Trip Report Live from Orlando! A post as we go August trip report

Welcome to my August 2013 trip report! Thanks for reading! This will be my first trip report, so comment what you think! This will also be a live trip report where I will try to post at night. And one more thing before I start. Sadly, most of my pictures will be taken with my iPhone since my camera decided to not work when I got to Disney . So, sorry for some crappy quality pics...
So anyways, I checked in August 18th (today) and check out August 27th. I drove all the way down from New York, so it was quite the drive!
Getting closer...

Finally here!!

We then drove over to the Port Orleans French Quarter resort, which would be our resort for the stay. Thanks to online check in, we got our room instantly! This was the first time with the new way to enter the rooms (by tapping the mickey with your KTTW) so it was pretty cool for the first time. We unpacked, checked out our room then decided to go get some breakfast.
For some reason it's not letting me add photos, so I'll try again later

 

[FlaggNL]

Wow, Universal! Haven't been there for more than 20 years. Absolutely on my wish list for someday in the (far ) future! Enjoy your stay and keep posting

 

[Zipadeelady]

thanks for you posts on Uni. Is the express pass the same as fast pass. Does it cost extra?

 

[cba]

Seems like Universal was great!

 

[afar28]

thanks for you posts on Uni. Is the express pass the same as fast pass. Does it cost extra?

Express pass does cost more. It seems a bit expensive, but it is definately worth it. When you have it, just walk up to a ride and their will be somebody with a scanner. They will scan your park ticket, and then you'll go on a seperate line and usually get on the ride in under 10 minutes. The only ride that doesn't have it is HP and the Forbidden Journeh.

 

[englanddg]

We had the unlimited express pass for staying at Royal Pacific (a Uni resort) last year.

It...was...awesome.

We were quite literally walking on rides with a 5 minute or less wait...we did Men in Black like 5 times in a row.

Adored it!

The one you purchase at the park comes in a few different flavors...but they offer it in an unlimited (and VERY expensive) version now which emulates what the resort guests get.

Cool report so far! How you liking the RapidFill system a FQ?

 

[afar28]

We had the unlimited express pass for staying at Royal Pacific (a Uni resort) last year.

It...was...awesome.

We were quite literally walking on rides with a 5 minute or less wait...we did Men in Black like 5 times in a row.

Adored it!

The one you purchase at the park comes in a few different flavors...but they offer it in an unlimited (and VERY expensive) version now which emulates what the resort guests get.

Cool report so far! How you liking the RapidFill system a FQ?

I agree, we stayed at the Hard Rock 2 years ago I think, and the unlimited express was awesome. And I have the dining plan so I get free cups anyway so it doesn't really make a difference for me. What do you think?

 

[englanddg]

I agree, we stayed at the Hard Rock 2 years ago I think, and the unlimited express was awesome. And I have the dining plan so I get free cups anyway so it doesn't really make a difference for me. What do you think?

<shrug> Same thing, we had the mugs with the dining plan.

Didn't really effect me either way...but I don't think it's going to help with the mess that is the Beverage Bar there (Sassalouga dining room and Beverage Bar was just dirty all the time during my stay, hopefully that's not the case for you...but considering I was leaving as you were arriving...)

Anyhow, point is, I don't think it will help with that.

I took morbid enjoyment watching the confusion in the dining hall yesterday morning when they turned it on though!

 

[afar28]

Day 2 August 19
Up next would be Seuss Landing, one of the best themed lands in IOA.

We had express pass, so we decided to be kids again and go on the Seuss rides. First the Cat in the Hat, and then the Trolley.

Love the views from this ride.

After that we finished everything we wanted to do. It was now time to park hop over to Universal Studios. See ya later Islands of Adventure..

After a quick walk through City Walk..

We arrived at Universal Studios!

First up was Minion Mayhem.

It had a 90 minute wait so thanks to express pass, we would get on instantly. Or so we thought. Despite having express pass we still waited 45 minutes. It was better than 90 at least. The ride was pretty good also. Up next, we decided to head over to Springfield for some lunch.
Wake up grandpa we are almost at Springfield!

finally here!

As a fan of Simpsons, I loved this part of the park. But now it was time to eat. Ill finish up later, I'm about to to swimming then to Epcot.
Up next: burgers, destroy Springfield! And This is not a drill!

 

[coachwnh]

We took our first trip to Universal last summer and we too were very impressed. Staying at a universal resort includes the express pass which in my opinion works great (plus its not limited to just once on a ride like Disney FPs). If you stay elsewhere it is pricey to add, but seeing how well it worked its well worth it. Keep the posts coming!

 

[afar28]

After looking for somewhere to eat, Krusty burger seemed like a good choice.

