nursemelis374
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2004
- Messages
- 499
Myself (age 26) and my two friends (ages 26 and 31) recently took our first trip to Orlando and also our first trip to USF/IOA. We spent one night at the RPR and loved it.
Thursday, October 14, 2004 Islands of Adventure
We had arrived late the night before and decide to stay somewhere cheap, so we just stayed at the Days Inn across the street from Universal. I will say this: it was really cheap! I would never had stayed there if it werent just going to be for 12 hours. We woke up at 7:30 and were checked out at 8:30. We then headed across the street to check into Universals Royal Pacific Resort. This hotel was beautiful!!! Our room was awesome and really nice. The staff was also great. The pool was so cool and I know that kids would love it! The main reason we had stayed one night on their property was to have the front of the line access and it was worth it in many ways! Even so, I would love to stay here again even if just for the ambiance and proximity to the resorts draws.
We walked the 10-minute walk to IOA and were ready to go. At this point this walk seemed short, because we were excited and full of energy, but as time went by, we took the boat because we were tired. The day was sunny and warm. We ate breakfast at Cinnabon and headed to Hulk. It was a walk-on. This coaster was really fun, much longer than it looks from the outside. At one point I thought it was over and then it started again! Then we went to Dr. Dooms Fearfall and had a great time. We were dumb and thought there was no FOTL entrance and so we waited for 30 min in the standby line, oh well at least we got to experience the line. The themeing in this park is absolutely incredible. The lines are all themed and even a simple drop ride was themed! I definitely think this park is on the same level as any Disney park! We then went on Spiderman (standby 30 min) and again were totally blown away. I felt so disoriented on this ride, I never knew what was going to happen next. We went on Jurassic Park and Ripsaw Falls (both walk ons) and got drenched. I mean from head to toe! I knew we would get wet, but usually log flumes do not soak you! That was okay though because it was really hot.
We went on Dueling Dragons (15 min standby), Ice side and had fun. I was really dizzy after this ride though. We then ate lunch at the Enchanted Oak Tavern and it was really good. The chicken was great. We got two meals and split them and had food left over! I love the music in the Lost Continent area, it is totally cool. I also liked the wizard walking around. We then did the Poseidons Fury thing and it was totally lame and rode The Cat in the Hat and One Fish, Two Fish. These were both fun. We walked around the park again and went on Jurassic Park again and Dueling Dragons (10 min standby) Fire side two more times. Dueling Dragons is my new favorite roller coaster. I love the effect of feeling how you are going to hit the other train. I felt stupid because I kept lifting my legs thinking they would get it! We were exhausted by then so we decided to go back to the room. All of the lines here were fairly short, maybe the longest was 30 minutes for Spiderman, it was really nice having the front of the line access, because we waited in no lines. They closed at 5 because it was going to be Halloween Horror Nights. We still had enough time to get everything done, but would have liked a couple of re-rides.
We went back to the room and got ready and took the boat to CityWalk. We ate dinner at Margaritaville and it was pretty good, the atmosphere was a lot of fun. I would recommend it.
Friday, October 15, 2004 Universal Studios Florida
We woke up and were out the door by 8:30 again. We checked out of the hotel and loaded our car and then we took the boat to the entry area because we decided it was wise to save our energy. We ate at Cinnabon (Yes, I love Cinnabon!) and went into the park. The first thing we went on was Revenge of the Mummy and all I can say was Wow! This is the coolest and most fun ride that I have ever been on! We immediately went again. The line was 15 minutes, but we still had the front of the line access and used it for no wait. I must say, that after this ride I was beginning to worry that Disney wouldnt be able to compare with the great time we were already having. We then did Earthquake( no wait) and Jaws (10 min standby), which were cool and then Men In Black (10 min standby). This ride rocks. It makes the Buzz Lightyear ride look so bad. I think this is better because the cars are not so close together and the guns are not mounted. On the Buzz Lightyear ride you are so close together and it is much harder to aim and shoot. We exited this ride and it was pouring rain so we went another time. This was basically the only rainstorm we got the whole time we were there, so we really lucked out! By the time we got out it had stopped raining and we went over to Back to the Future (20 min standby). This ride made me sick, but my friends liked it.
We then watched the Beetlejuice and Horror Make Up Show and both were very enjoyable. The actors were actually really funny. We were getting hungry so I ate at Nathans Hot Dogs and my two friends got fish and chips, we were all very happy with the food. We went over and rode ET (25 min standby) and my friends did the Jimmy Neutron thing while I got in line for Shrek (30 min standby). The movies they show while in line are hilarious. The Shrek show was pretty good, but I think Philharmagic is much better. Then we decided to try the Twister show. We stood in the back and even though they said you might get wet, we werent really expecting it. Buckets of water poured on our backs from these openings in the back wall. We were totally surprised by it. I had a backpack with stuff in it that got totally wet and I was pretty mad. On top of that it was freezing in there so that made it more miserable. There were these two elderly people next to us that were absolutely horrified by how wet we were. Remember this if you go on it! We then went on Mummy again. This ride just got better. All 3 times we rode it the entire car was cheering at the end, it is that good. I love this ride!
