luvflorida
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2003
- Messages
- 6,976
Hi! I'm usually over on the community board, but I wanted to post a trip report here about our day at Universal Studios. It will be long because I like details!
My husband, DD14, and I flew out of Portland, Maine on Wednesday, January 26. We were on our way for a five day trip to Orlando. It was a business trip for my husband, so he didn't join us at US, but he did get to spend an evening at Citywalk with us. We were supposed to fly from Portland to Boston, but due to weather conditions, (snow!), we had to fly from Portland to Cincinnati, then on to Orlando, arriving after midnight. We picked up our rental car and drove to our hotel. We stayed at the Doubletree Suites on Kirkman Road, right across from the entrance to Universal Studios. We choose this hotel mainly because that is where the business convention was being held that my husband was attending.
I would recommend this hotel to anyone who wants to stay near US. It is a high rise hotel with two towers. I usually prefer hotels that are only a few stories high with a balcony or patio, but for some reason I didn't mind the high rise. We were given freshly baked chocolate chip cookies upon arrival, and our room, and the rest of the hotel, was very clean, and the staff was friendly and helpful. I am very picky about hotel swimming pools because I LOVE swimming and, living in Maine, we don't get a lot of swimming weather. So when I'm choosing a hotel, I always consider the swimming pool. Well, this one didn't disappoint! It was very large, very clean, and heated. And, best of all, the times my daughter and I went swimming, we had it almost all to ourselves. I'm sure it would be different in the summer, but the few people who were poolside, were just relaxing in lounge chairs. Also, I suppose people in Florida were cold because the temperature was around the low 70's and cloudy, but to us it was like summertime! And the pool was heated to a very comfortable temperature.
Thursday, January 27, we drove to Ocala to visit some friends, and we ate lunch at the Olive Garden restaurant somewhere on the way back to Orlando. That evening we walked over to TGIFriday's which is right next door to the Doubletree Suites. Food and service were very good.
Friday morning, my husband went to his convention, and my daughter and I walked over to US. It took us about fifteen minutes and it was a very pretty walk, once we crossed the highway. There were traffic lights and crosswalks, but it was a busy highway, and we were very cautious getting across. The walkway took us along the waterway by the US resorts. We took an escalator up to Citywalk, then a few 'people-movers'. We arrived at US around 9am, and the park was almost empty until around 11am. Unfortunately the weather wasn't the best. It was high 60's and drizzly, but we didn't really mind that much. The sun peaked out a few times, and it never really rained much. Compared to the weather we left behind, it was heaven!
I don't care for coaster type rides, or anything that moves around too much, so we didn't do any of those attractions. My daughter would have but she didn't want to do them alone. I told her next time, she can bring a friend and they can hit all the wild rides. So, here is a run down of what we experienced and how we liked them. We wanted to visit Earthquake, but it was closed for maintenance.
Shrek4D- We walked right in, no line. This was a fun show. The pre-attraction, or holding area, was actually quite entertaining. Once seated, my daughter put her feet up in her seat because she didn't want to feel anything that might touch her. Haha! She missed the feeling of spiders crawling on her legs. Whenever Shrek's carriage moved on the screen, our seats also moved. I didn't really care for that part! The seats would sometimes suddenly jerk forward or backward when you didn't expect it, and when the donkey sneezed, we felt it. Ewwwwww!
Twister- We both really liked this attraction. The twister was awesome. The effects were very good, and I know at one point I started to wonder just how realistic is this going to get! We could feel the wind, rain, and the heat from the fires. When the tin roof over our heads started to blow away, I was ready to get out of there!
ET- I know this attraction is a bit outdated, but I still like it. Daughter wanted to skip it, but I insisted we ride it. Last time we visited US she was 6 years old and afraid to ride ET. Now, at 14, I think she was embarrassed and thought it was more for younger kids. Again, no line. DD said it kind of reminded her of Peter Pan's Flight in the MK.
JAWS- This was the first time either of us had experienced this attraction. Last time we visited US it was summertime and we never made it to Jaws because we left the park early due to extreme heat. We had maybe a five or ten minute wait, and my daughter was getting nervous about doing this attraction, which I didn't really understand because she loves scary things. Well, when she saw the boat we'd be getting in, she relaxed. Up until that point, she thought we were getting in canoes or some other type of really small boat! Let me just say that if you really want to get up-close and personal with the shark, be sure to sit on the left hand side of the boat in row four. That is where I ended up, and at one point, the shark came up practically right in my face! It is also a wet place to sit! We enjoyed this attraction and planned on going back to it, but we ran out of time.
