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

[bubba's mom]

I love having you here!!! I really like my details to be thorough and informative (that's why we have a 40 plus page TR for a 5 day trip), so I appreciate you filling in the descriptions and details.

Don't worry, we still have a couple more park updates to go!

Dueling Dragons/Dragon Challenge: Do you have a preference between Fire and Ice, or are they both about the same to you? I haven't been on the Uni forums much lately- last I knew they were running the coasters seperately due to a couple of recent issues. Don't think they have them dueling again yet.

Too bad you don't have plans to get back to IoA/US soon, but I will try not to feel too sorry for you. Sailing around the BVI and a trip to Grand Cayman don't sound so bad!

...no. The alternative trips are much better Like DH sez, 'there's a lot more world out there than just UO to vacation at!' The man gots a point.

We actually prefer Ice (Horntail), but in the front seat. Looks like you are going to run smack into a stone wall...then it lifts you up and away from it. It's SO cool, even at night! I think Fire (Fireball) is faster and an extra roll to it, Ice seems 'boring' compared to Fire? We prefer Fire over Ice, unless we are in the front row of Ice. And of course, we prefer first row in both

I love being here for this report...givin me a "lil fix" anyway

 

[ddluvsdisney]

What great pics inside the castle!! They are crystal clear. I wish mine came out thet good. SRL are the best according to DS14- you just walk right on. Too bad Ben didn't wanna do that you probably would have sat together (at least 2 of you). But my DS10 probably wouldn't do it either. DH and DSs told me when they were on FJ some little kid that was in SRL rode w/ them and he screamed the whole time ( he was about 7 y.o. they guess). I asked them if he was all right I was saying I couldn't believe parents would let such a little kid go by himself. (the mothering instinct, ya know) They then told me it was screams of joy he didn't look scared when he got off LOL.

Deb

 

[Marlton Mom]

My DS, soon to be 13, will not set foot on a roller coaster. This was a child that hated the baby swing when he was little. I used to discipline him by saying "if you don't stop that Mommy's gonna put you in that swing and turn it up on HIGH!!!" Needless to say the misbehavin STOPPED!

~MM

 

[bubba's mom]

I am SO sorry.... but....

"if you don't stop that Mommy's gonna put you in that swing and turn it up on HIGH!!!"

 

[natebenma]

"if you don't stop that Mommy's gonna put you in that swing and turn it up on HIGH!!!" Needless to say the misbehavin STOPPED!

~MM

And the need for therapy started!

 

[natebenma]

What great pics inside the castle!! They are crystal clear. I wish mine came out thet good. SRL are the best according to DS14- you just walk right on. Too bad Ben didn't wanna do that you probably would have sat together (at least 2 of you). But my DS10 probably wouldn't do it either. DH and DSs told me when they were on FJ some little kid that was in SRL rode w/ them and he screamed the whole time ( he was about 7 y.o. they guess). I asked them if he was all right I was saying I couldn't believe parents would let such a little kid go by himself. (the mothering instinct, ya know) They then told me it was screams of joy he didn't look scared when he got off LOL.

Deb

Thanks! I'm pretty happy with the pictures inside the castle. A little secret, though... I take a LOT of pictures-not all of 'em are good- I try to only post the decent ones.

It worked out fine. We all got quite a few rides on FJ. I'll have to go back and count at some point. But we probably would have tried it on some of our mid-morning or afternoon visits if we had thought of SRL.

 

[Missyrose]

I was a few updates behind!

You guys sure made nice work of the last hour at IOA, that Forbidden Journey sign is soooo magical!

The Olivanders show looks fun! We only had one day at WWoHP, so we ran straight to FJ. Since there were four adults in our group, we never really felt like waiting in the ever-growing Olivanders line.

Last day coming up! Oh no! At least you still have plenty of chapters planned.

 

[eandesmom]

Great info on Ollivanders, makes me glad I skipped it. The funny thing is I remember the bag check when we'd walk over but not at all for the boat.

It's still fire and ice to me too and front row all the way!

Funny about the room keys.

 

[natebenma]

I was a few updates behind!

You guys sure made nice work of the last hour at IOA, that Forbidden Journey sign is soooo magical!

The Olivanders show looks fun! We only had one day at WWoHP, so we ran straight to FJ. Since there were four adults in our group, we never really felt like waiting in the ever-growing Olivanders line.

Last day coming up! Oh no! At least you still have plenty of chapters planned.

We are glad we saw the Olivanders show, but there is no way I would wait more than 30 minutes for it. Whenever we were in the Wizarding World later in the day and I would see the line, I would mentally calculate how long it would be before the people at the end of the line would get in... Not pretty!

Great info on Ollivanders, makes me glad I skipped it. The funny thing is I remember the bag check when we'd walk over but not at all for the boat.

It's still fire and ice to me too and front row all the way!

Funny about the room keys.

I have seen recommendations to go onto youtube to see the Olivanders show- I think that is great advice.

There was never much of a line for Dueling Dragons/Fire&Ice, even without the express pass I think the ride was pretty much a walk-on whenever we tried it.

