Our Universal Resort Vacation and Caribbean Cruise 10/6-10/18, 2010

[Teknik_DC2]

The planning for this vacation started less then a month after we returned from our cruise on the Glory last year. A coworker and good friend of ours told us they were considering taking a cruise for there 5th wedding anniversary and asked if we wanted to join them. Of course we said yes as we wouldn't turn down the oppertunity to cruise again. Valisa and her husband picked the route they wanted to do and the planning proceeded from there. They are divers and as such they chose the Western Itenerary specifically for diving locations. As the months went past we the Legend out of Tampa was chosen as our ship of choice due to its close proximity to Orlando. We are all huge Harry Potter fans and with the Wizarding World just opening at Islands of Adventure at the Universal Orlando Resort we added the extra days prior to our cruise to go experiance it. We even had 2 additional people join us in Orlando for the Harry Potter experiance. Kyles sister Emily and his friend Mike. With everything set it was time to vacation.

(from left to right) Me (Jeff), My wife Kiera, Mike, Kyle, Valisa, and Emily

With the introduction out of the way lets move on to Day 1 of a 13 Day vacation.

 

[Teknik_DC2]

Day 1: Travel to Florida

Our journey begins early in the morning of October 6th. As i'm sure many of you do we had an early flight to catch which ment an early waking. We had to be to the airport even early then normal to meet our friends Kyle and Valisa. They would be our vacation partners for the whole trip and we would be taking there bags with us. I booked our flights thru Southwest long before our friends booked there flights. Because of such they never found rates as cheap as what we booked our Southwest flights at. So they ended up flying with American Airlines. Because we were allowed 2 free checked bags each we took there luggage with us so they wouldn't have to pay baggage fees with American.

We awoke at around 6am and soon had the car loaded and on our way to pick up Kieras mom. She would be dropping us off at the airport and then take our car back to her house so we wouldn't have to pay to park it. at around 7:15 we arrived at the airport and vacation had officially begun. Kyle and Valisa were already waiting for us and after quickly getting all the bags checked we quickly said goodbye as they had an earlier flight they had to run and catch. Kiera and I had plenty of time tell our flight so we grabbed breakfast and then relaxed and uploaded a few new games to our phones before leaving Salt Lake. We even ran into Mike right before getting on our flight as he was arriving for his.

Our first stop for the trip would be Las Vegas. Kinda odd going in the wrong direction but oh well we were leaving the cold and rain of Utah behind us. I would end up missing the "rash" can though lol.

Before we knew it we were soon boarding our 9am flight for Las Vegas. It was finally here. The vacation that was nearly a year in the planning. The flight to Vegas was plesant and short. I've visited Las Vegas 10 times in the last 5 years but i've never actually flown there. So it was pretty interesting to see the land from a different angle. It was actually kinda pretty seeing the fire red rocks and Lake Mead from above.

Our Layover in Vegas was only for about an hour and a half. We quickly found our next plane that would take us to Tampa and then took in the sights. I love how close the Las Vegas airport is to everything. I love how you can see all the different resorts the town has and how close it all is to you. This is the only city i've been to where a major portion of the city is so close to the airport. To kill the time I also allowed Vegas to take $1 of my money (slot machine) and we grabbed a Strawberry Cream Frapacchino from starbucks.

We were soon back aboard a plane and on our way to Tampa. The flight was smooth except for when we went over the storm system in Arizona. I guess it was pretty bad down below and there was even a tornado. This flight was longer then what i'm use to but it wasn't too bad. We filled the time reading books, listoning to our ipods, and watching movies on our netbook.

 

[Teknik_DC2]

Time went by quickly and we soon started our decent into Tampa. The ocean we were over soon turned to land and we were soon on the ground. We were in for a very pleasant suprise this year. You see last year we cruised on the Glory the Exact same dates as we did on the Legend this year. However Orlando was experiancing record heat and humidity for the few days prior to a cruise. When we stepped off the plane in Tampa we expected to hit a wall of heat and humidity just like we did last year. We were so relived that there was none of that this time around.

We made our way down the baggage claim and found Kyle and Valisa waiting for us. There plane arrived 15 minutes prior to ours. However they enformed us that Mike sent a text to them and his flight was delayed in Chicago (he was suppose to arrive 15 minutes after us) so we had to wait an extra hour for his plane to arrive.

Mike soon arrived and we were on our way. We had to go pick up our rental van from Enterprise first though. We got a 2011 Dodge Caravan which was a decent vehicle.

With the van loaded we were on our way out of Tampa with the next stop being in Orlando. I have to say the freeways are layed out kinda crazy in the Tampa area though. They were so bad that our GPS was even getting confused. But we soon found the I-4 and had smooth saling from there to Orlando. The drive isn't bad at all. We made it in just a little over an hour.

Once in Orlando we were starving so the quest was to find food. We couldn't eat anywhere real fancy like a sit down restaurant because Kyles sister Emily would be landing in Orlando at 9:45 so we found a Poppies chicken and had a decent meal. After which Kyle and Valisa dropped Me, Kiera, and Mike off at our hotel to get checked in while they went to the Orlando airport to pick up Emily.

We ended up staying at the Doubletree Universal. We chose it for its close proximity to the Universal Orlando Resort so we could walk there each day. The hotel was very nice and I highly recommend it. We booked a corner room and it was very spacious with plenty of room for 6 people to stay in. I couldn't recommend this hotel enough especially for how little we paid each night for it.

We were at the hotel for over 2 hours and we still hadn't heard back from Kyle or Valisa yet. So we called to make sure they were ok and they were just pulling into the parking lot of the hotel. I guess they got lost pretty bad when leaving the airport and ended up paying around $10 in toll road fees finding there way back. Oh well we were just glad they were safe.

The day was soon over and we tried going to bed to prepair for our early and long day we would be spending at Islands of Adventure, Harry Potter, and Halloween Horror Nights. However most of us were on Utah time so that made things difficult for falling asleep. We stayed up for probably an extra 1 1/2 just laughing and joking with one another in the dark. But we eventually fell asleep relaxed knowing we were on vacation.

