Originally Posted By hopemax So with the opening of HP, I think we are heading over to that side of town when I visit in June. The plan is for 3 days...1 at each park, and 1 to focus on HP stuff. I have my Undercover Tourist link from the Mousesaver's Newsletter...are there cheaper ticket options, or is that the best? My parents are FL residents, what is the best deal for them right now? Power Pass (no blackouts while I am there)? We are not planning on buying a FoL pass. What are the rides we should focus on hitting early for each park? Any basic strategies? Any food favorites? Anything interesting in detail not to miss?
Originally Posted By mousermerf I was an AP at Universal Orlando for a few years. If they're going to go a few times the pass can be a good option otherwise just buy online before arriving - there's nearly always some discount offered that way. Also, do they have AAA? There are good discounts for Florida residents through them. As for the parks - sounds like you have a good plan. I sincerely doubt you'll need a full day for HP in and of itself but you can always use that day to hit other things that may have been missed for whatever reason. Hopping between the parks is really easy there. At IOA there's pretty much at least 1 major attraction in every Island that's a "must see" while the others are sort of filler but can be fun depending on your tastes. They very much took a page from Disney's playbook when making that park. Going around the loop.. I always start in Suess Landing, and that's the fastest way to HP, so on your non-HP day you might want to go to Marvel Super Hero Island instead. But, back in Suess Landing - I used to love Cat in the Hat but with accidents akin to Roger Rabbit at DL with people getting out of their restraints and being flung from the vehicle it doesn't do the crazy spinning anymore. Sad day Still a neat dark ride though. There's also the trolly ride up in the air - it's cute. That ride was supposed to be there when the park opened but had all kinds of technical issues and had to be rebuilt and didn't open until like 2007 or something. It also has a ridiculous name, which i can't recall at the moment, but my brain is saying before the rework it was called Sylvester Mcmonkey McBean's Very Unusual Driving Machines. I think it's now called the High in the Sky Suess Trolley Train Ride. Each side has a different route and each time a car goes out it gets new audio narration assigned to it - so it's interesting to say the least. One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish is Dumbo/Aladdin with water jets to avoid while flying around. The Carousuessel is a carousel, but a nice one. The Day at the Zoo or watever its called is a water play area but unless you have kids it's totally skippable. Ok, one land down! Lost Continent is next door and what's been partially absorbed by HP. God, what's still there..? I think the Voyages of Sinbad show is still there, and that's worth doing if you arrive around showtime. Neat set, lots of special FX. Think of it like the Indy show at MGM. Then there should still be (in theory) Poseidon's Fury which was an awesome walk-through show thing back when the park first opened. Changes in the script, theme, etc.. to tweak it along with effects that have broken beyond repair have pretty much ruined it. It's still neat, but not as neat as it used to be. You get guided through big sections of an excavation sight in a temple in sort of "tour group" manner. You start with a normal room, magically discover a secret message, end up in a sort of trap chamber before a special treasure room, have to solve a puzzle to not die, and then end up in the grand finale room where there's an epic battle of the gods. The old versin had this really cool old dude who climbs down out of a hatch in the ceiling in the first room. Turns out he was Zeus all along and he fights off pissed-off Poseidon to save you in the grand finale. New version has a bumbling young person who is doing the excavation who is not a god and just a spectator and the gods who fight in the end are different. Also, the big special effect of the swirlign water vortex you walk through either doesn't work at all anymore or not properly - i haven't been in a while, but it was a neat effect to walk through water that was being pumped around you at high flow in a circle to create a tube to walk through. Best part, it started an stopped originally so it was very dramatic to see not just "oh, that's neat." Moving on, HP is next and that has the old Dueling Dragons coasters rethemed and the Flight of the Hippogrith which used to be Flight of the Unicorn, and of course the big HP dark ride, which we know not much about. After that, Jurassic Park! I've always liked Jurassic Park. The River Adventure is worth it, but has a seriously big drop at the end (coming from this side of the loop you may not see the drop before you get to the entrance of the ride, hence the warning) and otherwise there's lots to explore in JP. Visitors Center is worth perusing (looks a lot like the movie) and if you wanna play around Camp Jurassic is like Tom Sawyer island on steroids. Awesome crazy multi-level caves to go through with geysers of water and special effects and many levels of rope bridges. What's next? Toon Lagoon. Dudley's Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls is like Splash Mountain with less show scenes but some gnarly drops. Not a bad ride. I like Popeye and Bluto's Bilge Rat Barges a lot. I think it's the best raft/rapids ride around and it has won all kinds of awards. Totally worth doing, even if you need to buy a poncho so you don't get soaked to the bone. Ok, onto Marvel Super Hero Island - Spiderman is a must do no matter how long you end up having in the park. It's like Indy in a way, but then also has 3D screens that are seamlessly integrated. It's a really awesome ride. It convincingly pulls off the 3D to the point that you're not sure what's a projection and what's real in some scenes. Hulk is of course for the coaster fans and Storm Force is like an adult version of the teacups with bigger cups and more spinning ability. I think that covers most of IOA.
