Trick or Tweet! The Lurkyloos Do F&W, etc: 11/8 Last Day at WDW!

[lurkyloo]

Enjoying the HP updates. We are going in December and I am takaing note of your hints. Since I booked our airfare a day early to save $400 we are probably going to spend the first night on Universal property for early entry and front of the line (and because we don't have enough DVC points to add another day at VWL).

Can't wait to hear more!

Oooh - that will work out perfectly! I really really was tempted to stay at night at Universal for the perks, and cuz I'm dead curious to know what the rooms are like. Which resort are you looking at?

Love your WWoHP review! I'm such a huge HP geek, it's really sad that I haven't been able to drag myself away from WDW for a day to see it. One day, I will. Really.

Sheesh! You of all people should see WWoHP! I mean, I liked it I know hardly anything about it!

I purchased the Universal book and read through most of it this past weekend. I am not a writer, or even that knowledgeable about grammar and whatnot, but it was strange how many errors are in this book. It is a great reference tool, though, as you said, there's not a lot of help planning Universal trips out there.

Oh good—I thought I was just being snobby about it cuz I copyedit for a living.

Loved the update. We are going to Universal in December. We must do a very quick disney trip and our AP's will have expired. We are thinking of doing Universal two days and MVMCP. It's really all we have time for. I appreciate hearing your plan of attack on the forbidden journey.


Are there lockers before you even get into Harry's world? I am wondering if it would be easier to just ditch everything on the way in.

Well now that's a great idea! There are lockers in the train station for Dragon Challenge—I don't see why you couldn't use those. I mean, they have a time limit on them like the Harry Potter ones do, but it's not like they're THAT much farther away that you'd run out of time to go back to them.

I am normally quite the lurker in your TR's but I decided to post something this time.
Your room at Beach Club is freaking amazing!! That view is to die for and what an awesome distance to IG, I am so jealous! We had a great room like that at BWV, unfortunately the short walk was to MGM not Epcot
We were in Orlando right after you were, overlapping by a few days I think. We loved WWoHP but we are huge HP fans, our friend actually works at HFJ so we got a special tour of the ride. I agree the ride is very jarring, kinda scary but awesome! I loved Honeydukes as well and took a zillion photos! Looking forward to reading more!

Welcome out of lurkdom! Wow - a special tour of the Harry Potter ride sounds fantastic. You guys are so lucky! Too bad we missed each other in October, though. Maybe next time!

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Coming out of lurkdom to ask - does the chocolate frog come with a wizard card?

 

[AnimalPrincess]

Coming out of lurkdom to ask - does the chocolate frog come with a wizard card?

I'll answer, yes it does!

Oh and Lurkyloo, we had the chocolate caldron and it was really good!

 

[TinkLoverSam]

Hi Carrie,

I love your trip reports and thought I'd finally actually comment as I am not months (or years) behind on this one. just thought I'd mention that at the Garden View Tea Room, if you're crazy like me and end up on the mom's panel enough that a panelist knows you, they let you film there... if it's Disney doing the filming.

see evidence here http://disneyworldforum.disney.go.com/videos.aspx about 1 min 45 into the Doug the Wedding Whisperer video in the Moms on Planning section.

That was also my only time in Francks as I was an Escape bride.

 

[blabbermouth]

WWOHP looks pretty cute! But those stores are TINY! I understand the effect, but it's not very practical. Could go for a frozen butter beer right now I think

 

[blondie7]

OK, I tried to get a picture of this trio of adorable tots in oversized sombreros, but I didn't want to freak their mother out by stalking them for the perfect shot. I'm sure she's MUCH happier that instead of posting her children on the Internets, I am posting her posterior!

Carrie,
I can't believe it! I found out after my wedding that you were at WDW the same time as us. I was so shocked when I saw this picture. The people just to the right of the lady and her children is my Uncle and Cousin. If you look carefully you can see that he is wearing a "Drinking Around the World" tshirt that we made for our guests. We had a whole day out. It was the first time some of my family ever met my DH side of the family. It was 2 days before the wedding and we considered it our joint Bachelor/Bachelorette party. I am so sad that I didn't see you. Hopefully someday we can meet. You have no idea how much you helped me with our wedding.

 

[lurkyloo]

Coming out of lurkdom to ask - does the chocolate frog come with a wizard card?

We got the lady wizard one!

I'll answer, yes it does!

Oh and Lurkyloo, we had the chocolate caldron and it was really good!

Awright, it's goin' on the To Eat list!