 

[macraven]

 

[Teknik_DC2]

Alright heres Part 1 of Day 2. Its very long and Photo heavy. Unfortunatly I didn't have time to finish all of Day 2 at once so it is split into 2 parts. harry potter today and Islands of Adventure and Halloween Horror Nights tomorrow.

Day 2 Part 1: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Our second day of vacation started very early when the alarms in the room started going off at 7am. That may not sound tough to some but we were still stuck on Utah time which is 2 hours behind Florida. We were quickly up and getting ready though as we had a full exciting day ahead of us. The girls all showered the night before so us guys got ready quick and we were soon leaving the hotel so we had time to stop and get breakfast and still be at Islands of Adventure before it opened. Our hotel was right across the street from the Universal Orlando resort so we walked to the parks each day. It wasn't a bad walk at all. It only took about 10-15 minutes and sure beat paying $15 a day to park there.

We were soon at CityWalk. The entertainment complex bulit between the two parks. After finding a photospot on a surfboard we found next to it what we would be having for breakfast. Cinnabon. The Cinnabon cinnamon rolls hit the spot and with our stomachs filled it was time to continue onto the parks. One thing that was a scary thing to see though. 90% of the crowd was turning towards Islands of Adventure instead of Universal Studios. At this point we really hoped the lines would stay managable dispite all the people heading IOA for the same thing we were. Harry Potter.

There was a large crowd waiting right outside the gates of IOA (Islands of Adventure) but we were able to walk right up the automated ticket machines to print our tickets that we bought back in January (we bought our tickets right when the announced the price raise so we still got 7 day tickets for $100 each). One pleasent suprise we found though was that you can buy your HHN (Halloween Horror Nights) tickets at any ticket window. Since the IOA gates still hadn't opened we decided to pick up our HHN tickets then as well so we wouldn't have to buy them later in the evening. By the time all 6 of us had bought our HHN tickets the gates opened and IOA opened for the day with everyone heading to Harry Potter.

We would have been right with the crowd but we had to stop at guest services for a quick moment. When Emily booked her park tickets she recieved a collectable Harry Potter holigarm ticket so she needed to pick that up. After a few minutes waiting we were on our way to the back of the park. Right at the end of the port of entry you catch your first glimpse of Hogwarts castle. We then proceeded quickly thru Suess Landing and the Lost Contanent.

Finally we made it to the back of the park. Up ahead we could see the enterance arch to Hogsmeade Villeage. The excitement now was almost unbarable. We were finally there. Right inside the gates to the right is the Hogwarts Express. Billowing smoke like it just pulled into the station to drop Hogwarts students off for school. The train conductor was also there greeting everyone as they walked into the village. This character was great with an excellent english accent and making us feel as we had really just walked into the town.

After meeting with the conductor we made our way further into the town. We were in total amazment. Here we were actually in the Wizarding World. The books and movies opened up completly around us. There was Zonkos Joke Shop, Honeyduks Sweet shop, the Three Broomsticks, the Owlry and Post office. Everything in the Wizarding World is increadably detailed. They didn't skip out on anything. We decided what should we do first. Reports all summer said to make a decision of what to do first as two things get very busy later in the day. Ether head to Hogwarts and go on the Forbidden Journey ride. Or head to Olivanders wand shop to see and wand choose its wizard. We ended up choosing to go to Olivanders as the line didn't look too bad yet and it was on the must do list.

When getting in line for Olivanders we caught our first direct view of Hogwarts castle. Holy cow this thing is breath taking. I don't know if theres even anyway to discribe the beauty of this structure. I'm sure any other fan of the series would say the same thing as well. The line for Olivanders moved farely quickly. We didn't mind waiting as we were taking in the whole ambiance of the Wizarding World. The line ran past 2 (fake) shop fascades. The first is a sporting goods store called Spintwitches. The second a book store called Tomes and Scrolls. When in the Wizarding World pay very close attention to all the shop windows (even the fake shops) as each window display does something magical. (I will post all the window photos in a future recap).

While waiting in Line Valisa hoped out to go get a snack while waiting in line. She ended up coming back with Pumpkin Juice. One of the popular drinks of students in the Harry Potter Books. The look on Valisa face after taking a drink was priceless. Needless to say she was not a fan of the Pumpkin Juice at all. She continued to pass it around the group and all of our opinions of the juice were mixed. For the most part all the girls hated it. However all the guys didn't think it was bad. I wouldn't drink it just to drink it but it wouldn't be bad with a meal. It taists kinda like some put some pumpkin spice in apple juice.

 

[Teknik_DC2]

After about a 35 minute wait it was finally time for our group to enter Olivanders Wand Shop. Wow the detail here is incredable. It looks just like it does in the first movie with shelves packed to the celeing with hundreds of year old wands. And the dust on the boxes show that. There is also a display case showing all of the wands "birthday" wands avalible for purchase. The door soon closed and the wand keeper welcomed us to the shop. He then proceded to say that someone special was in the shop who would have the oppertunity of being dressed for a wand and finding the wand destined for them this day. From 90% of the reviews I read online its always a child who gets picked. Much to myself, Kyle, and Mikes dismay as we all wanted to have our wand choose us. However to our suprise Kyles 18 year old sister Emily ended up being the one chosen this day.

The Wand keeper asked emily a few questions and then took her arm measurments. He then haded her a wand and told her to point it at a bell and repeat a spell. She did so and the bell shook like crazy and got very loud and then many other bells starting chiming. The Wand keeper took out his wand and cast a spell stoping it all and telling emily "your quite the over achiever". He then proceded to hand her another wand and then repeat another spell. Nope this wasn't the right wand ether as the rooms started shake from severe thunder and lightning and rain. After the wonder keeper stopped the storm he handed her another wand and said try this one. When she took it in her a bright light encircled her and the wind blew just like in the movie. She had found her wand. With the show over the wand keeper sent all of us into the Post Office where we too could buy a wand if we would like. Overall the wand shop experiance is pretty cool. I can only imagine how much a little kid probably lights up each time they get picked to be fitted for there wand. If the line isn't too long do not miss this show. It really is pretty special.

