Photo TR - The49er Goes to Orlando!

[The49er]

(I don't know how to link to a specific post like lots of other TRs do, sorry)

 

After years of saying "maybe next year", we (my family, who was a group of 4 here) finally got our chance to visit Universal Orlando and Disney World this summer! We planned extensively for this trip and it definitely paid off (FP+ reservations, incorporating the Hogwarts Express into our plans, etc). Let's take a look, shall we?

 

NOTE: I have decided to take the day-by-day approach here because I probably won't be able to do it all at once.

 

 

6/11: USF/IOA

Our trip was essentially divided into two parts with completely different arrangements. For the first, we would stay at the Doubletree Orlando (just across the road from Universal's eastern entrance) and go to the Universal parks. In the second half, we'd spend our time at Disney World while staying at Disney's Port Orleans - French Quarter.

 

That being said, we woke up early (ugh, jet lag) and headed into USF about 30 minutes before the park officially opened (10 AM, I think?). Surprisingly, we got in immediately and were able to head back towards Diagon Alley. We proceeded to line up for the Escape from Gringotts, whose line was extending out through the Diagon Alley Entrance; thankfully, as the extended queue was roped off at the time, this meant a wait of only about 30 minutes. After Gringotts (rides will be critiqued later), we leisurely strolled around Diagon Alley before heading out after, having accomplished one of our must-dos already.

 

As rain began to fall, we dashed into the 15-minute line for Transformers. The rain subsided by the time we exited the ride, so those who were willing headed over to use the Single Riders line for Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, where we had our first encounter with the loose articles policy (more on that later). This took roughly 30 or so minutes; by this point, everyone was getting hungry so we headed over to Mel's Diner for lunch.

 

We then made the mistake of deciding to brave the 90-minute line for Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem, which became by far our longest wait on the trip. Feeling no need to try Orlando's Mummy (we'd already been to USH) or any of the other rides in USF, we headed for the Hogwarts Express to IOA. This wait was also a bit long (40 minutes? I have no idea), but we were able to head over to IOA and grab some nifty frozen Butterbeers to help fight the heat and humidity (hailing from central California, the humidity was definitely new...and not fun).

 

The entrance to Dragon Challenge was right there, so we hopped in line. After more loose-articles weirdness (no loose change in secure pockets?!), we chose Chinese Fireball and rode after only about 15 minutes of waiting. Our group headed back towards IOA's entrance; the parents got Starbucks while my brother and I checked the Single Rider line for Hulk. Unfortunately, the Single Rider line was closed at the time despite a posted wait of 40 minutes, so we got some frozen lemonade and joined back up with the rest of the family. At this point, we were about done with the heat for a while and went back to the Doubletree for some rest.

 

A few hours later, we came back to the parks for a dinner at Margaritaville at CityWalk. Of course, one member of our group then realized that he lost his glasses and had to go all the way back to the security hub thing (does it have an official name?) before finding them. He was able to find them easily thanks to helpful and courteous staff members, so kudos to Universal on that one.

 

We then decided on a whim to head back to IOA, even though it was only about an hour before closing. The line for Dragon Challenge still looked short, so we rode Hungarian Horntail this time around. After hearing of the nature of Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, the parents were reluctant to ride and thus used the "chicken exit" on Forbidden Journey out while my brother and I basically walked on. After FJ, we browsed through the gift shop for a bit before the park closed and we headed out.

 

Rides

 

Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts: 8.75/10

I have to congratulate Universal on this one. The theming was very well done, and that's where roughly half the points of the review come from. As for the ride portion, I had some ideas of what to expect, having seen an elaborate simulation on Minecraft while I was preparing for the trip on MCparks.us I still ended up being surprised by some...er, special parts of the ride. It was definitely enjoyable, but trying to understand the plot as a non-Harry Potter fan like myself may leave you scratching your head. I was also somewhat surprised by exactly how much Universal relied on screens here (as in Transformers, Spiderman, and to a lesser extent, FJ). I personally prefer more emphasis on practical effects, so I had some minor issues with that. Additionally, I thought this would be more of a coaster than it was. Excluding a few coaster segments, it felt a lot like a slightly more aggressive version of Toy Story Mania (decent amounts of spinning and some fairly quick, albeit controlled, movements). Other than these minor complaints, the ride was amazing! Definitely a top priority here.

