Originally Posted By Autopia Deb Day 4: Finally Universal Orlando and Islands of Adventure! More specifically, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter! After a disastrous attempt at frying eggs without butter, or Pam, in a pan with no tephlon coating, we had scrambled eggs and toaster waffles for breakfast before getting ready to head out to Universal Orlando. As you might guess, even the scrambled eggs left a nearly uncleanable mess in the pan so it was decided that all future eggs would be hard boiled, but not before going to the parks! We left the condo at about 8:15 anticipating heavy commuter traffic and a long walk from the parking area. We got lucky with both and we were through the turnstiles about 30 minutes after closing our front door. In fact we made such good time we were off our first ride by 10 after 9. That first ride was Dragon Challenge and even with making a side trip to the lockers and the delay in figuring them out the coaster was a walk on and we hardly even had time to enjoy all the detail in the queue, but we’d get our chance later. After being strapped in an employee (what do we call them here, they aren’t cast members, but that’s what I want to call them because it fits here as well as it does Disney) noticed the look on my face. “Are you OK, you look troubled” “No, I’m just wondering about your costumes” it turns out they are dragon handlers, like Charlie Weasley. Nice touch! As quickly as we got through Dragon Challenge, by the time we got our things from the lockers the lines for everything in the WWHP were quite long, Harry Potter’s Forbidden Journey, Flight of the Hypogryph, Olivander’s and even the Butterbeer carts were crazy long. We attempted to enjoy the atmosphere, but the crowds were just crazy so we moved on. We walked through Jurassic Park, somehow I missed seeing the entrances to the ride and the main building, to Toon Lagoon. We decided to ride Dudley Dooright’s Ripsaw Falls, which was walk on. This ride is extremely well done, but it gets you very wet very early! So, soaked to the bone, we figured we’d ride the Bluto Bilgerat Barges (also walk on). We were so wet after that, I went into the rest room and literally wrung out my clothes. Even at that my pants were at least moist well into the afternoon. Ah the chafing! From there we walked into the Marvel Super Hero area. As fun as this area is, I find the theming to be the least effective. It is very “in your face” although not actually bad by any stretch, maybe the subject is less conducive to real world translation, I found the other areas really shined, especially in comparison. The Toon area is very Tooney, the Jurassic Park area looks like it’s right out of the movie, Seuss Landing captures the art and feel of the books perfectly and WWofHP is just spectacular. Even the entry plaza lets you know you are in for an immersive experience. Anyway, we saw the line for Spiderman was 15 minutes, but walked by to see what else there was. The lines for Hulk and Dr. Doom were also not bad, but we decided to turn around and ride Spidey. Whooops, should have gotten in line immediately. The line was now 25 minutes! So we got in realizing that line was only going to get worse, and quickly. WOW, I had heard this was the best dark ride in Florida so I was afraid I might have pumped it up too much in my mind but it did not disappoint. It is so well done, an excellent attraction from queue to exit! After leaving Spiderman we started plotting out the rest of our morning before our Mythos reservation at noon. Sadly the park had filled up enough that there was little we could do other than wander and take in the sights before time for our lunch without making us late. After a little wandering, but not much as we’d already made a complete circuit of the park, we decided to check in a bit early for lunch. I think it was maybe 11:30 and the walk up line was crazy long with people holding their little blinky pagers. We checked in, were handed our blinky and told it would be 20 minutes (no big, we were quite early). After maybe 10 minutes our lights started flashing and they were ready to seat us. This place is very well themed to Greek mythology. It’s like sitting in a grotto with the cave walls carved with mythical beings. We experienced quick and friendly service and excellent food. I don’t normally like to plunk down more than $40 for lunch, but I will tell you it was probably the best value of our entire trip! K got the Buffalo chicken wrap, which he enjoyed right up to the last couple bites when it got down to just tortilla and cheese (he and I don’t really dig on the cheese the way some do). I got the filet, which came in 3 medallions with super yummy mashed potatoes, asparagus, and spicy fried onion strings. The onion strings were too spicy for my taste by themselves, but when eaten with the filet… perfection! For anyone planning on going to Universal Orlando, I can not recommend Mythos enough! But make an advanced reservation, it’s really easy and doesn’t take much time and saves you so much waiting when it’s time to eat. We decided to take another crack at the Harry Potter area, so we turned left after exiting the restaurant and walked through the Lost Continent, I really wish we had gotten a chance to check out this area before the addition of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, what’s left is really lovely and looks like it was really immersive when it was whole. Now it has Mythos, Poseidon’s Fury, Sindbad, some shops and an interactive fountain (think PUSH). The line for Dragon Challenge wasn’t too bad, only about 20 or so minutes. So we stored our stuff and got in line. This queue is another fine example of the detail that has been put into this park. We saw Support Harry Potter banners (of course in the books they would have read “Potter Stinks”, LOL), Hagrid’s hut, the Tri Wizard Cup and many other details, including dragon shadows moving over head in the loading area. We had previously ridden the Chinese Fireball so we veered right for the Hungarian Horntail. I suppose with enough rides I could get to know the coasters well enough to develop a favorite, but as it stands I enjoy both sides. K says he prefers the blue to the red, but he rode one or two times more than I did on the trip. After the coaster we decided to brave the line for Harry Potter’s Forbidden Journey, by far the longest line of our trip. It was listed at 75, but after winding through some backstage area before even getting to the castle I think it was closer to 90. The queue for this attraction is simply amazing, so much so that there is an opportunity to walk beside the queue to see most of it without waiting in a long line to ride. We did this later in the trip just to take in the detail and enjoy. Shortly after reaching the castle and the lockers, you go through the green houses, then back in the castle where you might see some of the paintings move and talk, including an argument between Salizar Slitheren and the other house founders on the merits of Harry Potter’s Quiddich playing. You also get the safety spiel from a painting, as