Horror Make-Up Show- This show is an absolute hoot and one of the best I've seen in any theme park! This turned out to be our favorite attraction, and we ended up seeing it FOUR times! The two guys performing in the show are a riot, and it was fun to see little differences in each show we saw. In each show they chose a middle-aged woman to assist them on stage, and it was really funny to see how they incorporated her into their shows. Even knowing what was going to happen, we still laughed hysterically at each show. I would recommend this show for slightly older kids. Younger kids might be frightened by some of the film footage and by some of the antics performed by the actors.
Lucy- A Tribute- This was a must-see for me, even though I've seen it before. I'm a HUGE Lucille Ball fan, and I made my daughter take pictures of me by Lucy's star, and by her various awards, costumes, etc. If you were at this attraction on the afternoon of January 28, I was the crazy lady having her picture taken all throughout the attraction. Haha!
Animal Planet Live- We were disappointed in this show. There was too much film footage of animals and not enough live animals. I didn't really feel it was worth the time it took to see the show. If you've seen the live animal show at Sea World, (I can't remember the name of it), you'll probably be disappointed in the US one. The Sea World one is much more entertaining.
We ate lunch at the Monster's Cafe. The food was good, but pricey. We also had fries and cokes at Mel's Drive-In. I wished I had put a few plastic cups in my backpack before entering the parks. Every place we went we ordered small drinks, but they were HUGE! We easily could have split one.
We spent time in some of the shops, and ended up buying a few things. We also watched the Blues Brothers performance and thought they were very good. We got a kick out of an older gentleman in the crowd who was letting loose and dancing like crazy! Throughout the day we met Shrek, the Flintstones, and a couple of ghostbusters. The park closed at 6pm, and on the way out we were approached by an employee who wanted us to answer a survey about our day at US. I agreed and it took about ten minutes.
We walked back through Citywalk and to our hotel. That evening we attended an event at the convention my husband was at.
Saturday, January 29, my daughter and I walked over to Citywalk and did some shopping, and ate lunch at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. Food, (large portions), and service was very good. The restaurant is decorated in a fun, tropical theme and concert footage of Jimmy Buffet is played on several large screens. It was fun watching the "volcano" erupt at the top of the bar. Margarita mix, (I think that's what it is, a bright green liquid), flows out of the volcano and down into a huge blender by the bar. I found a few 'must-have' items in the Margaritaville gift shop! After lunch we headed back to the hotel and spent time at the pool.
The convention was over, so all three of us went over to Citywalk for the evening. We had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. I'm a big Beatles fan, so I had to take a walk outside to take pictures of the Magical Mystery Tour bus. It is actually on the property of US, so the lady wouldn't let me step through the turnstile where I could have gotten a better picture. I SO wanted to touch the bus! Upstairs at the Hard Rock Cafe there is a room totally devoted to The Beatles. The doors leading into the room are the actual doors that were on the front of Abbey Road Studios. Yes, I touched them and had my picture taken by them! Our waiter was very attentive and talkative. He was a lot of fun. I ordered the chicken wings with BBQ sauce as an appetizer, but found them to be way too spicy. I could only eat two of them. The waiter asked about them, and I said they ere just a lot spicier than I thought they would be. He offered to bring something else, but I said it was okay. When he brought our bill, he said he didn't charge us for the wings because he knew I didn't enjoy them. I thought that was nice of him. Other than that, the food was delicious.
More shopping, then we decided to see a movie at the big cineplex. Nice, big, comfortable seats with stadium seating! Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel. We had to be up early for our return flight home.
Our fight was scheduled to leave Orlando at 8am. We got to the airport about two hours ahead of our flight, and it's a good thing we did. Orlando airport, (Delta anyway), was a chaotic mess. Long lines with cranky people, and nobody from Delta helping anyone out. Signs were unclear, people were cutting in front of other people, etc. We made our flight only because we ran like heck and they actually held the plane, (which normally wouldn't happen), because there were about a dozen people still scrambling to get to the gate. We flew tro Cincinnati, then to Portland. All of our flights were very smooth with little or no turbulence. We made it to Portland on time, but our luggage didn't. There wasn't time to get it onto our connecting flight in Cincinnati, so it arrived late that night. Airport personnel delivered it to our house at 2 in the morning.
