Universal Studios Florida and Walt Disney World

**Ryan F** · #1 02-10-2005, 06:33 PM

Well, I'm bored so I decided to post a trip report of my recent trip to Florida with my family as my step-dad went to cover the Superbowl.

Day 1, Thusday Feb 3 - We arrived in Tampa, Florida on Feb 3, got our rental car and drove up to our hotel in Orlando. On our way to Orlando I saw a lot of trailer parks, orange trees, and a sign on a building that read "Goodbye Cruel World" (I wish I had my camera out for that one). I also noted that Old Town was right down the street from my hotel, and my hotel looked like a weird ghetto. That night we walked over to the Olive Garden for dinner, and relaxed in our Villa.

Day 2, Friday, Feb 4 - I had made plans a week in advance to meet my long time on-line friend Jim at the entrance of Universal Studios. I Woke up early, had a quick breakfast and boarded the bus bound for the park. Unfortunately the bus also stopped at 4 other hotels and SeaWorld, so I was 30min late...luckily so was Jim. We met where we planned, he gave me my free pass (he's an employee on MIB), and we walked in. I hadn't been to this park in aroudn 10 years, so I was really excitied. The first ride we hit was Revenge of The Mummy. There was no line for the park already being open for 30min, we walked right into the station and got our own car. I had been waiting ages to ride this, I even yelled at my friends who had ridden it and tried to tell me about it...I didn't want anything about it to be ruined for me. Revenge of the Mummy - 10/10. After riding the Mummy, we walked over to Jim's ride, Men in Black. With him working on the ride, we were able to just go right up to the front every time. My first time on the ride I go ta score of 260,000 and Jim got 999,999. Needless to say, our car won. [Men in Black: Alien Attack - 10/10.[/b] After riding twice we decided to hit E.T Adventure. Jim wanted to be funny so asked the attendant for a weird name, I just said Ryan. So at the end of the ride ET couldn't pronounce his name but got mine bang on. ET Adventure - 7/10. With ET done, we walked over to Back to The Future: The Ride...another walk on. The ride was fun, but we poked fun at all the flaws; such as we seriously doubt 2015 will look the way it's portrayed, and the fact that according to the digital date thingy the volcanic age happened 15min before the ice age. Back to the Future: The Ride - 8.5/10. With all the major rides I wanted to hit done, we walked over to Woody's Nuthouse coaster and walked onto the front seat. The ride wasnt actually that bad, plus the queue was alot of fun to ring the bells and whistles. Woody's Nuthouse Coaster - 7/10. We had completed all the rides I had wanted to do at Universal Studios in about an hour and a half, so we decided to walk over to Islands of Adventure. This was my first time at IOA, and as I walked into Port of Entry my jaw dropped at the theming; I didn't feel like I was in Florida anymore. Jim asked where I wanted to head first, and I of course pointed right to Hulk. Hulk had about a 5min wait for the front seat, and it was amazing. The station theme, the launch, and the whole spiel going up the lift..."I think, I think it's going to work, everything looks good....Danger, coolant levels dropping, danger....nooooooooooooooooooooo." Hulk 10/10. So, after Hulk we headed to Spiderman, which also had a 5min line. I had heard so much about this ride I didn't know what to expect besides a great ride. And of course, the ride didn't let down one bit. The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman - 10/10. After riding we saw that some X-Men were out taking pictures with guests so we went up to Rogue and Wolverine to get our picture with them. Needless to say, these were the worst characters ever. With our picture taken we headed up to Dr. Doom's Fear Fall. Again, no line up what-so-ever. I must say, the ride wasnt much but the theming around it was awesome. Dr. Doom's Fear Fall - 7/10. After riding, it was around noon so we decided to go to the cartoon cafe for some lunch. After eating we walked through Toon Lagoon and got our picture with Bullwinkle. I really wanted to ride Dudley Do Right's Rip Saw Falls but it was way too cold, so we walked towards Jurrasic Park. The River Adventure was closed so we went into Camp Jurrassic to play around. Even though it was cold, we still decided to play with the water guns. Jim was determined to spray the little kid that was so content on spraying us. After going down a few slides and climbing up a few dark spaces we went into the Discovery Centre. There wasnt really much to do besides play with the Dino DNA thing and the game show. Next was the area I was most looking forward too, The Lost Continent. The first ride we decided to go on was the Flying Unicorn, and I must say it was actually pretty fun. Universal did a good job of theming the ride with a great story to it. The Flying Unicorn - 7/10. After the Flying Unicorn, it was time for the rides I had been waiting years to ride, Dueling Dragons. The queue was simply stunning, sure it was a long walk, but I had stuff to look at the entire time. Unfortunately, they were only running one train operation so the lines were a bit longer. We rode front on Fire, which was about 10min. And then middle on Ice which was about 5min. Dueling Dragons - 10/10 each. Once I got my B&M fix for the day, we headed to Poisedon's Fury, which also had no line. Now, when I saw this attraction on TV it looked pretty cool, but when I saw it, and realized it had changed to look like a Darth Maul vs Greek God battle I was disappointed. Sure, the theming was simply stunning, but the story really blew it for me. Poisedon's Fury - 6/10. Jim assured me that the ride, before it was changed, was alot better. So, with The Lost Continent done, we only had one more island to visit, Suess Landing. There wasnt much in this area that I really wanted to ride, except for Cat in the Hat. Cat in the Hat, also had no line at all, it was a nic walk on. And, I must say that the ride was actually alot of fun; I love how the story was actually narrated as we went through the ride. Cat in the Hat - 10/10. Now, with everything that I wanted to ride done, and all in pretty much 1.5 hours we had plenty of time to kill before having to meet Jill (another online friend I had been talking to for about 4 years). So, we walked around IOA, got a few re-rides in, then back to Universal for more rides on the Mummy, and a ton of more rides on MIB. Once 5:00 hit, we met Jill and Dan (another online buddy), bought our meal and movie ticket for CityWalk (great deal, $20 for dinner and movie with taxes and tip included). Seeing that Margaritaville had a line of about an hour we went over to the Hard Rock cafe for some really good food, a good looking waitress, and great times with my friends. After eating we headed over to the movies and saw Meet the Fockers. Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, and CityWalk 15/10.

