Photo TR: Kevin's First Time... to Orlando!

TR Updates index:

Part 1 - SeaWorld Orlando

Part 2 - Busch Gardens Tampa

Part 3 - Universal's Islands of Adventure

Part 4 - Universal Studios Florida

Part 5 - Disney's Animal Kingdom

Part 6 - Magic Kingdom

Part 7 - Disney's Hollywood Studios

Part 8 - Epcot and the Epcot Resorts

 

Hey Everyone. So after many years of making excuses to myself for why I can't afford to go to Orlando or why other parks are more important to visit first, I finally snapped myself out of it and booked 9 days in the area.

 

I've got my days pretty well planned out, I'm arriving on November 23rd (Black Friday) and will be headed home the evening of December 1st. The first few days over the weekend I plan to visit Universal on Friday, Animal Kingdom on Saturday and Busch Gardens on Sunday. I bought the "buy 2 days get a third free" at Universal so I figured I'll do one day there when it's crowded and my other 2 days during the week when it's slow. Animal Kingdom I don't care much about the animal attractions (working at SFDK for almost a decade desensitized me to animals) but want to do Everest, Safari, and Dinosaur so I figured a full day when it's busy will be fine for that park. Busch just kind of got stuck with Sunday because of the remainder of the week's plans.

 

Long story short, I'm wondering if anyone has any advice, specifically for AK and BGT on how to get the most done with the crowds. Is BGT's Quick Queue worth it or should I save my money? How are the single rider line offerings? I'm guessing that come Monday the crowds will be light, I hear that week is usually dead, so those days should be easy to figure out at the other parks.

 

Lastly, does anyone in the area want to meet up? I'm doing this trip solo, and I know there are a ton of TPR members out there, so if anyone is free and wants to hang out let me know when and I'll let you know what park I'll be at.

 

Thanks everyone!

-Kevin

Edited January 31, 2013 by Double0Kevin

That's a lot of stuff you're covering, and don't get too discouraged when it's really crazy as you arrive and for the first few days.

 

Make sure to post on Facebook or the site as it gets closer and I'm sure you'll find some locals to meet up with you, though possibly not on those insane days!

 

If all you really care about at AK is those three rides, you're fine going on a busy day. Try to get there for opening and just fastpass your way though. Don't forget if you're a credit whore there are two spinning mice too!

 

Busch could still be crowded...perhaps chance it and wait to buy Quick Queue till that day, but if you have it in the budget just buy it now in case it was to sell out. Especially with Cheetah Hunt now, it's harder to do a lap and get ahead of the crowd like you used to be able to.

Thanks Elissa! I think the Quick Queue unlimited is only $25 for the day I'm there, so I'm just going to buy it now and not have to worry about it. I'm probably going to want to do a few of the coasters a few times anyways.

 

As for credit whoring, I'm a moderate Credit Whore... I won't wait an hour for a mad mouse and I rarely do Kiddie coasters, but if needed I'll hop to AK on a slow day and get those 2 credits should I feel inclined.

In the past, those weekdays after Thanksgiving weekend were always some of the most uncrowded days I have ever spent at Universal. I hope that is still the truth.

^Exactly, as long as he can survive Fri-Sunday you should be good to go!

Hello fellow TPRers, as this trip is rapidly approaching, thought I'd throw it out there again to see if anyone would like to meet up at the parks this weekend/next week. Send me a PM if there are any takers.

 

This is the current schedule:

Friday 11/23 - Universal Orlando

Saturday 11/24 - Animal Kingdom

Sunday 11/25 - Busch Gardens Tampa

Monday 11/26 - Magic Kingdom

Tuesday 11/27 - Hollywood Studios

Wednesday 11/28 - Universal Orlando

Thursday 11/29 - Universal Orlando

Friday 11/30 - Epcot

Saturday 12/1 - SeaWorld (Half Day for the credits)

 

I know there are a lot of TPR members in Orlando so it would be cool to get to meet some of you guys while I check out the area for the first time. When I get back there will be, of course, a good deal of Photo TR updates.

How have the crowds been? I always tell people the absolute best time to visit WDW is the week after Thanksgiving, to the week before Christmas. It was so incredibly dead when I worked there.

^ I'm going to answer your question with a little abbreviated TR.

 

Crowds have been OK. Went to Universal on Friday, my friend and I just did Single Rider on the 5 rides I rode, so the waits weren't bad. But overall most attractions were about 30 minute waits (except Harry Potter was 90 or so). The water rides were walk on due to it be fairly chilly around here.

