Orlando Winter 2017 Trip Report

[parkjunkie]

Winter 2017 Orlando Trip

 

Please excuse they vagueness of this report, but I hope all still enjoy.......

 

Day 1, Universal Islands of Adventure and Studios

Crowds were just a tad above light and the weather was cold, at least for Orlando standards, it was 39* nad windy, wind chill around 32* when we arrived at 8:15. Thanks to a friend, admission was free, along with early ride time. We headed straight to Hogsmeade. Since there were barely any crowds at this time, we took our time going to Harry Potter and The Forbidden Journey to soak in all of Hogsmeade. When arriving at the Forbidden Journey, wait time was less than 5 minutes... but its been a while since we have been here, so we took our time through the que and even let people pass us so we could soak it all in. As usual, The Forbidden Journey was incredible... but I noticed one flow in our ride vehicle. It seemed to be pitched forward on the ride path on certain scenes and gave a good glimpse of the track and ride vehicles ahead of us... I've never noticed this before. As we exited, we made our way down for our first round of butter beer, 1 frozen, 1 regular... DELICIOUS!... but expensive!!! We walked through the shops to give us time to finish our butterbeer so that we could go to Olivander's, which had no wait at all. This time, the "show" wasn't as good and seemed to be lacking enthusiasm. We then headed for the Hogwarts Express... again, another walk on. As we made our way through King's Cross to Diagon Alley, we noticed the crowd was MUCH heavier on the Studios side. As we entered Diagon Alley, it was apparent where everyone was, you would have thought it was midsummer, it was wall to wall people. As we hung our heads dreading knowing we had a long wait in front of us at Gringott's... but thankfully, the wait time was only 15 minutes. I was disappointed for the first time ever at this point with Universal, the ride ops at Gringott's were moving ever so slowly and almost made you feel like you were at Six Flags. Gringott's amazed again as usual and we got right back in line for a second ride. This time, the wait was just under 10 minutes and the staff must have awoke from their slumber because they suddenly the chipper, celebrating staff I'm used to seeing. After mingling around Diagon Alley and our second round of butterbeer, we made our way to Men In Black. As old as this ride is, it's still so much fun, even though my aim is WAAAY OFF!!! Then it was off to the Simpson's. I didnt ride this 2 years ago when we went becasue the line was so long, but this time, we gave it a shot, only a 10 minute wait.... and I have to say, it was the biggest waste of time. Even though I'm not a huge SImpson's fan, this ride was still so bad. Same vehicles as BTTF, same everything except the video... horrible. Now it was time for lunch at Krusty Burger. I do have to say, the curly fries, pizza, and chicken was all very good, fresh, and hot!! Next was E.T. It has been 20 years since I have ridden this and was worried it would be janky and beat up, but was pleasantly surprised that it was still in good shape and everything worked great... of course by today's standards it is outdated, but I think it is still a solid classic. Next was Shrek and then Minions. Both had around 30 minute waits. As much as I like both these franchises, I wish they would have done more with these 2 attractions, they are decent, but are lacking as well. Next was Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit, 5 minute wait which amazed me. After stuffing the fluffy, fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo, we made our way up. We decided since the wait was so short, we would do a double ride. As we made our way around for our second ride, and were the next to board, there was a glitch in the system and the ride shut down for about 5 minutes. They ran a laps with the trains empty and then let us board. Next was Transformers. I was never too fond of this ride, but my sister loves Transformers and wanted to ride... all I have to say is BORING!!! Next was Mummy, 2 minute wait, great ride, hot as hell in the fire room as usual. Now it was time to head back to Hogsmeade... and what a disaster that turned out to be. The sign said the wait was 20 minutes.... 55 minutes later!!!! Once back at Hogsmeade, it was off to our second ride on Forbidden Journey, wait time around 20 minutes... and this time, our vehicle was centered through all the scenes. We then stopped in at Honeyduke's and picked up some fudge, which was great deal at 6 pcs for $16, some chocolate frogs and few other goodies. Next was Jurassic Park River Adventure. Walked right on, sat in the back, had a great ride, and barely got wet.. thankfully too, because the high this day was only in the upper 50's. Next was Kong... FINALLY!!! After waiting about 20 minutes, Kong got tired and broke down. We waited it out about 10 minutes until the ride attendants came through and said they were evacuating the ride vehicles.... NOOOO!!!!! I set the alert on my app to let me know when it reopened, so we then made our way to Hulk and Fearfall. Had a fastpass for Hulk, waited about 5 minutes for front row, and I can say this.... SO MUCH BETTER!!! Smooth, better transitions, and just an overall great ride like it was 15 years ago. As we exited Hulk and retrieved our stuff from the fluffy, fluffy bunnies filled with medicine and goo, I received the alert that Kong had reopened. We ran back over and waited about 5 minutes. They did not have the ride going through the outside portion at this point, but it didn't matter, I was highly impressed with Kong, i just wish it was a tad longer, but none the less, still an awesome ride. The detail and theming throughout the que was spectacular, now I know why it took so long to open this ride. It was about an hour from closing at this point, so we decided to hit up Dragon Challenge. Waited about 5-10 minutes for each side, and overall, this ride is definitely showing its age. We made our way to the front for some last minute shopping and some goodies at the Croissant Moon Bakery. I got the cheesecake and it was so so.

