Here are some of my thoughts, comments, and opinions.
Set up to our story:
We were in Orlando for 9 days, December 17th (late arrival) to leaving early on December 26th. Six days at Disney and 2 days at IOA/USF. I decided we would go to IOA on Thursday December 21st and USF on Friday December 22nd. No real reason here, our first day had to be MK and we also had PS for Cindy Breakfast on Wednesday. Planned IOA on Tuesday but the weather reports were saying rain on Tuesday, and they were right.
So Thursday we set out early, 7:30am, to get to IOA early, thought we would get in sometime after 8am. If it is not a busy time of year donâÂÂt bother to go early. We stood in line right until 9am. No letting anyone in early. Also it didnâÂÂt take as long to drive from Disney to Universal as I had thought, about 20 minutes or less, so we arrived way to early. 7:48am!
Went right to Spider-man. What an awesome ride! And we walked right on. Got off and walked right on again. Could make some people a little motion sick. If you go to IOA you must ride Spider-man!
On to the Hulk Coaster. We have two DD, 6 and 10. Coaster isnâÂÂt for them, but we took them in the line to hold cameras. Probably waited 25 minutes to ride. They ushered the kids right to the Baby Swap room, great service. Kids thought it was neat.
We thought we were in the Express line, but I really donâÂÂt know. No one ever marked our cards. Here is my opinion about Express line, we never used the Express line card. We found the lines confusing, often leading to doors that said âÂÂfor Employees onlyâ or just a dead end. Since we werenâÂÂt waiting that long I didnâÂÂt think about it much. But as an afterthought I didnâÂÂt think Express was something special or worked for us.
Then we rode a new ride, Spinner something next to Hulk.
Walked thru Toon Lagoon, but didnâÂÂt ride anything because temperature was around 40-45 degrees. Took lots of pictures.
Went to Pteranodon Flyers. I know, but the kids wanted to ride it. They wouldnâÂÂt let our 10 year old on. To tall. We were so taken back by the worker not letting the 10 year old on and her being upset, that my DH and 6 year old were gone into the line before I thought that we should have let the 10 year old go with her. If you donâÂÂt know, only children under I certain height (they had a pole to measure canâÂÂt remember the inches) can ride and 1 other person can ride with them. The 10 year old missed it by ýâÂÂ. So needless to say she wanted to ride with her sister when DH and the 6 year old returned. I think IOA needs to work on explaining this ride better. It was amusing watching the employees trying to explain this ride policy to families, some not speaking English, and people getting very, very angry about it. Enough said, enough time wasted.
Caught Flying Unicorn, small kiddy coaster, on the way to Suess Landing and Whoville. I loved the theme-ing at Whoville, IâÂÂm a Grinch freak.
Ate at Green Eggs and Ham, all I can say is yuk. Then we visited If I Ran The Zoo and rode Caro-Seuss-El. Waited 30 minutes to ride Cat in the Hat, very cute, and 30 minutes to ride One Fish Two Fish. Well we werenâÂÂt coming back to IOA so we thought we might as well wait and ride now. Then Back to the Lost Continent where we saw PoseidonâÂÂs Fury. Sign said 45 minutes but we only waited about 20. Ok show, DH thought it should be 3D. We had to stand in the back, probably better watching somewhere else. Kids enjoyed the talking fountain in front of Sinbad on our way to Dueling Dragons where the wait was only 30 minutes, so time to go for it. Youngest DD didnâÂÂt like the castle or dungeon (Well I didnâÂÂt like waiting for One fish, Two fish either is what I told her). Again the employees were great in showing the girls where to wait. And all I can say is THAT WAS THE MOST AWSOME COASTER I HAVE EVER RIDDEN!
So on to the Flying Unicorn (again) and on to Jurassic Park. Visited the Discovery Center, which the girls liked. Lots of hands on here. Watch an egg hatch, scan eggs, look through dinosaur eyes to see what they see. Then on to Triceratops Encounter. Saw the Vet talking about the dinosaur. The girls were picked to pet the dinosaur. They only picked 4 children. My girls really liked this, in fact they were disappointed that there werenâÂÂt other types of dinosaurs to go see.
By now we are ready to call it a day. Let the kids play in the Camp Jurassic playground for a few minutes. Then started the walk back, Toon Lagoon, Marvel Island. Wait for Spider-man was 45 minutes, to long for tired visitors like me. Kids had to do Mt. Krumpit (wait was 45 earlier and we said no). 20 minutes later, not worth it! (Little did we know more snow than that was waiting for us in Oklahoma) So out we go to City Walk and the parking garage.
My conclusions: DonâÂÂt go early during slow times, I didnâÂÂt get the Express line idea, do Spiderman first, donâÂÂt eat at Green Eggs and Ham, if you love roller coasters ride Dueling Dragons.
We didnâÂÂt do water rides, just to cool. Felt like the park was semi crowded, Suess Landing was the worse as far as crowds.
I noticed the workers were very young, I wondered if some were even 18.
And IOA, this is probably good, doesnâÂÂt give me that urge to shop like Disney does.
I have mixed feelings about IOA. It was ok but lacked something. Enjoyed it, but didnâÂÂt seem like there were many rides. We will probably go again.
Well I will now work on Univeral day. Thanks for reading!
