We're Staying OFFSITE! An October '14 PTR!

[MidnightParade]

lol! You forgot about your San Angel ADR!! Just soo much planning going on!!

Grats on the master bedroom! You totally deserve it and it will be nice to have the tub!!!

 

[STLMickeyMom]

the ultimate tour day/epcot sounds like a busy day, but so much fun!!

and on getting the Jacuzzi tub! sounds like a great way to end the day!

i'm glad you'll be doing a TR!! when we're there, we use our phones for everything too. my DH always downloads stuff to the computer about halfway through the trip to clear off the phones. if you're bringing a laptop, you could always do that to make sure you have enough space?

 

[SarahDisney]

Wow, I'm off the computer for a day and a half and I miss 2 days worth of plans!

Day 2 looks great.
I'm the same as you with Soarin' - if I can get on with a not too bad wait, I'd like to do it, but I'm willing to skip it if the wait is too long because it's just not my favorite.

Ultimate Day of Thrills tour sounds incredible. I like that you're going to Epcot after the tour to cover the major attractions that the tour misses!'
And leaving the condo at 6:40 is early, but hopefully it will be well worth it!

I can't wait to see what you have planned for the rest of the trip.

 

[RooRach0906]

Ultimate Thrills tour looks so awesome!! Hope it might be around later when DD is older.

Yay to scoring the Master Bedroom.

 

[ZehnJahren]

lol! You forgot about your San Angel ADR!! Just soo much planning going on!!

Grats on the master bedroom! You totally deserve it and it will be nice to have the tub!!!

Ugh there IS too much planning going on! So glad that most of it's done now.

Yes, the tub is what I wanted. It made a big difference last year, to be able to soak my legs every night. I usually make it about four days before they start aching, so I'm hoping to hold that off with our busy schedule.

the ultimate tour day/epcot sounds like a busy day, but so much fun!!

and on getting the Jacuzzi tub! sounds like a great way to end the day!

i'm glad you'll be doing a TR!! when we're there, we use our phones for everything too. my DH always downloads stuff to the computer about halfway through the trip to clear off the phones. if you're bringing a laptop, you could always do that to make sure you have enough space?

I'm so excited to have the master bedroom. But I know this condo is going to be a beast to do our bedbug check in, with all of the beds and couches and chairs and such. It will probably take a half hour or more.

No computer; that's why I'm worried. I have the photobucket app, but I just don't trust it to not upload all of my pictures. I've made that mistake before.

Wow, I'm off the computer for a day and a half and I miss 2 days worth of plans!

Day 2 looks great.
I'm the same as you with Soarin' - if I can get on with a not too bad wait, I'd like to do it, but I'm willing to skip it if the wait is too long because it's just not my favorite.

Ultimate Day of Thrills tour sounds incredible. I like that you're going to Epcot after the tour to cover the major attractions that the tour misses!'
And leaving the condo at 6:40 is early, but hopefully it will be well worth it!

I can't wait to see what you have planned for the rest of the trip.

I like Soarin' for Patrick Warburton. I admit it. I'm a big fan.

We are definitely hoping we aren't too wiped out after the tour to do all of Epcot too. We won't do WS because that would just be extra walking.

Ultimate Thrills tour looks so awesome!! Hope it might be around later when DD is older.

Yay to scoring the Master Bedroom.

I wonder how long it will be around myself! It could be a big draw to have a "cheap" VIP tour, or it could be too expensive of a tour for what is basically riding rides (which you can do on a regular ticket - I've done my own ultimate day of thrills at all four parks myself). I hope it's a good tour!

 

[ZehnJahren]

So day four is just a lot of details and no pictures. To be honest, I am still not sure how we are going to attack this day.

We'll leave the condo around 7:45 a.m. for a 9 a.m. opening. We plan on doing preferred parking, but we've also talked about valet. We want to be standing in line at least 20 minutes before opening; and we have to visit the kiosks to get our tickets and express pass.

I'm thinking we go in on the US side and straight to Gringott's to see if we can ride; I know people who stay at Universal get early access to the park, so I'm not sure if we'll be able to ride at all, but we'll try. Then we'll probably go ahead and hop on the Hogwart's Express to go over to the OTHER Harry Potter area )) and check out the rides over there.

