Photo TR: viking86 returns to Orlando

[viking86]

Day 6 - Islands of Adventure & Universal Studios

 

After seeing so many girls in one evening I was totally exhausted, so what better way to recover than to do both Universal parks on a Saturday. This day was an official Nolimits Exchange meetup (official group picture 11 posts down on this page ).

 

I took almost no pictures this day, so no full trip report. But I will give a quick summary of how our day was. We met up around 10:00-10:30 AM in Citywalk and headed to IoA first. I’m not going to list everything we did or in correct order, just whatever pops into my mind as I write this.

 

- Hulk was running okay to me. It is a bit shaky in some spots, but not painful in any way. Many rumors about the ride getting an extensive overhaul, so it will be interesting to see what the future will bring. With the exception of a somewhat weak ending, it has a great and very fun layout! We also got to experience the launch with no sound effects, which was pretty cool as the launch came without warning.

- Got a great view of the new King Kong construction, this thing is going to be massive!

- Skipped the water rides. Didn’t feel like getting soaked...

- Dragon Challenge is incredible. Smooth and extremely intense. Would love to experience dueling on this ride.

- The Harry Potter rides at both parks are cool, but in the end they don’t do that much for me. Don’t get me wrong, I do like the rides even if I’m not a Potter fan, and I love the themed areas at both parks. Still I much prefer Spiderman and Transformers.

- Poseidon’s Fury was pretty fun, hadn’t done this before.

 

We decided to head out to Citywalk for lunch at the Cowfish. This place was fantastic! Great food, excellent service and at least for a Norwegian the prices were very nice as well.

 

- Over at Studios we watched the Horror Makeup Show while letting the food sink. Was pretty fun!

- Got a great view of the course for American Ninja Warrior.

- Mummy is still an awesome ride!

- Watched Twister from the control room, that was pretty cool! Also fun to get a close-up watch of all the props revert to their original position.

- We didn’t manage to do Transformers, Men in Black and Rockit as the day was coming to an end and we were getting somewhat tired, but we watched the Cinematic Spectacular nighttime show at Studios, which was pretty cool. No, it’s not on the same level as Disney, but I enjoyed it and thought it was pretty well done. A good ending to a great day!

 

 

Overall it was a very good day at Universal. We managed to get a hell of a lot done in a day, and considering I visited the parks last year I wasn’t really bothered about missing out on a few rides.

 

As previously stated I didn’t really take any pictures, but here are a few random ones just to have something in this report.

The Incredible Hulk is a visually stunning rollercoaster!

The new King Kong ride is starting to look fantastic!

This thing is massive!

And finally here’s a picture of a T-Rex, just because it’s the bestest, most awesome dinosaur there is!

[_koppen]

and at least for a Norwegian the prices were very nice as well.

 

This sounds just like my dad whenever he comes home from the states!

[DoinItForTheFame]

Such a great on going report! And great photos! You all look like you're having a lot of fun! Can't wait to get back down to Orlando!!

[viking86]

Thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying it. I'm having a blast writing it, and there's plenty of more fun to come!

 

and at least for a Norwegian the prices were very nice as well.

 

This sounds just like my dad whenever he comes home from the states!

 

When you live in one of the most expensive countries in the world it almost doesn't matter where you go, you're almost guaranteed it will be cheaper...

[viking86]

Day 7 - EPCOT and Magic Kingdom

 

For day 7 I didn’t have any specific plans. Well, until the evening the day before when I got the following text message from Robb:

 

“Garbles is in town tomorrow night. I made some FP at MK if you want to go.”

 

And with that I suddenly had plans for this day as well. The meetup wasn’t until the evening, which I was fairly happy pleased with, because my feet were in dire need of some rest. I spent the first hours of the day in the apartment at the resort, getting a good breakfast, doing some laundry and watching some football (thats soccer for you Americans, match was between Chelsea - Liverpool if anyone feels the need to know).

 

Around 2 PM I ran out of patience and headed out. I decided to head to EPCOT first. Spent a couple of hours at the park, did multiple single-rider laps on Test Track and also took a lap around World Showcase before heading up to Magic Kingdom to meet up with the group for the evening.

(thanks to Robb for providing most of the pictures from Magic Kingdom this evening)

 

 

Here I am back at EPCOT for some more Flower & Garden festival.

EPCOT fountain doing its thing...

Did several single-rider laps on Test Track. I love this ride, so much fun! And as I have stated previously, the single-rider line moves superfast due to the 3-across seating.

Chevrolet concept car.

Another beautiful day around the World Showcase Lagoon.

Snow White was out meeting guests in Germany.

