Welcome, Foolish Muggles! IoA/US/MK/SW *July 2013 Trip Report Link*

[bubba's mom]

Sounds like a great plan! I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure you can upgrade your tickets at the gate. You can always post over on the Universal side of the DIS if you want to know for sure, but sounds like you are planning to have a go-with-the-flow trip.

Go INSIDE the park to Guest Services. Shorter line

 

[natebenma]

After breakfast in the Concierge Lounge, we took a taxi to Sea World (around $20 plus tip) and we arrived right around opening at 9:00. This would be our second visit to SW thanks to the buy one day, get one free deal.

Praying Manta won’t bring up breakfast

Nate and I went to the waiting line for Manta- this is a new coaster at Sea World. When we started to wait, they hadn’t even opened the queue yet, so we were waiting outside. Employees (not sure what they are called here- Sea Ms?) would go through the line and inform people that they couldn’t take bags onto the coaster. I think my fanny pack was fine. I (reluctantly) handed my camera over to Ben, since 1) I wouldn’t be able to use it and 2) He and Mark would be visiting exhibits while Nate and I were riding. We planned to meet at 9:45 at the Atlantis attraction.

I think we had about a 15 min wait in the line, but there are pretty interesting aquariums to look at. So interesting, that I was disappointed that I didn’t have my camera. But then I remembered that I did have my phone, so I took some pictures. But apparently I don’t know exactly how my phone camera works because I haven’t been able to find the pictures I took.

Here is the description of the coaster from the Sea World website:

Find out what it’s like to spin, glide, skim and fly like a giant ray when you experience the only flying roller coaster of its kind in the world. A seamless blend of up-close animal encounters with a head-first, face-down thrill ride, Manta is an adventure only SeaWorld could create. From the ground, this flying coaster seems to glide effortlessly through the skies. Those who’ve braved its intense motions know this Manta as a monster of the sea. Riders are taunted by a head-first, face-down inverted nosedive…and that’s just the beginning. This powerful ray leads bold adventurers on a journey to experience the full force and power of riding the high seas, all on one of the smoothest tracks in the world.

The first picture is from the Sea World website.

I think I took the first picture and the second one is Ben’s while Nate and I were riding the coaster:

I asked Nate for his impressions of Manta- he says it is a “unique” coaster and you should ride it if you like coasters. I would give you my impressions, but my mind was more occupied with willing the cars (rays) not to fly off the track than paying attention to the ride. The ride was very smooth while you went through the twists and inversions. I would be willing to ride it again.


Here are the pictures that Ben took while we were separated. He and Mark went to the manta aquarium, dolphin tank, turtle exhibit, manatee pen and alligator enclosure:

When we were finished, we met up at the entrance of Journey to Atlantis.

The park map description: “Explore the mysterious lost city of Atlantis aboard this thrilling water ride”.

Our take: Like Splash Mountain, with a Mediterranean rather than Southern style.

We had about a 15 minute wait in the line for this ride.

We enjoyed this enough to do it again when we were finished. The line was a little longer, maybe 20 minutes, but we knew this would only get longer throughout the day.

Next up: The rest of our Sea World Day

 

[Missyrose]

We had a spectacular day at Magic Kingdom!!!

Not a drop of rain during our day.

We saw the opening show. We had great meals at Columbia Harbor House and Kona Café and enjoyed Dole Whips and Smoothies. We rode Big Thunder Mtn (4), Space Mtn (3), Splash Mtn (2), TTA (2), Jungle Cruise (2), Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Peter Pan, Buzz Lightyear, Winnie the Pooh, Philharmagic, and the monorail (which IS a ride). And we ended our day with beautiful fireworks.


Next up: Day 4- Sea World then back to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure

What an impressive haul for your day at MK. The perfect Disney day! Isn't it amazing how crowded the parks get in the middle of the afternoon??!?!? You look around and wonder "Where did all these people come from?"

 

[bubba's mom]

I FOUND NEMO! I FOUND NEMO!

oh...and you're kid too

 

[natebenma]

What an impressive haul for your day at MK. The perfect Disney day! Isn't it amazing how crowded the parks get in the middle of the afternoon??!?!? You look around and wonder "Where did all these people come from?"

We earned our "Commando Merit Badges" that day!!!

I am very thankful for the vacationers who sleep in and don't make it to the parks until late morning or early afternoon.

I FOUND NEMO! I FOUND NEMO!

oh...and you're kid too

Really, really funny!

 

[natebenma]

After exiting Atlantis, we were near entrance to Kraken rollercoaster. Nate really wanted to do this. Mark was not interested in riding it. I wanted to see the Sea Lion show at 11:15. After a short discussion, we decide to let Nate tackle this alone. We planned to meet up inside the entrance of the Penguin exhibit when the show was over.