Inside the post office you can buy any of the birthday wands (a wand linked to your birthdate based of the celtec calender) or many different character wands (like harry potters, voldemorts, dumbledor, ect....). They also have postal related items like staionary, quel pens, stamps, post cards, and stuffed owls. Look into the top of the room to see many owls purched and hooting waiting for there next delevery. Some of the owls have even recieved special awards from the ministry of magic. You can also have anything stamped here with an official Hogsmeade postmark. Emily showed us all her wand but then decided to not buy it. We thought she was crazy as (at least us boys) would have loved to have been picked to have a wand choose us.

Attached to the Post Office is the shop called Dervish & Banges. In this shop you can purchase any Hogwarts house (Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin) items like shirts, robes, ties, scarfs, ect....... They also repair magical items and have some school books. We looked around for a minute with Kyle and Kiera booth picking out robes (to try on not to buy) and both were in Gryffindor. I tried out a broom before we were on our way out of the store. Watch out for the Monster book of Monsters though. One thing about all the stores in Hogsmeade is that they are very little. This isn't because of poor planning on Universals part. They were designed small to stay true to there actual size in the books. Remember these buildings are suppose to be hundreds of years old. So keep that in mind as the shops do get very crowded and can be hard to move around in. On very busy days there will even be lines to get into the shops.

 

[Teknik_DC2]

After leaving Dervish & Banges we made our way thru the Owlery where the rafters had many owls hooting away. The rafters even looked like they would with thousands of owls taking rest there if you know what I mean. We then proceded onto the most major part of the Wizarding World. We were going to Hogwarts castle to ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. A ride described as the most technologically advanced ride in the world.

We made our way thru Hogsmeade to Hogwarts and were soon walking thru the school gates. We were all so excited. The wait time was posted at 45 minutes. That was ok as this is ride that is worth waiting in line for. Especially since this line actually has things to look at. The line starts in the dungons of the castle. here you will pass a statue of the one eyed witch as well as the Mirror of Eresid and the Postions classroom where you can here Neveal Longbottom being yelled out for mixing a postion wrong.

After the dungons you find yourself in the greenhouses. This is where most of your time in line will take place. However its not too bad as the line constantly moves. However I can only imagine the nightmare the greenhouses could become during the summertime. While in the green houses look for some recently planted Mandrakes.

After the Greenhouses you will reenter the castle into the Oxford Corridor. here you will see a couple more statues and the jewels that keep track of the house points. And the end of the Corridor is the famliar Phoenix statue that leads to the Headmasters office. After the corridor you find yourself in the Portrat hall. Here there are hundreds of paintings hanging on the walls. pay close attention as this is the wizarding world so a few of the photos move and talk to you and one another. Universal did an excellent job with the moving portrats and you really can't tell they are really TV screens. They look like real paintings that are moving. Just don't take a flash photo as it ruins the effect and won't turn out.

The next room you come to is the Headmasters office. Along the wall are many wizarding items that Dumbledor has collected thru the years. Keep an eye out of the Pensive as well from the 6th film. The best part about the office is that Dumbledor is actually there speaking to you. and he looks real too. He explains why you are in Hogwarts. That we are the first muggles ever allowed in the school and the professor bins will be giving a lecture about the history of hogwarts in the defence against the dark arts classroom. So we are told to procede there but to be careful as the grounds keeper Hagrid has lost a dragon.

Next you find yourself in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. But before the professor shows up to give your lecture Harry, Ron, and Hermione show up under the invisability cloak. They explane to you that the lecture will be very boaring and to ditch it and come watch a game of quidditch instead. Hermione tells you to meet her in the room of requiernment where she will enchant a bench for us to fly on. Ron then casts a spell that goes wrong and made the room shake to the rumble of thunder. Hermione fixes the spell and the kids leave under the invisibility cloak.

 

[Teknik_DC2]

Next up you pass the fat lady and find yourself in the Gryffindor common room. Here a few more moving paintings give you a safty speal about the enchanted benches. You then procede down a final hall where you find the Sorting Hat also giving a rythmic speal about the being safe on the ride. The line for this ride is truely amazing. It could be an attraction in and of itself. The only complaint I have for the line is that once you get in the castle from the greenhouses the line moves way to fast. But thats ok cause if you'd like to see the line again at your own pace they do offer "castle tours" which puts you in another line to move at your own pace.

The only thing I can say about the Ride itself is WOW. This thing is awesome and there turely is nothing else like it in the world. It mixes your standard dark ride elements with motion simulater movie screens. All while sitting on the back of a huge robotic arm. This thing is so awesome and is not to be missed. Even if your not a harry potter fan. Here you'll encounter many scary creatures from the book that are litterally in your face as you follow Harry on an adventure of a lifetime.

After the ride you are dropped off into a shop called "Felches Emporiam of Confiscated goods". Here you'll find many things that Mr. Felche has confiscated from students and find many other random souviniors and items for sale.

Right outside the exit of Felches was the next ride we woudl be heading to. The Flight of the Hippogriff. This is a kiddie coaster that is right outside Hagrids hut on the edge of the forbidden forest. Here Hagrid teaches you how to approch a Hippogriff and take you on a flight. The coaster is actually suprisingly very fun for a kiddie coaster. Plus its the only way you can get up close to see Hagrids Hut. Liston close as you'll hear his dog fang barking inside and you'll also have the chance to bow to buckbeak. The views of the Wizarding World from atop the coaster are great as well. Keep your camera out as the coaster is mellow enough that you won't lose it.