 

Overall, we were at Universal Orlando from 8:30a to 8:30p and it was a fantastic visit. Small crowds with short wait times for the most part. Employees were upbeat, cheerful and friendly. Food was decent and not TOO overpriced. Parks were clean and well maintained. Any down times on rides were short and the staff kept you informed.

 

Day 2, Seaworld

It has been 27 years since I have been here, and was excited for the 3 B&M credits. First thing first, MAKO! All I have to say is this... B&M hypers are my favorite style coasters, and yes, from time to time, I understand how they "lack" intensity... Of course Mako doesn't have an amazing layout, BUT, after riding it, I was blown away. The airtime is by FAR the best out of any of the other B&M hypers I've ridden, which besides Mako are Raging Bull, Diamondback, Behemoth, Goliath SFoG. My first ride I sat in the front row and was shocked by the ejector air, nothing extreme, but much more than floater... and that first overbanked turn coming out of the first drop was great. Since it was early and we walked right on, we went ahead and did 2 more laps... WOW, the airtime!!! My second ride was last row, of course the airtime on the back row is always that great "yank over the top" airtime, but I personally thought the airtime in the front row was better. The third lap, back to front row. We then made our way to Kraken, after reading reviews and the opinions of many on here, I wanted to keep an open mind and not be persuaded by the negativity Ive heard about this ride... I will say this, it wasn't a great coaster but definitely decent. I liked the layout, pacing, and transitions, but of course because of its age, it was a tad rough, but not bad by any means. I guess the reason I liked it more than others is because it was my first floorless, and not to mention the ending is incorporated with the surrounding scenery and made up for what it was lacking in the first half. We then hit the Clyde & Seamore Show. Yes it was cheesy and aimed more at the kids, but overall, a good show. We then headed over for One Ocean. Again, since its been over 25 years since Ive been, I didn't know exactly what to expect. I absolutely loved this show. There was no narrating, no cheesy acting, just having these beautiful creatures show their grace through jumps, diving, beaching, and playful splashing. Its ashame that this show won't be around much longer. Now it was time to grab a bite to eat.. what a ripoff!!! We paid $7.50 each for 1 frigging hotdog!!!.. and it wasn't even good!!! We then hit up all the exhibits and aquariums. I was kind of disappointed, there are so many aquariums out there now a days that put Saeworld's to shame. We then hit up Mako and Kraken for more rides and then it was off to Manta. I'm not to hip on flyers, but I thoroughly enjoyed Manta. Wait time was about 5 minutes for front row. Great layout that interacted well with the surroundings. Every once in a blue moon, flyers might give me a brief moment or 2 of dizziness or nausea, but Manta never did. Also, the pretzel loop IMO was more intense than the ones on the Supermans, it really gives you a great pop of air going in to the tops. It was an hour before closing and had done everything we wanted to do,m so we called it a day early and headed back to the hotel.

 

Overall, not a bad visit, but not the greatest either. We were at the park from 9:45a to 5p. Employees were just a tad better than Six Flags employees, most seemed unenthused and not wanting to be there. Some exhibits seemed outdated and in nedd of some TLC for the animals sake. Park was extremely clean and well maintained. Food was way overpriced and not that good. Shows were good and kept your attention. Ride times were very short, Mako and Manta are FANTASTIC coasters.

 

We had one more day in Orlando and originally had planned to do Universal 2 days. But since we finished both parks on the first day, we decided to make our third day a Disney day.