Kraken is described as “A monster coaster born from tales that struck terror in sailors for centuries” This is one of those coasters where you are seated with a shoulder harness and your feet dangle. It has a couple of inversions.

Nate LOVED it!!! He rode it twice. I think this was his favorite of the 4 extreme coasters he tried on this trip (Manta, Kraken, Dragon Challenge and Hulk)

Da-dum, Da-dum, da-da-da-da-da-da

Mark, Ben and I went to the Shark encounter since we had a little time before the show. During our prior visit a few days before, we went into the exhibit, but the shark tunnel part was too crowded so we bailed.

Ben was really excited about the fish we saw:

We saw fish. We saw sawfish:

Next up was a really ribbiting exhibit:

It was time to go to the Sea Lion Show, “Clyde and Seamore Take Pirate Island”

My favorite part of the Sea Lion show is the mime who makes fun of audience
members as they are getting seated. From previous visits to Sea World, I remembered how much I enjoy the preshow. He is hilarious! Unfortunately, we arrived at the theater too late to enjoy him.

Picture me in all white makeup, my fingers at the corner of my eyes, running down my cheeks

The show was ok- didn’t blow me away- but maybe I was a tad bitter from missing the mime.

Continued in Next Post...

 

[natebenma]

After the show, we met up with Nate and went through the puffin/penguin exhibit.

Ben wanted to return to the Shark Encounter with Nate because he was so excited that about the sawfish.

At this point we were ready for lunch. We were near the Antarctic Market Counter Service restaurant featuring grab and go sandwiches, salad, fresh fruit and desserts. The four of us split a Turkey Sandwich, a Buffalo Chicken sandwich, a kid’s Hot Dog meal, a water, soft drink (probably a Gatorade of some sort for Nate) and the kid’s meal came with a soda.

I don’t have a picture of the turkey sandwich, but this is the Buffalo Chicken and the kid’s meal:

Our timing for lunch was good. After we had ordered and found a table, a bunch of people from a tour group came in and the lines got really long there.

Following lunch, we headed out of the park and took a taxi back to the Portofino. Mark, Ben and I went for a swim while Nate chilled and rested in the room.

Next up: Chillin' at the Portofino pool and finally back to IoA/US/IoA

 

[bubba's mom]

saw fish.

sawfish.

i see what you did there

Loved the SW pix...I really need to get there one of these days.... Problem is, I have a husband who is spoiled and not 'into' standing in lines! Someday...I'll 'bucketlist' it....

I really liked the penguin pix...they are always so cute!

 

[natebenma]

saw fish.

sawfish.

i see what you did there

Loved the SW pix...I really need to get there one of these days.... Problem is, I have a husband who is spoiled and not 'into' standing in lines! Someday...I'll 'bucketlist' it....

I really liked the penguin pix...they are always so cute!

Glad you enjoyed the wordplay.

Yeah, we are not big fans of lines either- at Disney you have FP and at Universal/IoA you have FOTL with on-site stays. I guess there is a front of the line option you can purchase at SW, but I don't think so!

If/when you do go, plan on the rides early. Manta was only about 15 minutes first thing, and we got in a couple of Atlantis rides without huge waits. Kraken was only around 15 minutes at 11 for Nate, but I don't know if he did single rider (even if there is such a thing).

Then, although some of the exhibits and aquariums may be crowded, there are not really lines, per se.

The penguins are cute and fun to watch! And the exhibit building is really cool (temp, that is) so it was a nice place to be mid-day in July!

We definitely don't feel the need to visit SW on every Orlando visit, probably every 3-4 years is often enough for us.

 

[aprilisis]

Great updates & photos!! How did you do through the storm this weekend??

 

[natebenma]

Great updates & photos!! How did you do through the storm this weekend??

Thanks for your comments!!!

We are about 15 minutes, just a few miles, from the coast, but we didn't have any major issues. We lost power from 9 am to 3 pm, but at least it was during the day. Lots of rain and wind. We only had small branches knocked down, but some friends of ours had larger branches fall.

How did you make out in western MA?

We were out late on Saturday night, at Hampton Beach, as the rain was starting up. Mark and I had tickets to Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes at Club Casino.

Any other SSJ fans out there? My NJ friends???

 

[jenneth79]

Looks like Sea World is a lot of fun! To be honest, I had no idea there were roller coasters there, I don't seem to recall them when I was much younger. We might have to visit there one time when we head back to Orlando!

 

[natebenma]

Looks like Sea World is a lot of fun! To be honest, I had no idea there were roller coasters there, I don't seem to recall them when I was much younger. We might have to visit there one time when we head back to Orlando!

Kraken and the Journey to Atlantis were there when we visited in 2004m but they definitely were not there in the 80s or early nineties when we had been before.

