4/26 Live from Orlando!

April 26, 2007

Day 1: Animal Kingdom

Live from Orlando! My family and I just started a 11 day whirlwind tour of the major attractions in Orlando. The itinerary includes WDW, Discovery Cove, Seaworld, Universal and perhaps Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon if we can squeeze them in.

The weather is perfect; warm but not hot, low humidity. We opted to rent a house for the week instead of a hotel and I couldn’t be happier. Firstly, 10 days is only costing me a thousand bucks, taxes included. That’s $1300 less than the hotel I was considering and we have a huge house with a pool, and only 15 minutes from the parks.

We arrived at 10:30 and decided not to waste the day so we went straight to Animal Kingdom. By the time we deplaned, got bags, rented the car and drove down from Sanford, it was about 1pm when we entered the park (tip: take I-4 down, not the local highway you are directed to or you will pay four tolls).

Now what you’ve been waiting for: wait times for rides. We originally had planned on the Easter weekend but decided to pull the kids from school so we could go off peak and it was a wise decision. Lines are minimal to non-existent.

Our first trip on Expedition Everest, the indicated wait time was 30 minutes; we were on in 15! We hit it later in the day twice more, and the wait was 6 minutes (stand by) and then again 2 minutes with the Easy Pass tickets we had picked up. What a ride! Probably my favorite Disney coaster now.

Toward the end of the day we decided to hit Kali rapids, the wait was 2 minutes and they let us stay on for an additional 2 rides.

In all, in 5 hours at the park, we managed to do:

A leisurely lunch at Flame Tree Barbecue (great food, huge portions, $30 for 2 kids 2 adults)
3 trips on Expedition Everest
3 trips on Kali Rapids
Dinosaur (wait was 10 minutes)
The Tree of Life (been here before and somehow never saw it. Don’t miss it! It’s awe inspiring and had my kids declaring this was the best day of their life)
Pangani Forest Trail
Maharaja Jungle Trek
Primeval Whirl (wait was 10 minutes)
Triceratop Spin (no wait)
All of that plus shopping, ice cream, rest breaks, gaping at Everest in the distance, etc.

More soon!

 

[Jerm]

Your trip report is going to make my countdown that much better. I got a HUGE smile when I saw your wait time info. I will be there in 2 weeks!!!

J

 

[k.hunter30]

I'm surprised at the short waits you described. I know it's at a moderate level now, but the wait times you've mentioned are phenomenal. Hope it stays that way 7 days from now! *fingers crossed*

 

[Kman101]

I'll be there on Sunday. I know it's Sunday, after all, so odds are the wait times will be longer but I'd kill for 30 minute wait times.

 

[jmatt]

Day 2: Epcot

Day 2: Epcot

Traffic was bit heavier today, it being a Friday.

The report:

Spaceship Earth: was a 45 minute wait when we arrived at 11:30, but I passed it by and came back later in the afternoon around 4pm and we walked right on. Wait for the initial surge to work it’s way into the park and come back when it’s empty.

Mission Space: about 15 minutes. Not for the claustrophobic, it’s a four man coffin but my favorite ride of the day. The simulated g-forces are great (I’m not sure what kind of a ride it could be if you opt for the “no spin” group). You never have the sensation you are spinning, it just simulates g-forces. Tip: don’t accidentally leave your week-old, thousand dollar video camera in the storage bin, I was near panicking when I came running back for it. They retrieved it for me after about 8 very anxious minutes. Put your name and phone number in the bag and on the camera!

Test Track: Long wait. The posted stand by wait time was 60 minutes, we all piled into the singles line and it took about 30 minutes. The kid behind me went stand by and said he waited 90 minutes. It’s not that great a ride, imo, I guess the attraction is that it’s one of the few thrill rides in Epcot.

Soaring: The first thing I did when I arrived was get Fast Pass for this ride. By 11:30 the earliest time available was 5:30. Make this priority one. Great ride, my kids report it as the favorite of the day.

The Seas with Nemo: about 15 minutes. Cute ride and we spent an additional 25 minutes checking out the tanks.

Imagination with Figment: Maybe 15 minutes. Been here, done this, but my son likes it.

