stacktester
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2007
- Messages
- 3,704
We decided to take a weekend trip to US/IOA last weekend so I thought I'd share some of the trip.
We left Friday afternoon and set up the camper at Turkey Lake. Being that the fort was booked and even if it wasn't I wasn't paying over $100 a night to stay on concrete. I took my mom and of course my daughter. Once we set up we decided to hit Epcot for EMH. A friend staying on property got us 3 room keys so we could go. The lines were pretty busy but we were able to get on Soarin and Test Track pretty easy.
I decided to do the flex pay and get 2 passes for Annie and I and got my mom an annual pass for $99 which was cheaper than the 2 day ticket. Big Big Big mistake not doing it online. Went to the ticket window at IOA and it was a really long line. by the end of this TR you will realize I'm not a fan of how things are done at US/IOA. We hit the Hulk 1st. It's a great ride but the que stinks. We just wing it and had no plan but to do the coasters and Spiderman. It was pretty chilly so the water rides were pretty empty. Annie and a friends son who joined us did all 3 of their water rides. I guess the youngins can handle being frozen all day. Once we got to Dueling Dragons it said 40 minute wait. Why I don't know because we got on in less than 10 minutes. Checked out the Harry Potter area which looks like will be interesting. We had pretty much seen what we wanted to do so we jumped over to US. The new coaster Rip, Ride, Rockit was packed. It looked pretty cool though. We decided to hit what we could so we didn't have to worry about it Sunday, We got on MIB, Mummy and Disaster. Afterwards we went to Old Town to eat at Flippers Pizza. Very good place to eat BTW.
Sunday we decided to grab breakfast at Cinnabon on CityWalk. Really good. We were at the gate at 8:15 and already a huge line had formed. What? Why were there about 100 people inside the gate for when the park didn't open til 0900? Well they let us in too and of course those people were in line for RRR. They let us head to the que but the gate was closed. There's a big stage just to the right and we were lined up there and made to wait til 10:00. Everyone was very mad that we had to wait. Had we not wanted to ride RRR we could've done almost everything in the park because there was nobody going to other attractions. Finally we got on RRR and it is a really good ride. Forgot to mention once we got in the que it took another 30 minutes to get on. The ride was great but the loading/unloading was very poorly designed and it takes forever. We pretty much decided to only do the Mummy and Simpsons ride then get some lunch. The food at US is all the same at the restaurants and I wasn't impressed. We only booked Friday and Sat. night at TL so I had to go get the camper. I left Annie and my mom to ride RRR so I could go. When I got back I had to go to an area where my camper was inspected. A lady came in and looked around and gave me a pass. I told her I was unhappy with all the delays. She said she totally understood. It's a long walk BTW from the RV area. Once I got back Annie and Mom were at IOA waiting for Hulk. I joined them after the ride and we went to Dueling again which once again had a 50 minute wait but we practically walked on.
On the way out Annie wanted to do the Hulk again so her and my mom went again. I love the Hulk but I actually stopped at Margaritaville for a couple margs when I got back to meet them and they weren't agreeing with Dueling Dragons so I opted out.
We could not extend TL so we decided to go to Disney for dinner and then drive home. It was still early so we hit AK and did Everest, Prime evil Whirl and Dinosaur. I had really wanted my mom to see the Osborne Lights so we hit DHS and got on RNR and TOT pretty quick. The park closed at 8:00 so we checked out the lights and left. We were almost going to do EMH at the MK but after we got turned away at Whispering Canyon we decided to head home. Never was I so glad we got turned away for dinner. We went to Lonestar and had a much better dinner than WC could ever do and it was a lot cheaper. I'm buying myself a camera for Christmas so maybe some pics will be in future reports lol. BTW my mom used a military ticket a friend used only one day on and expires tomorrow. I know, I'm going to Disney Hell one day. It went right thru with no problems.
Just to add why I was unhappy with US. They do not know how to load rides. There were a lot of delays that could've been avoided. The parking toll booth only had about 3/4's of them open when 100's of cars were coming in. Both parks come thru there and the lanes were packed. Instead of just showing your annual pass to park free they actually make you show ID which IMO takes extra time. The cast members aren't friendly at all. Nobody seems too happy. They swiped the pass to make sure it was valid and it gives you a receipt. Just more time. I plan on writing a letter to them this week to let them know I wasn't happy. I wish we had just done the $99 pass and gone again next year. US/IOA isn't something I want to do anytime soon and I lost $480 to find out.
On a good note I wanted to mention Turkey Lake was great as usual. Still $15. They installed an electric gate since our last visit. They used to have a gate you had to get out and open which was fine but I wasn't too fond of when we came in late at night. The park is in a good area but I didn't like the old system.
