Universal Orlando Stay: End of October 2003!

[DaveWH]

Well i've been back four days now and i've finally got around to starting my review! I will write my review in stages over the next day or so because otherwise my wrists will start hurting and you will get bored!

Part one: Flight to Tampa and drive to Orlando

We, being me (Dave, 15) and my parents, travelled to Tampa with British airways on Tuesday 28th Oct landing in Tampa in the early evening. The flight was very good as I have come to expect from British Airways, good films, nice food and a profesional atmosphere.

-NB. I read Holes on the flight there which, even though it is a younger persons book, is still very enjoyable and I recommend it!

We arrived in Tampa and picked up our Mitsubishi Galant (I think?!) from the Alamo rental site. It was a very nice car actually. My Dad said it was a joy to drive and there was a lot of space in the back for me! We set up camp in the Tampa Stadium, Holiday Inn express which was actually very nice. There was a spacious room and very nice Continental breakfast in the morning for $59!
We woke up early and headed north east to the haven that is Orlando! The journey wasa going well except we encountered a few accidents on the way which slowed us down a bit (none involved us of course). The journey reached a climax with the Universal Orlando turn off from I-4. I was welcomed by the view of Hulk, Doom, the Dragons and the many other icons of Universal Orlando towering into the blue sky.

As we made our way down Universal Blvd we saw the turnoff and turned into..... The Hard Rock Hotel! Our home for the short stay.

(Part 2 later!)

 

[AspiringCindy]

Can't wait to read about HRH!

 

[DaveWH]

We pulled up to the entrance and thought WOW! The hotel was amazing, the architecture was stunning and the landscaping was perfect. We pulled up to the entrance and were handed a piece of paper saying:

Due to the grand opening of our newest restaurant The Kitchen we are having a special ‘Velvet sessions’ on Thursday 30th October. Due to this we are unable to allow Self Park and all cars will be valet parked at no additional cost! Free Valet, we felt like royalty, so we left our car and headed to check in. Considering it was 8.30am at this point we were amazed our room was ready. We checked in with a very nice Scottish Lady who told us about the concert happening the night after and she explained the resort etc. We made our way to our third floor (lobby level), pool view room that was far enough from the lobby to avoid the loud music being played. The music being played made an incredible atmosphere in the hotel and it made the Hard Rock what it was!

At 9.30ish we headed over to the Studios to pick up our 3 day passes and headed straight for our first attraction…… E.T! Who knows why we picked that over some of the other attractions that we did. I won’t describe our whole day but I will describe what rides we did and what I thought of them:

WW Kidzone- Great little area which I’m sure I would have appreciated more if I had been there 7 or 8 years ago. (I’m nearly 16 now)
· E.T- A great family ride with some amazing themeing although some of it looks a bit dated. A very classic way to start the day. -Riden: Once (we were the only 3 on the thing!
· Woody Woodpeckers- You’ve gotta love Vekoma rollerskaters and this was a great little childrens ride which unfortunately gave me no thrill whatsoever. Oh well! Riden: once

World Expo- the themeing is a bit disjointed in the area but the view looking across to San Fran is amazing and beats all my expectations
· BTTF- I rode this in Universal Hollywood about 7 years ago and I was expected an out dated, fake ride. Oh I was wrong! The themeing, even though a bit dated sort of works well with the fact the ride seems to be based in the based! The time travel theme means it can look out dated. The ride itself was great and it didn’t have any floors! Riden: once
· MIB- Well I have to say; even though I only rode it once, something seemed to be missing for me. I can’t really pin point what it was but the attraction didn’t have the same WOW factor as rides like Jaws, Shrek and even the golden oldies like BTTF and Earthquake. It was good fun though and I got my score up to 300,000 on the only time I went on it. Themeing was very good though!

Amity/San Fran - I have to say I went into the Studios expecting good rides but an out dated atmosphere. I have to sack I was SO impressed with the themeing that I just didn’t want to leave. Here in England I have my home park Thorpe Park, which is literally NOTHING, compared to the Studios and the Islands. The studios alone could pick Thorpe Park and trample all over it. I know Universal has millions of dollars to invest and I have to say they have done it in the best way possible. The themeing and atmosphere of the Studios is second to none. Hats off to Universal!