Quick food-stop in Japan. This thing had some chicken stuff inside if I remember correctly. Quite tasty!

Beautiful France!

I ended up taking a lot of World Showcase Lagoon pictures on this trip

Alice greeting guests in Britain

EPCOT is so beautiful that you feel you never get enough pictures of it.

SERIOUSLY!!!

There was no way I was going to pass by these two without stopping!

And with that I would say my final goodbye to EPCOT for this trip. Love this park so much and I will definitely be back in the future!

I headed directly from EPCOT up to Magic Kingdom. Hello castle!

Met up with the group and instant silliness occured!

When you forget your space goggles you have to improvise.

(Pssst Tom, the camera is on this side)

Went for a ride on Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. I’m very focused, Tom looks beyond bored...

...and these two guys?? Well.....yeah, not sure what words to put here!

 

We decided to be very brave and go on Peoplemover again. The outcome was inevitable...

 

 

 

.

IT HAPPENED AGAIN!!!

“Hello Periscope viewers, we are stuck on Peoplemover again”

The whole group! I now have a 67% “getting-stuck rate” on Peoplemover. No evacuation this time though, we were going again within 10 minutes.

Went for a ride on Splash Mountain and saw a whole lot of Brer Bear Butt which left us all mentally scared for life!

Big Thunder Mountain at night is awesome! It’s a completely different ride compared to during the day.

Riding Big Thunder Mountain at night during Wishes?? UNFORGETTABLE!

Time for some more Space Mountain. Got my space goggles on now. You can never be too cool for space! (or as Robb is demonstrating, too silly)

“It sure is dark in space”.

(what the hell is going on behind me?)

“No Robb, don’t eat the strangers”.

We all love Seven Dwarfs Mine Train!

So much fun!!!

Best thing to do after park closing? Laying on the grass of course...

Jake approves of the grass!

This might have been the only normal picture taken all evening!

Look at all these people!

Not quite sure what’s going on here....

Is this better?

And finally we once again say goodnight to Magic Kingdom, this time with a nice view of Space Mountain from the monorail.

[cfc]

Periscope and Peoplemover don't mix!

[viking86]

Periscope and Peoplemover don't mix!

 

Maybe, but it gave me some of the most memorable rides of my entire trip! The Peoplemover will forever hold a special place in my heart.

 

 

This was an insanely fun night at the park!!!

 

That is a highly accurate description of that evening! So much fun....

[viking86]

Day 8 - Sea World Orlando

 

New day, new opportunities. Arrived at Sea World a little after 10 AM and met up with fellow forum member Zach (thepoint4life23) shortly after, for what would become another great day in Orlando.

 

 

Some quick notes from the day:

- Sea World has two excellent B&M's, and when Mako opens next year they will have a really strong trio of rollercoasters.

- Excellent operations, two trains running on both Manta and Kraken even with both rides being walk-on all day.

- Wild Arctic is the worst simulator I have been on! The concept and story is cool, but it's just soooooooooooooo dizzying! I refuse to ride this ever again.

- Moving to the other side of the planet, Empire of the Penguin in Antarctica is another dissappointment. It's such a cool ride system that allows for so much, but I feel this ride misses so many opportunities to be great.

 

Overall I really like Sea World and I sincerely hope that the addition of Mako will bring a brigter future for the park. They have some excellent rollercoasters, but I cannot help but feel that they are a bit behind when it comes to rides.

 

Anyway, onto the pictures...

Arriving at Sea World Orlando.

One of the first things you see at Sea World is the “splashdown” turn on Manta. Very cool feature and it looks excellent! A true eye-catcher!

First ride we did after meeting up was Journey to Atlantis. Didn’t go on this last year so it was new for me.

I thought this ride was great fun, and had an acceptable level of wetness.

We had some time to kill before the killer whale show so we went for a spin on Wild Arctic. When you get to this area you can be happy, as it means you have finished your ride on the most dizzying simulator ever and you don’t have to go on it ever again!

Plenty of available seating for the show today.

Jump around!

SPLASH!

Spectators on the other side about to be soaked.

Kraken is a great ride!

We rode in the front seat for our first ride. It wasn’t until we hit the brake run we realized why our ride was so quiet.... there wasn’t a single person on the ride behind us.

Kraken monster ready for another summer of eating park visitors.

We also watched the “Clyde & Seamore’s Sea Lion High” show.

The show was pretty fun!

Moving on to Antarctica.

We took a ride on the “wild” side of Empire of the Penguin. I can understand the critizism that this ride has received. It’s such a cool ride system with so many opportunities, but the ride itself is severely lacking and you end up feeling very dissappointed when the ride is over.