 

I planned to do only Animal Kingdom on Saturday but was able to get all the attractions done except one side of Primeval Whirl and the shows. Mid-day I headed over to DHS and did everything there. Only rides with lines really were Rock n' Roller Coaster (10 min wait via single rider though) and ToT which I did Fastpass for. Also saw Lights, Motors, Action! (which was awesome) and Fantasmic! which was odd. It wasn't bad, just weird after being so used to Disneyland's. I LOVED the stadium set-up though, it's so much easier to deal with than the pathways around Rivers of America. I walked in 20 mins before the show, got a decent seat in what ended up being a full show and was happy. At Disneyland I would have had to camp 6 hours for the first showing.

 

Lastly, I did BGT today which was DEAD. The only ride all day was Cheetah Hunt which hovered around 15-20 minutes. Everything else was walk on and even then all the rides (except Scorpion) were running at least 2 trains, with SheiKra and Cheetah Hunt running 4. That's something you would never see at Six Flags with the crowd level they had. It was awesome and allowed me to do multiple rides on just about everything as well as see all the animal attractions. Loved the park but WTF were they on when they designed it? I got lost like 20 times. Even the iPhone app was giving me directions on old pathways that have been blocked off.

 

I'll post a complete Photo TR when the trip is over and I'm back home. Still 6 days to go with MK coming up tomorrow.

Sounds like you had a good time!

 

I also do not understand BGT! It really is confusing. I got lost a ton my first time there. They say that Knott's president's six year old daughter chose the color for Xcelerator, I wonder if BGT's President's six year old daughter drew the park map!

BGT isn't confusing, it's "Unexpected"

 

Glad to hear your first trip to Orlando is working out well.

^LOL!

So instead of doing a day-by-day style TR. I'm going to do a park-by-park update since on some days I did as many as 3 parks and all my photos are jumbled. So, without further ado...

 

Part 1 - Sea World Orlando

I'm starting my Photo TR off with the park I actually visited last. I only had about 2 hours to get in to SeaWorld and ride what I wanted before I needed to head to the airport and fly home. I chose to see SeaWorld this way because I was only really interested in riding Kraken and Manta, plus it was that or nothing so I went with the 2 hour thing. Other than that I have already seen SeaWorld San Diego, and I wasn't interested in seeing any of the animal attractions. Having worked at SFDK for 7 years, you get kind of underwhelmed seeing animals at a theme park.

 

My impression of the very small portion of the park that I saw was a positive one. It's very well landscaped and easy to navigate (which was a problem at some other parks). The front gate seemed kind of small to me, when most of the Orlando parks all have these more grand entrances.

 

On to the rides, which was why I was there.

 

Kraken - I was looking forward to this one as I had heard so many great things about it. I wasn't blown away with it, but it was definitely a great coaster. There was a lot of B&M rattle to it, and my head got tossed around pretty bad in the cobra roll. Overall I would rank it behind Medusa at SFDK but ahead of Dominator at KD and Scream! at SFMM. I loved the partially underground second loop.

 

Manta - I LOVED THIS RIDE! I honestly haven't heard much about this ride since it opened. People seemed to have a positive feeling about it, but no one really talks at length about it. It ended up being way more intense than I had expected and felt far more complete than the other B&M fliers I've done. By complete, I mean that it had a number of highlights about it and didn't just end abruptly right when it was getting going. It easily beat Superman (I've been on the SFGAm one) and was much more fulfilling than Tatsu is. The park was running two trains, but they were still using both stations which meant we didn't have to just hang there in the break run for them to slowly load the next train (looking at you SFMM). Plus, I loved the loud sound effect that played when a train went into the flying position.

 

On with the photos!

Isn't the Kraken a giant squid? What's with the eel?

Heading up the lift. Did I mention I love B&M's with straight drops?

Is there a rule in Florida that all B&M's have to go underground or at least through a trench?

These people just got screwed... corkscrewed. And I got screwed by pretty much totally missing the shot.

This gets you wet... I passed.

Manta going up the lift.

Loved how this ride interacted with the park around it.

The Entrance

Down, down, down!

Pretzel loop, this thing was awesome... as most pretzel loops tend to be.

I got wet at this part... But it was an acceptable amount of wetness.

Swoosh!

Barrel rolls on fliers are awesome.

It's a shame you didn't get a great ride on Kraken...surprisingly the first drop is one of my least favorite parts of the ride. It always lets me down with no airtime. I like just about everything else about it though...especially that zero-g roll!

