March 9th- Day 6
Before I continue on, I know a LOT of you are against anything NON-Disney, but we as a family usually like to visit Universal Studios and Sea World anytime were in Orlando.
( Due to limited time issues Sea World was not on the agenda this year however)
I never try to compare Disney to Universal because Disney will win hands down, but we always have a good time regardless. That is until now.
Although Universal has a "couple" positve attributes, they have WAY more negative.
Enough in fact to make me reconsider ever coming back to visit. With that being said, lets get on with the events of the day .......
Both parks opened at 9:00am and we had arrived to the parking garage around that time. This brings me to the first negative item on my list of complaints. Even though the crowds were very light and there was hardly anybody there they made everyone park and walk as far away as possible. It just blew my mind seeing all the empty parking spots that were closer to city walk . I felt like SOOO much time was wasted just walking from the parking garage to the front gates.
Our original plan was to go to Universal Studios that day and IOA on Thursday, but as we were walking Marsha had brought up a good point about the weather. She suggested that we go to IOA that day since the weather was so great and go to Universal on Thursday since it was supposed to rain.
For those of you who have never been, theres a LOT more outside rides at IOA such as roller coasters and waters rides, whereas Universal has more indoor attractions. So after discussing it for a few minutes, we decided to switch our park days.
Even though it was overcast the temperature was extremely comfortable so we headed to IOA for the day!
We had yet to purchase our tickets so we hopped in line.
My second complaint of the day is that the prices they have listed online and the price you pay at the ticket booth are WAY different. We ended up having to pay an extra $40.00 per person for a 2Day/2Park ticket.
This was completely unexpected and upset us to the extreme. Having to pay an extra $120.00 was outragous. Plus they closed at 6:00 pm, which meant that we had only 8 hours to enjoy ourselves and to make the outragous money we spent worth it. ((when I look back I think we were stupid for agreeing to pay the amount we did))
((Oh well, you live you learn))
If I have to say one positive thing about IOA though, it would be about their themeing. I think it's very well done and I enjoyed the sights as we walked around.
We had no specific destination in mind after we entered through the turnstiles, so when we came to the fork in the road we didn't know what to do.
To our left there was the Super-hero area which housed some thrill rides, such as the Hulk and the Dr. Doom ride and spider man (my favorite).
And to our right there was Seuss Landing which housed most of the kiddie rides, such as Cat in the Hat and Caro-seuss-el.
I personally thought it would be better to go to Seuss Landing first so Reya could ride a few things right away, but the boys wanted to ride the coaster first since there was such a short line. So we decided to split up for a little while so they could do what they wanted and Marsha and I could take the girls to do the attractions in Seuss Landing.
****
Reya wanted to ride the Caro-suess-el first.
Everyone but Jayden and I were able to ride on one of the animals that moved up and down. Instead we had to ride in a seat the slightly rocked back and forth. ((BTW, this is the ONLY ride that he is allowed to go on at IOA)) So this is the 3rd complaint I had for the day. Definitely nothing like Disney where he can ride over 3/4 of the rides.
Next we went over to ride Cat-in-the-Hat. There was no wait.
It was at this point and time that I realized that Jayden wouldn't be able to ride any of the rides. I was directed to the Child Swap area where I waited with Jayden.
Once it was my turn, Breanna and Valerie rode with me, while Reya and Jayden stayed behind with Marsha. I guess Reya hated it and cried almost the entire time. I'm not sure why? It's a kiddie ride. Reminds me a lot of Winnie the Pooh except that it spins here and there. I personally love it and so did the other girls..
To be continued
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Love the pictures with Jiminy Cricket. We have yet to meet him. 
that meal at other restaurants). We are going for the first time this summer to RFC at AK.
Can't wait to read more.
sorry your US/IOA did not turn out to be a pleasant experience. I personally do mind reading about non-Disney items. I have been to neither so it is nice to read about them. 
Reya and the girls enjoyed it so thats all the matters, right?! 
Why in the world would they be painting during business hours? Isnt that something that should be happening during the time the park is closed not during the measly 9 hours that the park is opened during the day?! So of course this is my 4th complaint of the day! 
That was pretty random and weird. I thought it was kind cool though that he was hanging out around Hogwarts. Maybe be belongs to one of the witches there?! 
We may go for breakfast with the Grinch but honestly that would be it and it would have to be in the middle of the trip. I don't think I could start or end with anything other than Disney. Is Sea World any better? I've never been but my boys love animals so maybe that one's a better shot? I just hate paying that much to stare at animals...I can do that at the zoo and it's less expensive....that's just me though! 
Whenever we move back to the states (we're hoping for Cali or FL) we'll be going more often.