Penguins are cool animals, but they smell like shit! Literally!

Look at those fat asses!

Love the Manta sign!

The first drop isn’t very spectacular, but it surely gets the ride going!

This is the moment where all first-time riders go "Oh crap"!

The pretzel loop is one of my favorite coaster elements ever. Such a unique sensation...

And I’ll end this short report with a little more love for Kraken. Smooth, some good forces and overall a very fun ride.

 

Overall it was a good day at Sea World, they have two very good rollercoasters and I’m sure Mako will be an excellent addition to the park. I definitely feel it’s much needed, because apart from the rollercoasters and Atlantis I feel the park is lacking a little when it comes to quality rides.

[thepoint4life23]

It was great meeting you. The ride on Kraken was one of the oddest things ever.

[_koppen]

 

This is one of very few elements I'm absolutely dying to try out!

[viking86]

It was great meeting you. The ride on Kraken was one of the oddest things ever.

 

That sure was a strange ride indeed. I have never had such a "quiet" ride on a B&M (or any other coaster for that matter). Thanks for meeting up with me, I had a great day!

 

 

This is one of very few elements I'm absolutely dying to try out!

 

And with good reason, it's easily one of my favorite coaster elements. Heading up into the pretzel loop really gives you a chance to think about what's going to happen, and if you ride in the backseat there is some serious pull going over the top!

[dreynolds1982]

This is one of very few elements I'm absolutely dying to try out!

 

I've never been on Manta, but the pretzel loop on Superman:UF at SFGa is one of my all time favorite coaster elements. Just an incredibly unique sensation, unlike anything else I've experienced on a coaster. Hard to describe. Definitely something you need to experience for yourself!

[cfc]

^To me, the experience was akin to having an elephant stand on my chest. Not a fan of the pretzel roll, but to each his or her own.

[viking86]

Day 9 - Disney’s Hollywood Studios

 

Day 9 meant a full day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. This would be the last “new” park of the trip. Plenty of good memories from this park from my visit last year, mainly due to the surprise of going without knowing anything about the extended Frozen Summer Fun we got to experience back then.

 

Not a lot of Frozen Fun this time (though there was some), but I still had a great day. Arrived at the park fairly early and got plenty of riding done during the day. In the evening I met up with the group, which was the biggest group of this trip. Joining me for this day was Robb, Tom and Jake from previous days, but also Banks Lee from Orlando Attractions Magazine, who was there with his family. Always fun to meet new people, and this was no exception.

 

As for the park itself my feelings are a bit mixed. As a park I’m not overly enthusiastic about it, but on the other hand it has what is in my opinion easily the best ride collection in all of Walt Disney World. Tower of Terror and Rock’n Rollercoaster are both brilliant semi-thrilling rides, Star Tours if my favorite simulator ride and Toy Story Midway Mania is probably the best shooting dark ride I’ve been on ('ll gladly admit I don't have that much to compare it to though). But as a park it doesn’t have the same atmosphere as Magic Kingdom and EPCOT, and Fantasmic is also not on the same level as the nighttime shows in its neighbour parks. Still it's a great place to spend the day!

 

 

Arriving early at Disney’s Hollywood Studios for the last “new” park of this trip.

Inside the gates and I already see something missing from last time.

The hat might be gone, but the stage is back, just like last year.

The stage all prepared for Star Wars weekends (and soon to be ready for Frozen Summer fun I assume....)

With “only” 45 minute wait I went for an early ride on Toy Story Midway Mania!

With “only” 45 minute wait I went for an early ride on Toy Story Midway Mania!

The Mr. Potato Head in the queue line was pretty well done.

Skipped the stunt show on this visit. Watched it last year, and didn’t really feel any need to watch it again. It’s a good show though if you haven’t seen it before.

Cinderella photo-op in the street.

I don’t know about the rest of the band, but I’m fairly sure the lead singer was the same guy I saw last year as the lead singer in “Icemen of the North” during Frozen Summer Fun.

Speaking of.... YAY, FROZEN FUN!

This gave me instant flashback to my 2014 trip!

There was no way I was not going to see this show this time!

(in addition Robb told me I HAD to watch it)

*Excited*

Anna making an early appearance on stage.

As always Elsa looks fantastic both on screen...

...and on stage!

 

Here's my video of the ending of the show!

Picture came out crap, but I got a first score of 119,200. Overall I loved this ride, possibly the most fun I’ve ever had on a shooting ride.

More Frozen?? YAY!

I spy with my little eye... a tower!

This was a very acceptable wait time for Tower of Terror.