Other than that, I'm not sure what we'll ride or when. I get nauseous on the motion simulators (I'll be skipping Star Tours on our Ultimate Tour), and it seems there's a lot of that at Universal. We definitely want rides on the Mummy, the Dudley DoRight Falls, Jurassic Park (that's still there, right??). I usually like roller coasters, but I have read on someone's TR that their seat didn't click on the Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket and came loose on that first hill, and I DON'T LIKE THAT. I don't want to be scared my seat will come undone the whole time. Otherwise, it doesn't look like too scary of a roller coaster to me. I don't know if we'll ride it.

I'm not sure where we're planning to eat or anything else this day - mom says somewhere in "Harry Potter world", hahahaha! We're going to at LEAST try butterbeer!

The park will close at 8; we'll head home when we're done and depending on the time we may go to DTD. We also might just head back to relax since the last couple of days would have been very busy. Plus, the next day is MNSSHP!!

 

[SarahDisney]

We love Seuss Landing at IOA - it's kind of kid-centered, but when we were there it was a nice break from the chaos of Harry Potter.
I can't recommend anything else there just because I all did last time I was there was HP & Seuss, and the last time I visited before that was almost 15 years ago. I hope you find more rides to enjoy!

We did DTD after our IOA day a few years ago, but we also tend to cram a lot into our days and didn't have any other time to do it (because it was a short trip). I think that you may just want to take it easy - but definitely see how you feel at the end of the day and decide then.

Can't wait to hear/read more!

 

[STLMickeyMom]

We haven't been to universal in years. I'll be excited to hear what you do!

 

[Denovagirl]

Yay for Harry Potter fun!! I get sick too on motion sim rides, I cant even do Soarin', but I was able to do a few at Universal, I just had to be careful not to do too many.

I did Spiderman, Harry Potter Forbidden Journey, and Transformers okay. DO NOT DO The Simpsons ride!!! Ugh... that was the WORST for people with motion sickiness. The others are sorta like moving rides with some 3d in there too, and that one was just straight up a 3d simulator...so no go for me!!

Yes, Jurassic park is still there, I like that one, lol. Also the HULK was SUPER fun too! And teh Mummy was my FAVE!

 

[RooRach0906]

I hope you do a TR because I would love to hear all about US/IOA, I have never been. It looks like so much fun!!!

 

[MidnightParade]

Yay Universal!! But whoa what happened on Rip Rocket when their seat opened? Was it everyones seat or just theirs and did the ride stop? lol! Sorry I am so super paranoid about seat restraints! One time on Hulk they came to do the restraint checked, they didn't really pull it much, as they start to walk away I give it a tug and it popped open! The seat belt was clicked in still but seriously would that have held when going upside down?!!!!!! So anytime theres a restraint I push it and pull and just put some muscle in it to make sure its locked in. The attendant on Hulk just shrugged and pushed it in.

I won't be riding Hulk on our trip though, not because of what happened but because I just find it too rough and jostley now. I'm looking forward to Mummy though! But no Rip Rocket for me, its a bit wild, even the DBF has decided to not ride it. Its very cool getting to pick the music but DBF has developed some motion sickness so we need to be picky on what rides we will rick it on(Hoping the ginger pills we have will help though!)

I would consider lunch in the Simpsons area, unless you really don't like them. They have different options in quick service and I believe a sit down area as well. Not that I have eaten there yet but I'm looking forward to having a Krusty Burger, Flaming Moe and a Lard lad Donut!!!!!!!!!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Yay Universal!! But whoa what happened on Rip Rocket when their seat opened? Was it everyones seat or just theirs and did the ride stop? lol! Sorry I am so super paranoid about seat restraints! One time on Hulk they came to do the restraint checked, they didn't really pull it much, as they start to walk away I give it a tug and it popped open! The seat belt was clicked in still but seriously would that have held when going upside down?!!!!!! So anytime theres a restraint I push it and pull and just put some muscle in it to make sure its locked in. The attendant on Hulk just shrugged and pushed it in.

I can speak to that as I'm pretty sure she's talking about me. I'm very much a daredevil and don't often get scared. I'm not sure I made clear how terrified I was but here is the expert from my Fall 2013 trip report:

I have done many rollercoasters in my time. This is the first time I've ever been truly frightened before launching onto the ride. It wasn't because of the vertical decent. It was because as we are moving along the moving track & everyone is locking their restraint, we had ours reopen about 3 times. In fact we were about 3 feet from starting our climb up the vertical wall, still moving when it opened again. The vehicle did stop at least about the time I think I screamed - more than when the blade guy startled me in Cabin in the Woods.