 

Journey To Atlantis wouldn't be so bad in the way of wetness if it wasn't for the water cannons. Usually that area is packed with people paying to spray the poor riders, and as a rider I think you are lucky to escape that part of the ride dry. Otherwise, it's actually a great ride!

Part 2 - Busch Gardens Tampa

 

Here is a park I was really looking forward to. I've been to BGW and loved it, so going to it's sister park that is home to more coasters was pretty exciting for me. This park certainly did not disappoint. It's hard to compare the two Busch parks, BGW definitely wins in the appearance category, but BGT wins for it's ride offerings.

 

To get to the park I used the complimentary bus that picked up at SeaWorld and takes you to BGT. The service was great! The bus was comfy and not overcrowded which made for a laid back ride to the park. I took a nap back and forth and was just generally impressed with the ease of the service.

 

The park was pretty quiet, with Cheetah Hunt being the only coaster that wasn't a walk on (about 10-15 min wait all day). The only problem I had all day, which I discussed in my mini-TR on page one, was that the park's layout is awfully confusing. I must have gotten turned around and lost about 10 times. Even the Busch Gardens iPhone app was giving me directions on paths that no longer exist or were closed off. After I figured out the lay of the land, I had a great time.

 

BGT was actually the only park I went to on the entire trip where I felt bummed that I didn't have more time in. I could have kept re-riding their coasters all day long. I even enjoyed the animal attractions (which, unlike Animal Kingdom, I could actually see the animals).

 

As far as the coasters go:

 

Cheetah Hunt - This ride was fantastic! I had heard people were let down by this ride because it didn't do a whole lot. I though it easily surpassed most rides we have out here in California. It was fast and kept changing it's style to keep it interesting (Launch coaster, wild mouse, random rock dodging switch track style section and then an airtime machine). It was thrilling enough for adults, but gentle for young thrill seekers too.

 

Montu - Another winner for BGT. My first ride was great, but I wasn't totally sure if it took the winning spot for B&M Inverts. My second ride made my mind up. This coaster is a powerhouse and far exceeds the other inverts I've enjoyed. The "Batman Element" was pretty awesome, it's a shame only Montu and Afterburn have them. Lastly, any ride with loop post mid-course brakes gets a pass from me.

 

Kumba - I wanted to LOVE this ride. Unfortunately Kumba made me it's bitch, and I got tossed around pretty bad throughout the ride. Here's the funny part, I still liked this ride a lot. Yeah, it beat me up a bit, but it was what we all love from the old B&M's. Fast, intense and just utterly relentless throughout the whole ride.

 

SheiKra - Having been on Griffon, I wasn't as excited of SheiKra like I was for other rides at the park. Griffon was a great ride, but not as overly thrilling and intense. This is what I expected of SheiKra, boy was I wrong. SheiKra was what I had always hoped a Dive Machine could be. The drop was awesome, the forces were intense, and the scenery great. This one even got my heart beating a bit while I was dangling over the edge, unlike Griffon.

 

Gwazi - Only Lion was open, which was a bit of a bummer in regards to my credit whoring. The ride was about what I expected it to be based of of what I had heard. It had a lot of rattle to it. The surprising thing about the ride was it's layout was kind of awesome. It wasn't a typical GCI and even had a good deal of airtime. Sad though, that the park has allowed the track to deteriorate the way it has (I'm sure it's more of a result of the years of PTC trains though).

 

Scorpion - Why? Why can't rides be made like this any more? I cannot speak higher of this. Sure, I'm a huge Schwarzkopf fan and so a little biased, but this ride was the biggest surprise of my whole trip. It was amazing.

 

And now... On to the pictures.

Gorilla's like "Sup? Welcome to Florida."

Aww... Kitty!

Hey, hey you! Why aren't you laughing?

Oh my god! They killed the tiger! Wait, maybe it's just asleep...

Nope. They killed all the tigers.

Here is Busch's representation of the archway into Hogsmead at IOA, if Disney had sent a missile into it.

This part actually had some decent airtime.

And this was a great drop.

Over the sky ride.

This was one of the most awkward inversions I've ever experienced. It was just so drawn out.

Airtime!

Loved the look of this building. Food wasn't too bad either.

MONTU!

Big loop.

Immelman > Dive Loop

Love those second loops.

Did I mention I loved this thing?

It's not the size of the loop...

Yeah, I did this. It was fun, but the kids that rode it with me were annoying as hell.