 

Transformers - The Ride 3D: 8/10

Again, the heavy presence of screens bothered me a little. I also felt somewhat nauseated by this one, probably because of jet lag, the unfamiliar climate, an unfamiliar breakfast, and all that fun travel stuff. It remains a technological feat nonetheless and I'd definitely ride it again if I ever find myself back here.

 

Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit: 7/10

I really wanted to like this ride, but I had one fairly major complaint (I know, I'm complaining too much...just trying to be honest here): roughness. This was definitely the shakiest and jerkiest ride of the trip for me, especially being in the back row. However, if you don't mind roughness, it was awesome! It's pretty intense with lots of weird elements, especially the non-inverting loop and the Treble Clef (best described as a helix on steroids) at the far end of the ride. The music was nice, too; I went with Daft Punk's "Harder Better Faster Stronger" Overall, a bit rough for my tastes, but otherwise pretty solid.

 

Despicable Me Minion Mayhem: 6.5/10

Blame the 90-minute line, but this was frankly underwhelming. It had some nice humor to it, but I was expecting more of the adult-targeted jokes that the movies have been more or less known for. Also might upset your stomach a bit if you're already somewhat under the weather.

 

Hogwarts Express: 8/10

Also a fun little ride. It should (hopefully) be a given that you'll need 2-park tickets for this one, but if you plan on riding, it's worth it. Each way has different sights to see, so if you want the "full experience", per se, ride this one both ways.

 

Dragon Challenge - Chinese Fireball: 9.75/10

Coming from someone who now has a mere 60 credits (including Orlando), this is top-10 material. The queue was very well themed but may prove a navigational challenge due to its dark, cavernous nature. This is actually one of the first rides I've been on that has made me dizzy enough that I had some minor balance issues afterward, despite having done most of California as well as the coasters at BGW. Of special note: the airtime hill (yay for invert airtime!) and the second Immelman (the one right by Hogsmeade Station). You MUST ride this if you get the chance!

 

Dragon Challenge - Hungarian Horntail: 9.5/10

Like Chinese Fireball, this is still a crazy ride. The cobra roll and zero-G roll are probably the best elements here. Though this one also made me dizzy from its sheer intensity, Chinese Fireball seems somewhat better (maybe the airtime? ).

 

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey: 7.5/10

A fun ride, but it just felt...odd. My loads-of-giant-screens pet peeve may be part of it (though there are more physical effects here), but 80% of the ride felt like I was either laying down or being flung around. Also, a lot of it was more compact than I expected; maybe I needed better understanding of the plot, but it seemed to stay in some sort of cave for a lot of the time. Sure, it was fun, but...derp. I wouldn't get into a giant line for this one, which is why it was so cool walking on at the end of the day.

 

That concludes day one. Pictures incoming soon...I think. We'll see.

Edited August 4, 2015 by The49er

[The49er]

Time for some Day 1 pictures!

Here we are at Universal Studios Florida!

Looking for that Diagon Alley booty...uh...I mean, almost into Diagon Alley

This is basically what a 90-minute line for Despicable Me Minion Mayhem looks like. I have learned my lesson...

Snack stand in line for Despicable Me. Because capitalism.

Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit is watching you.

Platform 9 3/4 is cool!

Mandatory Dragon Challenge shot attempt.

Sorry, Hulk, but we're heading back to the hotel for now.

Great view from the top of the parking garage! (This is where we ended up the 2nd time...yikes! Lots of cars)

Fun Spot's skycoaster is supposed to be visible in the center right (I didn't know it was that close to Universal!)

Hogsmeade is really well done, as was Diagon Alley (I took DA pictures, but I'm working kinda quickly atm)

Spooky nighttime Hogwarts...

Dragon Challenge sign at night...

I'll close out this Day 1 TR with an IOA lagoon shot (taken from between the Lost Continent and Seuss Landing). Thanks for reading!

[gp1086]

Like the report so far! Looking forward to seeing more.

[The49er]

I'm back to work on getting this TR up

 

6/12: IOA/USF

 

Our last Universal day began at IOA, where our first stop was Incredible Hulk. Lines already started to build (20-30 min, probably) since we got there later that day. That was followed by Spider-Man (15 min), then a brief hydration break. Upon realizing that we hadn't seen most of the "islands", we began a clockwise circuit, which allowed us to ride Jurassic Park (20 min) and the Hogwarts Express (5 min) back to USF for a nice lunch at the Leaky Cauldron. After surveying the rest of Diagon Alley, we decided to head out for the day, in part due to a big storm that was coming in but also from fatigue, jet lag, and all that fun stuff.