After riding the Hipogriff We decided it was time to try out Butterbeer. The lines for the carts were pretty long but a secret not many people know is that the Hogs Head Pub also sells it. There is typically a line in there as well but its not near as long as the carts outside on the street. The Hogs Head Pub is pretty cools and just as detailed as everywhere else. Watch the Hog on the wall as he will occasionally move and snort. Also listen for a maid by there stairs cleaning up upstairs. For those of you who drink Alcohol there was also a specific brew of beer made spicfically for the wizarding world that you can buy here. I don't drink so I couldn't tell you how it taists though. Kiera and I decided we didn't want one yet so while everyone else waited in line we walked around the rest of the Three Broomsticks which is attached.

 

[Teknik_DC2]

What can be said about Butterbeer. It is possibly one of the best things i've ever drank. I don't even know how to discribe it. Possibly best would be a mix between Cream Soda and Butterscotch. If you don't like ether of those still give it a try. Most the people in our group hates Cream Soda but loved butterbeer. Kiera and I didn't get one at this time but we did later in the evening and would end up buying probably 8 more over the course of the time we were there. Its that good and addicting. They have 2 kinds. Regular like a soft drink and a frozen slush version. Most of us perfered the Frozen but the regular was still really good.

With everyone having there Butterbeers in hand we decided to check out Honeydukes and Zonkos tell the butterbeer was gone. These shops are also very small but also don't get near as busy as the post office or Dervish & Banges. Honeydukes sells an asssortment of treats like Chocolate Frogs, Every Flavor Beans, and Caldren Cakes. Zonkos sells many joke and gag gift type items. Look for the Pigmy Puffs where if you adopt one they will have a special naming ceremony for it. Also listen to wispers underneath the extendable ears.

With the butterbeers gone we headed to the next ride. Dragon Challenge. This ride use to be called Dueling Dragons and is a extreme coaster with two different track layouts. The best part is the tracks are intertwined and you have multipule close calls with the other trains of people. Mike felt he was too large to fit the seats so he headed back to ride Forbidden Journey again in the single riders line while we did Dragons Challenge. The new theme of the coaster is that of the first task of the Triwizard Tournament in the 4th book and movie. Walking the line outside you see many banners cheering on the students participating and even come across the Weaslys crashed car in the woods. Inside you enter the champions tent where the Goblet of Fire is on display. Eventually you also pass the Championship Cup and the golden eggs the dragons are to protect. You also pass a room with floating candles before a long walk thru dark caves where you then choose if you want to ride the Hungarian Horntail (blue) or the Chinese Fireball (red). We chose the Horntail for our ride as the Blue track is by far the better (although more aggressive) ride. Also with inverted coasters like these the only way to ride them is in the front row. It may take some extra time but its well worth the wait. Kiera and I rode first and then Valisa, Kyle, and Emily rode. after we were done we decided not to reride the red side and that we would do it later. Overal they did a good job on the line for the ride but i'm somewhat dissapointed. For those who remember the old Dueling Dragons line they removed many of the cool features of the line and left it empty. So now its just kinda blaw once you get past the floating candles. This is really my only dissapointment with the detail in the wizarding world. The tracks should have been repainted and the que more detailed. You can really tell this ride is what to the blows from budget cuts. Still both coasters are a great ride and the blue track is still my favorite inverted coaster.

 

[Teknik_DC2]

Once done with Dragons Challenged we retreved our stuff from the lockers and then tried finding Mike (we didn't know he went to Forbidden Journey). We called and waited and nothing from him. By this point we were starving and had spent half the day in the Wizarding World. We decided to leave to go get some cheaper in food in Jurassic Park and wait for Mike to call us back.

Well I was hoping to be able to finish day 1 but man this is taking forever and I have other things I need to get done. So I will try and finish the last part tomorrow. Thanks for reading and feel free to ask any questions.

TO BE CONTINUED>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

[macraven]

i'm still here reading and waiting for more....

 

[xApril]

Sounds good so far!

 

[pixeegrl]

Love the TR! Thanks for posting so many pictures too. I am living vicariously through them until we get to go back!!!!

 

[My3SonsandMaya]

great report so far, love all the pictures

 

[Teknik_DC2]

Day 2 Part 2: Islands of Adventure and Halloween Horror Nights XX

Before leaving the Wizarding World it was perfect time for a bathroom break. Plus we still couldn't find Mike so it was a good way to kill some time. If you go to the Wizarding World make sure you use the restrooms here. Heck don't use them if you don't need to. Just go into them. There is another special gem inside of them. You can hear the ghost of Moaning Mertle speaking. She says many different things and can be heard in both the Men and Womens restrooms (she only in the womens in the book/movies). If you can go late in the evening so that your one of the only people in the restroom so you can clearly say what she is saying though. During the peak of the day you can bearly hear her with the hand dryers going and all the people.

Anyways we decided to just leave Mike a voicemail and headed out of the Wizarding World to go find some food. The next Island we came across was Jurassic Park. Last year it was my favorite area of IOA. Its still alot of fun but unfortunatly it has been dwarfed by how awesome the Wizarding World of Harry Potter is.

We decided to get Lunch at the Jurassic Park Discovery Center. Right when we got there Mike finally returned our phone calls to find where we were. Turns out he while waiting for us on Dragons Challenge he decided to go ride the Forbidden Journey again using the single riders line. He got on the ride very quickly but unfortunatly the ride broke down while he was on it. that was why he couldn't answer his phone and it took a few minutes tell they got it up and running again.

Anyways the place we ate at is called Burger Digs and is pretty decent and fairly priced too. Keira and I got a Chicken Sandwhich to share so that we wouldn't be too full when dinner came around a few hours later. The whole discovery center is pretty cool. If you go and especially if you have kids take a look around. The bottom level is full of kid focuses activities and if your lucky you may even get to see a baby Raptor be born. We saw this last year and it is a really cute experiance. Unfortunatly this year we barely missed it.