 

Day 3 Epcot, Magic Kingdom

We arrived at Epcot at 8:30. When they opened the gates just before 9, we headed straight to Frozen. As annoying as this movie and songs are, and I still wanted to check it out. I think every single person headed straight for it, but luckily since we didn't have any kids or strollers, we beat almost everyone to the que and waited less than 5 minutes. I will say this, it was a short ride, but Disney executed it perfectly as usual. The characters looked so real and their movement was so smooth and flawless. We then, headed to Test Track, only to be disappointed. It was 9:15 and it wasn't opening until 10 and the line was already built back to Mission Space, so we headed to the west side of the park. Once 10 oclock hit, I checked Test Track's wait time and it was 75 minutes So we hit up The Sea's with Nemo and Friends, Turtle Talk, and Soarin'. The Sea's was a walk on, turtle talk was about a 10 minute wait, and Soarin' was about a 15 minute wait. Turtle Talk was decent for one reason, one kid asked "what happens when you fart?' and another asked "what color is your poop?"... thanks 3 year olds for livening up this show. We then did a lap around the whole park and then headed for the monorail to Magic Kingdom. The night before, I reserved fast passes for Big Thunder, Peter Pan, and 7 Dwarfs. So as we arrived to the monorail terminal, we wanted to take the boat across, but were told the boats weren't running. Once arriving and making our way through metal detection, we noticed the train was also down So we headed straight to Space Mountain, wait was about 15 minutes, line jumping by the foreigners was horrid. Then it was off to our fastpass time for 7 Dwarfs. This is such a good little coaster with the usual great Disney theming, the only downfall is the que needs more in it, it is very boring, especially for being a kiddie ride. Then, after a losing a battle, I was forced on to a Small World... all I have to say is We then headed to Haunted Mansion, waited about 15 minutes and as usual, enjoyed this classic. We then stopped at a few stores while we had a few minutes before our fastpass time for Big Thunder. Even with the fastpass, we had about a 10 minute wait, which I didn't understand for the fact the regular line was 25 minutes, but either way it was quicker. The thing about Big Thunder is if this coaster was a regular stand alone with no theming, it would such a drag of a ride, its amazing how much theming makes a difference... such a great ride. We then made our way over to Pirate's and only waited about 10 minutes. I'm not quite sure what happened, but right before boarding, they quit loading boats for about 5 minutes. Boats were backed up coming in to the station, but eventually got everything rolling again. After Pirate's was a stroll through Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. Ive never been through this before and enjoyed the twisting pathway through it, and the great views it offered. We noticed that Jungle Cruise only had a 10 minute wait, so we decided to ride it since we were near by.. and I'm always amazed at the amount of corny jokes can be squeezed in to a 5 minute ride. At this point, our feet and legs were killing us from the 3 days of walking, and even though we just relaxed for a few on Jungle Cruise, we needed some rest without wasting time, so we decided to take a couple of laps on the Transit Authority. Walked right on and took 3 laps around. We noticed that Buzz Light Year had a very short wait, so we headed down with a 10 minute wait. This was fun yet generic shooter ride, but for some reason, I fele that other shooters are a tad easier than this one. We then had dinner at Pinocchio Village Haus. We had the flatbread pizza, chicken parmesan sandwich, and breadsticks. Food was warm but not fresh, but we weren't surprised by this. It was now our fastpass time for Peter Pan, which thank God we reserved this, because it was the longest wait all day, around 75 minutes. Out of all the rides, this one reminds me of my childhood the most and really brings you back to being a kid. Of course its a short and somewhat outdated ride, but I will always love this ride. At this point, we were on our last legs of energy, so we headed back over to Tomorrowland for a few more laps on the Transit Authority. It was getting to be around 6:45, so we decided we needed to pick out a spot for the night shows. Of course it was already packed in front of the castle, but somehow we managed to find a spot along the fenceline next to the Mickey and Walt statue. I was absolutely blown away by the Once Upon a Time show. The detail of the "picture" is so clear and vibrant. The music was just the right volume and surrounded you from every direction. I just wish it was a tad longer and focused on a few more Disney classics.. but either way, a spectacular show. Of course the fireworks were next, and as always, a nice show choreographed nicely to the music. As we made our way out, we swiftly maneuvered our way through a few of the Main Street shops, grabbed a few things we had picked out earlier on, and hauler a$$ to the boat. As we arrived to the dock, we were some of the last few to get on. Jumped on the first monorail out back to Epcot and were lucky enough to get to see part of Illuminations that was still going on.

 

Overall, a fun and of course EXPENSIVE visit to Disney. Went from 8:30a to 9:30p. Overall, a great visit and surprisingly got more done than ever before at Disney. Of course having fastpasses for 3 of the most busy rides helped a ton. I was a little disappointed with Disney on this visit this time though. I noticed a lot of trash, dirty pathways, parts of the parks that need some TLC and ran in to a few pushy and rude employees. Food was ok, not too highly priced compared to everything else at these parks. Night shows were absolutely fabulous and a perfect way to end our trip.

 

All i n all, a wonderful trip. Great weather (started off a tad cool), light crowds, and great times!!!