That's what she said.

Right about here is where I became Kumba's bitch.

In Florida, all Swiss coasters must have a underground tunnel or trench run.

Ugh! Why does the net have to be there!?

Oh, that must be why. Excellent parenting.

SheiKra > Griffon

It's fast.

Into the obligatory Swiss-Floridian Tunnel.

And, Splash!

Gwazi... Lion Vs... well, there is a Lion.

Lion going up the lift. It was just reopening so it was empty.

Kumba off in the distance looking pretty. That's it for Busch Gardens!

Looks like you had a slow at Busch Gardens - hope for the same end of January.

 

Did you note which rides had single rider lines at Sea World and Busch? Would be nice to know...

 

It's not the size of the loop...

 

It's the force and the lapbars - and as on most pictures most riders don't use their freedom...

^I did not notice any single rider lines at either Busch or SeaWorld. I will admit that I wasn't really looking though. The lines were non-existant so a Single Rider line was never needed at either park.

Great TR! BGT is my definite "must-visit soon" of all the Florida parks. I loved BGW when I visited in 2009, and Tampa has a great assortment of coasters from what I've seen!

 

This pic is so cute. Sleepy kitty.

Part 3 - Universal's Islands of Adventure

 

Time to keep going with the trip reports! Honestly, I'm not sure if I was more excited to visit Disney World or Universal Orlando. I still am not sure which one I preferred for their own reasons. I'll start out with Islands of Adventure, which is the park a preferred at the resort. The park was really a visual wonder. I'm glad that I visited after what I heard was a major spruce up of the park. Everything felt clean, fresh and bright (especially Seuss Landing).

 

Another big thing was Wizarding World of Harry Potter, because yes, I am a huge Harry Potter nerd. This "island" did not disappoint. I totally get why people from the east coast weren't totally impressed with Cars Land, they already had a totally immersive land in Florida for a couple years! Butterbeer did not dissapoint. In fact, Butterbeer was almost too good, I bought like 4 in one day.

 

The island that I didn't overly care for was Marvel Superhero Island. The rides were great, but I'm not a fan of the cartoony cardboard cutout theming around the land. It's saving grace is the fact that it's got 2 amazing rides to anchor it.

 

Speaking of rides, here is what I thought of them.

 

Incredible Hulk - The launched B&M. Well, it was fast; it was intense; and it was pretty awesome. That said, it had a good deal of B&M rattle when it came to the 2 corkscrews which banged up my head up pretty bad. Overall, still a very solid ride.

 

The Amazing Spider-Man - Well, after hearing everyone for 13 years talk about this thing being the best dark ride out there, I finally had my chance to see for myself. This bad boy did not disappoint. Having been on DarKastle and Transformers, the ride vehicle wasn't something new to me, but the storyline was fun and immersive. Overall I would probably rank this 3rd for dark rides behind Harry Potter (#1) and Transformers (#2).

 

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey - Having already pointed out I'm a huge HP nerd, well... I pretty my had the giant nerdgasm on this ride. The ride system was super cool and unique, as well as the experience being immersive and exciting. On a side note, props to Universal for designing such a huge loading area allowing for there to be PLENTY of time to load without stopping or slowing down.

 

Dragon Challenge - How I wish these still dueled. The rides were great, but they were clearly built to interact. I definitely preferred the Chinese Fireball (Fire). It gave me a much smoother and intense ride. The Hungarian Horntail (Ice) gets points for the cool over-banked turn, but the cobra roll beat me up both times.

 

Cat in the Hat - I almost didn't ride this, but it turned out to be a great little dark ride. I really enjoyed it.

The well known lighthouse entrance.

Did the steal this idea from Hard Rock Park?

I really liked the whole entrance to the park. It looked great!

Seuss Landing was decked out for Grinchmas.

This was a sleeper hit for me.

This land looked awesome. It's too bad HP took over it's strongest aspect (Dragons).

Didn't get a chance to eat at Mythos, but it looked awesome on the outside.

No clue what this was, and it was closed. Looked cool on the outside though.

Welcome to Disney California Adventure... wait.

OMG OMG OMG! It's 'Arry Pottah!

Train... this will be gone soon.

Snow? It's like 80 degrees!

Dragon Challenge

Yup, that's what the crowds were like.

What do you call a Sasquatch that does ceramics? A Hairy Potter!

F U Cobra Roll!

Someone tried to avoid paying for parking.

I don't know why, this just felt odd on an inverted coaster.

Snowman

I hear this looks different now.