With all of us now full from lunch it was time to continue on and experiance the rest of not only Jurassic Park but most of Islands of Adventure. The first ride we came to is one of my favorites. The Jurassic Park River Adventure. I've said it before but this is hands down my favorite water flume type ride. The 80 foot drop at the climax of the ride is amazing and no other drop in my opinion compares. The ride takes you on a tour thru the Dinosaur paddocks of the park. However theres always gotta be some type of chaos and the Dinosaurs break loose and you get attacked by Raptors, the spitting dinosaurs, and climaxing with an encounter with the T-Rex.

I've rode this ride many times between Orlando and Hollywood and unfortunatly this was my worst ride of them all. Not all of the dinosaurs were working properly and the T-Rex's jaw was stuck open. I also remember alot more raptors poping out at us. Oh well the drop is still great and one thing happened this ride that has never happened in the past. We got Soaking wet. Ususally we get a little splashed but this time we got way wet. We were shocked but at least it wasn't very humid so we dried quickly.

After we survived the River Adventure we proceeded thru Jurassic Park and onto the next Island. Toon Lagoon. This section is themed to the comic strip characters from the Sunday Newspaper. It also has a few characters as well from old Saturday morning cartoons. The name of the section should give you an Idea about the type of rides here. They are water rides and very wet ones at that. Theres the duddle doo right log flume ride and the poppie river rapids. Although we were still wet from Jurassic Park after watching a few drops on the ripsaw falls we decided that we didn't want to get any more wet this day.

We did look at a few shops though and they have those little cartoon bubbles posted all over for some photo ops. We spent a good deal of time finding some fun ones to take pictures under before moving on to the next section of the park. Kyle and Emily also found a dip-n-dots stand where they found themselves a cool treat.

The next Island we came to is Marvel Superhero Island. Another awesome section where 2 of the best thrills in the park are located. The area is themed to the superheros and also the villans of Marvel comics. Kinda interesting still to see what ends up happening with this section a few years from now since Disney has since bought the Marvel Company. Watch closely on the streets as you might see your favorite superheroes walking around like Spiderman, the X-Men, or Captain America. However in all the rides the video and such are themed as they would be as if you were in a comic book. So the videos are Cartoons.

The first ride we rode in the section use to be the hands down best ride in the park. Now its in a tough fight with the Forbidden Journey. That ride is the amazing adventures of Spiderman. You enter a tall skyscrapper that is home to the Daily Buggle newspaper. After wandering the offices of the building you see news reports on tv that many of Spidermans Villans have stolen the staute of liberty. Where is spiderman? Also many reports are afraid to find out whats going on so the daily buggle sends you to find out. You board a vehicle and are on your 3d adventure where you come across spiderman and get attacked by his villans. The ride is incredable. Basically kinda like a motion simulater that moves you thru actual sets that have 3d screens built around them to project the characters. You also experiance a 400 foot freefall (or so it feels). Really this ride is awesome and I can honestly say still that I don't know if I like it or the Forbidden Journey more. Do Not Miss this ride.

After Spiderman we headed to the next thrill ride. The Incredible Hulk Coaster. Wow this thing is amazing. Hands down the best Extreme Coaster i've ever been on. From its slow incline turning into a quick launch and immidiatly being thrown into a barrel roll and the other 7 inversions on the ride it is none stop intense from start to finish. However the coaster has seen its better days. Its getting really ruff and is in desperate need of a repaint. Unfortunatly that will probably come later now as the Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit coaster in the Studios is badly broken mechanically. Still the ride is another do not miss ride especially if you love rollercoasters. If you get motion sickness, don't like going upside down, or rough shaking this ride may not be for you though.

We had a half hour until we needed to be inside Universal Studios for our Halloween Horror Nights stay and scream tickets. What better way to kill the time then by going back to the Wizarding World and taking another ride on the Forbidden Journey. We quickly walked back around the park thru the Port Of Entry, onto Suess Landing, thru the Lost Contenant and back into the Wizarding World. Hogwarts was much more packed now then it was earlier. showing a 60 minute wait. Good thing for the Single Riders line.

Heres the thing to know about the Forbidden Journey. Your first time you ride it make sure you take the time to wait in line so you can see the dungions and the greenhouse and other sections of the castle. Once you've done that take the single rider line from them on. Instead of having to wait an hour to ride we were on and done with the ride in about 12 minutes using single rider. Yeah you don't get to ride with other people in your group but that doesn't matter as most likely they are in the vehicle next to yours. The single rider line dumps you out in the Gryffindor Common room so you miss most the castle. But You can always do a castle tour later on if you wanna see the castle again. Single Riders line is well worth it if you want a quick and fast ride.

Valisa and Emily were still feeling a little sick from Spiderman and the Hulk so they decided to sit out the Forbidden Journey. After we rode we meet back up and were on our way over to Universal Studios. But we had to grab one more thing before we left the Wizarding World for the evening. Another Butterbeer. Kiera and I finally bought ours as well at this time. We only got the Frozen but the regular is excellent as well. Keep in mind though that the regular is carbonated but the frozen one is not (my wife doesn't drink carbonation thats why we only got frozen). Also buy the suvinior mug. Its $11 your first drink but you can get refills for only $4.25. Sure beats paying $6 each time in a plastic cup. The suvinior mug can also be used to get discounts on other drinks too thruout both parks. We had a small carabiner that we used to attach the mug to our belt loops when we weren't using it. This was great as we didn't have to carry it everywhere and we even rode all the rides with it like this (they won't let you take it on rides if its loose. You'd have to use the free lockers).

 

[Teknik_DC2]

With our butterbeers in hand we left the Wizarding World for the day and Islands of Adventure in general. We made our way thru City Walk and on to Universal Studios Florida. We passed the Rockit (the Hollywood Rip, Ride, Rockit Coaster) and I was saddend to see such a fun ride sit empty. But its for our safty so hopefully they get the thing fixed and going again soon.

We quickly made it into the park and still had a half an hour to kill before it offically closed and we had to be in the Stay and Scream holding area. So we headed for the best ride in the park. Revenge of the Mummy. It didn't hurt that the ride was located next to the holding pin ether. However upon arriving to the ride we saw many people walking out of the building where you enter and Team members turning guests away. We never knew what happened to it. We just assumed it broke down and since it was so close to closing time they just closed it early.