View from out hotel

Our first stop

Hogwarts greatness

With the cold weather, it really felt like winter

I can't get over how amazing Diagon Alley is

It always feels like you're really in Gringot's

Rip, Ride, Rockit

Fast & Furious construction

Need a wand?

Always loved this entrance

Fun, yet starting to be a boring ride

Finally, time for Kong

Nice to see Universal coming around with their animatronics

So gorgeous at night

and finally getting to ride the new and improved HULK

Good ol' Seawold...

Kracken, here I come!

Such a ham

[ThemeParkJunkie51290]

Awesome report! I'm glad you had a great time even though it might of been chilly. LOL.

[boldikus]

Some great photos! Looks like a good time.

 

Constructive criticism: Paragraphs are your friend. Use them more please.

[Card]

A few thoughts:

 

- 39 degrees? In Florida? Oof. I've been thinking of moving there for years in hopes of escaping the freezing cold forever. Now you're telling me I've been living a lie?

 

- "Food was way overpriced and not that good." As someone who binge-visited amusement parks for the first time in a long time last year, I'm struggling to think of any amusement parks beyond maybe Busch Gardens Williamsburg where that line doesn't apply. From now on when I visit a Cedar Fair or Six Flags park, I'm going to start breaking off chunks of the walkway and suck on them for nourishment.

 

- Wait, people here have been bad-mouthing my favorite floorless coaster Kraken? STAND AND UNFOLD YOURSELVES, HERETICS

 

*stands atop mountain peak shaking one fist and holding a Molotov cocktail in the other*

 

- As a budding photographer who is desperately trying to emulate the awesomeness of invertalon's skill, I really dig the composition of a lot of your shots. Nice work.

[robbalvey]

- 39 degrees? In Florida? Oof. I've been thinking of moving there for years in hopes of escaping the freezing cold forever. Now you're telling me I've been living a lie?

We get those temps maybe TEN DAYS out of the year. Our current weather...

[Philrad71]

We hit temps in the 30's and 40's when we visited Disney back in January 2010, but being from Western NY, we all had our winter jackets, hats and gloves with us so it wasn't that big of a deal.

 

Upside to our visit was that most everything was a walk-on and the parks were practically empty.

 

Downside to our visit was not being able to do the water rides nor see many of the animals on the Animal Kingdom tour (they weren't having any part of that coldness and most of them were holed up in their cages or caves).

[TheCoasterKid211]

Wait, people here have been bad-mouthing my favorite floorless coaster Kraken? STAND AND UNFOLD YOURSELVES, HERETICS

[storms555]

^^ I think I remember that year. I had a friend I talked to online who was from Florida and I remember her being so EXCITED it started to snow there!! You'd think she won the lottery! Here im sitting at my computer thinking what the heck is wrong with her?? Who WANTS snow and cold?? Not me! Especially if I was to live somewhere where its mostly warm all year. People move to Florida to get away from that all. I learned something though. I talk to people from all over online. I met others who prefer sad gloomy cold weather. They also tend to be clinically depressed...............hmmm (I admit I have depression as well but at least I enjoy happy weather....why would you want weather to match your mood??)

 

Also I'm visiting my dad now who lives in Florida. I been here since Jan 15th and will be here until Feb 17th. All I can say is there was no 30 degree weather this year I'd take this over snow ice and cold weather anyday!

[parkjunkie]

 

- As a budding photographer who is desperately trying to emulate the awesomeness of invertalon's skill, I really dig the composition of a lot of your shots. Nice work.

Even though I just use a point and shoot Samsung... thank you

[parkjunkie]

A few thoughts:

 

- 39 degrees? In Florida? Oof. I've been thinking of moving there for years in hopes of escaping the freezing cold forever. Now you're telling me I've been living a lie?

 

 

It was chilly briefly, but I'm used to it being from the Midwest. It warmed to about 60 that day, but there were frost watches out that night.

[parkjunkie]

Also I'm visiting my dad now who lives in Florida. I been here since Jan 15th and will be here until Feb 17th. All I can say is there was no 30 degree weather this year I'd take this over snow ice and cold weather anyday!

 

All I know is my weather app said when we got up that day at 7am is that it was 39*... was that the official temp, probably not, but it definitely was cold... for Florida standards

[bert425]

Love the pics, thanks for sharing.

 

(as Boldikus pointed out tho, the big blocks of text are awful hard to read. . . I focused just on the pics and skipped your text, for that reason. . . but maybe if you space it out a bit? I'll try to go back later and give it a shot.. . . ).

 

thanks for the pics tho, you have quite the eye there.