Universal Studio Pictures

**Ryan F** · #2 02-10-2005, 06:35 PM

Day 3, Saturday, Feb 5 - With no plans to do anything with my friends I decided to go to Disney today and persauded my mom into coming with me. We got the early bus and got to Epcot about 30min before the park opened. My mom bought me a two day park hopper pass and herself a one day pass. WE walked into the park and got up to the baracde where security was talking to the guests. Before 9:00 hit a double decker bus filled with Disney Characters pulled up and the rope was dropped. I really liked how they had the rule that nobody was allowed to run and had to stay behind the security guards. The first ride we walked to was Mission: Space. We walked on as the first guests, and I had heard alot about this ride so it really had to perform to meet my expectations. And, as you can imagine, it did, the ride was simply amazing, I cant even put into words. Mission: Space - 10/10. After Mission: Space we walked over to Test Track which had about a 10min line. Last time I was in florida the ride was pretty much built but not open to guests, so I w had been waiting a while to ride this. The ride was alot of fun, I loved every part of it, especially the close call with the Barrier Test. Test Track - 10/10. So, we had now finished the rides I wanted to ride at Epcot, so we got a bus over to MGM Studios, it was finally time to get over my fear and ride The Tower of Terror. Natuarally, Tower of Terror was the first ride went to, and with a 13min wait it was made even better. The queue and theme to this ride cant even be matched, it's superb. After watching the Twilight Zone episode in the library and almost going def from the scared cheerleader (some kind of competition going on there) screaming in my year we headed into the boiler room. We boarded our elevator and began the ride. I cant even describe how much fun it was, my butt was barely in the seat with all the airtime. Twilight Zone Tower of Terror - 10/10. Next ride up was the Rock'n'Rollercoaster. I had never been on this before, so I didn't know what to expect besides a Vekoma indoor launched coaster. The queue was kinda fun, nothing really special, but the station was what really got me. I loved the look of the back alley parking garage. So, expecting alot of headbanging I kept my head back, but to my surprise the ride was actually pretty smooth, and alot of fun. Gotta love the Aerosmith soundtrack playing beside my ears. Rock'n'Rollercoaster - 9/10 So, now with Epcot and MGM both done in around 1.5 hrs we headed on over to Magic Kingdom. Getting over to the Ticket and Transportation centre we boarded the express monorail and headed over to the Kingdom. I felt like I was 8yrs old again, I loved it, this park has something about it that always puts a gian smile on my face. So, once we got to the kingdom we grabbed a bite to eat in the form of a huge cinnimon bun at the bakery on Main Street USA. After eating I noticed the nice looking changes on Cinderella's Castle. But, I didn't want to stop and look, I was on a mission and it was to ride to my favourite Disney Ride ever...Splash Mountain. I don't know why I love this ride so much, but I do. So, after waiting around 20min we boarded our boat, which unfortunately was in the back, but oh well, and we began our 12min journey through the mountain. I love every second of this ride, but now I have Zip-a-dee-doo-dah stuck in my head. Splash Mountain - 10/10 So, now that my favourite ride was done we headed for the next mountain, which was conviently placed right next to Splash, Big Thunder Mountain. The wait was about 40min, but again, it was worth the wait. I am also a big fan of this ride, and love every twist, turn, and drop of this ride. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - 10/10. Frontierland was now completed so we headed back towards Liberty Square and The Haunted Mansion. There was about a 10min wait for this ride, but the time went by pretty fast as I was reading the tombstones around the queue. I dont even know how to describe this ride because it is just so good, the doom buggys, the narration, the effects, everything about it is so good. The Haunted Mansion - 10/10. Next, we planned on riding Pirates of the Caribbean but on our way through Frontiertown we decided to stop and get some Turkey Legs. The Turkey Legs weren't as good as I remember, but they were still pretty good. So, after eating we got to Pirates and waited around 5min to get on. The ride is exactly how I remember...can you guess? I loved it. Pirates of the Caribbean - 10/10. Now with that side of the park done, we decided to head over to Tomorrowland. We got held up by the end of the Share a Dream Come True Parade on the way there, but made it to Tomorrowland anyway. The line for Space Mountain was posted for about 45min, so before going in I grabbed some fastpasses for Buzz Lightyear. The Space Mountain line went really slow, especially with the music and dim lighting, but it was worth the wait. Sure, some parts of the ride are tacky, but it's still alot of fun in the dark. Space Mountain - 10/10. Once we got off Space Mountain, our time for Buzz Lightyear was ready, so we entered the fast pass line and waited about 2 min. This ride was alot more than I had expected, I love the fact that you are given control over the spinning of your vehicle...I cant say the same for my mom as she yelled at me a few times because I was making her dizzy. [Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin - 9/10.[/b] So, now we were both pretty tired from a full day of walking around so we got on the Tomorrowland Transit Authoirty. The ride is a great way to relax and see Tomorrowland, and for an added treat as we went through Space Mountain, we saw that the lights were on, so I got to see what the ride is really like. It was now around 5, and I really wanted to stay to see SpectroMagic and Wishes, but I made a compromise with my parents that if they paid for me I would give up watching the two things I was most looking forward to and go out for dinner with them and my step-sister for her birthday. So, we caught a ride on the monorail and headed back to the Ticket and Transportation Centre. From there on we got screwed around by employees who didnt know what they were talking about with the off resort buses and ended up riding different buses and monorails for about an hour. However, we did get to see Cinderella's glass pumpkin and 6 white horses for married couples. Epcot, MGM, Magic Kingdom - 20/10.

Magic Kingdom Pictures and Epcot and MGM pictures

Day 4, Sunday, Feb 6 - After having a bad day the day before my aunt wanted to come to Disney with me today, and persauded my mom into coming back too. It's basically the same day, except we left an hour later, and did the parks in the order of Epcot, Magic Kingdom, and MGM. However, this time we decided to actually watch the Share a Dream Come True Parade. We staked out our seats on the train staion balcony about an hour before the parade started. My mom sat while me and my aunt went on the rides. I'm not going to go into detail of the parade as I am getting really tired of writing this thing. I will say that the parade was exceptional and I loved the idea of having the characters inside the snowglobes. If you want to see pictures, click here. We got to MGM around 4:00pm that day after riding the same rides we did the day before at the other parks. So, the first ride we got on was Tower of Terror which had about a 20min wait. Again, the wait didnt feel long because of all the eye-candy in the queue. After riding Tower of Terror we noticed alot of people heading into the Hollywood Hills Ampitheatre for Fantasmic so we walked in to get our seats. We got 2nd row seats, so we wouldn't get wet and sat there for about an hour...Fantasmic cant even be put into words, the show was beyond amazing, well worth the hour wait in my seat, I would've waited alot longer. Fantasmic - 10/10

