Photo TR: Florida 2011

Just now I am in Florida however I am going to do an ongoing Trip report. My first report is from sea world that I visited yesterday. The parks I am visiting are

Universal Studios and IOA

Busch Gardens

Sea World

Aquatica

 

Not going to disney this year as we went last year. Any Advice for these parks would be good.

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We visited Sea world today for the first time since last time and this time we spent a day at the park, last time we went it was very busy and we got a ride on Manta then left.

Today we left early for the park however there was a fire in a hotel which led to going a longer route to the park. We got there to find the park quite busy and Manta already at 35 minutes and Kraken at 20. We got one ride on Manta then went to see Shamu.

Here is a ride count for the day then I will let the pictures tell the story.

 

One Ocean with Shamu

 

Shamu Express

 

Didn't ride this last time so needed the credit.

 

The Rock and Tug

 

Journey to Atlantis

 

A good ride with good theming and I liked the coaster section.

 

Kraken-4.

 

Never rode this before and it was great, First ride was quite good then after JTA It had broke down however it reopened after we had came out of the penguin encounter which let to it being walk on so we got 3 more rides and I found the back was the best.

 

Manta-3

 

This is still a great ride, At the start of the day rode it second row then row four later on and as we were leaving rode in the back, the loop is great and quite intense and the ride is still very smooth. The queue for the ride was great. Also it makes you realize how bad Air is.

 

Sea Lion Show-Worst show out of all of them

 

Dolphin Show-

Had quite a good story line and was one of the best shows

 

Dog Show-was ok wouldn't do it again.

 

Wild Arctic

Was a good simulator ride similar to Star tours.

 

Photos!

The fire we saw from a distance

Closer to the fire

it wiped out a hotel.

The local news teams were there.

Seeing the Sky Tower was a good sign.

The First View you get when you enter the park is Manta

First thing we rode was Manta!

No one has ever taken this shot before.

Manta on it's lift hill.

One of the coolest parts of the ride. More Manta to come later!

We Saw Shamu's one Ocean

The Stadium

The girl introduces the show.

The Staff were good at interacting with the audience.

I will see Kraken Later....

Back to Shamu!

The Tilting Screens were cool

After Shamu's Once Ocean we rode Wild Arctic Which is a good simulator ride which has vehicles similar to Star Tours.

Spot the Polar Bear!

The Lake

 

Part 2 to follow soon....

Edited July 8, 2011 by Popcorn54

Part 2

After Wild Arctic we headed over to Shamu's Happy Harbor which is quite a well themed kids area

The Jazzy Jellies ride

Ocean Commotion Rock n Tug

Shamu Express

Kraken

Sky Tower

I liked this area of the park

We then headed to see the Dolphin SHow at the other side of the park.

The finale to the show.

After this we went for a ride on Journey to Atlantis

It's quite wet.

We then did Penguin encounter

Then the shark walk through

We visited this area called the Dolphin Nursery.

Headed back over to Manta for another ride, Rode at the back and was much better

Manta

A real Manta ray!

Went over to ride Kraken 3 times.

kraken as seen from the sea lion show.

A shot from the sea lion show

We saw the pet show

Then headed back to Manta for one last ride

This parts quite fun

We then headed for the exit.

 

Thanks for reading, Next Update will be on Friday, This was my first Trip Report in here so sorry if it's a little bad.

Nice photos. Oh i was late to work at the magic kingdom because of that fire.

I was at Universal for the past 2 days and had a good time, there was quite a few breakdowns however they were very quick at resolving the problem except with Rip Ride Rockit. We stayed at Hard Rock Hotel which gave us free express passes plus which enables you to skip the queues, which helps when most rides have queues over half an hour.

 

Here is the ride count for the first day which was spent at Islands of Adventure however at the start of the day we went to ride Rip Ride Rockit however it broke down on us so we left

 

The Hulk-3

 

Quite a good ride, one of my favorites however seems quite rough, I rode it in row 5,2 and 8 and back row seemed to be the best ride, I think the launch is one of the best parts. It was on 3 trains and dispatching well.

 

Spiderman-5

 

It started raining heavily so we kept riding this for a bit, quite a good ride with cool effects

 

 

Dudley Do-Rights Ripsaw Falls-2

 

One of my favorite log flume rides, was closed for most of the day however opened up later, enjoyable ride.

 

Popeye and Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges

 

Such a wet ride, got drenched on it, worse than Valhalla, has a fun drop however is to wet for a rapids ride.

 

Jurassic Park River Adventure-3

 

Fun ride, got stuck on this for 15 minutes just after the gates open after the first drop the boat started to move very slowly up to the rock bit where there was a line of boats ahead of us, we had to wait for a while there. We got express passes however we didn't need them so gave them away. Quite like the ride and wasn't to busy

 

WWOHP-Forbidden Journey

 

Good ride, waited 40 minutes for it when it had a 60 minute wait which saved us getting up at 7 in the morning to ride it. I am not that into HP However I thought it was good but I liked the Lost continent area that was there before it as well. THe queue line was well themed and so was the ride.