Originally Posted By mousermerf Quick highlight choices from Uni Studio Orlando: I like ET. It's cute and has some really neat sets. It's a big big ride. Jaws is neat. I like the area of Amity in general. Men in Black is worth doing, it's one of the few "shooter" rides I actually like. It's the same motion base as Cat in the Hat but actually spins - so you'll get to experience that Everyone will tell you to do Mummy and Simpsons but i've not done either and do't fell any great loss in my like. I liked their precursors of King Kong (RIP) and Back to the Future (RIP). Twister is ok, nothing amazing, but ok. Special effects show really. Shrek is a cute 3D movie. Jimmy Neutron is weird.. and was better when it was Hannah Barberra and classic cartoon characters - still a novel overall concept though. I can't even think of much else in the park - tells ya how much time I spend there, eh? There's a whole kids play area and an animal actors show, neither of which ever interested me much. You could go see Barney - yes, that Barney - in his little show and meet/greet. I never did.
Originally Posted By dshyates Must rides! IOA: The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman The Hulk Bluto's Bilge Rat Barge Dudley Doright's Rip Saw Falls Jurassic Park River Adventure Posiden's Fury Cat In The Hat Universal Studios Florida: Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket The Mummy Disaster! Jaws Men In Show your signature Automatically parse links in text Disable smilies in text E. T. T2:3D
Originally Posted By mousermerf Oo, i forgot T2:3D. Nothing like watching a show that wants to kill you.
Originally Posted By JeffG >> "But, back in Suess Landing - I used to love Cat in the Hat but with accidents akin to Roger Rabbit at DL with people getting out of their restraints and being flung from the vehicle it doesn't do the crazy spinning anymore." << Is that a very recent change? The spinning still happened when I rode the ride in January. -Jeff
Originally Posted By Bob Paris 1 "So with the opening of HP, I think we are heading over to that side of town when I visit in June." Chalk up another one crossing over! Once you ride Spidey you'll be saying, "We went to WDW three times per year for marketing synergy and food festivals and missed THIS?!?!" The deluge begins with a trickle.
Originally Posted By hopemax I really have no excuse for not visiting sooner. My parents moved to Orlando 5 years ago, and still we haven't gone. When they had their apartment we used to drive right past the place and still never stopped! Of course, any day at WDW is free since my Mom is a CM. Universal really isn't that expensive, but any money is more than free. Thanks for all the info guys!
Originally Posted By mousermerf Oo... aah... <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-lPSmZh93I" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...PSmZh93I</a>
Originally Posted By 20years Thanks for the info, mousemerf. We will only have one day at IOA, and our focus is Harry Potter, but I think my kids would LOVE Camp Jurassic. We'll have to make time for a few of those other attractions.
Originally Posted By sjhym33 Having grown up as a Disney fan and having worked for the mouse a long time I can say that both Universal and IOA are great theme park experiences. Spiderman is the best theme park attraction around. IOA is wonderful with 2 great coasters. Over at Universal you have to see Terminator, Mummy and Disater (just to see Christopher Walken) and Men in Black.
Originally Posted By mousermerf Disaster is still a sour point for me. It used to be Earthquake, which was ok, but again so i'm not mad they rethemed it. What i'm annoyed about is how the retheme is blatantly a rip-off of Armaggeddon at Disney Studios Paris. Even the preshow areas are nearly identical physically.
Originally Posted By brotherdave Attractions not to miss at both parks: Universal Studios Florida: Revenge of the Mummy Jaws Disaster Men in Black The Simpsons Ride E.T. Adventure T2-3D Shrek 3-D Twister: Ride it Out (yet, it's not a ride but an F/X show!) And if you're into coasters, Rip, Ride, Rocket looks to be fun (haven't ridden this yet). Islands of Adventure: Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey (obviously haven't ridden this yet!) Incredible Hulk (must love coasters, though) Amazing Adventures of Spider-man Popeye and Bluto's Bilgerat Barges (Best river rapids ride ever!) Dudley DoRight's Ripsaw Falls Jurassic Park River Adventure Camp Jurassic (best kids area ever!) Dragon Challenge (again, must love coasters, but make sure to check out the queue line through the castle!) Poseiden's Fury (though it is definitely not as good as it once was) Cat in the Hat CarouSEUSSal (very unique carousel) High in Sky Trolley Train Ride (if time and line is short0