Honey, I shrunk the audience: This one bothered me. The posted wait time was 1 minute so I figured we’d walk right in. Wrong. There were plenty of people ahead of us and we waited at least 30 minutes.

Plus lots of playtime, loitering in the various countries, Illuminations, etc.

Restaurants: If you want to get into someplace nice, make reservations. We couldn’t get in anywhere we wanted. Spent a hundred bucks on lunch and dinner at the cafes, good food, large portions.

Future reports will probably be much briefer. My brother in law arrives tomorrow and the evenings will probably be tied up with merry-making.

 

[jmatt]

Day 3: Seaworld

Day 3: Seaworld

I haven’t been to Seaworld in 30 years, I am surprised at how much there is to see and do. The theming and scope doesn’t hold a candle to Disney, but a very enjoyable day nonetheless.

Park is not crowded. We arrived at 10:30 and I made an immediate beeline for reservations at Sharks Underwater Grill. Latest seating available was 5:45 and I took it. When we arrived, the restaurant was half empty and stayed that way. Food was good but not spectacular, $100 for 2 adults and 2 kids, gratuity included.

Wait times:

Kraken (Seaworld’s big coaster): Walk on. No wait, and I mean none. Did it twice back to back to get my son’s thrill quotient satisfied, since I was gonna make him sit through a day of shows. Amusement parks are for rides, not dopey shows, don’t you know. I felt the same way at 10 years old. He loved the shows anyway.

Journey to Atlantis: Wait was 20 minutes. Good ride, a double drop flume with a bit of coaster and theming thrown in.

Everything else we did was shows and exhibits. Had no problem getting good seats to Shamu, Clyde and Seamore (funny!) and Blue Horizons. The rest of the day was animal exhibits and we had no problem getting up close to everything.

 

[jiminy.cricket]

Thanks for reporting! Looking forward to learning about Discovery Cove. Was it worth the price?

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Are Clyde and Seymour STILL taking Pirate Island ??

Thanks for the reports - keep 'em coming

 

[doop]

Thanks for the reports so far, I'm also interested in hearing about Discovery Cove, looking forward to more!

 

[Joepic]

Thanks for the reports! They were fun to read, keep us posted and enjoy your trip!

 

[jmatt]

Day 4: Discovery Cove

Day 4: Discovery Cove

We got off to an earlier start than usual because Discovery Cove closes at 5 and we wanted to make sure we had plenty of time. We arrived at the park at 9:30, having opted to simply eat breakfast at home rather than partaking of the included continental breakfast.

Upon arrival, I noticed the small parking lot was half empty. I estimated there couldn’t be more than 500 people here, and when I asked an attendant, he said that the admission totals he’d seen for the morning were around 450.

The park is small, you can traverse from one side to the other in less than three minutes (which is a good thing, since I musta walked back to the locker about 8 times). But with such a small admission cap, it doesn’t have to be big. Even if a thousand people had attended today, it still would not have been crowded.

We did Lazy River twice, the kids did the dolphin package, we swam with the rays and snorkeled in the coral reef. We spent some time soaking up sun while they kids had a blast playing in the waterfalls of the main freshwater (and thankfully heated) swimming area. Lunch was very good and you get to order up custom plates of whatever you’d like. The menu has great variety but is not exotic.

Discovery Cove is relatively new and many people that have not been there before wonder if it justifies the very high price tag. This brings up issues of value, and since my opinion may be declared as heresy by some, I have decided to keep this thread clean of calls for burning me at the stake by posting a separate review in the Seaworld section.

But know this: We had a wonderful time!

Tip: Bring a tee-shirt to wear under your dive vest, we all had chaffing under our arms. And remember to coat the backside of your body (neck, ears, behind the knees) with their special sunscreen (not yours) because the sun will beat on it all day long as you snorkel face down!

Weather report: Evenings are cool, have long pants and sleeves after 9pm.

 

[jmatt]

Day 5: Magic Kingdom

Day 5: Magic Kingdom.