 

Dragons Challenge-3

 

I prefer it as Dueling Dragons and I thought the queue line was rubbish compared to what used to be. It was running on 2 trains and dispatch was good, Personally I prefer fire over ice. I read in another topic Robb said try Back row of Fire and front row of ice, I did that just after it had stopped raining and I had 2 amazing rides, I went back later that night for another ride however it wasn't as good.

 

Flying Hippogriff

 

The first time I have seen a rollerskater with a 40 minute queue, Luckily had express passes.

 

Poseidon's Fury

 

I quite liked this walk through/show, I wasn't very busy and I can't see it being at Universal much longer, reminded me of Temple de Fuego at Portaventura

 

The Cat in the Hat

 

Quite a fun little dark ride with spinning cars, only went on it due to rain.

 

Here's the Photos.

 

First attempt to ride Rip Ride Rockit.

Then Headed into IOA Instead

First ride was the Hulk

It was running quite well

We then Headed into Toon Lagoon

I like the Theming of this area.

We rode the Rapids and got soaked

Then Headed for Ripsaw Falls however it was closed.

We then headed to Jurassic Park

We went on River Adventure

However we got stuck on the ride.

After that we headed over to the wwohp

We visited one of the wand Shops

It had some nice details in it.

However I would not pay that price for what is essentially a Stick.

I liked the buildings however I sort of prefer Lost Continent.

We Rode Dragons Challenge Fire and Ice

The entrance to the ride

We then headed into forbidden Journey

Which had quite a long queue however it moved quite quickly

This scene is quite good

The Ride Vehicles

We rode the rollerskater after this

Then Watched this show

After that we went back to get another ride on Jurassic Park river Adventure

Then Rode Rip Saw Falls twice

It then Started to rain so we went to Spiderman

Spiderman's Cars

We then did the Cat in the Hat

We didn't ride this.

After that we left for dinner

We had dinner at the Kitchen in the Hard Rock hotel

Hard Rock Hotels Pool.

 

Hopefully I will post the next update Tomorrow....

Tomorrow's Universal Studios!

Good stuff. Makes me miss two of my favourite parks.

Universal Studios / Islands of Adventure is definitely one of my favorite parks! Rides are amazing and they did a great job with the Harry Potter land. I never knew there would be a day where there could be a dark ride better than Spiderman, but then Forbidden Journey was built! Thanks for the photos.

Great report/pictures so far! I've never been to Florida so it's nice to see what each park has to offer.

Sorry for not posting the update earlier however I was at Busch Gardens yesterday.

 

On Thursday we visited The Studios park of Universal for the morning then came back at night for a few more rides as well as going back to IOA For a bit.

 

Here's my ridecount

 

Rip Ride Rockit-4

 

First ride on this was when the park opened got a ride on when it was quiet then we went onto it again to find it was broke however we were told to come back later and say the pass word "time"I think and we got on later. then we came back at night and did the same thing for one ride then we were talking to the girl at the entrance and told her about how we missed a ride yesterday and she was nice enough to let us have another ride.

I had a very varied ride on the coaster as the first ride early in the morning was ok but not great, the second ride was ok, however I don't know what it was however the night rides I had were amazing the coaster seemed to be running great.

 

The Mummy-5

My favorite indoor coaster, got lots of rides on it due to express pass, very well themed and quite fun.

 

ET-Good darkride however had done it before

 

Simpsons Ride-2

 

Fun simulator ride, don't think it was as wild as Back to the Future

 

Men In Black-3

 

My favorite shooting ride, fun ride and well themed.

 

Disaster-not much to say about it, was ok the subway car was good

 

Jaws-2

 

Quite like this ride and the setting of it, the boat drivers are good

 

Shrek 4d-quite a good 4d film

 

IOA Ride Count

 

Dr Dooms Fear Fall-2

 

Great ride for a shot tower, rode twice in the dark as didn't ride yesterday

 

Hulk-3

 

It's much funner in the dark and is still very loud

 

Spiderman

 

Photo's

First Ride we went to at the Studios was Rip Ride Rockit, Again.

The Non inverted loops quite fun

We headed over to do ET

Then Simpson's

I like the theming of the Simpson's Area

We then headed over to ride Men in Black

From the Lake area we could see Rip Ride Rockit had started to test again, so we headed in that direction.

We rode Jaws on the way there

Jaws

Fire!

After Jaws we rode Disaster

Rip Ride Rockit was running again

However we rode the Mummy Twice 1st, Bad photo as I put my good camera in a Locker,

We were getting nearer to the ride

They were shooting an Advert that day

They were filming here as well.

