised if 2018 bookings are available starting soon!

 

[pkrieger2287]

Booking is down right now. I would not be surprised if 2018 bookings are available starting soon!

My wife noticed that yesterday.

Hopefully so! When placing a room reservation a few months back for January 2018 the rep we spoke to said likely before the 180 day mark we should see pricing. If that is true we are pretty close to that time period.

 

[mikepizzo]

Wondering if the average rumors and news section participant is a park hopper, or a one park a day person? I see the comments that AK isn't a full day park...and I can see that. However, my family and I park hop. We always do one park in the AM till after lunch, take a break and do an afternoon evening park. Sometimes a third park if things are late enough. Sort of keeps things fresh. So we may only spend half a day at a time at AK, we do it multiple times in one trip.

Just to add to your sample size, fiancee and I always park hop. That's just our touring style. With that being said, typically, we do a morning in Animal Kingdom and that's usually it for our whole trip (which is usually about a week). Animal Kingdom is our least liked park, so we hit what we like (Everest, Tough to be a Bug, Safari, Lion King, Nemo, Dinosaur) at least once and then get out of there.

Fiancee is really excited about Pandora. As I've posted before I'm trying to reserve my judgement until I actually see it. Not a fan of the IP, but I'm hoping the engineering of the new land will be enough to "win me over".

 

[Roxyfire]

Wondering if the average rumors and news section participant is a park hopper, or a one park a day person? I see the comments that AK isn't a full day park...and I can see that. However, my family and I park hop. We always do one park in the AM till after lunch, take a break and do an afternoon evening park. Sometimes a third park if things are late enough. Sort of keeps things fresh. So we may only spend half a day at a time at AK, we do it multiple times in one trip.

Yeah thats what I find we like better. Of course, if you're looking to save some cash, avoiding hoppers is a good way to do that once you're at 4+ people. But for example, I like the benefits of AK at ropedrop but the look at night so we break it up to where we can accomplish both. I really don't care for ropedropping at HS so I tend to avoid that. Hopping can give us those options for sure. I've also found out on this trip that we are very much resort people, too. I feel bad for the once in a lifetime guest who feels they need to fit everything in one trip. I saw a ton of stressed out adults and unhappy kids last week. That's a good sign that it's time to head to the pool for the kids (and the pool bar for the adults)!

 

[MommaBerd]

Another hopper family here, too. I want the flexibility. Crowds aren't always predictable, and if we go to a park one day that is really crowded, I don't want to feel stuck. We also typically take our big trips in November when parties are going on. Sometimes we only get two nights at MK without a party. So, it's nice to be able to just hop over for those evening shows rather than having to plan our entire MK day there on those days (when everyone without hoppers does, too).

 

[skier_pete]

As one last comment to the hopping debate, part of the reason why I don't usually hop is I find when I DO hop, I usually do something like spend one morning at DHS and then on another evening at DHS. It's the same as if we just went for one day. So really it comes down to one day at the end where I'd like to hop - so when hoppers cost $200 for our family of 3, i find that's a good place to save a few bucks. As I said, upcoming 4 trips are on an AP, so we'll likely be hopping some on these trips. Projecting forward with our DVC membership I'm generally.