Hi Carrie,

I love your trip reports and thought I'd finally actually comment as I am not months (or years) behind on this one. just thought I'd mention that at the Garden View Tea Room, if you're crazy like me and end up on the mom's panel enough that a panelist knows you, they let you film there... if it's Disney doing the filming.

see evidence here http://disneyworldforum.disney.go.com/videos.aspx about 1 min 45 into the Doug the Wedding Whisperer video in the Moms on Planning section.

That was also my only time in Francks as I was an Escape bride.

That's so funny! God forbid you should open a present in Garden View Tea Room, but wandering around sticking a video camera in everyone's faces is OK?

WWOHP looks pretty cute! But those stores are TINY! I understand the effect, but it's not very practical. Could go for a frozen butter beer right now I think

I wonder if anyone has perfected an at-home recipe for frozen butter beer...

Carrie,
I can't believe it! I found out after my wedding that you were at WDW the same time as us. I was so shocked when I saw this picture. The people just to the right of the lady and her children is my Uncle and Cousin. If you look carefully you can see that he is wearing a "Drinking Around the World" tshirt that we made for our guests. We had a whole day out. It was the first time some of my family ever met my DH side of the family. It was 2 days before the wedding and we considered it our joint Bachelor/Bachelorette party. I am so sad that I didn't see you. Hopefully someday we can meet. You have no idea how much you helped me with our wedding.

Oh my gosh! We missed it by *that* much! Frankly, I'm surprised I didn't stumble on your wedding accidentally, since that seems to be a natural talent of mine. I hope everything went perfectly and you had a wonderful time. Do you have a planning journal or trip report going? I'd love to see it!

 

[lurkyloo]

1) I got a bit derailed by my trip to WDW for Destination D, so I hope to get back on track with an update to this trip report this week. Sorry about that! On the plus side, I came back with tons of pictures of wedding locations, cake, etc. for anyone who's into that sort of thing.

2) On NeverlandClub23's advice I tried the brownie-wich at Earl of Sandwich last week, and HOLY CRAP is that thing delicious! It has officially unseated the giant Oreo in my affections. Unfortunately, it has apparently been a secret only from me, because any time I went back looking for another, it was sold out!

Anyway, huge thanks to NeverlandClub23 for the recommendation!

 

[Aburns8]

Glad you are back! Sounds like I will have to try that brownie the next time we go back down!

 

[NeverlandClub23]

You are very welcome! I'm so glad you liked it!! I'm not sure how long it has been produced, but I only stumbled on it last October (after 13+ trips to WDW ). I didn't have high hopes for it because I have been disappointed with so many yummy looking WDW treats. I don't know why I never made it back to get another one during my last trip, I only hope I can at least have one during my trip this December.

I can't wait to read all about the trip! And this one! And any other ones that have occurred between now and then (or before!). Frankly, you could write about anything and it would be entertaining.

blondie7 - That is too funny! I always wonder if I've shown up in the backgrounds of people's photos on the DIS (but then I know if I ever did I'm sure I would be doing something very unflattering at the time ). It's crazy that they were right there!

 

[pezheadmeg]

Another lurker joining in finally--I live for your reports Carrie!

Then again I'm planning a multi-page scrap layout of desserts for my next trip.

 

[GreatBiscuit]

Finally caught back up. Love the IoA photos and review!

Great job on the panoramics.

I was cracking up at Patrick finding a 'stache kindred spirit.

 

[DISNEYaddict4evr]

he....llooo....oooooo

anyone out there??

 

[lurkyloo]

Glad you are back! Sounds like I will have to try that brownie the next time we go back down!

Definitely!

You are very welcome! I'm so glad you liked it!! I'm not sure how long it has been produced, but I only stumbled on it last October (after 13+ trips to WDW ). I didn't have high hopes for it because I have been disappointed with so many yummy looking WDW treats. I don't know why I never made it back to get another one during my last trip, I only hope I can at least have one during my trip this December.

I can't wait to read all about the trip! And this one! And any other ones that have occurred between now and then (or before!). Frankly, you could write about anything and it would be entertaining.

Oh my gosh, I can't believe I ever worried about running out of things to write about—now I just have to figure out how to do it fast enough!

Another lurker joining in finally--I live for your reports Carrie!

Then again I'm planning a multi-page scrap layout of desserts for my next trip.

Great idea! And welcome out of lurkdom!

Finally caught back up. Love the IoA photos and review!

Great job on the panoramics.

I was cracking up at Patrick finding a 'stache kindred spirit.

Seriously! I think it must be like a little club, and whenever one dude with a handlebar mustache spots another, they give each other the secret nod...

he....llooo....oooooo

anyone out there??

I'm here! Update being posted now!