**Ryan F** · #3 02-10-2005, 06:37 PM

Day 5, Monday, Feb 7 - Today was my final day in Florida so I had planned to meet Jill at IOA and spend the day with her. I was about 15min late because the damn bus went to 5 hotels and SeaWorld, but I wasnt going to let that ruin my day. I met Jill at the lighthous like planned and we headed for Hulk. Again there was only a 5min wait for the front. After Hulk we decided to get some food as we were both pretty hungry from not eating much breakfast. We stopped into the Fantastic 4 cafe and got some pizza. So, after eating we went for Spiderman, which had about a 20min wait. I didn't mind waiting in lines today as it gave us time to talk. After Spiderman, we headed into Toon Lagoon and got our picture with Woody Woodpecker. We headed for Dudley Doo Right's but it seemed like it was closed, so we kept on walking. I was really looking forward to the ride too...oh well, I should be going back in a few weeks. So, now we headed into Jurassic Park and got on Jurassic Park River Adventure. The line was only about 5min, and we got in the 2nd row so we wouldn't get as wet. The ride was awesome, the Dinosaurs looked so real, it was great, absolutely loved the ride. Jurassic Park River Adventure - 10/10. After the ride was done we got a call from Jim telling us he was on his way. We headed into The Lost Continent and got a front ride on Ice Dragon after about a 10min wait with the one train operation. I can't stress that I love this ride to death, the queue, the theme, the layout, the near misses, everything. Once we got off the ride Jim scared the crap out of us by showing up and waiting for us there, we had no idea how he know we were on that ride. So, we started walking through the lost continent and stopped to talk to the Talking Fountain. We spent about half an hour talking to him before a kid came up and pissed him off. We headed through Suess Landing, stopped to get some Moose Juice and Goose Juice, then at Port of Entry for a quick bite. We got another ride on the front of Hulk so I could buy an on ride and headed over to Universal. Naturally, the first ride we went on was Revenge of the Mummy, but we used a front of the line pass that Jim had got and bypassed the 30min line. After riding the Mummy we noticed that Earthquake had finally opened and joined the line. The line was only about 10min, and I didn't get chosen for the show

, but the ride was still fun, just like I remembered it. Earthquake - 8.5/10. Next we headed back to MIB and got about 4 rides on it with no wait each time and took a Charlie's Angel pose on-ride photo. So, after our MIB fix we went over to Back to The Future and used another front of the line pass to bypass the 30min line. After riding we realized the park was closing in about 20min, so we hurried over to the Mummy for one last ride. This time we actually waited in line so I could play with all the fun stuff inside the queue. Once we got off the park was closed and we heaed over to Margariettaville for dinner, but the line was cose to 2 hours so we decided to eat off property. We ended up eating at a Ruby Tuesdays by my hotel. After dinner we went to a dippin dots parlour, and then to Old Town for a walk...I'd also like to add that the pay $1 to watch someone get fried in the electric chair is the grossest, most disturbing thing I have seen in my life. I have no idea how people could stand around and laugh at it. I know it's fake, but it's just plain wrong. We all just shook our heads at the locals standing around laughing it at. We would've liked to ride G-force or Skycoaster, but it was just too expensive. so, after walking and talking for about an hour they dropped me back off at my hotel and left (the most depressing part of the trip was saying bye).

Day 6, Tuesday, Feb 8 - We left our hotel at around 10am and headed for Tampa. We dropped off our car, got on the plane and left Tampa where it was sunny, clear, and around 25-30*C. We got off the plane 2.5hrs later in Toronto where it was cloudy and -4*C...I wanted to turn around, I miss Florida already....but especially my friends.

Anyways, hope you enjoy the trip report, it took me two frigging hours to write. Whole Trip - 1000000000/10
all my pictures
Comments?

sorry about the 3 posts, but there's that 10000 character limit, and this thing was 21,000+

Montu Man · #4 02-10-2005, 09:03 PM

Nice report. I'm not sure how you gave almost everything 10/10, but oh well. Give us a full blown review of the Mummy. Do you like it better then Spiderman? I do. Anyway, glad you had fun, and you have to go to BGT next time!