With that closed we decided it was time for Dinner. We would eat at the Irish Pub restaurant called Finnagans while we waited for HHN to start. We ate there last year and loved it so it was a must go to again this year. However we were very suprised when we walked in and the place was packed wall to wall with other people waiting for HHN. We didn't think we would get in as many people were waiting with buzzers however they walked us strait to a table for six. That was very convinent. We spent the next 45 minutes or so eating delicious irish food enjoying one anothers company and listoning to the live music. If your in Universal Studios I highly recommend checking out this place for dinner or lunch. Prices are very reasonable as well.

Many of you who may have followed my vacation planning knew that we were planning on going to Universal pretty much since the get go. However we didn't add HHN to the plans til about a week before the trip. Kiera and I went to HHN last year. I absolutly loved the event but Kiera didn't care for it. So when our friends told us they wanted to go the the event this year I was very excited but nervous if Kiera would like it since she didn't last year. I just kept my fingers crossed that since we were with a funner group this year that would help her have fun too.

If you do ever go to HHN get the stay and scream tickets. You can only get these if you have a park admission from earlier in the day. They cost $35 and are are well worth the cost considering you get 8 houses and 6 scarezones plus 2 shows for a little more then what normal 1 house are costing back home. Its really the best deal as I couldn never justify spending upwards of $80 admission like some do. Also try to go on a Thursday or Sunday evening as they are much less crowded then Friday or Saturday (typically. Not for us unfortunatly). The other advantage is they allow the Stay and Scream holding pin to start going to the houses 30 minutes before they let the main crowd outside in. So you get the early jump on everyone.

When we walked out of Finnigans they had just barely opened the gates for us to start going to the houses. They stagger there openings though every 15 minutes until the park reopens for everyone. So being at finnigans we found ourselves in the back half of the group and everyone went to the same house. It wasn't too bad of a wait though and got to see the broken Rockit up close.

The first houses that open are in the Soundstages. Universal always does an amazing Job on these houses cause come on. A freakin movie studio is building them. This year they were beyond amazing in detail. All of them were excellent. The first house we went to was called Legendary Truth. I guess this is the first time Universal has attempted an actual "haunted" house. As in the house relys on paranormal ghosts to get the scares out of you. This also has new technology in it to try and scare you. Keep you eyes open on the floor, at some of the walls, and the bed. I didn't think this house was going to scare us at all but we got a couple good jumps out it. This wasn't the scariest house but it was the most detailed and the one I liked the most.

After finishing that house we now had a choice. Do we wait for Pschycoscareapy to open at 6:30 or do we wait 20 minutes for Haides. We chose to go to Pschycoscareapy and wait it out. I don't know if we made the right decission or not as we waited probably just as long if not longer to wait for it to open. finally we did and we were finally inside. This house is themed to an insane aslym. It too is well detailed and had a lot of good scares. I knew a little secret in this house. I didn't know what the secret did but just in case I made sure that the girls that got scared most were in front of Kiera and I in hopes this secret would scare them. So heres the tip if you go this year. PUSH THE RED BUTTON. I won't tell you what it does other then it scared the crap out of my wife lol. This house was probably my 3rd favorite.

We next went to Haides where the wait was now almost none existant. This house was cool too. We got the most scares in this house out of any of them. However there were alot of sheets and stuff that hung down that were constantly getting in our face. So although we got the most scares this house kinda turned me off because of that and placed it as my 4th favorite.

Next we headed out of the soundstages and to the outdoor houses. First was Zombiegeddon. This was the "humor" house and I really wanted to see it. When we got in line the wait said 15 minutes. Not too bad we figured. Yeah the time was way off and we ended up waiting for probably 35 minutes. There is a pretty funny video that plays outside but not much else to keep you entertained. We were tired especially after walking the parks all day. The house was pretty good. Having alot of funner funnier sets in the beginning (I love the Zombie baby) and turning more dark and scary at the end. However we didn't get any scares in the house but for the laughs from the video and early part of the house it gets my 2nd favorite house spot.

After Zombiegeddon your dropped off in the Zombiegrah scarezone. It was pretty funny to see Valisa get pretty scared by one of the actors here. But other then that it was just kinda meh.

The next house we came to would unfortunatly be our last of the evening. The house was called the Orphanage. My review of it? It was just really odd. Really I didn't really understand what was going on. There were some "kids" in cages and some people walking around with zebraheads and a fire effect at the end that used real fire. The fire thing was pretty cool but other then that the house really sucked. I guess that was just cause I didn't understand what was going on. Cindy scared me pretty good at the very end of the house though. This house is diffenitly skippable.

With that house done everyone was getting really tired and wanted to sit down. So we decided to take a Night ride on Jaws. Everyone online says Jaws is much better at night. Last year Kiera and I (other then for nestolgics sake) didn't care for the ride much. However this thing is completly different at night and if you ever have the chance pick to ride this thing after dark instead of during the day every time. In addition to the whole ambiance of the ride being much creapier at night they also turn on many more fire and fog effects. I loved our night tour of Amitiy and so did everyone else. Thats the only way i'll ride the ride from now on.

With Jaws done everyone was way tired now. It didn't help ether that by this point every house in the park was between 45-60 minute wait. This evening was very very very crowded. Much more so then normal. Even regular HHN goes said that it was unusually crowded. Because of this everyone but me and Kiera decided to go back to the hotel. Everyone was tired and Valisa was literally pretty sick. So they headed back to the hotel.

Kiera and I stayed really for one reason. She is a big fan of the show GhostHunters and the stars of the show were in the park that night. So she wanted to see them. We made our way over to where they would be only to find a line that didn't have an end waiting for them (seriously where did all these people come from with this line and all the house now over a 60 minute wait). Because they weren't out yet we decided to walk back by later and snap a photo from the distance. However while walking to some of the scarezones we walked right next to the GhostHunters. Like I could have touched them. Unfortunatly my camera delayed to long and I missed them.