I think that’s enough for this little section. I will write the next part soon with the rest of the attractions ridden on day one ( Wednesday 29th). Part 3…comin up soon!

 

[AspiringCindy]

What was your room like? There has been a lot of controversy over the bedding. Everyone seems to like the all white eyelet, while others are saying the green bedding is newer! Did the room seem rundown at all?

 

[DaveWH]

Our room was amazing. White everything with green oversheets! There was a CD player, TV (obviousl) a sink area which has a funky mirror and lighting. Our room had NOT ONE sign of being run down. From what I saw of the hotel you could believe it had opened the day before if someone told you. (oh except for one whole in a wall which I saw but I try to pretend I didn't see it).

The room also has a great bathroom and the main room contains memorabilia framed photos which are great. The charachter and feeling of the room is perfect. The curtain overhangs are particulary groovy!

One last thing. A full day at the parks + A hard rock hotel bedf = one of the best nights sleeps you will ever have! No exageration.

 

[SpideyHulk24]

Great report! Sounds like you had a grand time! Is there more? Can't wait to read it!

 

[Motherfletcher]

Good trip report Dave. My son is 15 and I don't think he would write one as good. MIB is not a wow but the competition is the draw. Either you against the Aliens or you against a companion or the other car. 300K is good though. My kids love the lighted mirror as well.

 

[highlander447]

Great trip report Dave and u are so right here in the UK we just don't have anything to compare to the themeing

 

[Flyfly_Eclipse]

I look forward to reading about the rest of your trip!

 

[JessicaR]

Hey Dave! Really enjoying your reports! Thanks for writing and please....continue!

Did you happen to have a meal at The Kitchen?

 

[DaveWH]

Anyway, moving into amity we took our first stop at one and only…

Jaws - This was one of the rides that I was most anticipating at USF. I wasn’t let down. The themeing was amazing, as I obviously had come to expect and the actual theme of Captain Jacks (Jakes? Can’t remember) boat tours were really were done! We had a woman as our guide (shortish, light brown hair? Didn’t get a name) and she was very good in the role. The sharks had just come out of rehab, if I’m right and they were looking very good. The story line was very good, simple, but pulled off very well. The jaws encounters were short, snappy which keeps the realism and surprise element going right until the end! The scene with the fire is simply cool! (Universal must get through a lot of gas everyday!). GREAT RIDE! Riden: Twice

On to Earthquake and I was very impressed with the overall attraction. I’ve heard reviews of people not liking the long pre-show but for us visiting theme park fans ANY pre-show is makes a ride better! Universal Florida is amazing at pre-shows I have decided J. Anyway I am interested in the whole ‘how they make movies’ stuff so I really enjoyed the pre-shows and the ride itself just proves Universal’s genius ability to make good attractions! Just how they make all those things fall over and explode and the train colliding etc etc is incredible. I’ve been to Universal several times before but the attractions always impress me, even on re-rides. Haha, when the train was moving between stations I couldn’t help but feel like I was on the London underground! Stations closed, derailed trains, long waits… (Any Brit’s will share my joke!)

I thought the area of Amity/San Fran and the New York areas had to be the best in the park! My dad was intrigues at Universal’s attention to detail with all the alleyways leading from the main streets.

At this point on day one (Wednesday, a week ago today ;-( I was in Universal) we had a burger in ‘The big one’ burger bar. We ate out on the ‘pier’ and we really felt like we could have been in San Fran. Except for the whole 20 metre lake then BTTF thing! The burger was lovely, then we headed over to ride Twister.

Twister - I wasn’t as impressed with the actual pre-show content but the scenery made up for it! Bill Paxton just annoys me. The ride was good but I didn’t think it was better than some of the oldies like Jaws and T2. Good ride though. Riden: once

We decided to leave a few of the Universal rides alone until day 2 (Shrek, T2, shows). We got our hand stamped, took a right out of Universal, passed Hard Rock + NBA city and walked up to the gates of Islands of Adventure!