Looong day. Arrived 9:15 and left at 10pm. Everyone is wiped, including me and my sore toe (bring band-aids for blisters). Okay, let’s cut to the chase:

Wait times, in no particular order:

Magic Carpets of Aladdin: 8 minutes
Stitches Great Escape: 15 minutes
Tiki Room: No wait
Jungle Cruise: 10 minutes with FP
Pirates of the Caribbean: 22 minutes
Splash Mountain: 20 minutes (FP aborted due to breakdown)
Big Thunder Mountain: 18 minutes
Small World: 20 minutes
Haunted Mansion: 15 minutes
Mickey’s PhilharMagic: No wait (don't miss this)
Indy Speedway: 15 minutes
Space Mountain: 3 minutes x 2 (back to back at 11am); 10 minutes with FP at 8:15
Astro Orbiter: 15 minutes
Buzz Lightyear: 5 minutes with FP
Laugh Floor: No wait at 8:45pm
Shopping, ice cream, many drink breaks, parade and fireworks at 9:15

If the wait times seem ridiculously short, they are – but I am an old hand at working Magic Kingdom. I know where everything is and that if you arrive at an attraction and the wait is more than 30 minutes, you hit something else nearby and come back a bit later and it will probably be shorter. Also, posted wait times are usually longer than the actual wait.

On two occasions, once we reached a FP attraction, the group decided to split and we had extra FP tickets. I hunted down people at the FP ticket distribution and gave them my extras so they could immediately get on. One group said they’d done the same thing yesterday. I handed them the tickets and simply said “Karma”. It’s nice when you get a chance to make someone’s day.

Food: Lunch at Pecos Bills for 4, $40, standard fare. Dinner at Plaza Restaurant for 4, $47, not overly impressed, but not bad.

Weather: perfect, a little hot mid-day.

Peeves: We got FP to Splash Mountain first thing. After waiting on line for 8 minutes, ride broke down. After waiting 15 more minutes, decided to leave and they wouldn’t issue free FP. Came back later and went standby. Also, at Plaza Restaurant, had reservations for 8 at 6:45; could not seat us until 7:10.

Tip: We have a large group, 4 adults and 4 kids including a cute little pipsqueak that doesn’t move that fast. I was the designated “runner” for the group. I’d run ahead of the group and grab FP for everyone for a particular attraction, then we’d communicate by cellphone and I’d join up as we hit one or two other activities waiting for the FP time to arrive. As soon as we did the FP attraction, I’d run ahead to the next one and repeat the cycle. Very efficient.

Tip: Bring a nail clipper. Your nails will probably grow very quickly as your body absorbs all this sun. Sounds like an old wives tale but it’s not.

Tip: I was selected to be interviewed by the cast at Laugh Floor. I am something of an extrovert so I happily played along and responded humorously to their questions. This gave the cast more material to work with and made for a funnier show. My kids loved that I was giving it back to them as vigorously as they gave it to me. If you are selected, participate actively!

 

[jmatt]

Day 6: Typhoon Lagoon

Day 6: Typhoon Lagoon

Is it possible mine is the only family vacationing in Florida? Because it felt that way today.

This will be mercifully brief because there’s so little to report. The lines were so short that I lost track of the number of times we did each slide. I don’t think I waited more than 10 minutes at the most popular slides, Humonga Kowabunga and Crush’n Gusher. Everything else was anywhere from 3 minutes to walk on. And the Surf Pool was fairly sparse.

At one point on Gusher, I convinced my son we should ride in separate tubes; I’m trying to encourage independence. He starts down the slide, then I go. I get halfway up the first hump and the ride shuts off. With no water flowing, everything comes to an immediate grinding halt -- with me darn near rolling backwards off the tube and back down the chute. An attendant rescues me and we climb down the staff access stairs, me worrying that my son is waiting at the bottom for me.

The attendant makes me take an elevator back to the top, where I wait a few moments to go down again (I guess they couldn’t let me walk off from where I was). About ten minutes has elapsed since I last saw him, I’m hoping he’s not nervous about my unexplained absence.

I finally get to the pool at the base and find my son. It turns out that he was still going when it shut off, too – but he stopped in the middle of a long dark enclosed chute. On his own, he climbed out of the tube and scrambled the rest of the way down and into the base pool. He said he was a bit embarassed emerging from the chute without his tube.