TammyB
Set up to our story:
We were in Orlando for 9 days, December 17th (late arrival) to leaving early on December 26th. Six days at Disney and 2 days at IOA/USF. I decided we would go to IOA on Thursday December 21st and USF on Friday December 22nd. No real reason here, our first day had to be MK and we also had PS for Cindy Breakfast on Wednesday. Planned IOA on Tuesday but the weather reports were saying rain on Tuesday, and they were right.
So Thursday we set out early, 7:30am, to get to IOA early, thought we would get in sometime after 8am. If it is not a busy time of year donâÂÂt bother to go early. We stood in line right until 9am. No letting anyone in early. Also it didnâÂÂt take as long to drive from Disney to Universal as I had thought, about 20 minutes or less, so we arrived way to early. 7:48am!
Went right to Spider-man. What an awesome ride! And we walked right on. Got off and walked right on again. Could make some people a little motion sick. If you go to IOA you must ride Spider-man!
On to the Hulk Coaster. We have two DD, 6 and 10. Coaster isnâÂÂt for them, but we took them in the line to hold cameras. Probably waited 25 minutes to ride. They ushered the kids right to the Baby Swap room, great service. Kids thought it was neat.
We thought we were in the Express line, but I really donâÂÂt know. No one ever marked our cards. Here is my opinion about Express line, we never used the Express line card. We found the lines confusing, often leading to doors that said âÂÂfor Employees onlyâ or just a dead end. Since we werenâÂÂt waiting that long I didnâÂÂt think about it much. But as an afterthought I didnâÂÂt think Express was something special or worked for us.
Then we rode a new ride, Spinner something next to Hulk.
Walked thru Toon Lagoon, but didnâÂÂt ride anything because temperature was around 40-45 degrees. Took lots of pictures.
Went to Pteranodon Flyers. I know, but the kids wanted to ride it. They wouldnâÂÂt let our 10 year old on. To tall. We were so taken back by the worker not letting the 10 year old on and her being upset, that my DH and 6 year old were gone into the line before I thought that we should have let the 10 year old go with her. If you donâÂÂt know, only children under I certain height (they had a pole to measure canâÂÂt remember the inches) can ride and 1 other person can ride with them. The 10 year old missed it by ýâÂÂ. So needless to say she wanted to ride with her sister when DH and the 6 year old returned. I think IOA needs to work on explaining this ride better. It was amusing watching the employees trying to explain this ride policy to families, some not speaking English, and people getting very, very angry about it. Enough said, enough time wasted.
Caught Flying Unicorn, small kiddy coaster, on the way to Suess Landing and Whoville. I loved the theme-ing at Whoville, IâÂÂm a Grinch freak.
Ate at Green Eggs and Ham, all I can say is yuk. Then we visited If I Ran The Zoo and rode Caro-Seuss-El. Waited 30 minutes to ride Cat in the Hat, very cute, and 30 minutes to ride One Fish Two Fish. Well we werenâÂÂt coming back to IOA so we thought we might as well wait and ride now. Then Back to the Lost Continent where we saw PoseidonâÂÂs Fury. Sign said 45 minutes but we only waited about 20. Ok show, DH thought it should be 3D. We had to stand in the back, probably better watching somewhere else. Kids enjoyed the talking fountain in front of Sinbad on our way to Dueling Dragons where the wait was only 30 minutes, so time to go for it. Youngest DD didnâÂÂt like the castle or dungeon (Well I didnâÂÂt like waiting for One fish, Two fish either is what I told her). Again the employees were great in showing the girls where to wait. And all I can say is THAT WAS THE MOST AWSOME COASTER I HAVE EVER RIDDEN!
So on to the Flying Unicorn (again) and on to Jurassic Park. Visited the Discovery Center, which the girls liked. Lots of hands on here. Watch an egg hatch, scan eggs, look through dinosaur eyes to see what they see. Then on to Triceratops Encounter. Saw the Vet talking about the dinosaur. The girls were picked to pet the dinosaur. They only picked 4 children. My girls really liked this, in fact they were disappointed that there werenâÂÂt other types of dinosaurs to go see.
By now we are ready to call it a day. Let the kids play in the Camp Jurassic playground for a few minutes. Then started the walk back, Toon Lagoon, Marvel Island. Wait for Spider-man was 45 minutes, to long for tired visitors like me. Kids had to do Mt. Krumpit (wait was 45 earlier and we said no). 20 minutes later, not worth it! (Little did we know more snow than that was waiting for us in Oklahoma) So out we go to City Walk and the parking garage.
My conclusions: DonâÂÂt go early during slow times, I didnâÂÂt get the Express line idea, do Spiderman first, donâÂÂt eat at Green Eggs and Ham, if you love roller coasters ride Dueling Dragons.
We didnâÂÂt do water rides, just to cool. Felt like the park was semi crowded, Suess Landing was the worse as far as crowds.
I noticed the workers were very young, I wondered if some were even 18.
And IOA, this is probably good, doesnâÂÂt give me that urge to shop like Disney does.
I have mixed feelings about IOA. It was ok but lacked something. Enjoyed it, but didnâÂÂt seem like there were many rides. We will probably go again.
Well I will now work on Univeral day. Thanks for reading!
TammyB