 

We ate dinner from a cool little local pizza place called Pie-fection Orlando that was run by a nice Brazilian family. By this time, however, I began feeling congested and a bit under the weather...which meant that I would probably be sick for a few days

 

Rides

 

The Incredible Hulk Coaster: 9/10

A very fun coaster, though the 15-year-old theming could use some love. The launch was great (and a surprise to much of our party ), and the rest of the ride was as well. This one did hurt a little, though. Not sure if it was a result of fast transitions or just a bit of rattling, but it didn't affect the experience all that much.

 

The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man: 7.5/10

Call me a skeptic, but this one was...meh. Blame its age or whatever, but the queue in particular felt *really* dated, and I had already been on Transformers so this was essentially a repeat. Still worth checking out, though.

 

Jurassic Park River Adventure: 8/10

A pretty solid ride. Having been on USH's version, this ride was nothing new. I will say, though, that we got the front which made our boat front-heavy...as we hit the bottom of the drop we all kind of slammed forward (especially my brother, who managed to get minor injury to his leg on the front of the boat as a result). The boats before us looked pretty dry, but we got SOAKED! It was so bad that the unacceptable level of wetness here has been referenced almost daily since then. We definitely cooled off

 

I'm too lazy to do another full Hogwarts Express review, but it IS different both ways. I would seriously recommend a 2-park ticket if this intrigues you.

 

Pictures are next!

[The49er]

Pictures for Day 2:

"A wild HULK appears! It uses LAUNCH! It's super effective!"

Skull Island spookiness...

Unacceptable level of wetness.

I don't normally take pictures of my food but this Butterbeer deserved it

Celestina Warbeck and the Banshees were performing and this guy got dragged on stage...lol. He was having fun with it though.

King's Cross looks really cool.

Thus concludes our visit to Universal. WDW TR coming soon!

[Kyle Coleman]

Nice tr. You really should have checked the mummy. The Florida one is way better and longer than the Hollywood version.

[The49er]

Nice tr. You really should have checked the mummy. The Florida one is way better and longer than the Hollywood version.

 

I heavily considered it, but everyone else was tired, and I guess I didn't feel like I *needed* to go on it. It would have been cool, for sure, but I still had a good time though

[Kyle Coleman]

Something to look forward to for next time then.

[The49er]

6/12: Epcot

After 2 days at Universal, we checked out of the Doubletree and into the Port Orleans French Quarter, which was a great hotel for us. Unfortunately, some sort of cold/virus was taking hold of me, so I had to have plenty of Kleenex for a day or two ;_;

 

We planned our trip with the help of the TouringPlans blog, which was pretty helpful. The crowd calendar suggested that Epcot would be less crowded than MK (this was a Saturday, mind you), and we were thinking a nice celebratory dinner at Biergarten would be a good kickoff for the WDW portion of our vacation, so Epcot was our first park of WDW.

 

Upon first heading in, it was HOT and HUMID as all get out, so we tried to find something quasi-inside with a short wait. Hence, our first ride of WDW was Living with the Land after about 15-20 minutes of waiting. We soon discovered that we needed lunch, so a stop at the Electric Umbrella was in order. I've heard that it gets a bad rap for its food, but I opted for a pretty decent spicy sausage sandwich thingy (very technical, I know) in hopes of clearing my sinuses. That part of it didn't work so well :/

 

After lunch, we decided to let our food digest on Ellen's Energy Adventure (lol) before heading to Mission: Space with FP+ reservations, where the parents chose the Green version and my brother and I braved the Orange version. Granted, the FP+ wasn't really needed; it was more a safety net than anything for some parts of our trip. This was followed with a more-necessitated FP+ for Test Track. At this point, we were pretty satisfied with what we'd seen in Future World (since we came back a few days later and essentially saw the rest of it), so it was time to explore World Showcase.

 

Our first stop in World Showcase was Mexico, where we rode Gran Fiesta Tour (oops!). We continued around the World until stopping in China to see Reflections of China, then continued on until stopping in Germany. We ate at the Biergarten and then decided to "ditch" our FP+ reservation for the Seas with Nemo and Friends (don't ask why we reserved this one... ). Upon hearing about the Journey tribute band, DSB (Don't Stop Believin', I would assume) that was playing at the America Gardens Theatre for Epcot's summer concert series, we gave them a listen before proceeding to walk back towards the front and wait about 30 minutes for IllumiNations. The park then closed and we went back to the hotel.