We walked around and checked out many of the scarezones. Some were better then last year. some weren't. One thing though was people actually tried scaring us this year. Last year none of them did anything. It is also the 20th year of halloween horror nights so they had many past Icons and scary people out and about looking for more scares. Also unlike last year I tried taking pictures of them. So since all we did for the rest of the night was walk around the scarezones heres a bunch of random pictures clumped into one.

The Icon of this years event. Fear Himself:

Afterwalking thru all of the scarezones we walked back to see the ghosthunters from the distance. So we took this picture of them and then made our way to the front of the park. Of course we couldn't leave without going thru some scarezones again though.

 

[Teknik_DC2]

We left the park at around 10pm. We had a great time at HHN this year and even Kiera enjoyed it this time. We just wish it wasn't so freaken busy. If you like halloween and are in the orlando area during this event diffenitly check it out if you can get the Stay and Scream passes. It is well worth it and alot of fun. I can only imagine its even better if you go the 1st or 2nd weekends its open when the crowds haven't decended on it yet.

For our walk back to the hotel we decided to grab another sweet treat. We swung by the TCBY ice cream in City Walk and grabbed us a pumpkin flavored Icecream. It hit the spot perfectly and helped with the walk.

Once back at the Hotel we found everyone else at the Hot tub. That was the perfect ending for a perfect day. I loved soaking my feet in that tube as after a day of none stop walking it made them feel much much better. Needless to say we all crashed out pretty early this night. We were tired and we had yet another full day ahead of us at the Universal Orlando Resort.

 

[Teknik_DC2]

Day 3: Universal Studios Florida and more Islands of Adventure

Our 3rd day started off later then our 2nd day. Although we planned to be up and at the parks when they opened again we were all still tired from the previous day. So when our alarms went off most of us turned them off and fell back asleep. Eventually though we did get up and going for the day and with everyone ready we started heading to the parks at around 10:30. The walk was nice again but we could tell the weather was a little warmer and you could feel the humidity more. Not big deal though as it was still very bearable. On the walk as well I noticed that the bottom of my left foot was hurting. I didn't think much of it though and figureed it would go away.

We were soon entering Citywalk and another fun filled day was about to begin. However Valisa and Kyle stopped right when we got to Citywalk. Valisa was feeling really really sick. And she wanted to go see a doctor before continueing on with the parks. Especially since they had a dive scheduled during our cruise in Roatan that she wanted to be better for. So Kyle and Valisa left to walk back to the hotel to go find an Instacare and get her some medication while Kiera and I as well as Mike and Emily continued on to the parks.

The scene was similar to the previous day with 90% of the people heading towards IOA. But not us. Today we were heading with the minority to Universal Studios Florida. We were soon at the entry arches and our day was about to begin. Right inside the gates we found the Nick Jr. Character Diego. Valisa really wanted to get a picture with him because her and Kyles 2 year old daughter is totally in love with Diego's show. Unfortunatly with them not there we just had Emily take a picture with them for there daughter.

After the photo with Diego we decided what where we should start first. The decision was made to Start with Shrek 4D. I don't know if any of you have seen this but its similar to the Disney show "Its tough to be a bug". Its considered 4d because in addition to seeing the video in 3d it also plays off your senses with your chair moving, lighting effects, and even water spraying in your face. Its a fun little show that takes place between the 1st and 2nd movies and is alot of fun and has that typical Shrek humor.

After Shrek we decided what we should do next. We were right next to the Jimmy Neutron ride and Twister was a short walk away. But we were ready for some excitment. We went to Revenge of the Mummy. And unlike our attempt last night it was open and operating with only a 10 minute wait. In my opinion the Mummy ride is probably the best ride in Universal Studios Florida. The idea behind the ride is they are filming another Mummy movie and you are being used for extras. Whe you walk in the Que it is set up like you are seeing the back of a movie set and eventually walk into the set which makes up most of the line. It looks like an old egyptian temple and theres even "boby traps" that will spray air at you or dim the lights while you wait. Eventually you load on the ride where you soon find out that the curse is real and that the Mummy is really trying to take your souls. The ride is very unique in the fact that the first portion of the ride is like a dark ride and the last part is a high speed rollercoaster. This ride is a ton of fun and one of the best in the entire resort. Infact it would end up being the one we rode second most behind the Forbidden Journey.

After the Mummy we were again faced with a decision of what we should do next. The decision we ended up making was that we should hit all the major rides that Kyle and Valisa would want to ride first when they got back to the park. That way when they ride them we wouldn't mind reriding them. So we made our way out of the New York section, Past the Disater attraction and thru the San Fransisco/Amity area, and into the World Expo where we came across the Men in Black ride.

Men in Black is a very awesome ride and one of the most unique Ques out there. When you get in line its set up like your looking at the Universa and You pavillion at the World Fair. The show starts but then suddenly it stops and someone comes in saying they need your help. A secret door then opens and you walk into a large elevator which takes you to the Men in Black Headquaters. After walking past familar scenes from the movies you board a vehicle for Men in Black Training. The ride is set up similar to Buzz Lightyear or Toy Story Mania at disney where you are shooting at other targets and get points. However Men in Black is much better with the ride vehicle spinning and almost all the targets full 3 demensional animatronics. Its alot of fun and eventually you save New York. However you didn't do well enough and after a bright flash you find yourself pulling into the end of the Universe and You pavillion. Like none of the alien butt kicking ever happened. This is another great ride that is not to be missed.

Next we made our way to another great ride in the park. The Simpsons Ride. Here you enter the world of the Simpsons and visit Krusty the Clowns new amusment park Krustyland. The que isn't much to look at but the videos that play in the que are hillarious. Once in the ride building you are picked along with the Simpsons to be the first to try out Krusty's new ride. However sideshow bob makes an apperance and is set on killing the Simpsons and yourself. The ride is a motion simulator and is in my opinion the best simulator ride at any theme park. It is so well done and the Imax screen that wraps you makes it very real and convincing. This ride use to be the Old Back to the Future ride. I still miss that ride greatly as it WAS hands down the best simulator ever. Although the Simpsons isn't better it is still very good and worth the ride. However if you are prone to motion sickness you should skip out on this ride as it makes many people ill. Also if your taller then 5'10 avoid sitting in the back row of the ride or you'll have a nice headach all day from hitting your head on the cealing.