My school was not this cool.

Love this stuff.

See... I love it.

I have an island, of the coast of Costa Rica...

...with a great view of the rest of the park.

Felt like this building was underutilized.

Nope.

Did not get this credit.

I liked the water effect.

Awesome.

This was fun. I don't really get excited for S&S towers, but this gets a pass.

Hulk looking pretty.

Twisty

Loop-de-loop!

Sent from my iPhone.

Another panorama thanks to iOS 6.

Goodnight IOA

Snowman

 

It's a Doctor Who - John Baker - snowman!!!

Just got all caught up here! I miss the Florida parks...

 

SeaWorld is a really easy park to do on the quick without feeling like you missed out on much, and I mean that in a good way. With the excellent theming surrounding you it still feels relaxing.

 

I agree about Cheetah Hunt; it isn't ultra-intense, but it's well-rounded, fairly thrilling, and has one of the best settings ever. I also don't get why you never hear about Scorpion as it's one of the most intense Schwarzkopfs still standing.

 

It wasn't a typical GCI and even had a good deal of airtime.

YES! I knew I couldn't be the only one who noticed real airtime mixed in with the rattle.

^ I would love to have gotten to ride Gwazi when it was new, or even in an alternate universe where it was new AND have Millennium Flyers. I think it could have been a really stand out attraction.

 

I'm going to try and get USF up over the next couple days and then get into the Disney parks.

I really like this whole trip report. I have to say it was odd looking at the photos of Non-Dueling Dragons. It's really sad that it no longer duels. Anyways, I'm looking forward to your next update.

Great TR! I really want to visit this park, it looks so awesome and the HP themed area is really cool!

 

Did you not ride Jurassic Park?

 

Also, what does Butterbeer taste like???

^ I don't care to be cold and wet, and the weather wasn't exactly hot. So I skipped all water rides, including JP.

 

Butterbeer tastes like Butterbeer. Not sure how to describe it, cause it's own thing. I guess similar to Root Beer and Cream Soda, but still different.

 

USF will be up tonight. Just sifting through the photos now.

Part 4 - Universal Studios Florida

 

Here we go with another update from Orlando! Universal Studios was a park I didn't have much expectations of. It seems like it's gotten overshadowed by it's little brother next door. It was definitely a park that felt like it needed more, the good thing is that Universal seems to have noticed too since they are going balls to the walls on expansion. Simpsons seems to be getting it's own land, Transformers is coming to the east coast, and of course there's Wizarding World Part Deux.

 

What the park did have, however, did not disappoint. For the most part the attractions they had were a lot of fun. Some were even surprisingly better than I ever expected. The nighttime show was a pretty fun, though not up to par with the Disney nighttime shows. Unfortunately Universal just doesn't have the movie catalog that Disney has to tap into. But it was still a great way to end the day at the park, and allowed Morgan Freeman to earn yet another freckle.

 

Rides:

 

Revenge of the Mummy - Indeed, overall this ride was better than the one at USH. That said, USH's has a much better dark ride at the beginning and finale was better than USF's awkward Brendan Frasier video. If USF's had treated the ride as if you were part of the story like USH's, and not like it was a behind the scenes of a movie, and then part of the story, and then behind the scenes again... It would have been the perfect ride. Still loved it though.

 

Hollywood Rip Ride and Rockit - Good god, no! This was such a disappointment. It was overall pretty boreing and just beat the crap out of me. I wish this had turned out better because it looks like a lot of fun and the music concept is a cool add-on (though the song catalog could use an update).

 

Men in Black - This was way better than I expected. I pretty much just loved it.

 

E.T. Adventure - I never got on the one at USH, but this was a lot of fun. It was weird, and I feel like I maybe needed to be on drugs to fully enjoy it. But it was cool none the less.

 

Despicable Me - Love the Minions... love the ride! Can't wait to get it out on the west coast.

The Globe

The Archway

Can't wait for T2 to close and this to come to California.

No... No Shrek 4D! Go away!

Macy's Parade stuff was out.

Really wish this were better.

The Park's Tree

NOOOO!!! GO AWAY!

Lagoon full of Nighttime stuff.

Stoked that you guys are getting this in Florida. Great ride.

Hey look! I'm home!

The only ride that ever had a line my whole visit.

Simpsons doing it's DCA impression.

More construction walls.

MIB was a really fun ride.

What an odd ride. Still fun though!

Garfield is like, "Ride the Mummy, they have Lasagna!" Never did find the Lasagna.