DD7 really wants to read Harry Potter, so I have a copy that I am going to read first. Maybe after she reads that she will want to do WWoHP. I sure can see the crowds building in your pictures.
I have seen several reviews of the butter beer. Lots of people seem to really like it, but I just can't even imagine liking it. I'm glad you got to try it though.
Caitlin's determination to get Doritos made me laugh. With a junk food bonanza laid out before me, those would be at the bottom of my list.
The Dr. Suess area looks really awesome. We have never been to IOA, but I think we would really enjoy that part. I would love to take lots of pictures of the carousel.
Caitlin will do ANYTHING for doritos. It is all my fault though, when I was pregnant with her I ate them by the ton full. I would go through Costco size bags easily downed by some nice cold milk. Caitlin loves milk and she can hear a bag of doritos being opened down the street.
The Suess area is so cute. I wanted to take a bunch of pictures, but you know how well that goes for me.
I am glad I got to try butterbeer too. I will probably try the regular one next time though. The frozen one wasn't bad, might of been better later that week once the heat and humidity spiked up.
I can't wait until Caitlin is a bit older so we can read HP. She doesn't have much interest in it now.
IoA looks pretty cool - I don't know very much about US. i read someone else's review of WWOHP - thought it looked cool but very crowded. Interesting concept with the express pass. I'm guessing a lot of people don't buy them or the "instant" part of it would not be so instant, right?
I hear you on the whole Doritos search - for some reason at the parks I will be a little lax in our usual habits and will let Katie have junkie snack early in the day too -- just avoiding the fight and grumpiness makes it worth it!
I don't think many people buy the express passes either. Usually the lines aren't too bad, I guess we just picked a bad day (or week since all the school groups were there that week) I doubt there are many times when you will need them, but they were nice that day.
Only on vacation can you have doritos at 10am.
I was laughing outloud at all your ride names- fake splash, fake kali
that's a lot of money to pay to get to the front of the line. Do you get express passes or early entry for staying at certain hotels?
I'm excited to see your room!
If you stay at the 3 onsite Universal hotels you get early entry to WWOHP and express passes. Something for us to consider next time for at least a day or two.
Interesting update. I've never even considered going to Universal and probably won't for a long time. I can't seem to tolerate roller coasters anywhere but Disneyworld!
Go figure, right?
I go to a few beaches east of New Haven; Hammonasett, in particular. We also like Lake Compounce, which isn't as big as Six Flags in Massachusetts, but is a lot cleaner and friendlier and more kid-friendly, too. They have a small water park, too. The Mystic Aquarium and that whole area are pretty nice, although entrance to the aquarium is pricey.
The beaches in Rhode Island are nice, too, and not that far. Watch Hill and Miscquamicit are nice.
Up until this year, we've gone to Cape Cod every summer, too. Not a day trip, but its fun.
Not sure what part of the state you're in, but I recently stumbled on a neat website
www.kidhaven.com, which lists things to do with kids in the greater New Haven area.
If anything else occurs to me, I'll let you know.
Thanks for the info. I happen to live in New Haven County so the link is appreciated. I always forget about Lake Compounce. We always spent a great deal of time there and Lake Quassy when I was growing up. I checked it out and Caitlin can ride most of the water rides. I must have been avoiding it in the past few years b/c she was too small.
We made a few day trips to Miscquamicit last year. We never seem to have good luck at the beach. We live about a mile from the beach so we tend to go there. The last two times DH has stepped on horseshoe crabs and the last time Caitlin got a little sting by a jellyfish. As much as Caitlin loves to swim she is terrified of anything other than a pool.
Here are some pictures of her trying to go in the water.
Scoping it out
Toes in
DH trying to help
After it went past her knees- this happened
After that this is how she spent her day
(don't worry she was covered in sunscreen and had a huge umbrella over her)
She did get up once in awhile to have some doritos and lemonade
Here's how DH got to spend his day
We are close to New Haven but we have never been to Hammonasett. We'll have to check that out.
Have you been to the Children's Museum in New Haven? Caitlin missed her class trip there b/c we were at Disney. Worth a visit?
The Harry Potter stuff looks so cool. Too bad Caitlin wasn't big enough for more of the rides there. I've often thought that it would be more fun if everyone was tall enough to ride together.
It is funny how many Universal rides seem to be a version of a Disney ride. I do wonder how it is that Universal has a Marvel section, while Disney has bought out Marvel. I wonder how that's going to work out.
I can't wait until Caitlin is taller. IOA will be awesome once she can ride the coasters. She still has a good time, but I miss going on the thrill rides. I guess I just don't like going alone enough to do the single rider line.
It will be interesting to see how the whole Marvel situation turns out. I have heard it won't be going anywhere anytime soon.
DH is a huge Marvel fan so ever since he was old enough he has been putting money into Marvel stock. Of course now that stock is Disney stock. That's right, my anti -Disney DH is a Disney stock holder. He wasn't happy about it but he has decided to let it be Caitlin's and will give her whatever is in there when she gets older. He says he enjoys making money off people like me. I usually tell him that if we take another Disney trip or cruise we are just investing in Caitlin's future.
From all the other reports I've read on here about IOA and Un. it just seems WAY too busy for me to probably enjoy it. Too bad you had to deal with grumpy tudes and pickiness. But, sounds like the FPs helped with some of that a bit. Interesting to know they can be used more than once. Hmmm...
I think the only use once passes must be new. I have never seen them mentioned before. They might fix that soon so don't count on it.
I always find it interesting to know that DH, who is incredibly cheap, will pay for extras so that he doesn't have to wait. He also insists that if I want to see Wishes next time I need to book something like the dessert party or Pirates and Pals that we did last year. He just hates waiting. You do not want to be stuck in a car with him on the highway when there is traffic. We drove from North Carolina to CT the night before Thanksgiving while he was in the Marines. The 12 hour drive took 17 hrs b/c we hit traffic near DC. Not fun.
Okay, I'm confused with the US/IoA FP system. I thought it was like a coupon book they gave you and you had to forfeit the coupon to ride - each person must have their own book, etc.
How does it work? I'm hoping for US/IoA visit next year, so trying to learn what I can about the system ... TIA!
The express passes look a bit like paper Disney tickets. There is a barcode on the back that they scan when you enter the line. The ride only once option that is cheaper might be new, b/c I never saw it mentioned anywhere before. When DH went back on the ride twice the guy scanned the ticket and did a bit of a double take and tried again. Maybe DH just got lucky, but the guy sent him through.
You can purchase them online or at certain stores at the parks. It is better to wait b/c depending on time of year you might not need them. Before this trip we never really had any waits longer than 30 minutes.
I did enjoy reading about your day tho, it was nice to sense that you all were in good spirits for a day, after you found the doritos of course!!
Good luck on what you decide and keep us posted.