It was a great trip, we had a lot of fun, and it was delightful to leave the cold and snow for a few days in Florida! Any questions, just ask! Thanks for reading my LONG trip report!
My husband, DD14, and I flew out of Portland, Maine on Wednesday, January 26. We were on our way for a five day trip to Orlando. It was a business trip for my husband, so he didn't join us at US, but he did get to spend an evening at Citywalk with us. We were supposed to fly from Portland to Boston, but due to weather conditions, (snow!), we had to fly from Portland to Cincinnati, then on to Orlando, arriving after midnight. We picked up our rental car and drove to our hotel. We stayed at the Doubletree Suites on Kirkman Road, right across from the entrance to Universal Studios. We choose this hotel mainly because that is where the business convention was being held that my husband was attending.
I would recommend this hotel to anyone who wants to stay near US. It is a high rise hotel with two towers. I usually prefer hotels that are only a few stories high with a balcony or patio, but for some reason I didn't mind the high rise. We were given freshly baked chocolate chip cookies upon arrival, and our room, and the rest of the hotel, was very clean, and the staff was friendly and helpful. I am very picky about hotel swimming pools because I LOVE swimming and, living in Maine, we don't get a lot of swimming weather. So when I'm choosing a hotel, I always consider the swimming pool. Well, this one didn't disappoint! It was very large, very clean, and heated. And, best of all, the times my daughter and I went swimming, we had it almost all to ourselves. I'm sure it would be different in the summer, but the few people who were poolside, were just relaxing in lounge chairs. Also, I suppose people in Florida were cold because the temperature was around the low 70's and cloudy, but to us it was like summertime! And the pool was heated to a very comfortable temperature.
Thursday, January 27, we drove to Ocala to visit some friends, and we ate lunch at the Olive Garden restaurant somewhere on the way back to Orlando. That evening we walked over to TGIFriday's which is right next door to the Doubletree Suites. Food and service were very good.
Friday morning, my husband went to his convention, and my daughter and I walked over to US. It took us about fifteen minutes and it was a very pretty walk, once we crossed the highway. There were traffic lights and crosswalks, but it was a busy highway, and we were very cautious getting across. The walkway took us along the waterway by the US resorts. We took an escalator up to Citywalk, then a few 'people-movers'. We arrived at US around 9am, and the park was almost empty until around 11am. Unfortunately the weather wasn't the best. It was high 60's and drizzly, but we didn't really mind that much. The sun peaked out a few times, and it never really rained much. Compared to the weather we left behind, it was heaven!
I don't care for coaster type rides, or anything that moves around too much, so we didn't do any of those attractions. My daughter would have but she didn't want to do them alone. I told her next time, she can bring a friend and they can hit all the wild rides. So, here is a run down of what we experienced and how we liked them. We wanted to visit Earthquake, but it was closed for maintenance.
Shrek4D- We walked right in, no line. This was a fun show. The pre-attraction, or holding area, was actually quite entertaining. Once seated, my daughter put her feet up in her seat because she didn't want to feel anything that might touch her. Haha! She missed the feeling of spiders crawling on her legs. Whenever Shrek's carriage moved on the screen, our seats also moved. I didn't really care for that part! The seats would sometimes suddenly jerk forward or backward when you didn't expect it, and when the donkey sneezed, we felt it. Ewwwwww!
Twister- We both really liked this attraction. The twister was awesome. The effects were very good, and I know at one point I started to wonder just how realistic is this going to get! We could feel the wind, rain, and the heat from the fires. When the tin roof over our heads started to blow away, I was ready to get out of there!
ET- I know this attraction is a bit outdated, but I still like it. Daughter wanted to skip it, but I insisted we ride it. Last time we visited US she was 6 years old and afraid to ride ET. Now, at 14, I think she was embarrassed and thought it was more for younger kids. Again, no line. DD said it kind of reminded her of Peter Pan's Flight in the MK.
JAWS- This was the first time either of us had experienced this attraction. Last time we visited US it was summertime and we never made it to Jaws because we left the park early due to extreme heat. We had maybe a five or ten minute wait, and my daughter was getting nervous about doing this attraction, which I didn't really understand because she loves scary things. Well, when she saw the boat we'd be getting in, she relaxed. Up until that point, she thought we were getting in canoes or some other type of really small boat! Let me just say that if you really want to get up-close and personal with the shark, be sure to sit on the left hand side of the boat in row four. That is where I ended up, and at one point, the shark came up practically right in my face! It is also a wet place to sit! We enjoyed this attraction and planned on going back to it, but we ran out of time.
