Welcome, Foolish Muggles! IoA/US/MK/SW July 2011* Top Ten "Things" *

[natebenma]

Absolutely loved reading your trip report

Your pictures are fabulous, Portofino Bay looks so beautiful, we only had a quick wander around it, but will have to go back and have another look. Food looks good too.

We love Lombards, missed out last year but will be back this year.

Looking forward to reading the rest

Thank you so much!

We enjoyed our meal at Lombard's, I LOVED the atmosphere and the price was not bad for a themepark sit-down lunch.

 

[natebenma]

O.W.L. answer key is finally up. Top of this page (3)

Feel free to post your score (or not) with your next post.

Thanks for playing!

 

[ngoldy]

With the exception of Harry's birthday, the Weasley children, and the spells, I would have failed miserably! LOL What a fun, creative party you planned, though!

-Nancy

 

[DonnaLeah]

I have been keeping up with you trip report and can't wait for more! My family will be there on Tues for five nighst!!

 

[JRoyster86]

I hope you get a chance to go again. Where would you stay?

When we went before we stayed at Hard Rock Hotel and this time we're looking to stay at Royal Pacific. We'll probably be going during high season (I'm a teacher) so we can't pass up that extra hour at WWoHP and the express passes!

 

[natebenma]

With the exception of Harry's birthday, the Weasley children, and the spells, I would have failed miserably! LOL What a fun, creative party you planned, though!

-Nancy

It was all for fun!

I enjoyed planning the party. I specialize in Star Wars events, too!!!

I have been keeping up with you trip report and can't wait for more! My family will be there on Tues for five nighst!!

I'm very excited for you! Hope you get a chance to tune in tomorrow, I'll have a little more Islands of Adventure adventures!

Have a fantastic trip!!!

When we went before we stayed at Hard Rock Hotel and this time we're looking to stay at Royal Pacific. We'll probably be going during high season (I'm a teacher) so we can't pass up that extra hour at WWoHP and the express passes!

Both of those perks were wonderful!!! After your stay, I hope you get a chance to report back about how the two resorts compare.

 

[xApril]

Thank you so much!!!





I hope you get a chance to go again. Where would you stay?



I appreciate your comments. Lots more to come.

I see you live in Orlando. Do you have APs for Universal and/or Disney?

I used to have an AP for Universal, but I actually got hired back in November so I don't have an AP anymore. My Dad works at Disney so I get in for free there. Living the life, I guess you could say.

Can't wait to see the rest!

 

[jmamom]

PERCY! I knew I was forgetting one! And Mrs. Figg, thats her name! At least I got Harry's birthday right
Enjoying the report. I don't think I'll be getting to Universal anytime soon - my 7 year old may never be ready for some of those rides - so I am loving all your pictures!

 

[pixeegrl]

One of the best TR! Can't wait for more!!!

 

[natebenma]

PERCY! I knew I was forgetting one! And Mrs. Figg, thats her name! At least I got Harry's birthday right
Enjoying the report. I don't think I'll be getting to Universal anytime soon - my 7 year old may never be ready for some of those rides - so I am loving all your pictures!

If you knew there were 7 Weasley children, even if you couldn't name them, you get the points.

HOpe you enjoyed the quiz

One of the best TR! Can't wait for more!!!

Thank you so much! Here you go:

 

[natebenma]

When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth!

Next to WWoHP (and conveniently next to WWoHP), the attraction we were most looking forward to was Jurassic Park.

Michael Crichton’s tale of a theme park where prehistoric creatures are brought back from extinction and then things start to go terribly wrong is one of my all-time favorite books. It’s an exciting story full of action, wit and science.

Mark and I are not frequent movie goers, but we did attend Jurassic Park on its opening weekend. The movie is excellent, even though it did not include two of my favorite parts from the book (when they discovered the dinosaurs were reproducing by changing the way they programmed the animal count “Add one”, and the lysine contingency)

Ben has been a dino lover his whole life, and the Jurassic park movies are one of his favorite series. He draws dinosaurs, owns countless books and as my dad says “Ben has more dinosaurs (toys) than existed in the time of dinosaurs!”