[coasterbill]

We hit temps in the 30's and 40's when we visited Disney back in January 2010, but being from Western NY, we all had our winter jackets, hats and gloves with us so it wasn't that big of a deal.

 

When we went in February we got down there around 8 at night and it was in the low 40's but during the day it usually warms way up. That was a fun night though since we ended up at Fun Spot power riding White Lightning. Since it was so cold we basically had the run of the place.

 

Constructive criticism: Paragraphs are your friend. Use them more please.

 

This, but otherwise it was a great report.

[storms555]

I dont know this may just be me,but if I was taking a trip to florida for its only to be as cold as anywhere else I'd be super p*ssed. I know its something that can't be helped but if I was in that situation I would be like "What gives!! I can't catch a break from YOU anywhere!!!!' You being cold winter weather....At that point cold weather would be that annoying little sibling that wont leave you alone no matter where you go. (I'm actually an only child but im sure others here,or most people in general, can relater to that.)

[parkjunkie]

I dont know this may just be me,but if I was taking a trip to florida for its only to be as cold as anywhere else I'd be super p*ssed. I know its something that can't be helped but if I was in that situation I would be like "What gives!! I can't catch a break from YOU anywhere!!!!' You being cold winter weather....At that point cold weather would be that annoying little sibling that wont leave you alone no matter where you go. (I'm actually an only child but im sure others here,or most people in general, can relater to that.)

Yes, it was a bit of a disappointment to not have 80* weather all 3 days. Luckily the cooler weather was only the first day and was mainly in the morning. By the time we left later in the week, temps were in the upper 70's. Either way, I was able to break out shorts and t-shirts for some of the trip, so overall I was happy.

[Rai Fox]

- "Food was way overpriced and not that good." As someone who binge-visited amusement parks for the first time in a long time last year, I'm struggling to think of any amusement parks beyond maybe Busch Gardens Williamsburg where that line doesn't apply.

 

Knoebels. As usual, the answer is Knoebels.

[coasterbill]

- "Food was way overpriced and not that good." As someone who binge-visited amusement parks for the first time in a long time last year, I'm struggling to think of any amusement parks beyond maybe Busch Gardens Williamsburg where that line doesn't apply.

 

Knoebels. As usual, the answer is Knoebels.

 

 

Other parks in the U.S. have good food (Busch Gardens Tampa / Dollywood / Silver Dollar City / Universal / Epcot) but if you want food that's both good and affordable then Knoebels is pretty much in a class of it's own.

[parkjunkie]

- "Food was way overpriced and not that good." As someone who binge-visited amusement parks for the first time in a long time last year, I'm struggling to think of any amusement parks beyond maybe Busch Gardens Williamsburg where that line doesn't apply.

 

Knoebels. As usual, the answer is Knoebels.

 

 

Other parks in the U.S. have good food (Busch Gardens Tampa / Dollywood / Silver Dollar City / Universal / Epcot) but if you want food that's both good and affordable then Knoebels is pretty much in a class of it's own.

I can't agree more. I rarely eat at parks, but when at the Orlando parks, you dont have much of an option. Usually, the food is pretty good at Disney, not so much this time...

 

Truthfully, I saw and experienced quite a few things at Disney this time around that I was disappointed about. I encountered rude, even pushy employees, numerous areas that were in desperate need of trash cleanup, employees that were congregated and not working (just like Six Flags employees), rides not running at capacity, rides/ attractions that did not open until an hour after the rest of the park, lack of characters, subpar food.... It just seems like Disney is starting to cut corners because they know they can because they know people will come and visit regardless.

[Philrad71]

I dont know this may just be me,but if I was taking a trip to florida for its only to be as cold as anywhere else I'd be super p*ssed. I know its something that can't be helped but if I was in that situation I would be like "What gives!! I can't catch a break from YOU anywhere!!!!' You being cold winter weather....At that point cold weather would be that annoying little sibling that wont leave you alone no matter where you go. (I'm actually an only child but im sure others here,or most people in general, can relater to that.)

Yes, it was a bit of a disappointment to not have 80* weather all 3 days. Luckily the cooler weather was only the first day and was mainly in the morning. By the time we left later in the week, temps were in the upper 70's. Either way, I was able to break out shorts and t-shirts for some of the trip, so overall I was happy.

 

Tis the same thing that happened with us.

 

We were there for seven days and while the first few days were cold, it then got back into the 70's for the last few days which allowed us time at the pool as well as to get to IOA and ride Dudley Do-Right and Popeye. Although it was still somewhat chilly afterwards because we didn't realize that we were going to get pretty much drowned like rats!

 

I will say that it was well worth it though...we all ended up loving those two rides. Most fun & well-themed rapids and flumes that we have ridden to date!