We finally got back to the ride

We then did Shrek

Then Left the Studios for a bit to get lunch and swim at the Hotel

Hard Rock Hotel's Pool

We ate at the beach club.

It Started to get Dark

So we left the Hard Rock to go back to the park

First we went to the studios as it closed at 9

Good thing Rip Ride rockit was running.

Of course we rode it.

The Monster Cafe.

We rode the Mummy 3 times as it was walk on.

The park looks cool at night

We left the studios to go to IOA

We passed the Hard Rock Cafe

Then entered the park

We Rode Fearfall twice which was good at night

Then Spiderman

Then rode the hulk 3 times

The Hulk as seen on the way out

The exit to the park

The Universal Globe at night

One Last Photo of the studios.

 

Thanks for reading, Busch Gardens TR Will be posted soon, Please Comment!

Ahh! This makes me so jealous! I wanna go back to Orlando so bad

 

Hoping to persuade my dad to take us again next year though I can be very persuasive

SImply fantastic, I need to visit America desperately.

I want to go back to Florida sooooooo badly.

I have been away for a bit as it has been sunny for the past few days. I have been to Busch Gardens Twice since my last report. Here is my report from the first day of Busch Gardens on Sunday the 3rd.

Here is my ridecount for the day, I let the pictures tell the story of the day

 

1st ride was Cheetah Hunt-2

 

A very good ride, not to intense however my favorite launch coaster. The first wait was 60 minutes when I got to the park however it only worked out to be 40 minutes after I got off It was up to 90 minutes. I got a second ride in which I waited 75 minutes for. It was worth it, quite good airtime and the Launch Upwards was great.

 

Montu-3 Was walk on when Cheetah had a 90 minute wait. Very Intense at the back row, rode it front row and in the 4th row, preferred the back, One of my favorite inverts. Great Ride.

 

Gwazi Lion & tiger-3

 

Rode Lion once and Tiger twice. The new trains don't make much of a difference to the ride, it's still very rough and not a very good ride, reminds me of Stampida. It was walk on as we went after Montu.

 

Sheikra-4 Was also walk on and was quite quiet rode 3 times in the morning and once later in the afternoon with a 15 minute wait. Great drop and inversion , The 2nd drop and splashdown was good however you didn't get wet.

 

Stanley Falls Flume-2

 

Rode once in the morning then once at night. Quite a fun flume and it moves very quickly, not a very big splash and on the first drop you don't get wet. The Final drop was good.

 

Tidal Wave-3

 

Great way to cool down, had never done this ride before, must have missed it, didn't know about the bit before the drop. The drop was good and very wet.

 

Sky Ride

 

Kubma-3

 

Great ride, a little rough and loud however one of the best coasters in Florida and was walk on until a big group of Brazilian school Kids came by to ride

 

Congo Rapids-2

 

Ok rapids rides do good drops, you mainly get wet by the fountains and the waterfall near the end of the ride.

 

Sand Serpent

 

Wild Mouse ride with a few drops, nothing more to say.

 

SandStorm 2

 

Fun little ride which spun quite fast.

 

Scorpion-3

 

Great coaster, better than twist and Shout. Quite intense and only having Lapbars is great. Shame it only seems to run on one train as it got quite busy during the day.

 

Rhino Rally

 

Was worse than the last time I rode. Was very short and un interesting

 

The Train

 

Sesame street coaster(Can't remember name)

 

Photo's

 

The first thing we saw when arriving was Montu Testing

This was a good sign!

Cheetah Hunt was open so we rode that.

After I rode it the queue got busier

Cheetah Hunt's 2nd Launch

We headed over to Montu next!

Which was running good

The corkscrew

We then left Montu to ride Gwazi

Gwazi

I wonder how the ride would ride with this on it?

We went by sesame street

We went to Sheikra

We then did the Log Flume

Then we went to do Kumba

After Kumba we then did the rapids

After Kumba we went to Timbuktu

We walked over to the wild mouse

Then we went over to ride Sand Serpent

The Phoenix was closed.

I rode the Sandstorm which was fun

Then went over to ride Scorpion

Which was running Great!

We passed these Elephants on the way to Rhino Rally

Rhino Rally

After Rhino Rally we rode Scorpion Again

The Phoenix had started testing again.

The 2nd train wasn't running

We then rode Sandstorm

Then went back to ride Tidal Wave

 

Part 2 to Follow Soon!

Nice Busch Gardens pics! Even though I'm there every couple weeks, I love to see other's perspectives of the park.

 

Sesame street coaster(Can't remember name)

Air Grover. Fun little kiddie coaster. The ride ops always have a good laugh when I bound up to the load platform to ride... because I'm a big effing credit whore.