So this was destined to be his favorite destination.

Our first planned stop:

Jurassic Park River Adventure- Escape the jaws of a T-rex on a river raft.
(Note, you are the ones on the river raft. Not the dinosaur. Although that would be cool to see!)
Think AK's Dinosaur meets Splash Mountain

As we approached the ride, we noticed there was no line. ROAR! The TMs were shooing people away. No ETA on when the ride would reopen.

We changed course and went to Camp Jurassic (think AK’s Boneyard)- Run, climb and explore in this prehistoric playground. It is a huge play area/jungle gym area, thoughtfully shaded, and although this area is “too juvenile” for our kids, there are a couple of things to do here:

Pteranodon Flyers- Soar through the air on a gliding roller coaster for kids.
Since Disney doesn’t have any skyrides anymore, the closest comparison would be a very very very low-rent Soarin’.

This is a very quick ride and since the load capacity is very small, one can only ride it if accompanied by a guest under 54 inches tall. An adult couple can’t ride this ride without borrowing a young child. Fortunately, we have one of those

“Kids”-Ellie Satler
“What are those?”-Dr. Grant
“Like adults, only smaller”-Ellie
Above dialogue from Jurassic Park

Mark and Ben took off, while Nate and I waited.

When they came back, we decided it was time to get wet!

We were off to Toon Lagoon (Toon Town?)

You’re gonna get wet, eh?

First up: Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls- Fun and hilarious flume ride.
This is essentially Splash Mountain in the setting of O! Canada, with corny visual jokes a la Jungle Boat.

Here is where Universal Studios started to turn me into a rule breaker. They tried to separate me from my camera. Uh-Uh. Not gonna happen. Had my camera out, and I heard over the loudspeaker from the control room. “You have to put your camera away”

I think I mentioned earlier that I understand and respect the whole “No Flash Photography” dogma, but what is the harm in snapping away, flashless?

Oh, no, they didn’t stop me, but they did make me feel dirty!

That was fun!!! You get wetter than you do on Splash.

We decided to go right back on again.

This time I kept my camera stowed away.

Until after we had passed the control booth.

Continued in Next Post

 

[natebenma]

You’re going to get wetter, "A-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah-gah!" (Popeye's laugh)

The next wet ride is conveniently also located in Toon Lagoon.

Unfortunately, when we went by, it wasn’t open yet, another 15 minutes.

We decide to go back once again, to see if JP River Adventure had opened yet. It hadn’t.

So we returned to Popeye and Bluto’s Bilge Rat Barges- Brave white-water rapids in this churning raft ride.

If I have to tell you which ride this is like…

Fins to the Left, Fins to the Right

Nobody was in line for this ride when we finished up, so we asked the operators if we could go again, without going back to the start of the line, and they said fine, so we immediately boarded and rode again. When we finished, a couple of our fellow passengers asked us if we had been allowed to stay on the ride, and we told them yes and they should ask. They did, but DENIED!


Olive My Love (apologies to Led Zeppelin)

The next place we went was a place I would have skipped if I hadn’t read about in my guidebook:

Me Ship, The Olive- Multi-level ship playground is an ocean of fun.
Closest to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids play area, on the surface this attraction would seem too juvenile for my family.

But here are two excellent reasons to climb aboard:

Amazing views from the top level!


Mythos restaurant

Dragon Challenge

Seuss Landing

Rip Ride Rocket

The Hulk

And fun!

On the second level, you will find water cannons you can use to shoot water on the passengers of the Bilge Rat Barges. There is no charge for this!

Let’s check Jurassic Park River Adventure again, shall we?

Nope. Still closed.

This reminded me of the scene in Jurassic Park when Ian Malcolm leans to face the camera in his electric tour car when the T-Rex doesn't appear- “Now eventually you might have dinosaurs on your dinosaur tour, right? Hello?”



Next up: Stuck at the barrier to Station 9 ¾ (where I learn I am the victim of a time-turner) and some much needed magic

.