In 2004, we went with friends of ours- Wendy and her 3 kids and Wendy's mom (who worked for SW at the time) and her dad. Wendy and I rode Kraken together- she made me do it because nobody else wanted to ride with her!!!

Manta just opened within the last year or so.

 

[DrMomof3]

Glad you "weathered" the storm ok.
Looks like a nice Sea World day. While I was reading I kept thinking "Why didn't they just use front of the line?" and then I'd remember thatbyou were at Sea World!

Amanda

 

[natebenma]

Glad you "weathered" the storm ok.
Looks like a nice Sea World day. While I was reading I kept thinking "Why didn't they just use front of the line?" and then I'd remember thatbyou were at Sea World!

Amanda

Hey, I appreciated getting your e-mail. I had forgotten exactly when your trip was. Hope you are having a fabulous time!!!

Just read your post on your PTR. Hope Zachary is feeling better soon!!!

 

[Marlton Mom]

Jersey checking in!
We were at the beach all day Monday and all is well on the Jersey coast.

“Clyde and Seamore Take Pirate Island” and the Mime were our favorites at Sea World. Thank God we got there before the Mime came out. I wonder how many times he's been decked by his unwitting victims? The other thing we really liked was Cirque du Filet, or what ever they are calling it with the acrobats.

We didn't do the rides because Evan was not a roller coaster kid 3 years ago. He wanted to see the killer whales.



Keep it coming!

~MM

 

[natebenma]

Jersey checking in!
We were at the beach all day Monday and all is well on the Jersey coast.

“Clyde and Seamore Take Pirate Island” and the Mime were our favorites at Sea World. Thank God we got there before the Mime came out. I wonder how many times he's been decked by his unwitting victims? The other thing we really liked was Cirque du Filet, or what ever they are calling it with the acrobats.

We didn't do the rides because Evan was not a roller coaster kid 3 years ago. He wanted to see the killer whales.



Keep it coming!

~MM

I can certainly understand Evan's fascination with the Orcas! They are really beautiful, impressive animals. We didn't catch the Cirque show "A'lure- The Call of the Ocean"

The thrill rides definitely made the day at Sea World a lot more enjoyable to Nate.

Thanks for the report from the Jersey coast. How were the waves? Were there swimmers in the water?

We spent a few hours at the beach yesterday. Big waves- people were in the water up to their waists.

As Karkaroff says to Snape in Goblet of Fire "I'll show you mine if you show me yours"

 

[Marlton Mom]

Evan beach portrait august 30 2011 by Marlton Mom, on Flickr

Here is my guy in all his glory. The waves at the OC beach have been tamed considerably since they started that beach replenishment thing. At least that's what I think, having spent hours and hours in the water on a pre-boogie board era inflatable raft, surfing like a South Jersey Kelly Slater. Of course I was shorter then so who knows if time has hazed my memories.

The waves were better than I have seen them but still only a 5 - 10 second ride for the best surfer so no big storm surge here after Irene.

I do remember one time when I was in my early 30's and it was after a big storm. The sea was churning like nobody's business. I could not believe they let people in with the now present boogie boards and it was the best day of boarding ever! The water was so cold and it was hitting you like a ton of bricks but the rides were totally worth it. Being in a slight state of hypothermia from the frigid waters definitely added to the out of body experience.

I really understand why surfers never miss this rare Jersey Shore surfing opportunity. Other people think they are crazy but I see what they crave. It's just not like that nearly enough for surfer's and boarders in this area.

~MM

 

[natebenma]

After returning to the Portofino from SW, I lingered in the courtyard entry to take a few pictures.

We then made a quick trip to the Concierge Lounge for snacks. After a brief stay in our room, Mark, Ben and I decided to go for a swim. I had been to the pool a couple of times by myself, but this would be the first time I had some company. Nate decided to stay behind in the room to rest.

Here are a few pictures from the pool:

The slide that goes through the fort is a lot of fun. I had gone on it a few times on my solo trips to the pool, with my camera, but this time the guard at the top of the slide said I couldn’t go down with my camera. He said it was ok for me to go down the slide, then Mark could send the camera down alone and I could wait at the end and catch it.

So I slid.

Mark sent the camera down.

The life guard exclaimed “I hope the camera is waterproof!” and as he watched, he told my husband I made a “Good catch”.

Then Ben and Mark each followed.

We returned to the room and changed into dry clothes and woke Nate from
his mid-day nap.

We were ready for our next Adventure!

Coming up: Back to Islands of Adventure/Universal Studios/IoA again

 

[bubba's mom]

ahhh...home...

Why all of a sudden can't you slide w/ the camera? I don't believe that rule is posted at the top?

You forgot to mention one of the best things about that pool.


Heated.