We got stopped because there was a guy who was had a rather large girth that couldn't get his restraint to 'click' into place. He had to have 2 attendants help him get it clicked. I'm not sure why they let him stay on the ride or why he tried to get on it without testing the outside seats by the entrance of the ride. As a larger person myself (although I've lost about 60lbs since 2011 now), I understand needing to use those seats to make sure I fit onto rides. In fact, I tried it on this ride as I know Universal has issues from time to time. (I had to use the 'special' seats on the Hulk/Dueling Dragons back in 2009)

The ride was very thrilling. I'm sure I would have loved it more had I not been scared the restraints were going to give out again.

When we got off that ride, I was done. I figured none of the rest of the houses would be able to scare me as much as going onto the ride did.

 

[ZehnJahren]

We love Seuss Landing at IOA - it's kind of kid-centered, but when we were there it was a nice break from the chaos of Harry Potter.
I can't recommend anything else there just because I all did last time I was there was HP & Seuss, and the last time I visited before that was almost 15 years ago. I hope you find more rides to enjoy!

We did DTD after our IOA day a few years ago, but we also tend to cram a lot into our days and didn't have any other time to do it (because it was a short trip). I think that you may just want to take it easy - but definitely see how you feel at the end of the day and decide then.

Can't wait to hear/read more!

Oh good to know about Seuss Landing; I forgot about it, it could be a nice place to relax.

We haven't been to universal in years. I'll be excited to hear what you do!

We haven't been in years either; I'm excited to give it a try after all these years at Disney only!

Yay for Harry Potter fun!! I get sick too on motion sim rides, I cant even do Soarin', but I was able to do a few at Universal, I just had to be careful not to do too many.

I did Spiderman, Harry Potter Forbidden Journey, and Transformers okay. DO NOT DO The Simpsons ride!!! Ugh... that was the WORST for people with motion sickiness. The others are sorta like moving rides with some 3d in there too, and that one was just straight up a 3d simulator...so no go for me!!

Yes, Jurassic park is still there, I like that one, lol. Also the HULK was SUPER fun too! And teh Mummy was my FAVE!

Ooh, good call on telling me about the Simpsons ride. I was planning on trying it (love the Simpsons); what is the difference between it and the other rides you mentioned?

Oh good that Jurassic Park is still there; I thought they took it out, but I think I'm thinking of Jaws. I'm really excited about Mummy too; so is my mom!

I hope you do a TR because I would love to hear all about US/IOA, I have never been. It looks like so much fun!!!

I plan on it! I am definitely getting more excited about the trip in general, but more about US/IOA too. There's some stress there too, since I don't know what to do there! I need to do more research.

Yay Universal!! But whoa what happened on Rip Rocket when their seat opened?

Read the below! That's the TR I was talking about!! I'm so glad she posted it, because I thought that it said it came undone on the hill!! I'm so very glad to hear it was BEFORE the hill. Still freaky though!!

I won't be riding Hulk on our trip though, not because of what happened but because I just find it too rough and jostley now. I'm looking forward to Mummy though! But no Rip Rocket for me, its a bit wild, even the DBF has decided to not ride it. Its very cool getting to pick the music but DBF has developed some motion sickness so we need to be picky on what rides we will rick it on(Hoping the ginger pills we have will help though!)

I would consider lunch in the Simpsons area, unless you really don't like them. They have different options in quick service and I believe a sit down area as well. Not that I have eaten there yet but I'm looking forward to having a Krusty Burger, Flaming Moe and a Lard lad Donut!!!!!!!!!

Good to know Hulk is jerky; I don't think I would have ridden it, because I can't go upside down on rides like that anymore. You know what's weird is that I can do RNRC, but no other upside down roller coasters anymore.

 

[ZehnJahren]

I can speak to that as I'm pretty sure she's talking about me. I'm very much a daredevil and don't often get scared. I'm not sure I made clear how terrified I was but here is the expert from my Fall 2013 trip report:

YES! I knew I'd read it recently but I couldn't remember where!! I thought I remembered you saying it came undone on the HILL, I'm SO glad you posted that! Makes me feel a little better that they caught it ... but not completely better still....

 

[Denovagirl]

Simpsons is like a straight up ride simulator, you sit in a vehicle and it bobs around while you watch a 3d movie, but the vehicles dont actually move on a track or anything. The others, like Spiderman are actually moving vehicles so its more like a combo of a dark ride/rollercoaster/3d experience, and theres more cool effects like fire and water stuff too. For some reason they just didnt get me sick like the regular 3d ones did, maybe I was just having too much fun!!