 

[SharonK0527]

All caught up and loving your trip report!! We have only been to IoA once and it was about 5 years ago. Our upcoming trip in October is devoted to doing all of the non-Disney parks we never go to - US, IoA, SW, etc. We are really looking forward to it and we are SO excited to see WWoHP!!! We loved the Popeye barge ride and I remember we went on it 5 times in a row the day we were there - there was no line so we just kept getting back on. Thanks for the tip about Me Ship the Olive - my daughter will turn 11 on this trip but she still likes to have fun and I know she'll want to use those water guns to squirt people!

Can't wait for your next update!

 

[Fantasmic23]

I am loving it! Awesome, awesome TR! We're leaving this Sunday (I can't believe it's here already!) and I just know Universal is going to be sweeter the second time around! Your pictures continue to blow me away!

Another words of thanks for Me Ship, The Olive. This was something that we skipped last time around. I know my daughter (12) will continue to roll her eyes, but my son (9) just saw the movie "Popeye" (Robin Williams, Shelley Duvall) and he is very excited to explore!

 

[Disneybuckeye]

I am really enjoying your report. Can wait for the importan Harry Potter Tip. Loved the quiz, but I probably would have failed. That is why I am in the middle of rereading allthe books. I want to be on top of things when we go in December.

 

[natebenma]

Just back from seeing Deathly Hallows Part 2- WOW!!! I'm very impressed with what was included in the movie. Although a few pieces were missing, for the most part I thought it was a very well-done recreation of the last book.

All caught up and loving your trip report!! We have only been to IoA once and it was about 5 years ago. Our upcoming trip in October is devoted to doing all of the non-Disney parks we never go to - US, IoA, SW, etc. We are really looking forward to it and we are SO excited to see WWoHP!!! We loved the Popeye barge ride and I remember we went on it 5 times in a row the day we were there - there was no line so we just kept getting back on. Thanks for the tip about Me Ship the Olive - my daughter will turn 11 on this trip but she still likes to have fun and I know she'll want to use those water guns to squirt people!

Can't wait for your next update!

That is exactly what our(my) originial plan was- enjoy the non-Disney stuff we had missed for the last several years- but the mouse still managed to poke his nose into our trip.

I am loving it! Awesome, awesome TR! We're leaving this Sunday (I can't believe it's here already!) and I just know Universal is going to be sweeter the second time around! Your pictures continue to blow me away!

Another words of thanks for Me Ship, The Olive. This was something that we skipped last time around. I know my daughter (12) will continue to roll her eyes, but my son (9) just saw the movie "Popeye" (Robin Williams, Shelley Duvall) and he is very excited to explore!

Thank you so much!!! I'm just about to post another installment, and I have at least one more to go before you leave.

How very exciting that your trip is so soon! I hope we will be seeing a sequel to your TR!!!

I am really enjoying your report. Can wait for the importan Harry Potter Tip. Loved the quiz, but I probably would have failed. That is why I am in the middle of rereading allthe books. I want to be on top of things when we go in December.

Thank you for your comments. We have been brushing up on the movies in anticipation of seeing DHP2 today.

 

[natebenma]

At this point, we decided to split up. Ben wanted to explore more of Jurassic Park and Nate was in the mood for more thrills. Mark and Nate crossed over into WWoHP to ride on Dragon Challenge again. We plan on meeting up in 30-40 minutes.

I wanted to try out the Pteranodon Flyers, but instead we went down this path:

We happened upon a show- a naturalist gives a lecture/demonstration about the care of Sarah, a triceratops.

After the show, one of the TMs offered to take a picture of Ben and me with Sarah.

When that was over, we spent a little time at the JP Discovery Center. This is a great recreation of the welcome center from the movie.

I think you get a dinos-eye view from this scope

Stuck at the barrier to Station 9 ¾ (where I learn I am the victim of a time-turner) and we get some much needed magic


Since it is getting close to the meeting time with Mark and Nate, Ben and I make our way over to the path to WWoHP. This is the point where things begin to go terribly wrong. There is a rope across the path, manned by TMs who are explaining that Harry Potter World is too full right now and we need a timed ticket to get in. I explain that the rest of my family is already there and I have plans to meet them.

I am directed to go to the place where you need to get the timed ticket. It is back where we just came from, past the Discovery Center and is really hard to find – I have to ask two different TMs how to get there.