But he didn’t seem phased at all. Independence mission accomplished.

This place is both gorgeous and a lot of fun. If you have the time, take a break from the big venues and come. My kids had a blast!

Weather: Warm and sunny with scattered clouds.

Food: Good snack bar stuff, pizza, chili dogs, salads. 4 people for $45.

Tip: No matter how much she insists, don’t let your wife keep her phone with her in one of those little plastic watertight carriers, unless you want to buy a new phone, of course. Sigh. I hate always being right.

 

[Mikester71]

Excellent bit of reporting! Makes me feel like I am right there with you as I can picture everything you are saying and doing at these places!:sohappy:

 

[jmatt]

Day 7: Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure

Day 7: Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure

I’ve been coming to Orlando every five years or so since 1971 and have never been to Universal Studios due to time constraints or because others were involved and I did not have a free hand in setting the agenda. So today was something of an eye opener.

All I can say is … wow!

I’ll get to the agenda and wait times in a moment, but first I’ like to comment a bit on the Universal parks. They layout of US, Citywalk and IoA is quite different from the Disney parks in that they are all within minutes of each other by foot; no trams or monorails necessary. Quite convenient.

But even more surprising for me was the theming, especially in IoA. I found it in some regards to be bigger and bolder than Disney. No, they don’t have the giant central icons like Cinderella’s castle or Epcot’s sphere, but on a street level it jumps out you much more. Perhaps it is because the parks have a much more compact layout that the theming seemed stronger and more cohesive. And everything just seemed … larger.

I imagine that this compactness could work against you in the peak season, since the crowds are confined to a much smaller area, but this was not the case today. The parks were sparsely populated. I won’t go into a ride by ride breakdown of wait times, just know that I only waited 30 minutes on a handful of attractions, most were around 10 or 15 minutes, and many were 3 minutes to walk-on.

Here’s what we hit in a single afternoon:

Jimmy Neutron’s Nicktoon Blast
Twister
Revenge of the Mummy (great ride)
Earthquake (MGM’s clone is better)
Jaws (showing its age a bit)
Ripsaw Falls
Bilge Rat Barges (you will be soaked, as if you fell in a pool. Ignore the signs and place shoes in the waterproof bin, like everyone else)
Jurassic Park River Adventure (twice)
Pteranodon Flyers
Dueling Dragons
Spider-Man (do not miss)
Doctor Doom’s Fear Fall
Incredible Hulk Coaster
The Cat in the Hat
One Fish, Two Fish
Caro-Seuss-el
Plus the usual shopping, ice cream, lunch and drink breaks

We purchased 2 day park hoppers, so we will be back tomorrow to do what we missed from 9 to 2, and then head off to MK to finish out the day until 10pm.

Comment: Universal needs more cleaning staff. The park is clean but you will find dirty lunch tables and the occasional ice cream drips here and there that you can tell has been around for a few days, stuff you'll never see at Disney. Nothing major though. [Edit: Okay, on a return trip to MK I saw the same type of thing, so perhaps my criticism is unwarranted.]

Tip: When parking, do NOT opt for the “Preferred Parking”. I told the attendant I didn’t want it, but when I pulled away I discovered he charged me the extra five bucks anyway. I was miffed but figured I’d at least get something for my money. My brother-in-law did not pay for it – and the only difference was he parked on level one and I parked on level three (the main level). So it cost me five bucks to save ten seconds on an escalator. This left a bad taste in my mouth.

And who would believe that renting a locker could cost eight bucks?

 

[jmatt]

Thanks for the feedback, folks. It keeps me going with these reports. I hope they are useful or inspiring as you count down to your next trip! :kiss:

 

[cpcpjfan]

This place is both gorgeous and a lot of fun. If you have the time, take a break from the big venues and come. My kids had a blast!

I couldn't agree more. We always make a point to take one day at TL or BB. TL is our favorite, but both are great. The one time we didn't go while we were at Disney, it was missed greatly.

 

[k.hunter30]

This is perfect! I leave Saturday and hope the wait times will be similar! Thanks so much!