**Ryan F** · #5 02-10-2005, 09:18 PM

I give almost everything a 10/10 because you cant even compare the rides to the ones I'm used to. I honestly enjoyed every single ride.

And if you really want a full blown review of Mummy...
*SPOILERS*

From the interactive queue line where you could play with some artifacts and scare people further ahead in line I knew this wasnt going to be an ordinary coaster. We got into the station where the employees all dressed egyptian outfits boarded us into our car. They don't act very nice, but that's how they're supposed to be (other times on the ride I started conversations with them and saw that they really were nice people). As we dispatched I loved how the thumbs up turned into thumbs down. Around the first dark curve was my first look at that animatronic of a cursed guest and Imotep. The animatronics were amazing, they were so life like. Into the next room where Imotep is projected onto a screen and offers you gold if you join him or death if you refuse where next fire and 6 huge skeleton warriors jump up at the sides. You can also see an old kong statue in this room painted gold. As your onl escape root starts to close you speed towards the lowering wall and dip into the next room. Scarabs start pouring out from the ceiling and walls, your car blasts backwards into another room where your car turns and Imotep says that nobody can save you now and your death is near. Just then you're blasted up an incline through Imotep's mouth and get some great airtime and plunged into darkness with flashing lights of skeleton warriors, spirits, and ghosts as you twist, turn, and drop with some amazing airtime along the way. You then pull into the exit station......

*/Spoiler*
Anyways, I dont think I can compare Spiderman and Mummy as they're two different rides. One a great themed coaster, and the other a great dark ride.

Montu Man · #6 02-10-2005, 10:25 PM

I would say ROTM is my favorite ride at the entire resort, even better then the three B&M's.

Khartoum · #7 02-11-2005, 04:43 PM

Sweet review, sounds like it was a very sexy trip!

Carowinds 73-03 · #8 02-11-2005, 06:00 PM

Sweet, Wonderfull TR.

Sounds like you pretty much did everything i did but not in the same order.

Bencerisback · #9 02-13-2005, 10:09 PM

i cant believe u skipped out on dudley doo right, thats probably one of my favorate rides there!!!! shoulda just grabbed a poncho and covered every piece of your body, i rode that thing in 45-50 degree weather, and it would have sucked if i didnt have the poncho, you also missed out on popeye and bluto's bilge rat barges (or w/e), thats the best rapids ever, you spin, get soaked, and it goes pretty fast

at least you had fun though

**Ryan F** · #10 02-13-2005, 10:42 PM

popeye's was/is closed for refurbishment

**Wes** · #11 02-14-2005, 08:30 AM

I can't believe those people that were playing Wolverine and Rogue.

When I was there a couple years ago all the charecters looked good and none were weird looking like those guys.

Montu Man · #12 02-14-2005, 09:42 PM

Popeye's is down right now? I guess that makes sense. But yes you absolutely should've rode Ripsaw! It's rated one of the best water rides of all time! And the last drop is awesometastical! You missed out!

**Ryan F** · #13 02-14-2005, 10:55 PM

I'm going back to Florida (Daytona this time) in 25 days with a good possibility I'll be back at IOA for at least one day. And the weather will most likely be warmer, so I'll have no problem riding Ripsaw.

**Wes** · #14 02-15-2005, 07:59 AM

Yeah I got back from my trip in '01 then everyones like, you didn't ride it!!!

I was like, what? It's a log flume. lol oh well, that's something for the next trip. lol

bk2004 · #15 02-15-2005, 07:49 PM

/\ It really is an awesome ride. Not a 'normal' log flume. And the huge drop is amazing, especially with NO RESTRAINTS!!
---

HOLY COW! Aren't you lucky. EVERY ride you went on had virtually no line! That's so awesome. I bet that was so cool to expierence.

Meeting up with people you've talked to and feel like you've met but not really is always so much fun and have so much to catch up with. Yet on the other hand it can be extremly weird. It's like you know them yet you've never talked to them in person before...ever.

Anywho, I know you had an awesome time and I am so jelous that you had those short lines.