I have a choice of times so I pick 10:40 to 11:40, since my watch says it is 11:20.

I return to the person at the gate, present my ticket, and she tells me it is not time yet. But it is 11:20, I insist! See my watch! No, it is only 10:20! Somehow my watch got set ahead an hour! It happened sometime before yesterday, because my times were off all day yesterday, too.

At this point I am in a panic. I am supposed to meet up with Mark and Nate NOW. I can’t get in for 20 more minutes. As I mentioned earlier, none of us has phones because we knew we were riding wet rides today. I explain to Ben why we can’t go yet and I start pacing back and forth nervously, as the woman at rope tells everyone who approaches about the timed tickets.

At one point, there is a break in the traffic, the woman takes pity on me and unlatches the rope and implores us to “Go! Quickly!”

Thanks, Inez!!!


Continued in next post

 

[natebenma]

I give this lunch 3 Broomsticks

Back in the Wizarding World, I find Mark and Nate at our meeting spot (near the Public Conveniences, aka Rest Rooms). By the way, Moaning Myrtle does indeed haunt both the Mens and Ladies Rooms.

In the time we have been apart, Mark and Nate rode Dragon Challenge- Blue and waited in line for 20 minutes here-

To purchase two chilled butterbeers.

Who spots the 3 muggle mistakes???



1) You can purchase butterbeer at the Hog’s Head tavern, with minimal waiting
2) Get a 10% AAA discount at Hog’s Head or 3 Broomsticks
3) Should have got the frozen!

It is only 10:30 in the morning (although it feels like 11:30!) and our breakfast was small, so we are all very hungry at this point. Don’t know what time the 3 Broomsticks opens for lunch, but we went in to check, and SCORE! It’s lunchtime!

ETA: You order your food at a register (and you sign your credit card receipt with a quill pen- my DH loved this, but I didn't get a picture). After you get your food, a host/hostess helps you to find an empty table. This is a great system (Disney also uses this system at places like Pecos Bills and Pinocchio's Whatever House)


We ordered two fish and chips plates and one chicken/rib combo plate. We also got one frozen butterbeer, one regular and a pumpkin juice.

The food was all pretty tasty. Even the corn was ok- we are typically corn snobs and only like fresh corn steamed at home. We never like corn in restaurants- it is always too chewy, but this was edible.

We learned that we prefer the frozen butterbeer to the regular and we were pleasantly surprised that we liked the pumpkin juice (on tap). Pumpkin is an odd flavor in a drink, very savory, but we really liked it. Apparently there is a fizzy version too, but we never did try that.

I guess I was too occupied with the food to notice the shadows of the house elves and owls that go by on the walls and windows while you are eating.

We popped into Honeydukes for a quick look around, but man, was it crowded in there! Ben really wanted to purchase some Bertie Botts here, but there was no way I was going to wait in what was probably a 30-45 minute line to buy some candy! (which tastes like dirt and vomit)

That was probably the most disappointing thing about the Wizarding World. The shops had so much to see and such exquisite detail, but it was too darned crowded to appreciate it.


After lunch, we took another Flight of the Hippogriff, afterwards Hogsmeade was uber-crowded, so we decided to get out of there.

Continued in next post

 

[natebenma]

Rude Rude Fountain!

There’s not much we wanted to do in The Lost Continent. Well, I wanted to eat at Mythos, but since we just finished lunch, now was not the time.

There are two major attractions, Poseidon’s Fury (Special-effects filled adventure) and The Eighth Voyage of Sinbad Stunt Show (Spectacular live stunt show) but none of us were interested.

But Ben did want to visit the Mystic Fountain- Match wits with the talking squirting fountain. I envisioned an interactive experience like Crush’s Turtle Talk (which we have never done)

We found the fountain and Ben went over to talk to it. Nothing! It gave him the silent treatment.

So he started to walk away and the fountain squirted a jet of water at him. And laughed, I think. Ben was not pleased!

We were out of there!

Next up: Oh, The Places we DIDN'T Go!!!

 

[SharonK0527]

Great updates! Can't wait for more!!