The key thing really messed us up! Our habit at Disney is to hand all keys to Mark immediately after going through the turnstiles. He is the primary FP runner. So we are in the habit of one person having all of the keys. At Uni/IoA, Mark still kept all of the keys and would show them all at each attraction for front of the line. Works great, until we split up! And we did a lot more splitting up since Ben was not interested in some of the more intense rides.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

I forgot to say yesterday that we skipped Ollivanders as well. I was more sad about this than the boys however. They had no interest in waiting in that line for a short show. Although one time the line wasn't that long we probably would have waited 30 min or less. I guess it was more important to them to get on FJ twice in a row with little wait than do Ollivanders. Smart choice I guess
Deb

 

[natebenma]

I forgot to say yesterday that we skipped Ollivanders as well. I was more sad about this than the boys however. They had no interest in waiting in that line for a short show. Although one time the line wasn't that long we probably would have waited 30 min or less. I guess it was more important to them to get on FJ twice in a row with little wait than do Ollivanders. Smart choice I guess
Deb

I would choose a 2nd ride on FJ over Olivanders. I'm glad we did it, but again, it is not worth hours of waiting time!

 

[bubba's mom]

Tossing this out there cuz it'll help someone....

From entrance to Ollivander's, the line 'snakes' between two buildings. When the line reaches the corner of the next building (at the main walkway), it is a 30 min wait from that point.

make sense?

 

[natebenma]

Tossing this out there cuz it'll help someone....

From entrance to Ollivander's, the line 'snakes' between two buildings. When the line reaches the corner of the next building (at the main walkway), it is a 30 min wait from that point.

make sense?

Good info to have! I know exactly where you are talking about. If I had known that when I was there, I would have taken a picture!

 

[bubba's mom]

Good info to have! I know exactly where you are talking about. If I had known that when I was there, I would have taken a picture!

Bald dude in the white sleeveless shirt in the bottom right of the picture is going into Ollivanders. Line goes to the left. At the next building, the lady in the yellow tank w/ the kid in the light blue shirt and black shorts, they are at the corner of the next building. THAT is the 30 min wait point. You can see they are 'rounding' that building's corner in the line that will now go between the two buildings.

 

[aprilisis]

You got some great shots of WWOHP inside the castle!
My goodness...I was so far behind on your TR. How did that happen?

 

[jmskinner]

I'm subscribing. I haven't read everything yet, but made it to your wet rides on Rip Saw Falls and the Barges.

Going back to what I have read, I understand what you mean about "fancy" hotels. We are the "wait on ourselves people" and we had so much luggage when we stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel and were told they didn't allow us to use carts since they were a full service hotel. Neither one of us had money for a tip, so no way were we going to allow them to carry our bags.

You mentioned on Rip Saw Falls how you were told to put the camera away. I was totally shocked when I saw your photos from Jaws. We had the camera nazi on our boat when we rode. The boat operator asked that all cameras be put away and when one rider kept filming, he stopped the boat and said we wouldn't move until the camera was put away. It made me nuts how they wouldn't allow camera's.

I will read some more tomorrow. Have a great weekend!

 

[DrMomof3]

Love the castle pics! I'm getting very excited!!!

Amanda

 

[bubba's mom]

I was totally shocked when I saw your photos from Jaws. We had the camera nazi on our boat when we rode. The boat operator asked that all cameras be put away and when one rider kept filming, he stopped the boat and said we wouldn't move until the camera was put away. It made me nuts how they wouldn't allow camera's.

in ALL my rides on Jaws (and it's a lot), I've NEVER heard ANY 'captain' tell someone to put their camera away? Not only do I have lots of pix, but I have video somewhere too.

Maybe that captain was having a bad day?

 

[natebenma]

Bubbasmom- thanks for the Olivander's line photo!

You got some great shots of WWOHP inside the castle!
My goodness...I was so far behind on your TR. How did that happen?

Glad you liked the castle photos.

Life perhaps???

Love the castle pics! I'm getting very excited!!!

Amanda

Thanks Amanda! Hope all is going well!

I'm subscribing. I haven't read everything yet, but made it to your wet rides on Rip Saw Falls and the Barges.

Going back to what I have read, I understand what you mean about "fancy" hotels. We are the "wait on ourselves people" and we had so much luggage when we stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel and were told they didn't allow us to use carts since they were a full service hotel. Neither one of us had money for a tip, so no way were we going to allow them to carry our bags.

You mentioned on Rip Saw Falls how you were told to put the camera away. I was totally shocked when I saw your photos from Jaws. We had the camera nazi on our boat when we rode. The boat operator asked that all cameras be put away and when one rider kept filming, he stopped the boat and said we wouldn't move until the camera was put away. It made me nuts how they wouldn't allow camera's.

I will read some more tomorrow. Have a great weekend!

So glad to have you here!

We brought our own luggage to our room at the Portofino. Our suitcases are on wheels, and certainly each of us is able to manage one piece of luggage.

in ALL my rides on Jaws (and it's a lot), I've NEVER heard ANY 'captain' tell someone to put their camera away? Not only do I have lots of pix, but I have video somewhere too.

Maybe that captain was having a bad day?

I rode Jaws twice, and Ben/Mark rode it a couple more times- we weren't told to put away our cameras on this ride, but I have seen the comment on a few TRs lately (mmmrmustard), specifically with Jaws. I don't know if the camera restriction thing is new. I personally experienced it on Jurassic Park and Ripsaw Falls.

 

[ddluvsdisney]

in ALL my rides on Jaws (and it's a lot), I've NEVER heard ANY 'captain' tell someone to put their camera away? Not only do I have lots of pix, but I have video somewhere too.

Maybe that captain was having a bad day?

This also happened to me in August I was sad not to have any pics.