 

[lurkyloo]

After lunch we set out to explore the rest of Islands of Adventure. The park is often billed as one of the best themed in the world, right up there with Tokyo DisneySea. And if I hadn't already been to Tokyo DisneySea I might have been tempted to believe that…

On the Lost Continent, Poseidon's Fury looked pretty cool from the outside, but we decided to come back later cuz it eats up 25 whole minutes.

Instead, we staggered around Seuss Landing in the blazing heat, searching in vain for a patch of shade. I guess it's the color scheme, but that place is so blasted bright, I actually had to plunk down $20 for a crappy pair of Universal Orlando sunglasses!

"These be the last shady words ye'll see!"

If you stand just right, that Seussian plant blocks the sun!

The first thing we did was take the High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train Ride so we could get an overview of the land. The Universal Orlando 2011 guide tipped us off to the train on our right as we entered the loading area, which supposedly has a more interesting route than the one on the left and takes you through the Circus McGurkus Restaurant. This is good because there was no way we'd be eating there.

I think I was expecting more of a Peoplemover-type experience, but the ride is very short and very slow—like Casey Jr.'s Circus Train with less theming and charm. Our next ride was The Cat in the Hat, which had an eerily empty queue and boarding area. Apparently people won't even go on this one to escape the heat!

I've got a bad feeling about this…

Wow. This one was bad—even lamer than the train ride! Except for a couple of neat figures and details, it was just a series of desperately under-themed vignettes with blank walls in between. The animatronics were barely articulated, the storytelling was virtually nonexistent, and the scenes looked like they were lit by a single 60-watt bulb. I get that Dr. Seuss' style is spare and simple, but that's no excuse for plunking a handful of mannequins on turntables in a stucco box and calling it a ride…

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish is like Dumbo if the fountains actually squirted you. We decided it was not worth waiting and sitting in the sun for. Patrick commented that it seemed like every ride so far at IOA was geared toward either little kids or thrill-seeking teenagers, with nothing in between.

So long, Seuss Landing

 

[lurkyloo]

Off to Marvel Super Hero Island!

Like Disney's Hollywood Studios, this land uses its theme as an excuse not to theme. In my book, painting buildings in primary colors and slapping oversized cutouts of super heroes on them doesn't count. Somehow I don't think Peter Parker's New York City features a giant picture of Wolverine on the side of any building. And while I know it's supposed to be like we're stepping into the pages of a comic book, the designs of the buildings are so generic you might as well be at an outdoor mall in Anytown, USA.

Check out the reaction of Patrick's fellow citizens to his imminent impalement…

Look out! Freezer Guy will totally freeze you…

…or sell you tasty frozen treats!

OK, this was my biggest disappointment at Islands of Adventure. You see that sign? It says "Ben & Jerry's." When I found out Universal's parks sell Ben & Jerry's, they went up a notch or two in my estimation. I mean, the only way to get good ice cream at Disney is to go to Downtown Disney for Haagen Dazs or Ghirardelli. Well, guess what? Ben & Jerry's at the Universal Parks is a big, fat stinkin' LIE! If you can find one of the stands open, you will discover that it is staffed by one overwhelmed employee running a filthy, leaking SOFT SERVE machine! Soft serve is not Ben & Jerry's! The whole point of Ben & Jerry's is that it's premium ice cream with over-the-top inclusions. Not runny soft serve made from powder that tastes exactly like soft serve everywhere else. I almost asked for my admission back…


Our first ride was The Incredible Hulk Coaster cuz the wait was only 5 minutes. It doesn't even really have the pretense of theming—it's just a fast, fun roller coaster. I really enjoyed it right up to the end, when it kinda knocked my head around unpleasantly.

I guess the Amazing Adventures of Spiderman was top dog at IOA until Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey opened. Maybe having been on that ride made me underwhelmed by this one. I like the idea—a combo of 3-D movie and ride that takes you places you don't expect to go on a movie-based ride—but I spent most of the experience wincing and jerking my head back from the effects. I'm not sure if the planned upgrade to HD projection will fix that or make it worse. Also, the line was the longest we waited in outside of Harry Potterland, about 25 minutes. Aside from the mildly interesting newsroom setting at the start, it's mostly just a big room with a queue and a pre-show on too-short of a loop.

Wow. Great detailing there, Universal. I guess Islands of Adventure really WAS made by people who were tired of working for Disney…

This, on the other hand, was designed by a graduate of the Japanese School of TMI Infographics!

