Juanaiguana
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2005
- Messages
- 159
We decided for our 1st trip to Orlando as a family, we would start with Universal. We arrived at 8:30 in the morning, and were both pleased to find garage parking--until we realized how FAR we had to walk to get to the entrance! But it was alright, it was neat to walk through Citywalk when nobody was there.
By the time we took pics by the globe, the line had formed. Not 2 minutes into waiting, Shrek, Fiona, Dora and Jimmy Neutron arrived for pictures!!! There were very few small kids there, so dds 7 and 5 went right up with no wait. They were thrilled.
The line was very short to get in. We went straight to Woody Woodpecker's kidzone, as this was what the girls wanted to do first. THERE WAS NO ONE THERE. We were literally the only ones there. We walked onto to ET first, and DH asked about when the crowds would get here. The ET worker said it wouldn't get crowded until school let out, so we were pretty happy about that. The girls LOVED ET and we rode it 2x in a row without a wait, then the Woody rollercoaster 2x with no wait.
We headed to the BTTF ride which is still my favorite out of all the rides we went on in Orlando. What a great idea!! Headed to MIB, rode it 2x. NO WAIT. I found everyone to be very friendly and accommodating.
Ate at Mel's Drive in, so-so food. Went to see Animal Planet Live and got a treat as Jeff Corwin was the host that day, he has a show on Animal Planet. Show was hilarious. After that, we headed towards Amity. Stood in line a little for "Earthquake". DD 5 freaked out on this, she didn't like the fire. Went and waited in the longest line of the day at Jaws, for about 20 minutes. Both DDs liked this ride, they knew it wasn't real. Rewarded them with Dippin' Dots for their courage on taking on the great white!! Played Whack a Mole and the worker behind the game (guess I can't call him a CM...what do I call a Universal employee?? UE sounds like I'm calling a pig...
) was very friendly and telling DD jokes.
Then we went to Twister which I was pretty certain my DDs wouldn't handle but DH wanted to try...we didn't get through the opening monologue. Took the emergency exit and the Flintstones were outside so we followed their 'parade car' and ran smack into Chuckie from Rugrats. Got autograph, and the Universal personnel told me Crash Bandicoot would be next. Rode Shrek 4-D which was so fantastic, then we got pictures of the girls with Shrek & Donkey ears in front of the map of Duloc. Jimmy Neutron was next, that was fun.
By that time we were pretty tired but I had promised the girls we'd go back to Curious George's place to get wet. As they waited in line for the toboggan ride, Scooby doo and Shaggy arrived. Got their pics and Woody and Winnie Woodpecker showed up as well as Curious George and the man with the yellow hat. There was no line, and the characters were very accessible. I was very pleased with how organized the lines were and how friendly the characters were with us. I must admit though there were fewer people so they could spend more time with us. It was great.
We went to hard Rock for dinner which was delicious of course, then took the long walk back to the parking lot. It was about 6 when we left so there was still time to swim at the hotel.
Next time we will go to IOA but we wanted to wait until both girls were tall enough for all the rides. But I think most people are under the assumption that Universal Studios is not for kids, but ours were entertained the whole time and we all had a blast. Can't wait to go back!!!!
By the time we took pics by the globe, the line had formed. Not 2 minutes into waiting, Shrek, Fiona, Dora and Jimmy Neutron arrived for pictures!!! There were very few small kids there, so dds 7 and 5 went right up with no wait. They were thrilled.
The line was very short to get in. We went straight to Woody Woodpecker's kidzone, as this was what the girls wanted to do first. THERE WAS NO ONE THERE. We were literally the only ones there. We walked onto to ET first, and DH asked about when the crowds would get here. The ET worker said it wouldn't get crowded until school let out, so we were pretty happy about that. The girls LOVED ET and we rode it 2x in a row without a wait, then the Woody rollercoaster 2x with no wait.
We headed to the BTTF ride which is still my favorite out of all the rides we went on in Orlando. What a great idea!! Headed to MIB, rode it 2x. NO WAIT. I found everyone to be very friendly and accommodating.
Ate at Mel's Drive in, so-so food. Went to see Animal Planet Live and got a treat as Jeff Corwin was the host that day, he has a show on Animal Planet. Show was hilarious. After that, we headed towards Amity. Stood in line a little for "Earthquake". DD 5 freaked out on this, she didn't like the fire. Went and waited in the longest line of the day at Jaws, for about 20 minutes. Both DDs liked this ride, they knew it wasn't real. Rewarded them with Dippin' Dots for their courage on taking on the great white!! Played Whack a Mole and the worker behind the game (guess I can't call him a CM...what do I call a Universal employee?? UE sounds like I'm calling a pig...
) was very friendly and telling DD jokes. Then we went to Twister which I was pretty certain my DDs wouldn't handle but DH wanted to try...we didn't get through the opening monologue. Took the emergency exit and the Flintstones were outside so we followed their 'parade car' and ran smack into Chuckie from Rugrats. Got autograph, and the Universal personnel told me Crash Bandicoot would be next. Rode Shrek 4-D which was so fantastic, then we got pictures of the girls with Shrek & Donkey ears in front of the map of Duloc. Jimmy Neutron was next, that was fun.
By that time we were pretty tired but I had promised the girls we'd go back to Curious George's place to get wet. As they waited in line for the toboggan ride, Scooby doo and Shaggy arrived. Got their pics and Woody and Winnie Woodpecker showed up as well as Curious George and the man with the yellow hat. There was no line, and the characters were very accessible. I was very pleased with how organized the lines were and how friendly the characters were with us. I must admit though there were fewer people so they could spend more time with us. It was great.
We went to hard Rock for dinner which was delicious of course, then took the long walk back to the parking lot. It was about 6 when we left so there was still time to swim at the hotel.
Next time we will go to IOA but we wanted to wait until both girls were tall enough for all the rides. But I think most people are under the assumption that Universal Studios is not for kids, but ours were entertained the whole time and we all had a blast. Can't wait to go back!!!!