Part 4 tomorrow. Tell me if the TRs are too long, I’ll shorten them if they are. Oh and I appreciate everyone reading them!

 

[DaveWH]

Oh and in reply to Jessica, I didn't eat in The Kitchen. We didn't actually eat in the HRH. We only had breakfast in the café type place where starbucks is... mmmmm American Donuts! ;-)

 

[SpideyHulk24]

Great report! Thank you for sharing. To answer your question, NO your reports are not too long! We can't get enough! So keep them coming!

Thanks again!

 

[highlander447]

Agree with spideyhulk your reports are good so keep them coming

 

[JessicaR]

Another great report! Can't wait to hear your thoughts on IOA! So our donuts are different? Hmmm wonder if they were krispy kremes? Check this out!

 

[ellie&mattys mom]

Where did you eat at the Hotel!!

Leaving Tuesday...group of 9 kids total of 5...ages 4 to 14 any tips....

 

[DaveWH]

We didn't actually have a main meal in the hotel! We ate breakfast in the cafeteria/mini-shop/starbucks they have which was very nice. Its good to grab a doughnut, bagel, coffee, cereals etc before you hit the parks. We ate in the parks during the day some recommendations:

- Mythos in Islands of Adventures is meant to be an amazing restaurant even though we didn't get to eat there.
-The restaurants (full service fish restaurant and fast-food burger restaturant) in San Francisco/Amity in the Studios gret places to sit on the 'wharf' and watch the world go by.
- The Kitchen IN the Hard Rock hotel is their new restaurant and i've heard some good things about it but i'm not as sure as I am with Mythos about how good it is.
- Citywalk is a great place to eat in the evenings, cheaper than the hotel (not by much) with some restaurants like: Hard Rock Cafe, NBA city, Nascar Cafe etc
- BUT if you really want to get cheap food to cater for ALL the familys tastes then head for one of the shopping centres. They have huge food courts with good food, cheap prices and big portions! Two I can recommend are the Florida Mall and Premium Outlets.

Just remember that in a resort like Universal there is NO shortage of food stores and i'm sure your choice will be redily available! Hope this helped.

 

[SpideyHulk24]

Dave,

Thanks for all the great info you are providing. I for one can't wait to try the HRH!!!!

 

[DaveWH]

.... we arrived at the gates of Islands of adventure at about 2PM. Can anyone guess where I went straight away???

-Hulk- which is an amazing ride! The launch was even better than I remember it from the last time I was there (May 2000). The first half inparticualr is just thrills, rush, thrills, rush but even after the MCBR I found it enjoyable. Riden (I won't even try and count the number of times I went on it).

Then it was on to Dudley Do Right's Ripsaw falls (try saying that 10 times in a row!) which is a wicked log flume! I didn't really pick up on the story line but the first drop is a complete surprise, the second is a nice little splashdown and the third is well....Incredible! The final drop on Dudley could be the only thing in the park and you'd still pay (about $2) to get in! The themeing of the ride is very well done and is possibly my favourite ride to look at and watch in the park!

The other rides we did included: Jurrassic Park River Adventure which I personnally can't get enough of! It's so unique and you just don't get anything like it in Britain. Well saying that the only thing you get in Britain that you do in Islands of Adventrue is Tea Cups (storm force) which was closed anyway whilst we were there. I had a few spins on the dragons aswell but by 4PM we were knackered considering having been up since 6 and it was our first full day away.

We got a relaxing water taxi back to the hotel which is a great way of getting around. We got back to the room, had showers and then headed to the Premium Outlets. They were good, not as good as I rememberd but the food court was great! We then left and got back to the Hotel where we went straight to our room and fell asleep!

That was day one:-

Best Ride:- Hulk/ripsaw falls/Jaws/DD
Best food:- Cheeseburger at the burger bar in San Fran
Funniet part: Soaking riders on Ripsaw falls with the machines at the end.

Day 2, coming soon hopefully but it won't be as detailed as Day 1 was!

 

[highlander447]

Nice start to your hols dave