Microsoft TechEd 2012 Closing Party

[Emiroo]

Word up everyone. I'll be attending Microsoft's TechEd conference in Orlando next month. For it's closing party, Microsoft rented out Islands of Adventure on the 14th from 6 pm to Midnight. Only conference attendees will have access to the park and all attractions, food & drink (alcohol included!) will be free.

 

My question is can the park be done in 5-6 hours? It will be my first time there. I definitely want to do Hulk, the coasters formerly known as Dueling Dragons and Spiderman. I'm not a Harry Potter fan (as in never read a HP book or seen a HP movie.), though I'll probably still check out the new ride there.

 

What else IoA is a must see and what is skippable? Any tips will be appreciated.

[simon8899]

I'd take Harry Potter world first and would head to incredible Hulk in the last hour. If its hot choose between Hulk and that amazingly wet logflume.

[chadster]

Another thing to consider is how many attendees will they have? Less than 5k and you can do that park easily in a few hours. The shot towers are nothing special, skippable if time is not on your side.

[Extreme]

I can tell you from the last time they rented out IOA there was 13500 people there. It will be busy. There will be way more than 5000 people there. You should still be able to get everything in. Just hope it doesn't rain. in 2007 it was very wet and HULK never opened.

 

I will be there this year as well, so hopefully it will be a nice week. I have seen my fair share of rain. But nothing like that week in '07. But hey that is apparently normal for Orlando.

 

Ken

[radiohead8989]

I went to TechEd in Orlando in 2000, and IOA was really busy. We only got one ride on Hulk, because it was down after that. We skipped some rides, because the lines were long. Free food and free alcohol made for a very fun evening.

[gisco]

If everything is open, 13,000 plus people should get lost in a park that size. If a ride had to much of a wait I would skip it and head to another. Not all rides could have long lines and I would check back later.

[Extreme]

I agree that is how it should be. But i can tell you that is not the reality. Its kind of along the same lines as Rod and Elissa wanting to keeps the numbers of the TRP Trips low. 50 people with ERT on 5 rides, nobody waits for anything. 13000 people with the same ERT there will be lines. Im not saying that you wont be able to get in what you want. Just dont expect it to not be busy. You can also look at it this way, the Hulk would need to have about 4250 riders/hour for everyone to get a ride in the approx 4 hours that the park is open.

[SharkTums]

^I agree. You also have to remember on these buyouts not every attraction, shop, restaurant, etc. is open which forces people on fewer rides and makes the park seem more busy. I've been to a few buyouts at the park and they can get VERY crowded.

[RoCo]

If weather conditions and crowds permit, AND you are a big fan of river rapids rides, then DO NOT MISS Popeye and Bluto's Bilge Rat Barges. It's the best of that sort of thing I've ever been on. Insane.

[The Yeti]

What else IoA is a must see and what is skippable? Any tips will be appreciated.

 

 

Dudley Doo Right's Ripsaw Falls is epic. You will be surprised, and if people aren't standing on the bridge near the end spraying people with their water jets you may not even get soaked. Popeye is amazing, but you are pretty much guaranteed to get soaked. Dr. Doom is great as well...the atmosphere makes and theming makes it one great ride, and it is a little intense.

[arby]

I was there also. Did you happen to write a TR? I'd love to read it. The good thing was that everything was open and they were letting anybody ride Pteranodon Flyers so I was able to pick up that credit. The bad news was that it was really busy so instead of riding many things, I ate and drank my way around the park a few times. Here's some pictures that I took from that night:

 

I guess Microsoft sold these stilts to SFMM after the party.

They had a live band that was playing good music on the waterfront at the Port of Entry. There were tables let up where you could set your food/drink to enjoy the entertainment.

All the restaurants had these lit signs setup so you knew what they were offering inside. Most restaurants weren't serving their full menu and they had other things as well. For example, the Diner had a huge sub setup inside as well as some of the normal items you can get there.

All over the park there were tables setup with drinks or food like Prime Rib, fresh pasta, etc.

How would you like to swim out to the middle of the lagoon to place these big balls?

There were some obnoxious idiots there. This is inside the Hulk queue.

I liked the projected image on the side of Jurrasic Park River Adventure.

They had a dessert table inside of Mythos. I had one of ea.... OK. I had two of each.

You'll never guess who is hosting this party...

Another live band inside Circus McGurkus Cafe.

One of the few times you'll probably see a bar setup in Seuss Landing.

These drummers were good and this wraps up a quick look inside TechEd 2012 closing party at IOA.