It was around noonish now and we were getting very hungry since we didn't eat Breakfast. The nearest place to us for food was the International film festival so we decided to eat there. They had a large variety of food and it filled us just fine. After lunch we heard back from Kyle and they were now just picking up a perscription and would be back to the parks soon. With all the major rides rode we pondered what to do next and decided to go see what time the Horror Picture Make Up show started.

We arrived at the theater where the show takes place and were lucky to find that it started in only 15 minutes from now. So we waited for it to start as many people say this is the hidden gem of Universal Studios and a must see. The lobby is filled with many items from horror movie past and shows many of the techniques and masks used for some of the most popular movies of all time. The show itself is about 30 minutes and very very funny. 2 people actually involved in the horror makeup industry put on the show and show you many of the techniques they use in the movies. They also pick some poor person from the audiance to be a helper and that person ends up getting scared a few times pretty badly. I agree with the reviews and this show is not to be missed. It is very funny and entertaining.

 

[Teknik_DC2]

Upon exiting the show we found ourselves in the Hollywood section of the park. This area is suppose to be a throwback to the Hollywood of old and looks amazing. However it is also used for a large HHN scarezone so the many props set up for that kinda ruin the atmosphere. We heard that Kyle and Valisa were just entering citywalk so we decided to wait for them here and get a picture with Curious George.

We soon meet up with Kyle and Valisa and Valisa was already feeling much better. We asked what they wanted to go back and do first and they decided on Revenge of the Mummy. We made our way back to the ride but not without first passing thru a small Back to the Future section where the Delorean and Time Train are on display. As a huge fan of the movies I had to get pictures of them. Unfortunatly the Delorean isn't the actual one from the film and isn't the best replica ether.

We had another awesome ride on the Mummy. Seriously I can't get enough of this ride and eveyone elses opinions were the same. After the Mummy we decided to try heading to the Simpsons ride. However we stopped first back in the Hollywood section to get some drinks as it was much hotter today then it was the previous day. One thing to look for in the New York section though is a wall where you can actually climb a building like spiderman. I'm sure there is an additional charge but I thought it was a very interesting take on the standard rock climbing wall.

We soon arrived at the Simpsons. The line looked pretty long but the sign only said 20 minutes. Thats not too bad of a wait so we got in line. Its a good thing we were where we were cause as we got in line the Team Member got a call telling him to change the wait time to 45 minutes. Yeah we weren't going to wait. So we then went over to Men in Black to also find it had a 35 minute wait. We didn't want to wait in any of those lines that long so the decision was made to head back over to Islands of Adventure for the rest of the evening.

We made our way towards the exit but stopped first at the Universal Studios store. Mike wanted to find a souvenior for his mom and we found they had a Harry Potter section that we looked thru. Kyle was trying to find a certain hoodie in his size that the Wizarding World was out of. He couldn't find one though and we left the park at the blue man theater gates.

This area of the park is just a sad section to me. I've never seen the Blue man group and i'm sure it would be a great show. However the Blue Man Group theater took over one of the soundstages that use to be Nickelodeon studios. I went here as a kid and was the highlight of our trip. I loved nick growing up and the Studios were an icon of my childhood. Now the main building just sits empty and so plain looking. I miss the bright colors and the slim guyser. It also doesn't help that the Broken Rockit sits right next to the former Nick studios.

We made our way back down to Citywalk to continue to walk over to IOA. However in search of the hoodie Kyle decided we should check the Universal store in Citywalk too. So we walked back towards the studios and got some pictures of the Universal Globe before continuing to the Universal store.

 

[Teknik_DC2]

We were soon at the store and although they had a larger Harry Potter section then the studios did. It still didn't have that hoodie. They did have a few things though that we didn't notice the previous day in the Wizarding World. Valisa also tired on her house robes and showed her true colors by being a Sletherin. She was also kind enough to demonstrate the Wand pockets built into the robes.

We were soon back in IOA. After checking there main store for the Harry Potter hoodie (still not there) we decided what we wanted to do. The majority spoke that with how hot it was they wanted to go to Toon Lagoon to ride the Duddly doo right Ripsaw Falls. So we started heading that way thru Marvel Superhero Island. As we were passing thru though we found many of the heroes out and about so we got some pictures with Rouge and Storm of the X-Men and of course some photos with Spiderman.

We soon found ourselves back in Toon Lagoon and made our way to Ripsaw Falls. Kiera and I rode this ride last year. My opinions of it couldn't have changed though cause Kiera and I decided not to go on the ride due to how soaking wet you get on it. Everyone else wanted to be wet thats why the wanted to ride it. I will say that if you want a fun log flume ride to not miss out on it. It by far has the best drop and is much faster then any other log flume but the story and themeing inside the ride is really lacking. Especially when compared to Splash Mountain at Disney. Just keep in mind that you will be soaking wet from head to toe after you ride. So Kiera and I took everyones stuff and off they went to ride.

The wait for Ripsaw falls was around 25 minutes so while everyone went to ride we decided to look around the rest of toon lagoon and found our way over the Poppie River rapids area. Here we watched people get soaking wet on the ride from many view spots. There is also a child play area on poppies ship where you can run and play and slide. There are also free water canons to spray at the people on the rapid ride. The view of the rest of IOA from this ship are also excellent.

Below the ship we saw a series of trails that lead right up to the sea that the islands surround. If your looking for a place to relax in quite and want to get away from everyone in the park this is the palce to come. Kiera and I were the only ones down here and it was nice to just sit and relax in the quite (with the exception of the occasional roar from the Hulk Coaster). We ended up spending most of our time waiting down here.