We left Friday afternoon and set up the camper at Turkey Lake. Being that the fort was booked and even if it wasn't I wasn't paying over $100 a night to stay on concrete. I took my mom and of course my daughter. Once we set up we decided to hit Epcot for EMH. A friend staying on property got us 3 room keys so we could go. The lines were pretty busy but we were able to get on Soarin and Test Track pretty easy.
I decided to do the flex pay and get 2 passes for Annie and I and got my mom an annual pass for $99 which was cheaper than the 2 day ticket. Big Big Big mistake not doing it online. Went to the ticket window at IOA and it was a really long line. by the end of this TR you will realize I'm not a fan of how things are done at US/IOA. We hit the Hulk 1st. It's a great ride but the que stinks. We just wing it and had no plan but to do the coasters and Spiderman. It was pretty chilly so the water rides were pretty empty. Annie and a friends son who joined us did all 3 of their water rides. I guess the youngins can handle being frozen all day. Once we got to Dueling Dragons it said 40 minute wait. Why I don't know because we got on in less than 10 minutes. Checked out the Harry Potter area which looks like will be interesting. We had pretty much seen what we wanted to do so we jumped over to US. The new coaster Rip, Ride, Rockit was packed. It looked pretty cool though. We decided to hit what we could so we didn't have to worry about it Sunday, We got on MIB, Mummy and Disaster. Afterwards we went to Old Town to eat at Flippers Pizza. Very good place to eat BTW.
Sunday we decided to grab breakfast at Cinnabon on CityWalk. Really good. We were at the gate at 8:15 and already a huge line had formed. What? Why were there about 100 people inside the gate for when the park didn't open til 0900? Well they let us in too and of course those people were in line for RRR. They let us head to the que but the gate was closed. There's a big stage just to the right and we were lined up there and made to wait til 10:00. Everyone was very mad that we had to wait. Had we not wanted to ride RRR we could've done almost everything in the park because there was nobody going to other attractions. Finally we got on RRR and it is a really good ride. Forgot to mention once we got in the que it took another 30 minutes to get on. The ride was great but the loading/unloading was very poorly designed and it takes forever. We pretty much decided to only do the Mummy and Simpsons ride then get some lunch. The food at US is all the same at the restaurants and I wasn't impressed. We only booked Friday and Sat. night at TL so I had to go get the camper. I left Annie and my mom to ride RRR so I could go. When I got back I had to go to an area where my camper was inspected. A lady came in and looked around and gave me a pass. I told her I was unhappy with all the delays. She said she totally understood. It's a long walk BTW from the RV area. Once I got back Annie and Mom were at IOA waiting for Hulk. I joined them after the ride and we went to Dueling again which once again had a 50 minute wait but we practically walked on.
On the way out Annie wanted to do the Hulk again so her and my mom went again. I love the Hulk but I actually stopped at Margaritaville for a couple margs when I got back to meet them and they weren't agreeing with Dueling Dragons so I opted out.
We could not extend TL so we decided to go to Disney for dinner and then drive home. It was still early so we hit AK and did Everest, Prime evil Whirl and Dinosaur. I had really wanted my mom to see the Osborne Lights so we hit DHS and got on RNR and TOT pretty quick. The park closed at 8:00 so we checked out the lights and left. We were almost going to do EMH at the MK but after we got turned away at Whispering Canyon we decided to head home. Never was I so glad we got turned away for dinner. We went to Lonestar and had a much better dinner than WC could ever do and it was a lot cheaper. I'm buying myself a camera for Christmas so maybe some pics will be in future reports lol. BTW my mom used a military ticket a friend used only one day on and expires tomorrow. I know, I'm going to Disney Hell one day. It went right thru with no problems.
Just to add why I was unhappy with US. They do not know how to load rides. There were a lot of delays that could've been avoided. The parking toll booth only had about 3/4's of them open when 100's of cars were coming in. Both parks come thru there and the lanes were packed. Instead of just showing your annual pass to park free they actually make you show ID which IMO takes extra time. The cast members aren't friendly at all. Nobody seems too happy. They swiped the pass to make sure it was valid and it gives you a receipt. Just more time. I plan on writing a letter to them this week to let them know I wasn't happy. I wish we had just done the $99 pass and gone again next year. US/IOA isn't something I want to do anytime soon and I lost $480 to find out.
On a good note I wanted to mention Turkey Lake was great as usual. Still $15. They installed an electric gate since our last visit. They used to have a gate you had to get out and open which was fine but I wasn't too fond of when we came in late at night. The park is in a good area but I didn't like the old system.
Some of the rides sound cool, so maybe someday when my kids are a bit older we'll check it out. 
I really feel like as a family we would get more use out of a camper, but it's duck season and he needed a boat now.
We'll just do all of our camping in FL with my family until we build our camper fund back up.
)