well as Dumbledore talking to you from his office, the mirror of ERISED, The Fat Lady and our three heroes setting us up for what’s about to happen. What about the actual ride? I have NEVER experienced anything like it. It is an amazing feat of engineering and imagination, just incredible! It blends modern technology and story so well. It was worth the long line. Speaking of long lines… The Three Broomsticks had long lines since morning, I later learned the capacity in there is 500 people! I’m not sure if that includes the tables out back, but there was a line winding out front. I can’t imagine waiting that long for my lunch, whew! We wound our way back to the front of the park to check out the lines in the Marvel area, as it started to rain. But since we were still damp from our morning rides it hardly bothered us, and it was no down poor anyway. We got in line for the Hulk coaster, but it was clearly longer than advertised, so I got out and put K in the single rider line. I was getting a headache anyway and knew I’d feel worse if I rode. I think the single rider line must have been moving slower than the regular line, because he was in there quite awhile. In fact when he finally got on, the ride broke down and he had to wait even longer. He had fun and after we finally reunited, we decided to try out Universal Studios since I had gotten the two park pass. By this time my feet were killing me and US looked a million miles away instead of next door, I was really wishing for Disney’s in park transportation and a monorail between parks would not have been unwelcome. I had a little trouble with the biometric on my pass and they actually had to register another finger for me, but I eventually got in the park. On the left as you walk in is this insane looking coaster, Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket, with my headache that was not on my list for the evening. But we did move on straight ahead to The Mummy. It was a fairly long line, with another well themed queue, anyone see a pattern here? Although I enjoyed the ride, which is better than Universal Hollywood’s, my headache was getting worse. We then moved on to the Twister experience next door. Meh. Backdraft in Hollywood is similar and done better. There was just a ton of standing and waiting for not much payoff. In fact after 3 days at the Universal parks I have come to the conclusion that when it come to rides Orlando kicks Hollywood’s booty, but it is very much the opposite when it comes to shows and seeing how movies are made. Which makes perfect sense, Universal Hollywood is an honest to goodness movie studio that happens to be nearly a century old. They have a very limited amount of land for building attractions, but a pool of real actors hoping to make it in the industry. Anyway, after Twister I was really starting to feel bad, so even though it was only 5:00 or so we left. We stopped at the Publix to get me some Advil and a couple of goodies, we then went through the Panda Express drive through for dinner. I wasn’t sure how dinner would sit, but the Advil did its job and I started to feel much better and a quiet evening in the condo was just what I needed after a fun and full day at Universal Orlando. Next up: Day 5 and Busch Gardens Africa in Tampa!
Originally Posted By WDWdreamin I'll help by bumping this one. As you probably can figure out, this day's trip report is very helpful to me. I can't wait to see the theming in January. Sorry you had a headache.
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb Thanks . But as you can see we managed a pretty full day in spite of the headache forcing an early exit.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Sounds like a fun day. I used to love the Lost Continent until Potter moved in (though that sounds pretty cool too). It was my fav land in any Florida theme park if I recall. I am also glad Spidey lived up to the hype, as well as the wonderful Mythos. Great restaurant. But I agree, USO has the best rides and queues, but the shows and sense of history of USH cannot be touched. I have to treat them as two seperate, but both enjoyable, entities.
Originally Posted By 999HAUNTS Hollywood Rip Ride Rocket...Holy mother of pearl. Best. Ride. Ever. I chose "Kickstart my Heart" by Motley Crue for my soundtrack and it was the best choice ever. Made the ride experience.
Originally Posted By tashajilek Thanks for the report Deb! This is really helpful for me too. Im really convinced now that i need to buy the front of the line pass for my day. Also, do you need lockers for certain rides like Seaworld?
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb Those passes get really expensive the more the crowded the park gets. Also, they do NOT get you front of the line privileges on Harry Potter's Forbidden Journey. So you may want to see how the lines are on the day, if you aren't doing both parks, you can probably get it all in on one day. Especially if you will be skipping the water rides.
Originally Posted By tashajilek I didnt know it didnt include all the rides. I was going to get it seeing as it will be a few days after xmas and should be very busy.
Originally Posted By tashajilek I also have no choice but to do both parks in the day. I also really want to catch Grinchmas and the Macys parade.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Personally, I would cut down on your time at WDW to do both universal parks. The MK is really disappointing compared to DL IMHO.
Originally Posted By tashajilek Well, im not that interested in everything that is offered at USH. I think if i have the front of the line i should be ok. "The MK is really disappointing compared to DL IMHO." I have heard, but i shouldnt compare.
Originally Posted By tashajilek Im sorry you werent feeling so well Deb. Sometimes for some reason you can feel terrible at theme parks. I guess the lack of sleep and runnign around cant help much.
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb The lockers: You need to get one for Dragon Challenge, Forbidden Journey and Hulk at IoA and Hollywood Rip Rocket, Mummy and Men in Black in the Studios. They are free for an amount of time based on line length plus 15 to 30 minutes and use a fingerprint system. At Sea World you need them for Manta and Kraken and the cost 50cents as long as you want. I personally don't think you should skip MK, it may not be all DL is, but it has its own merits IMO. But I do agree, if you can find a way to do a second Universal day, do it. You might want to go to the USO web site to check on details and pricing for the front of the line passes, you can even buy them in advance online. I did notice people using them when lines were short, twice we got on the ride before they did when we all entered at the same time. During busy times you can only use them once per ride, so don't waste it on a 15 minute or less line .
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Don't get me wrong, the MK has it's merits ,but if the choice is cramming 2 universal parks in a day vs a day at the MK for a seasoned Disneylander, I would prioritize universal.