Love the theming in the lobby.

Waiting for the lift.

After riding Tower of Terror I moved on to Rock’n Rollercoaster.

One of my favorite rides at Walt Disney World. Good launch, fun layout and a fairly smooth ride.

After some riding I decided to sit down and watch Beauty and the Beast - Live on Stage.

I quite liked the show...

...although I cannot believe they left out the most iconic scene in the entire film (sort of).

Hello Tower!

After meeting up with the group (at least part of it) we went and met Hiro and Baymax.

Happy Jake!

Group shot!

Not a Star Wars fan, but Star Tours is my favorite simulator ride of all time.

Highly accurate reenactment of Jake being the rebel spy on our tour!

Time for some more rides on Rock’n Rollercoaster.

Jake, myself and Robb went into ultimate coaster geekiness, and Tom made sure to capture the moment.

I got a cool shot though!

“Oh no, Banks is lossing his glasses! Quick everyone, we must grab them!”

Went for a second ride and the ride broke down as we were getting close to ride. This is how the station looks like with lights on. Shortly after they emptied the station and queue line and gave us an additional fastpass ticket each.

I still suspect this guy had something to do with it.

Time to head back to Tower of Terror again, with an even more acceptable wait time.

(picture by Robb

This is a perfectly normal picture taken on Tower of Terror.

See? Perfectly normal...

Went for a late ride on Toy Story Midway Mania, which also had a VERY acceptable wait time.

(picture by Robb)

As mentioned we were also joined by Banks Lee from Orlando Attractions Magazine with family. Was great meeting you!

(picture by Robb)

Robb and myself scored a pussy and a beaver, which is the best score you can possibly get on this ride!

We ended the night watching Fantastic. With the park not being very crowded we walked straight in only a few minuters before the show started and got great seats. That’s the great thing about visiting the park together with locals, so you don’t do the mistake of lining up an hour before the show starts, as they reccomend.

 

Plenty of fire right here!

All the characters greet the audience.

Overall I think the show was okay. In my opinion it relies to much on the waterscreens. Some parts were really good though, mainly those with lots of fire. I think Robb described it perfectly when he told me you sit through 20 minutes of 'okay' bits for 4-5 minutes of the good stuff.

(picture by Robb)

And one last shot of Sorcerer Mickey launching fireworks into the sky!

(picture by Robb)

[cfc]

It's good to get an authentic Norwegian perspective on Frozen Fun.

[viking86]

^I'm glad that I, as a Norwegian, can use my background and knowledge to provide the one correct answer regarding Frozen in these controversial Disney times...

[viking86]

Day 10 - Magic Kingdom

 

After leaving Disney’s Hollywood Studios I said my final goodbye to Robb, Tom and Jake. I still had one full day left, so I decided to once again head up to Magic Kingdom for one more day at my favorite park.

 

This was a day of mixed emotions. I’m always happy to be at Magic Kingdom, but knowing that I would be heading home the next day also left me with a sad feeling throughout the day. And I must honestly admit I think I came close to shedding a tear while watching “Celebrate the Magic” late at night...

 

I also brought my videocamera to the park this day so look out for some videos throughout this report.

 

 

Back for one last day at Magic Kingdom.

I will never EVER get tired of this view!

One last look at the grass. So simple, so effective. LOVE IT!

Beautiful details around the hub

I quite like the “Dream along with Mickey” show in front of the castle.

Plus it has fireworks and that is always awesome!

Of course I also had to pass a visit to Tangled Toilets.

I’m very happy that I managed to avoid going into this place...

Nope, not going in here again!

I would have loved to go in here and say goodbye to the girls...

...but the line was too long, no 5 minute wait right before closing this time.

Goodbye Peoplemover! Thank you for providing me with some of the most memorable rides of the entire trip

Time to use my Fastpass on Seven Dwarfes Mine Train.

I’m running out of words to describe this ride, so I will just repeat what I have said earlier: This ride is so much fun!

This guy is having a blast!

 

I shot an onride video of Seven Dwarfes Mine Train.

 

Time for a ride on Space Mountain. Love the clouds behind it, makes it look like a giant smokestack.

Okay, time to watch the parade again.

Beauty and the Beast.

Hello Cinderella!

No Elsa, stop spinning! Come back to me!

Ah that’s better!

(except that f**cking camera stick, why on earth do you need one when you’re standing at the f**cking front to watch the parade??!!)

I love the Tangled float!

Hello Ariel!

Ariel looks like she’s about to make the jump!

I rode Splash Mountain twice this day..

...and managed to get front seat on both rides. Managed to stay somewhat dry though, unlike when I rode it together with Robb the week before.