 

Overall, Epcot was a cool park, but parts of Future World feel like they could *really* use some love. Seeing the somewhat-deteriorating Wonders of Life pavilion was kind of disconcerting, and some of the still-open pavilions would benefit greatly from renovations, evidenced by the underwhelming popularity of rides like Ellen's Energy Adventure and Journey Into Imagination with Figment. I apologize to any Epcot fanboys I might have just triggered, but I have a feeling you might agree with me on some level.

 

Rides and Attractions

 

Living with the Land: 7/10

A cool little ride that offered a nice behind-the-scenes sort of look at sustainable agricultural practices. It ended up being more fun than it sounds, and if nothing else got us out of the heat and humidity for a while.

 

Ellen's Energy Adventure: 7/10

Again, also some points for air-conditioning. I found this ride to be somewhat interesting, with a somewhat endearing retro quality to it. The rest of my family, however, thought it was one of the worst rides we went on, especially because it's about 35-40 minutes long! One friend of ours called it a "propaganda film"; however, I don't feel like a theme park is the place for a comprehensive debate on energy, and for the limitations of its setting, it does well.

 

Mission: Space - Orange: 7.75/10

This ride always looked pretty cool to me as a young kid wanting to visit WDW. In practice, though, it was kind of...odd. The centrifuge-style ride system seemed somewhat gimmicky, even if it was pretty intense. The repeated emphasis on the nauseating nature of the attraction in the pre-show videos made me actually kind of nauseated and nervous in line, but I did fine on the ride, so it's likely a person-to-person sort of variance.

We also did the big Mission Control game afterwards, which was a cool little installation but by no means a major priority.

 

Test Track: 9/10

This was definitely my favorite ride in the park. The Design Studio stuff was quite fun to work with, and the ride seems to have benefited from its renovation. One minor gripe: the outside portion wasn't quite as exciting as it was made out to be, with a fairly slow rate of acceleration. For all the time and money Disney put into it, though, it's a very enjoyable ride that offers thrills that you can't really find elsewhere in Epcot (for understandable reasons), adding a nice balance to the repertoire of rides there.

 

Mexico Pavilion: 7.75/10

I wish I could have spent a little more time in the Mexico pavilion, but everyone else seems to have felt the opposite way. I liked the added element of the Gran Fiesta Tour passing by the restaurant inside the pyramid/ziggurat/whatchamacallit...reminds me of DL's Pirates and the Blue Bayou restaurant

 

Gran Fiesta Tour: 5/10

Again, I thought it was better than my family thought, who called this the worst ride at WDW. It had some redeeming qualities, but it's still not much of a surprise that it's a walk-on.

 

Norway Pavilion: 8/10

A neat little pavilion with some cool merchandise (Frozen pun not intended ), but it would have been nice to ride Maelstrom, even if it supposedly was sort of mediocre. Oh well...at least the Frozen ride looks somewhat promising.

 

 

China Pavilion: 8.5/10

Probably as close as I'm going to get to China for a long time. They had some very talented Chinese acrobats performing at one point, and the Reflections of China movie was nice, if a bit like a tourism film (well, what else can you show at a theme park? A full-on critique of Chinese government?).

 

Germany Pavilion: 9/10 *HUGE PERSONAL BIAS ALERT*

My parents lived in Germany for 3 1/2 years, and we're of German heritage, so this was our big must-do here. When they saw it up close, my parents said it actually felt like they were back in Germany. The shops were awesome, especially the Christmas shop complete with traditional German pickle ornaments (Google it), the crystal store, and the caramel shop (which I can't eat anything from because of braces...oh well). The Biergarten was absolutely delicious but on the expensive side at about $200 for four people, including a stein or two of beer for my dad. The desserts, apparently, were particularly authentic. Just be warned that, whether you like it or not, you will probably be seated with another family per German custom; some of the young kids in the other family at our table didn't seem too happy about this.

 

Summer Concert Series Thingy: 8.5/10

The Journey tribute band was awesome, even if I was blowing my nose the whole time.