All in all, I love these parks. I will definitely return to both of them on my next trip. The rides were great and it was nice staying at the resort!
Thursday, October 14, 2004 Islands of Adventure
We had arrived late the night before and decide to stay somewhere cheap, so we just stayed at the Days Inn across the street from Universal. I will say this: it was really cheap! I would never had stayed there if it werent just going to be for 12 hours. We woke up at 7:30 and were checked out at 8:30. We then headed across the street to check into Universals Royal Pacific Resort. This hotel was beautiful!!! Our room was awesome and really nice. The staff was also great. The pool was so cool and I know that kids would love it! The main reason we had stayed one night on their property was to have the front of the line access and it was worth it in many ways! Even so, I would love to stay here again even if just for the ambiance and proximity to the resorts draws.
We walked the 10-minute walk to IOA and were ready to go. At this point this walk seemed short, because we were excited and full of energy, but as time went by, we took the boat because we were tired. The day was sunny and warm. We ate breakfast at Cinnabon and headed to Hulk. It was a walk-on. This coaster was really fun, much longer than it looks from the outside. At one point I thought it was over and then it started again! Then we went to Dr. Dooms Fearfall and had a great time. We were dumb and thought there was no FOTL entrance and so we waited for 30 min in the standby line, oh well at least we got to experience the line. The themeing in this park is absolutely incredible. The lines are all themed and even a simple drop ride was themed! I definitely think this park is on the same level as any Disney park! We then went on Spiderman (standby 30 min) and again were totally blown away. I felt so disoriented on this ride, I never knew what was going to happen next. We went on Jurassic Park and Ripsaw Falls (both walk ons) and got drenched. I mean from head to toe! I knew we would get wet, but usually log flumes do not soak you! That was okay though because it was really hot.
We went on Dueling Dragons (15 min standby), Ice side and had fun. I was really dizzy after this ride though. We then ate lunch at the Enchanted Oak Tavern and it was really good. The chicken was great. We got two meals and split them and had food left over! I love the music in the Lost Continent area, it is totally cool. I also liked the wizard walking around. We then did the Poseidons Fury thing and it was totally lame and rode The Cat in the Hat and One Fish, Two Fish. These were both fun. We walked around the park again and went on Jurassic Park again and Dueling Dragons (10 min standby) Fire side two more times. Dueling Dragons is my new favorite roller coaster. I love the effect of feeling how you are going to hit the other train. I felt stupid because I kept lifting my legs thinking they would get it! We were exhausted by then so we decided to go back to the room. All of the lines here were fairly short, maybe the longest was 30 minutes for Spiderman, it was really nice having the front of the line access, because we waited in no lines. They closed at 5 because it was going to be Halloween Horror Nights. We still had enough time to get everything done, but would have liked a couple of re-rides.
We went back to the room and got ready and took the boat to CityWalk. We ate dinner at Margaritaville and it was pretty good, the atmosphere was a lot of fun. I would recommend it.
Friday, October 15, 2004 Universal Studios Florida
We woke up and were out the door by 8:30 again. We checked out of the hotel and loaded our car and then we took the boat to the entry area because we decided it was wise to save our energy. We ate at Cinnabon (Yes, I love Cinnabon!) and went into the park. The first thing we went on was Revenge of the Mummy and all I can say was Wow! This is the coolest and most fun ride that I have ever been on! We immediately went again. The line was 15 minutes, but we still had the front of the line access and used it for no wait. I must say, that after this ride I was beginning to worry that Disney wouldnt be able to compare with the great time we were already having. We then did Earthquake( no wait) and Jaws (10 min standby), which were cool and then Men In Black (10 min standby). This ride rocks. It makes the Buzz Lightyear ride look so bad. I think this is better because the cars are not so close together and the guns are not mounted. On the Buzz Lightyear ride you are so close together and it is much harder to aim and shoot. We exited this ride and it was pouring rain so we went another time. This was basically the only rainstorm we got the whole time we were there, so we really lucked out! By the time we got out it had stopped raining and we went over to Back to the Future (20 min standby). This ride made me sick, but my friends liked it.
We then watched the Beetlejuice and Horror Make Up Show and both were very enjoyable. The actors were actually really funny. We were getting hungry so I ate at Nathans Hot Dogs and my two friends got fish and chips, we were all very happy with the food. We went over and rode ET (25 min standby) and my friends did the Jimmy Neutron thing while I got in line for Shrek (30 min standby). The movies they show while in line are hilarious. The Shrek show was pretty good, but I think Philharmagic is much better. Then we decided to try the Twister show. We stood in the back and even though they said you might get wet, we werent really expecting it. Buckets of water poured on our backs from these openings in the back wall. We were totally surprised by it. I had a backpack with stuff in it that got totally wet and I was pretty mad. On top of that it was freezing in there so that made it more miserable. There were these two elderly people next to us that were absolutely horrified by how wet we were. Remember this if you go on it! We then went on Mummy again. This ride just got better. All 3 times we rode it the entire car was cheering at the end, it is that good. I love this ride!
All in all, I love these parks. I will definitely return to both of them on my next trip. The rides were great and it was nice staying at the resort!