 

[jmatt]

Day 8: US, IoA and MK

Day 8: US, IoA and MK

Whew. Another long day. We hit the Universal parks to pick up attractions we skipped yesterday and hit a few favorites again. Then off to Magic Kingdom for a few more favorites before calling it a night at 9:15.

Thursday is apparently Group Ticket Discount day in Orlando because there were many end of year school trip groups in the parks (moreso at Universal). Traffic is up from earlier in the week but still not too bad.

Universal was slow going because we did a lot of show-type rides, which are 30 minutes long (including the 10 minute warm up in the lobby) as opposed to a 2-minute coaster. Wait times for everything at all three parks generally ranged from 10 to 30 minutes. Bear in mind when I say wait times, I mean wait times for me. If I see 50 minutes posted, I come back when it's 30. Disney continues to over-report wait times (ie: posted time 20, actual wait 10 minutes)

We hit:

Men in Black Alien Attack
Shrek 4D
Terminator 2: 3D
Revenge of the Mummy
Poseidon’s Fury
Hulk (two times, 5 minute wait)
Spider-man
Big Thunder Mountain (two times)
Splash Mountain
Pirates of the Caribbean

The day was slowed with one niece suffering from a mild fever and a son that felt queasy in the hot sun for about 30 minutes. He regained his composure after a rest and was back to his old manic self the rest of the day.

Poseidon’s Fury has spectacular theming on the exterior but is really quite lame; feel free to skip it. The wait was 40 minutes. The gist is Poseidon versus some fire-god; lots of actor exposition, fireball, splash, fireball, splash, fini. The worst part was that you stand the entire time in a few tiered pavilions – but the tiers are not tall enough so it is difficult to see what is happening. All the kids saw was the back of the adult standing in front of them. Very disappointing.

Although I will say that the main player was some kid (Taylor?) acting his heart out, he must be trying to be noticed by Universal talent scouts or something. After his first break in dialogue, some teens behind us that obviously had seen the show before with a less inspired actor shouted out “Dude, you rock!”. He was good.

Weather: hotter, more humid.

Food: Lunch at the Nascar restaurant in Citywalk. Very good food, reasonable prices, try it. Dinner at a café in Liberty Square, good fare.

I’m bushed. Good night.

 

[jmatt]

Day 9: Animal Kingdom (redux)

Day 9: Animal Kingdom (redux)

We did Animal Kingdom the day we arrived but my brother-in-law, who arrived a few days after us, did not. So he went over early to catch the morning Kilamanjaro Safari while we stayed home. The kids did homework, I called clients.

We headed off to meet them, arriving at 11:30. It’s Friday and the crowds are bigger. For the first time in 9 days, I had to wait on line (briefly) to get Fast Pass tickets.

There isn’t much to say that I didn’t say the first time around, but we did catch a few new attractions, the Finding Nemo show and Kilamanjaro. Nemo is a great show, like the Lion King on Broadway, only shorter. We caught the last bus in Kilamanjaro late in the day, about 15 minutes before closing and walked right on. Saw plenty of animals too, despite the AK mantra of seeing it early in the morning.

We also did Everest Expedition four more times because it’s such a great ride and my son is a coaster nut.

I’ll spare you the ride-by-ride breakdown of the day and simply say that wait times are climbing north but are still very reasonable.

We are spent – and starting to weary of the park thing. So it was decided at one point in the afternoon that we would try to hit a beach tomorrow, to round out the trip. I lived in Florida briefly and know that if you want to do a beach, you don’t buy a Styrofoam cooler and lay in the scorching sand all day; you go to a beach resort and use their facilities.

So when we got home, I Googled “Cocoa Beach hotel” and up popped the Hilton. I called the front desk and was assured that we could come and use their beach and facilities without renting a room (I also mentioned we were looking to have lunch and dinner in their restaurants). So we get to sit right on the Atlantic Ocean in their lounge chairs, swim in the surf, use their pool and have access to bathrooms and good food. And it’s only an hour’s drive from Orlando.

The place looks nice enough on their website, I’ll report back tomorrow on how things turn out.