 

IllumiNations: 9/10

Not exactly World of Color or Remember...Dreams Come True (towards which I'm kind of biased, having grown up with the latter in particular), but it was a pretty cool show. (Sorry about the short reviews here, I have to go soon...lol.)

 

Epcot pictures are coming soon!

[The49er]

Day 3 pictures...I actually didn't take that many on our Orlando trip for some reason. Of course, having a cold didn't really help my motivation to do so, but I guess I decided everyone's seen most of the "cliche shots" before so there isn't really much of a need.

Uhh...Snapchat silliness. Don't ask

Underrated? Yes. Best show in the park? Maybe not.

For all the spiel nerds out there.

The Centrifuge of Doom! *maniacal laugh*

My car, the #YOLOSwagSelfieStick420Dankmobile. (This pic was taken AFTER the ride, mind you... )

There's NORWAY I would buy one of these!

Thankfully, this version of China lacks severe air pollution, political corruption, and - worst of all - Golden Horse SLC knock-offs.

Deutschland!

This is a random shot to end with, but thanks for reading! Day 4 at the Magic Kingdom is coming soon!

[The49er]

Day 4 (6/13): Magic Kingdom

Day 4 was probably our big day, since we finally got to see the Magic Kingdom. We also managed to squeeze in more of the must-dos in that day than in any other day throughout our trip!

 

Since we rented a car for our trip, we generally used it for getting to the parks. This day, however, was an exception; we opted not to deal with the TTC and all that by taking a resort bus, since they drop off past the TTC near the gate.

 

Our first stop was Splash Mountain...not sure why we went there first since we never have at DL. Probably a combination of a relatively short line, FP+ reservations for the other big ones, and the Florida climate. Guess I'm too much of a wimp to live here...lol. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (without FP+) was our next ride, followed by lunch at Pecos Bill Cafe. Their barbecued pork sandwich was pretty good, so we came back on our 2nd MK day.

 

We decided to let our food settle on the PeopleMover before braving the line for Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin. After that, our Space Mountain FP+ was ready and we went on the Alpha side. A snack at Auntie Gravity's Galactic Goodies was soon needed, and my brother and I subsequently rode the Tomorrowland Speedway.

 

We looked around Fantasyland for a while after that until taking our Seven Dwarfs Mine Train FP+ reservation. Our upcoming dinner reservation at Portobello with another family we knew there meant that we would ride the WDW Railroad from Fantasyland to Main Street before heading back to the hotel, getting ready, and taking the Port Orleans boat to Disney Springs.

 

The boat service was okay; it picked up many more guests from Riverside, but Riverside has about twice as many rooms as French Quarter so that might explain the difference there.

 

Portobello has some nice but expensive food. I chose something generic for dinner, so that was OK (my mistake, not theirs), but the sorbet I had for dessert was really good. (I think...this was almost 2 months ago, so forgive me.)

 

Rides and Attractions

 

Splash Mountain: 9/10

Obviously, this ride is classic fun, especially for those of us who (sort of) frequent Disneyland. Props to WDW for their log design, though

 

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad: 9/10

I was surprised to find I preferred this version to DL's. It feels very open in comparison with DL's version semi-sandwiched between Fantasyland and Frontierland. Plus, MK's has a trick-track sort of element that caught us by surprise.

 

Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover: 7/10

A nice relaxing ride, even if it was a lot faster at times than we thought it would be. My parents had been on DL's PeopleMover and were amused by the speed difference.

 

Space Mountain Alpha: 8.75/10

It's Space Mountain, so naturally I enjoyed it. It had some cool airtime and laterals, as well as a cool lift hill fly-by. The rest of the family, however, thought it somewhat rough. As far as I can tell, there weren't any major differences between Alpha and Omega (we rode Omega near the end of our trip...an interesting coincidence).

 

Tomorrowland Speedway: 6/10

Nothing special here. DL's Autopia is cooler - literally. MK's has a lot less shade, and the weather doesn't help.

 

Seven Dwarfs Mine Train: 8/10

The TPR reviews seem fairly accurate. It wasn't meant to be a massive thrill ride, so I made sure not to expect that and it ended up being a fun ride. The drop out of the station was a nice surprise, as was the airtime on the big drop, which wasn't much but it was more than I expected. Then again, I'm from California, so I'm still kinda learning about this airtime thing

 

Thanks for reading Day 4! Pictures are up next!