Toon Lagoon had us in stitches, but not in a good way: it was the combination of virtually noting to do with any hilariously obscure, bottom-of-the-barrel comic character that Universal could get the rights too. Don't get me wrong—comics like Pogo and Krazy Kat are gorgeously drawn classics. But all Universal has done is slap them on signs and the sides of buildings as photo ops designed to appeal to… whom, exactly? The current generation of kids barely knows who the Muppets are, let alone Broom Hilda!

"Mom! Mom! Look! It's Garfield! No, wait… never mind…"

That wacky Broom Hilda! Always, uh, smacking into stuff…?

Oh! My sides!!!

Tsk, tsk, Cathy… Don't you know you'll never get a man that way?

"Ha, ha! That dog's drinking BEER! In fact, I think I could go for a cold one right about now… Whaddya mean I'm only 6?"

Doggy needs a bath

This prolly looks cool at night, but I'm not waitin' around to find out!

"Mom! Mom! Look! It's THOR!!! No, wait… never mind…"

 

[lurkyloo]

I think Universal may actually count this as one of the attractions in Toon Lagoon

"Lemme in! Pleeeeeeeeease lemme in! So… BORED!!!!"

The line for Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls was really long AND we had to pay for a locker to stash our stuff, but we went anyway cuz it was so dang hot. I hope Universal took the recent fire as an opportunity to do a thorough rehab, because this was THE worst maintained theme park ride I've ever been on. The entrance is a set of rusty metal stairs that looks like a fire escape. At the bottom, someone pulled us out of the line through a side door to the loading area to fill a boat with two empty spots, and thank goodness, because I would have been ticked to have to wait in line for this one. As we rode, we marveled at the decay. Paint was peeling off the show scenes in sheets, and there was mildew everywhere. The lack of upkeep was probably more shocking than the final drop!

If you don't wanna stay wet and you have cash and it's working, you can always get in one of these.

From there we continued on to Jurassic Park, where Patrick stopped to look for directions…

Look out, Patrick!

"Psst! Hey, buddy! Which way outta here?"

I was leery of going on Jurassic Park River Adventure cuz I hate getting wet and the one in LA scared the tar outta me. But Patrick really wanted to go. The sign said there was a 40-minute wait, but it was actually about 5. Hooray! Sometimes employee ineptitude can be a good thing! While we waited, we played Patrick's favorite in-line time-waster, "****** Bag or Tool?" (Apparently the DIS doesn't allow the French word for "shower," so you'll have to fill in the blanks with your.... I-ma-gi-na-TIONNNNNNN!!!)


D-bag or tool—you decide!

The last drop wasn't as scary as I remembered, but I still hated getting wet. I'm not sure why, since we'd just been soaked on Ripsaw Falls… The overhead flying ride thingie (Pteranodon Flyers) was closed and there were no animatronic dinosaurs out, so we did a quick circuit of the Discovery Center on our way out. I think Patrick really liked this because it felt most like an actual place you would go if dinosaurs were real and on display in captivity. For me it was kinda like, "Meh, I paid for a theme park, not a museum!"

The back of the Discovery Center is a great vantage point for taking panoramic photos of the park that will be reduced to a tiny sliver in your readers' web browsers…

The bridge back toward the Lost Continent offers another great photo op—the backside of Hogsmeade!

We couldn't figure out a way to "game" Poseidon's Fury so that we didn't have to wait, so we just waited…. The theming outside is really spectacular. Too bad the show is not.

 

[lurkyloo]

It does have some interesting effects, like this one that you can't see what it is…

And apparently it was a big deal that the spinning water tunnel was working that day. I mean, I think they practically *told* us it was a big deal, it was such a big deal. (Spinning water tunnel not pictured.)

I probably should have been more impressed by the effects—there really was a whole lotta fire and water shootin' off all around us. But it just kept reminding me of the cheesy animatronic show at the mall at Caeser's Palace in Vegas! Heck, I probably should be telling you what Poseidon's Fury is about, but I frankly can't remember. Archeological dig... haunted chamber... something goes horribly wrong...lots of stuff blows up—you get the idea!

After that, we went back to Wizarding World of Harry Potter to kill time until the crowds began to thin and the light got better for taking photos.

Not yet…

The plan was to do all the shopping we'd skipped at Honeydukes earlier, and we went kinda nuts…

Still crowded

Love the animated wanted poster!

Up Next: Wizarding World of Harry Potter… after dark! Plus dinner at Emeril's Tchoup Chop and exploring the Royal Pacific Resort!

 

[PopArtGal]

I went to IOA once. It was in 2000. And it was the only time I went there. Guess you can see how I was impressed

 

[Aburns8]

This just proves to me that I am not missing too much by not going to Universal. I will just stick to WDW. But Patrick takes some fun pics!