I got the Krusty Burger, and it was very good. Excellent for fast food. The place was packed, but the line moved quickly so it wasnt too bad. After that, we wandered around Springfield USA.

Now we decided to go on Kang and Kodus Twirl n Hurl, the new spinner ride. It was time to destroy Springfield and betray the human race on this ride

It was a good spinner ride, but now it was time for one of my favorite rides in the park...

I just really enjoy that ride. As a huge Simpsons fan, that makes it even better for me since its based on that. After that we helped out the Men in Black save the day on Men in Black Alien Attack. After the ride, I found some interesting grub in the gift shop.

Does anyone eat that? Seriously, anyone? Up next would be Transformers. But first, an awesome view on the way.

As I said before, I have only a 10 picture per post limit. I'll continue shortly

 

[afar28]

Transformers was good. I prefer Spider-Man, but this was also a great ride. After that we were all completely drained and tired. It was almost 6:30 and we had 8:00 dinner reservations for Whispering Canyon. We decided to skip over Revenge of the Mummy and go back to the hotel. After a bit, it was time for a delicious dinner.

Interesting stuff in the shop. This will sure attract the ladies

 

[afar28]

After a delicious dinner at the whispering canyon of the Family player (which was absolutely amazing) it was time to hit the hay back at our hotel. Another amazing day down at WDW

 

[afar28]

Day 3 August 20th.
After waking up early for the past 4 days, we decided to sleep in for once. It was good to finally catch up on sleep. When I did wake up around 11, I went for a quick dip in the pool, then we all went off to Epcot at around 1:30.

Surprisingly, the crowds were insane. We've been coming at this time everyyear and this is the most crowded we have ever seen it! Test track and Soarin both with a 2 hour wait and no more fastpass, Spaceship Earth and Journey Into Imagination both with 35 minute waits, and Maelstrom with a 25 minute wait. But the Nemo ride had a short wait.

After a good time on the ride, it was time to look at some sea creatures. I always loved manatees.

Turtle!

He animals were actually getting really close, it was great.

Nemo!

It began to pour, so we went over to the Imagination pavilion and ride Journey into Imagination (the wait dropped down to 15 minutes). It was the first time I rode if in a while and it reminded me why I skipped it on so many trips.

 

[afar28]

I wish this wasnt roped off

The rain finally stopped, so we went to world showcase. First up was Mexico.

I really loved this shirt

time for a ride with the 3 caballeros.

After the ride, we then realized we had a dinner reservation in France in 30 minutes. We turned around and went the other way since its a quicker walk to France. Finally here!

Time for a good meal hopefully.

After ordering the beef with pasta (spoiler alert: which was very good) I thought it was here. I was surprised to see this instead

After a delicious meal and a yum creme brûlée dessert, it was time to walk off the calories in world showcase! One of my favorite pavilions, Morocco

Up next: spaceship Earth, konichiwa! And shopping

 

[afar28]

Some views from around the world.

 

[fractal]

Love the updates!

 

[afar28]

Love the updates!

Thanks! Even thought I'm about 2 days behind, I'll try to catch up eventually

Wow, Universal! Haven't been there for more than 20 years. Absolutely on my wish list for someday in the (far ) future! Enjoy your stay and keep posting

Thanks! And I recommend it, it's improved a lot lately.

Seems like Universal was great!

It was

 

[afar28]

View across the lagoon.

Now up close.

After a long day, we ended it off with a spin on Spaceship Earth.

It was really good timing too, since the ride was going down for a week long refurb in a few hours. Final views of Epcot.

love these lights in the ground

And that would conclude a great day at Epcot.

 

[afar28]

Day 4 August 21st.
Today would be spent at Hollywood Studios. After an early wake up and a breakfast at the hotel, we were at the park 15 minutes before opening. The plan was to run over to Toy Story to get fastpasses obviously. After walking over to Toy Story, the line was already at 30 minutes and the fastpass line was all the way back to One Mana Dream. No surprise that it was insane over there, as usual.

After getting the FP, we had 6 hours to kill before Toy Story. So first we went to check out the new show

My expectations were very very low since I thought it would be like Narnia, but it wasnt nearly as bad as Narnia. I was pleasantly surprised. It was a nice quick show. The hologram was very impressive.

Up next was...

After the show, they were asking people questions about it, about their opinion on the show. I don't know if that means anything or not, but whatever. Taking pics of art I'll never be able to afford

After that we did One Mans Dream. I love the tribute to Walt.

Replication of the original DisneyLand Model

Up next: Twilight Zone, A trip with Aerosmith, and Star Tours

 

[FlaggNL]

Again great updates And some day I will be at WDW and US