Seven Dwarfes Mine Train got stuck on the brakerun and the passengers has to get evacuated. Was quite interesting to see the sticks they used to lock the swinging on the cars.

Castle shot! As you can see I was not alone in being sad, the clouds were also sad that I was leaving.

Evening sets over Tangled Toilets.

Fantasyland at night.

Fantasyland carousel at night.

 

Most people gather at the hub and Main Street for the fireworks, but Fantasyland is a great place to watch it as it’s much less crowded and you feel really close to the action. It doesn’t make for the best video, but I hope this gives a good impression of how it feels to watch Wishes from this area.

 

Tomorrowland at night.

There is just something special about being at a park at night.

The castle looks spectacular at night so I made sure to get a couple of good shots.

So pretty!

Just beautiful

 

I also had to watch Celebrate the Magic again. This is my favorite nighttime show at Disney. Fireworks are cool, but Celebrate the Magic is so cool from a technical point of view, and it’s also a really emotional show. As mentioned earlier I was close to shedding a tear during the show.

 

Show’s over, time to leave

 

Actually I stayed until after the Electrical Parade to stay at the park as long as possible. While not quite on the same torture level as It’s a Small World, it's not too far off after a long day at the park...

 

 

And with that my final day at Magic Kingdom came to an end. I will be back here, but whenever it might be, it will not be soon enough...

 

 

Day 11 - Going home

 

During my stay in Orlando I stayed at Wyndham Bonnet Creek Resort, located right next to Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort and very close to EPCOT, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Downtown Disney. Overall I enjoyed my stay at the resort, the apartment was nice, cleand and held a good standard. I didn’t check out any of the resort offers like pools and restaurants as I was out all days, but it looked like it had quite a bit to offer. I would definitely consider staying here again.

 

View from my balcony towards the main reception building.

(yes its a different view compared to the one posted earlier, I had to change unit during my stay)

The resort was quite big and looked really nice.

 

My flight wasn’t until the afternoon, so I headed back to Disney’s Hollywood Studios to use the last day of the 7-day park hopper ticket I bought. I didn’t take any pictures, but I did the following rides/attractions:

 

- The Great Movie Ride

- Tower of Terror

- Rock’n Rollercoaster

- Frozen sing-along

- Muppetvision 3D

- Star Tours

 

At 2 PM I said my final goodbye to Walt Disney World for this trip, went back to the car and headed for the airport.

 

One last reminder of what I was leaving behind on the airport.

The plane that took me back across the Atlantic ocean to Heathrow. MUCH better legroom than British Airway

And one final shot after landing in Bergen, Norway. Atleast I was greeted by the sun when coming home.

 

So that was it for my trip report. I had an AMAZING time and I have to give a huge THANK YOU to Robb, Tom, Jake and everyone else who came to hang out with me during my stay in Orlando. You REALLY contributed to making my trip as awesome as it was!

 

I hope it will not be too long until I’m back in Orlando. 2016 around same time of the year I consider likely. I’m trying to stay strong, but I must admit that about 3 weeks after coming home the post-Disney depression hit me hard! That was not helped by the fact that it was 3 weeks of extremely crappy weather. For the last week or so we have had some sun which helps a ton, but we’re still waiting for summer to arrive here on the Norwegian west coast. This weekend is starting to look good though!

 

Overall I hope you have enjoyed following this trip report. I know I’ve really enjoyed writing it and sharing it all with you.

 

Until next time...

[Nosferatu]

Nice trip report!

[cfc]

I'm always a bit melancholy during the last day at WDW (or DL or Tokyo Disney or Paris Disney or HKD), too. But it looks like you had a great time--thanks for the report!

[viking86]

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the report. I do miss WDW like crazy, not only because it's a wonderful place to be, but because I got to spend my time there with some FANTASTIC people! I will be back at one point, it's just a question of when...

[TBpony414]

Awesome TR, I was laughing through a lot of it so I can only imagine how fun it was for you to experience it! 2016 will be here before you know it

[viking86]

^That's awesome to hear, I'm glad you enjoyed it! Yes, I don't think it's ever possible for a trip report to truly describe the amount of fun and awesomeness experienced on a trip like this.

[nesdude]

Thanks for the fun times at Universal! Come back soon!

[Meteornotes]

Awesome report. I miss Orlando so much!

 

dt

[StealthFan]

I don't think it's ever possible for a trip report to truly describe the amount of fun and awesomeness experienced on a trip like this.

 

Totally agree! Doing my trip report didn't do it justice just how much fun I had or how relaxed I was.