Horror Make-Up Show- This show is an absolute hoot and one of the best I've seen in any theme park! This turned out to be our favorite attraction, and we ended up seeing it FOUR times! The two guys performing in the show are a riot, and it was fun to see little differences in each show we saw. In each show they chose a middle-aged woman to assist them on stage, and it was really funny to see how they incorporated her into their shows. Even knowing what was going to happen, we still laughed hysterically at each show. I would recommend this show for slightly older kids. Younger kids might be frightened by some of the film footage and by some of the antics performed by the actors.
Lucy- A Tribute- This was a must-see for me, even though I've seen it before. I'm a HUGE Lucille Ball fan, and I made my daughter take pictures of me by Lucy's star, and by her various awards, costumes, etc. If you were at this attraction on the afternoon of January 28, I was the crazy lady having her picture taken all throughout the attraction. Haha!
Animal Planet Live- We were disappointed in this show. There was too much film footage of animals and not enough live animals. I didn't really feel it was worth the time it took to see the show. If you've seen the live animal show at Sea World, (I can't remember the name of it), you'll probably be disappointed in the US one. The Sea World one is much more entertaining.
We ate lunch at the Monster's Cafe. The food was good, but pricey. We also had fries and cokes at Mel's Drive-In. I wished I had put a few plastic cups in my backpack before entering the parks. Every place we went we ordered small drinks, but they were HUGE! We easily could have split one.
We spent time in some of the shops, and ended up buying a few things. We also watched the Blues Brothers performance and thought they were very good. We got a kick out of an older gentleman in the crowd who was letting loose and dancing like crazy! Throughout the day we met Shrek, the Flintstones, and a couple of ghostbusters. The park closed at 6pm, and on the way out we were approached by an employee who wanted us to answer a survey about our day at US. I agreed and it took about ten minutes.
We walked back through Citywalk and to our hotel. That evening we attended an event at the convention my husband was at.
Saturday, January 29, my daughter and I walked over to Citywalk and did some shopping, and ate lunch at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville. Food, (large portions), and service was very good. The restaurant is decorated in a fun, tropical theme and concert footage of Jimmy Buffet is played on several large screens. It was fun watching the "volcano" erupt at the top of the bar. Margarita mix, (I think that's what it is, a bright green liquid), flows out of the volcano and down into a huge blender by the bar. I found a few 'must-have' items in the Margaritaville gift shop! After lunch we headed back to the hotel and spent time at the pool.
The convention was over, so all three of us went over to Citywalk for the evening. We had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. I'm a big Beatles fan, so I had to take a walk outside to take pictures of the Magical Mystery Tour bus. It is actually on the property of US, so the lady wouldn't let me step through the turnstile where I could have gotten a better picture. I SO wanted to touch the bus! Upstairs at the Hard Rock Cafe there is a room totally devoted to The Beatles. The doors leading into the room are the actual doors that were on the front of Abbey Road Studios. Yes, I touched them and had my picture taken by them! Our waiter was very attentive and talkative. He was a lot of fun. I ordered the chicken wings with BBQ sauce as an appetizer, but found them to be way too spicy. I could only eat two of them. The waiter asked about them, and I said they ere just a lot spicier than I thought they would be. He offered to bring something else, but I said it was okay. When he brought our bill, he said he didn't charge us for the wings because he knew I didn't enjoy them. I thought that was nice of him. Other than that, the food was delicious.
More shopping, then we decided to see a movie at the big cineplex. Nice, big, comfortable seats with stadium seating! Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel. We had to be up early for our return flight home.
Our fight was scheduled to leave Orlando at 8am. We got to the airport about two hours ahead of our flight, and it's a good thing we did. Orlando airport, (Delta anyway), was a chaotic mess. Long lines with cranky people, and nobody from Delta helping anyone out. Signs were unclear, people were cutting in front of other people, etc. We made our flight only because we ran like heck and they actually held the plane, (which normally wouldn't happen), because there were about a dozen people still scrambling to get to the gate. We flew tro Cincinnati, then to Portland. All of our flights were very smooth with little or no turbulence. We made it to Portland on time, but our luggage didn't. There wasn't time to get it onto our connecting flight in Cincinnati, so it arrived late that night. Airport personnel delivered it to our house at 2 in the morning.
It was a great trip, we had a lot of fun, and it was delightful to leave the cold and snow for a few days in Florida! Any questions, just ask! Thanks for reading my LONG trip report!