 

[stacy~**]

That Ultimate tour sounds soooo great! (well accept for the early condo departure!) It seems kinda odd to me that they don't include Epcot but I love that you are. Add me to the list of readers awaiting the details of this afterwards.

 

[MidnightParade]

I can speak to that as I'm pretty sure she's talking about me. I'm very much a daredevil and don't often get scared. I'm not sure I made clear how terrified I was but here is the expert from my Fall 2013 trip report:

I have done many rollercoasters in my time. This is the first time I've ever been truly frightened before launching onto the ride. It wasn't because of the vertical decent. It was because as we are moving along the moving track & everyone is locking their restraint, we had ours reopen about 3 times. In fact we were about 3 feet from starting our climb up the vertical wall, still moving when it opened again. The vehicle did stop at least about the time I think I screamed - more than when the blade guy startled me in Cabin in the Woods.

We got stopped because there was a guy who was had a rather large girth that couldn't get his restraint to 'click' into place. He had to have 2 attendants help him get it clicked. I'm not sure why they let him stay on the ride or why he tried to get on it without testing the outside seats by the entrance of the ride. As a larger person myself (although I've lost about 60lbs since 2011 now), I understand needing to use those seats to make sure I fit onto rides. In fact, I tried it on this ride as I know Universal has issues from time to time. (I had to use the 'special' seats on the Hulk/Dueling Dragons back in 2009)

The ride was very thrilling. I'm sure I would have loved it more had I not been scared the restraints were going to give out again.

When we got off that ride, I was done. I figured none of the rest of the houses would be able to scare me as much as going onto the ride did.

Holy Moley! That is kinda terrifying! I'm even more glade now that we won't be riding it on our trip(I'm going to not think about how it could happen on other rides). So so so scary and worrisome!!

 

[ZehnJahren]

Simpsons is like a straight up ride simulator, you sit in a vehicle and it bobs around while you watch a 3d movie, but the vehicles dont actually move on a track or anything. The others, like Spiderman are actually moving vehicles so its more like a combo of a dark ride/rollercoaster/3d experience, and theres more cool effects like fire and water stuff too. For some reason they just didnt get me sick like the regular 3d ones did, maybe I was just having too much fun!!

Oh good to know! So it's more "like" Star Tours than the others. A mix of a moving vehicle and 3D effects sounds crazy! I'm looking forward to it. Is it true that Spiderman and Transformers are both the same ride, with different 3D effects?

That Ultimate tour sounds soooo great! (well accept for the early condo departure!) It seems kinda odd to me that they don't include Epcot but I love that you are. Add me to the list of readers awaiting the details of this afterwards.

I know - it will be ROUGH getting up that early, so I'm glad it's being done early in the trip!

I'm so excited to do that day and then report back. I loved my Epcot tour when I took it!

Holy Moley! That is kinda terrifying! I'm even more glade now that we won't be riding it on our trip(I'm going to not think about how it could happen on other rides). So so so scary and worrisome!!

I know, I think about things like that sometimes and I have to stop. I worked for theme parks for many years and I know that there are so many checks in place before leaving the loading dock that the rides are super safe. Maybe we will give RRR a chance this trip. My mom's a daredevil.

 

[ZehnJahren]

Here is our day 5!

So after a busy day 1, 2, 3, and 4, we will be SLEEPING IN TODAY.

We may go to the pool, we may lounge around the room. Regardless, we're going to be relaxing in the morning. We're making a nice big lunch at the condo, and then we have our first FP+ at 1:40 to 2:40 - 7DMT!! I'm hoping to get this switched to a later time, but so far no dice. There is a slight possibility we might even skip this in lieu of a later arrival time for MNSSHP.



After 7DMT, we have quite awhile until our next FP+. I'm not sure what we'll do with that time, because I want to save ourselves for our MNSSHP night. Maybe we'll do a monorail tour? Any suggestions that don't include eating?



At 4:55, we have our next FP+ - it's at HM!



Then we plan on wandering around until our BTMRR ride at 6 p.m.



Don't you love that line?



After that, the party should be close to starting! We are going to ride baby ride, and then look around at all the Halloween stuff. I definitely want a Halloween pin to add to my collection.

I also really would like to get on PotC this night.



Also, I think COP is open at least until 7... It's definitely a favorite!



We plan on watching Hallowishes and the second parade. Then we will do like we did at MVMCP and get in line for PP as the very last ride of the night!

The next day is a sleep in day as well; time for day 6!

 

[RooRach0906]

Yay for sleeping in!

For the in between time I like the monorail tour idea or maybe just browse some shops or find a nice place to relax and people watch.